Smart shopping

Hacks to help you save money when grocery shopping

#supermarketsavings #groceryhacks #shopsmarter #SSQ #stuffthestatusquo

Photo by Joshua Rawson-Harris on Unsplash

If one topic is trending right now, it’s the cost of living. Whether you live in New York, Sydney, Tokyo, London or regional and remote rural areas, the escalating cost of essentials is challenging us all.

The mindset of Stuff the Status Quo, thinking outside the square and applying creative solutions, can be applied to so many aspects of life.

Grocery shopping consumes a major part of most people’s budget. Food, cleaning products, beverages, personal care items, and other household needs. Have you noticed lately many more couples are shopping for weekly essentials together. They are shopping from a list, comparing prices and swapping brands in an effort to minimise the hit to their hip pocket. Here’s a few other ways you can cut the cost of keeping food on the table, and yourself and home clean.

Shop local

In the era of megastores, we have learned one-stop-shopping. Often, we think we’re saving because their bulk warehouses and high turnover allow cheaper prices. We get in our cars and drive further from our home, avoiding smaller local stores because they are more expensive.

Sure, sometimes the initial outlay may be more than from a big supermarket chain, but the fresh produce will last longer, often have less chemicals and less food miles. This is where value versus cost comes into play. When shopping for fresh food, I love farmers markets and local greengrocers who source locally produced fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs and dairy products.

I lived in a small coastal town for a year where a local farm delivered boxes of seasonal fruit/veg, a baker delivered homemade sourdough loaves, and a dairy farm had an onsite shop selling milk and cheese. There was a big supermarket a 1-hour drive away and their prices were cheaper, but it took 2 hours of driving, and the costs associated with that, and the ‘fresh’ produce was anything but.

Meal plans and shopping lists

Many years ago, as a newlywed I learned to stretch a thin budget by making a weekly meal plan and creating a shopping list from that. I also never took my then-husband to the supermarket with me as packets of biscuits, chips, chocolate and other non-essentials would mysteriously find their way into the trolley! The same tactic could also work for parents with kids. Less hands throwing things in the trolley equals less total at the checkout.

I went so far as to get a floor map of the local supermarket. My list would be written in order of the aisles, to avoid backtracking or being sidetracked by specials. Of course, if the items on special are something you regularly use, it makes sense to stock up when they are on sale.

Some countries have multiple choices for where to source groceries and other household essentials. Australia has a supermarket duopoly with two major chains servicing most of the population. The lack of competition leads to higher prices. One way to shop smarter is by using apps which compare supermarket prices.

Grocery Apps

Wise List

One app I find helpful to combat inflationary grocery costs is Wise List.

This multi-function app is very clever. Wise List helps you create shopping lists, find recipes and create lists based on those and then cross check that data with Coles and Woolworths specials for the week.

If you don’t use a shopping list but like to bulk buy when favourite items are on sale, you can select products in the app and get notifications when they come on sale.

With Wise List you can:

• scan items at the store to your own lists or compare prices

• create collaborative lists with others

• manage health needs with AI providing data on the nutritional value of your recipes/lists

• keep track of what’s in your pantry and fridge, and

• get notifications when they reach their use-by date, and

• integrate with your existing loyalty card programs.

Our Groceries

Shopping with a list is a tried-and-true way to keep purchases to only what is needed (assuming you are not shopping at ALDI or Costco :-) ). The Our Groceries app offers shared lists for partners or housemates, which update whenever someone adds something to the list.

Milk Run

This app is offered by Woolworths in Australia. Mostly available in cities or large towns, it’s a faster way to order grocery items online and have them delivered to your door, usually within 30 minutes. While you still pay the usual price and sometimes a delivery fee, you save the running costs of your car, time to get there and shop, plus it reduces the temptation to add non-essential items to the trolley.

Important note: I don’t earn a commission, and this is not an advertorial for any app listed here. It’s simply a share in the hope it helps you too.

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A couple of other stand out grocery apps are Flipp (US/UK) and Trolley (UK).

Join in the conversation in the comments section below and share your favourite tips for cutting costs when stocking up on household essentials.

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Apart from groceries, the largest soaring cost of living for most people is housing. In Stuff the Status Quo – Spend less on keeping a roof overhead and more on living a life you love, I share my 10-year experience living rent-free. Options like housesitting, RV life, house-hacking, exchange living and more, offer real solutions to enable better life balance through more affordable accommodation.