Grocery hacks to save big on your food spend

When fuel prices recently hit a record high of $2.39 a litre in some states, there was no missing it. It was written in metre-high numbers on three-metre signs.

However, the rise and rise of grocery prices this year is far more insidious. Our shopping baskets are not identical each week, but we feel the pain at the checkout, even before we can see it is costing us more.

Fruit and vegetable prices are rising, but it pays to shop selectively.Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

However, there is no doubt that supermarket prices are rising: We have seen $12 lettuces and stores cracking down on canny customers ripping the stalks off broccoli, so they only have to pay for the florets.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) will report the latest inflation figures for the June quarter next week. In March, it said groceries were up by 4.3 per cent on a year ago, with meat and fruit and vegetables up more than 6 per cent. However, even those high numbers did not pass the pub test for many shoppers.

Groceries are the second-largest bill for most households, after housing, at an average of $12,500 a year, according to the ABS. So, an 8 per cent increase has a potential $1000, or almost $20 a week, impact over the course of a year. That means adopting money saving strategies in the supermarket are now more important than ever.

The best tactic to keep food prices to a minimum is to shop at more than one supermarket. That could mean visiting both Aldi – consistently the cheapest by about 10 per cent to 15 per cent, depending on which analysis you prefer – and one other supermarket. You can pick the eyes out of the specials at each of them.

I save about $1600 a year on my family’s grocery bill if I do this each week, rather than shopping at a single supermarket.

However, if you find it just too hard to buy at two food outlets weekly, even an occasional visit to a Costco, Campbells Cash & Carry or Aldi to bulk-buy non-perishables to store can save hundreds of dollars a year.

Costco has an annual membership fee of $60, but it also has the cheapest petrol.

Fill up when you visit and buy, for example, 160 Finish powerball quantum ultimate pro dishwashing tablets for $69, and you could save about $15 on an average tank of fuel and about 50 per cent each time you switch on the dishwasher.

Your second grocery store could be a local fruit and vegetable market, which has always been cheaper than the supermarkets. However, the price gap between the pair appears to be growing, now that fruit and veg prices are being inflated by higher petrol, labour and fertiliser costs.

Produce at the markets might also be fresher and longer-lasting than supermarkets, which tend to store their products for longer periods.

Which brings us to seasonality and the impact of recent flood events on our groceries.

While repeated flooding on the East Coast this year has devastated many crops, not all fruit and vegetables are soaring in price.

A recent Deakin University study found the biggest increases in the past year were iceberg lettuces (100 per cent, on average), broccoli (101 per cent), tomatoes (43 per cent) and olive oil (33 per cent).

However, banana prices dropped 28 per cent, on average, and oranges by 17 per cent, compared to a year ago, while canned bean mixes were also 5 per cent cheaper. Apples, carrots, eggs, red onions and sweet corn cost about the same. So, being selective when you shop can also help your bottom-line food costs.

Finally, there is a new discount scheme to consider: Woolworths has long offered 10 per cent off your first shop each month to their mobile phone or insurance customers. However, the supermarket is now offering the same deal if you subscribe to its “Everyday Extra” rewards program for $59 a year, plus 10 per cent off a Big W shop once a month. So, if you spend $600, or more, at those two stores each year, you should come out in front.

• Advice given in this article is general in nature and is not intended to influence readers’ decisions about investing or financial products. They should always seek their own professional advice that takes into account their own personal circumstances before making any financial decisions.

Joel Gibson is the author of Kill Bills. Catch his money saving segments on Nine Radio, TODAY and on Twitter @joelgibson.