12 tricks to slashing your grocery costs

Grocery bills are one of the biggest expenses to hit households every week. We ask the experts the best ways you can quickly slash your costs.

Groceries are one of the biggest expenses to hit households’ hip pockets but it’s a cost that cannot be avoided.

Supermarket giants are becoming more competitive, delivering customers hundreds of specials every week in a bid to get them through their doors.

However, it takes an organised shopper to save on overall costs.

While it’s easy to stick with the same products and brands each week, there are easy savings to be made without seeing much difference in products.

MoneysaverHQ asked the experts 12 ways shoppers can bring their grocery bills down in an instant.

1 Shopping list

It sounds obvious but penning out a list each week or making notes in your phone as to what you need is the first step to being organised.

When you visit the supermarket, make sure you are armed with the detailed list.

It will result in you being less likely to make impulse buys and throw items you don’t need in your trolley.

2 Catalogues

The supermarket giants release their catalogues once a week — usually at the beginning or mid week — so make sure you are signed up to receive one.

It could be received via your supermarket app, an email or simply digging it out of the junk mail.

Coles chief executive for commercial and express Greg Davis said this helped shoppers maximise snapping up cheaper items when they were on special.

“We aim to have a mix of offers in most product categories each week to offer customers an option to save money across their entire basket of goods,” he said.

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3 Rewards schemes

If you’re happy for supermarkets to know what you are buying each week, sign up to their rewards programs including flybuys and/or Woolworths Rewards.

There are often extra points to earned, which eventually translates into cash off your shop if you activate weekly bonus offers.

Using a shopping list when you hit the supermarket can help save costs.

4 Don’t shop hungry

It’s a proven fact — if you shop when your tummy is rumbling you’ll likely grab more groceries and run up a higher bill.

Queensland Consumers Association’s spokesman Ian Jarratt said it could quickly lead to making “bad decisions”.

“If you are hungry when you go out shopping for groceries you tend to buy more,” he said.

Instead, shop after you have had a meal.

5 Look at high and low shelves

Supermarkets strategically place products that are higher or lower on the shelves and they are often the ones that are cheaper and better value.

“There’s products and low shelves that aren’t at eye level and they are better prices,” Mr Jarratt said.

“You can miss out on getting a bargain so don’t just look at eye level — look up and down the shelves.”

Mr Jarratt also warned consumers “not to be guided by the specials at the end of the aisle”.

6 Unit pricing

Mr Jarratt said these were a shopper’s “best friend in the supermarket”.

“Unit pricing tells you the price per unit of measure,” he said. “It might be grams or per kilo or litre, and it gives you a base for comparison.

“If you’re not brand conscious then you should look at the unit prices of the special and other sizes and brands.”

Consumers should compare products on all shelf levels because sometimes the cheaper items are not sitting at eye level.

7 Odd groceries

Most supermarkets have a trolley or shelves of items that are odd, whether it be because they are close to going out of date, there’s a problem with packaging or the supermarket is simply trying to offload old stock.

Woolworths director of fresh food Paul Harker said customers should look to save on fruit and vegetables by keeping their eyes peeled for their “odd bunch” range.

“This is a range of fresh produce that doesn’t always look perfect but tastes great and is priced up to 40 per cent lower than the conventional range,” he said.

8 Brands

Simply buying a brand name can end up costing you more.

No-name brands and becoming far more common in supermarkets — last year Coles rolled out more than 730 Coles-branded products, which Mr Davis said could result in significant savings.

9 Buy fresh and in-season produce

Knowing what fresh produce is in season can often be determined by seeing an abundance of that particular item on the shelf at a lower price.

The more supply, usually the cheaper the cost.

Mr Davis said shoppers should try to buy items that were in season to get instant savings.

“It is less expensive to buy ingredients in season as they are abundant plus they pop with natural flavour,” he said.

10 Packaged items

Don’t assume that just because an item is packaged up nicely it’s going to cost you more. Carrots are the perfect example — often costing more when bought loosely.

“Don’t assume that unpackaged will be better value than packaged or vice versa,” Mr Jarratt said. “It varies greatly between prices,” he said.

This again reverts back to tip six: check the unit pricing.

Consider all brands and even no name labels which are often cheaper.

11 Pick up

Supermarkets are creating innovate ways to make shopping easier for time-poor customers, and this includes offering free pick-up services, Mr Harker said.

“We offer an increasingly popular free pick-up service for the convenience of our customers who want to shop online,” he said.

12 Shopping frequency

The more frequently you shop, the more likely you will overspend.

Limiting trips to the supermarket means you have to shop smarter and ultimately use the items you have already purchased.

Try and limit your shops to weekly or fortnightly.

If you need to make an in-between shop that’s OK, but you’ll find your overall grocery bill will be less if you spend less time paying the supermarket a visit.

@sophieelsworth