Pimp my bill: Should you do grocery shopping daily or weekly?

DAILY versus weekly trips to the supermarket. It’s a question that gets everyone stirred up and divides opinion. Here’s which is better and what will save you the most money.

IS IT better to make daily trips to the supermarket or do it once a week?

This is a question that gets everyone stirred up and one that divides opinion.

For those who are looking to save money to me the answer is obvious.

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Do not shop daily.

It’s weekly all the way.

Here’s five reasons you’re barking mad if you’re making daily trips to the supermarket.

1. CROWDS

Depending on where your local supermarket is, if you’re making a daily rush to the supermarket, especially in peak hour, you are mad.

Why battle crowds day in and day out just so you can grab a handful of groceries?

If you want to waste hours of your life each week then you are doing a fine job of it by visiting the supermarket every day.

2. SHOPPING LISTS

For the daily shoppers do yourself a favour when you’re next at the supermarket ... which is likely to be in the next few hours.

Buy yourself a notepad and a pen.

This will be one of the best investments you ever make.

When you get home put it next to your fridge and every time you run out of something jot it down on the shopping list.

This means you won’t forget items next time you visit the supermarket.

And even better, you won’t have the need to do a mad dash to the supermarket at the end of the day, every day of the week.

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3. PRICE

Supermarkets have teams of marketers that are very clever at manipulating customers to buy crap they don’t need.

So the more often you visit supermarkets the more likely you’ll walk out with something you really didn’t need to buy.

There’s only so many packets of biscuits and bottles of sauces you can shove in your pantry just because you’ve noticed them on special.

Shopping once a week means there’s no possibility of you spending smaller amounts every time you do a daily shop.

If you’re there once a week this limits the chance of impulse buying.

If you want to save cash then start by cutting back on how many treks you’re making to the supermarket each week.

4. SPECIALS

Hunt down the good deals on offer and maximise what’s on sale that week.

The supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths roll out specials every Wednesday for a week so check out their catalogues to find out what will give you good bang for your buck.

5. FRESHNESS

For those who say they must go every day because they want freshness how about trying this.

The freezer component of the fridge comes in very handy.

Buy up your meat, bread or frozen items and stuff them in the freezer.

As for wanting fresh fruit and vegies, put the items in the crisper or use storage containers such as Tupperware to help give these items a bit of extra life.

So for the daily shoppers out there, switching to weekly is a no-brainer.

It will help you save both time and money.

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