Keep your grocery budget down: tips from Coles and Woolworths

THESE are some of the easiest ways to keep your supermarket shopping spending down.

Buying “private labels” can make you some serious savings.

HOUSEHOLDS taking inspiration from the Federal Government budget announcement and tightening their spending should home in on their grocery bills.

Just as Treasurer Scott Morrison has proposed ways to boost the economy, the same goes for consumers who are looking to get more value for money at the check-out.

Latest Bureau of Statistics data shows we are spending more on our shopping. In March we spent 0.4 per cent more at retailers with the amount spent on food up 0.1 per cent.

On average we fork out about $200 at the supermarket each week.

But there are some simple tricks you can adopt to keep shopping spends to a minimum.

BE ORGANISED

Always go to the supermarket armed with a detailed grocery list to ensure you don’t make impulse buys.

If you arrive at the store without an idea of what you need to buy it’s likely you’ll blow your budget and come out spending more than you planned.

And if you can, it’s best to only shop once a week because the more frequently you visit the supermarket the more you are likely to spend — especially if you’re feeling hungry!

Go shopping armed with a detailed grocery list to ensure you don’t make impulse buys.

SPECIALS

It may seem obvious but keep an eye out for supermarket advertisements and catalogues to see what bargains are available, a Coles spokesman suggests.

“Coles has an average of two and a half thousand ticket specials in store every week with around 200 lines featured in our weekly catalogue,’’ he says.

“This means a huge range of discounted products for price-savvy customers to choose from with reductions of up to 50 per cent.”

Also make sure you look at the unit pricing to see how much value you are actually getting.

SHOP ONLINE

For the time-poor shopper this can be a good way to cut costs because you won’t run the risk of grabbing things off the shelves that you don’t need.

Woolworths’ food group head of buying Steve Donohue urges shoppers to be tech-savvy but concedes shopping by computer or smartphone will suit some customers better than others.

“Woolworths promises to offer all online shoppers the same prices available in store,’’ he says.

“What’s more Woolworths offers free delivery on every first online order (for orders over $100) or shoppers can click and collect from a local store for free.”

Look for specials to save on your grocery bills.

BUY NON-BRANDED GOODS

Spending up on labelled products can end up chipping away at your budget, a Coles spokesman says so consider buying “no-name” brands.

“Switching from branded items to private label products can result in serious savings,’’ he says.

“Consistently low prices on Coles Brand products shoppers buy every week such as milk, eggs, pasta, toilet paper or nappies can deliver significant savings on staple grocery items.”

Analysis from consumer group Choice found by buying “private labels”, excluding specials, shoppers can make you some serious savings.

At Coles and Woolworths a basket of the same goods for private labels cost around $115 compared with a similar shop made up of leading brands which rang in at about $170.

REWARDS PROGRAMS

The nation’s biggest supermarkets have their own rewards programs and this can sometimes result in loyalty card customers getting check-out discounts and rewards once a certain amount is spent.

For example for Coles customers who accumulate 2000 points they will receive $10 off their next shop.