The cost of food and how much we spend on groceries, is a topic that always comes up when I am talking to my clients. “How come we spend so much each month”, and “how can we bring our grocery costs down” are very common questions.
So, I thought I would get super practical this week and share some of the strategies that over the year between myself and my clients we have come up with.
It isn’t just about being frugal. It is more about implementing innovative shopping strategies designed to optimise your household spending without sacrificing the quality or variety of your purchases, and of course convenience too.
Here are my top 10 strategies to use for reviewing and hopefully reducing your grocery bills. Some of these strategies simply won’t suit some families. If you find one or two you are willing to try, that’s great.
1. Look backwards so you can look forward and establish and monitor a Budget
I know this sounds painful, but before you can set a budget, you need to know what you have really been spending. Start by examining your expenditure over the last year. Not just the supermarket, but the trips to the local dairy, the chocolate bars at the petrol station, the fresh veges from the market. Do a separate list for your takeaways. If you use credit cards or Eftpos, this isn’t too onerous as task, jump onto your online banking and download the transactions and sort them into categories. KFC, your favourite Thai takeaway, whichever brand supermarket you go to. As you review the transactions you will see we tend to be creatures of habits and go to the same places multiple times. You will see how often you shop, the smaller $10 purchases that mount up over time. After assessing your total spending and your habits, set a feasible budget with potential savings in mind; for example, reducing your weekly grocery bill by $20 could lead to an annual saving of over $1,000. The second part is crucial, you need to monitor your spending and check at the end of the month to see if you are on track with the savings you want to achieve.
2. Plan meals around specials
As best you can, plan your meals for the week. This is a great time to look at the junk mail and the weekly supermarket flyer with the specials or open the email that has been sitting in your inbox. Planning your meals around these discounted items can lead to substantial savings, and a bit of variety in your diet as well. If something pops up that you haven’t tried before, pull out the recipe books and see how you might be able to incorporate it into your diet for the week. I discovered Paneer from this tip, and it now regularly appears in my food plan (it’s great in a curry if you haven’t tried it yet)
3. Adhere to a shopping list
There has been a standing joke in my family that as an accountant, I have a full inventory management system for my pantry. But it can be as simple as a list stuck to the fridge that as you run out of something you write it down, to using a grocery app which does the same thing. This keeps the pantry stocked, so when you have a craving and just have to have pancakes, the Maple syrup will always be on hand (or is that just me?) Then when you have your food plan ready, add the additional items to your list and off you go. If you think you can’t stick to your list, or you have little ones that go shopping with you, try ordering online and then picking up your groceries this might save you time as well.
4. Explore different brands and shelves
Supermarkets strategically place premium products at eye level to increase sales. You can find less expensive brands that offer similar quality by exploring higher and lower shelves. Experimenting with these alternatives can lead to cost savings without compromising your preferences. Additionally, trying new brands can broaden your options and help you discover products that offer better value for money. This strategy is not just about saving money, but also about expanding your culinary horizons and finding new favourites.
I was very brand orientated until I decided to give this strategy a go. I forced myself to step out of my comfort zone and try different products, some I was really happy with, and for some items, I’m going to stick with the brand I know and love the taste of.
5. Implement a meat-free day
Meat (and fish) tend to be one of the more expensive items in a grocery budget. Introducing a meat-free day each week can reduce this cost. Use alternatives like eggs, tofu, or legumes as protein sources. These foods often cost less and can be just as satisfying with suitable recipes. It’s probably good for your health as well. If you just can’t face the thought of no meat or fish as your protein, head to the supermarket when they are reducing the prices of these items or try a different cut of meat.
I was pretty resistant to this strategy as well, simply because I didn’t know how to cook tasty food that didn’t include meat, so fortunately, I knew someone who never ate meat, and she showed me a few recipes to get me going, and build my confidence, now I love my meat free meals. As an aside, if you are a little weight conscious like I am, just keep an eye on the calories, some of the meat free options can be a bit up there.
6. Cultivate your vegetables
Growing your vegetables is an enjoyable and rewarding way to cut costs, even if you don’t have green fingers. Start small, perhaps with herbs or a few types of easy-to-grow vegetables. This not only ensures fresh produce at your disposal but also reduces the amount of food waste, as you can harvest only what you need.
There’s a balancing act here between the cost of buying the vegetable seedlings and setting up a garden, and what you get to eat at the other end. My first attempt was an abject failure, I grew veges that I didn’t really like (sorry broccoli), next time round, I focused on what I do like, (perpetual spinach) and I had a great harvest, the surplus I swapped with friends as we all grew different things. I’m now so enthusiastic, I have the worm farm and home composting happening as well. So I now have compost too!
7. Allocate room for treats
If we tell ourselves we can’t have something, we want it even more. So completely cutting out indulgences isn’t a good strategy. Instead, allow for some treats such as a bottle of wine this week, or some chocolate next. These items can satisfy cravings and prevent impulsive purchases on more expensive outings. This strategy involves mindful inclusion rather than restriction, promoting a more balanced approach to budgeting without feeling deprived.
8. Cook 'takeaway' meals at home
Replicating takeaway meals at home can save money and provide a healthier alternative to fast food. Ingredients often used in home cooking can create sweet and sour pork, pizzas, or curries at a fraction of the cost. This reduces your expenditure on takeaways and enhances your cooking skills and understanding of ingredients, making you a more versatile and resourceful cook.
You can also find ‘takeaways’ in your local supermarket as well, check out the price difference before you head down this route.
9. Eat before you shop
This is so true isn’t it. Mum always said, never go shopping on an empty stomach. It can lead to poor food choices and overbuying. Have a snack or meal before heading to the supermarket ensures you can resist temptations and stick to your shopping list. This strategy is rooted in the idea that satiety directly influences decision-making processes related to food, promoting more rational purchases based on needs rather than cravings.
10. Diversify your shopping venues
This strategy assumes you have time to diversify where you shop. Sure you can probably save money by going to not just the supermarket, but getting fresh veges at the fruit and vege shop and meat from the butcher (if you are lucky enough to have one handy), but if you come home a frazzled mess due to tired and grumpy children (or your partner), and you still have a huge to do list to do over the weekend, this just isn’t for you. If you do have the time, expanding where you shop can uncover savings unavailable at your regular supermarket. Online retailers often offer competitive prices on bulk items like diapers or paper goods. In contrast, local butchers and produce stores may offer fresher goods at lower prices due to reduced overhead costs. By diversifying your shopping venues, you're taking control of your grocery expenses and finding the best deals, which can be empowering and rewarding.
If you are going to do just one thing off the list, then do number 1, if you do the exercise well, it will save you money.
Then look at your lifestyle, your time commitments and pick one other thing from the list to try.
Have some fun with the strategies. Over the years, I have mixed and mingled bits off all of the above, some have failed badly, and others I still do now.
I would love to hear some of your own strategies as well, so please pop those in the comments.
Lynda Moore is a Money Mentalist coach and New Zealand’s only certified New Money Story® mentor. Lynda helps you understand why you do the things you do with your money, when we all know we should spend less than we earn. You can contact her here.
22 Comments
11. Join and volunteer at a local buying co op or FoodTogether to get food at or near wholesale rates
12. Go to farmer's markets. Real ones, not boutique ones with no range
13. Barter with local food producers of all shapes and sizes
14. Use swap groups or apps like Magic Beans
15. Join the Cheaper Ways NZ Facebook group
16. Get a spare freezer and use that to store specials and meal prep
17. Hunt pest deer and rabbits
18. Learn to forage for native and introduced edibles
19. Use a pressure cooker to cut cooking time down for tough meats and pulses
20. Join a Consumer Supported Agriculture group and buy a share of a local market gardeners' crop
"13. Barter with local food producers of all shapes and sizes" Local food producers undervalue their product to begin with. Driving them bankrupt by demanding a "discount" with have you back shopping at the supermarket next year, then you can try bargining with the checkout operator.
Use your gold card on Tuesdays at Countdown for a 5% discount and for those of us over 65. My Countdown also has an area where they put the reduced to clear items and there can be some good bargains and their 'Odd Bunch' produce is good value. Shop at roadside stalls. Plant some fruit trees in the garden.
Years ago when I worked in a supermarket, I had the ability to 'reduce to clear' stock in the fruit & veggie department. In fact most of my work consisted of this on some shifts (finding the 'old' stuff, bagging it, and then pricing it).
The reduced-to-clear section was always in hot demand.
I had a few regular older customers, as well as a few customers of lesser means (I'd get to know them from talking to them each Monday morning) for whom the reduced-to-clear product was the difference between buying fruit and vegetables for the week or not.
Over time I would pack more and more produce into the bags, and override the pricing, so that the regulars (or anybody else lucky enough to come past) would get a huge amount of fruit & veg for a couple of dollars. Felt like I was doing something, as if the reduced to clear stuff didn't sell after a day we had to toss it.
Was good fun to see how much I could get away with selling for as little as possible, at least as long as the 2IC wasn't around who was a right Ebenezer Scrooge when it came to what we were allowed to discount. His approach was to give about a 10% discount off the "regular" pricing, and then see everything else thrown out. Whereas when I priced the R2C everything was gone by midday.
Fruit trees are a great idea. I have 20 or so planted over the past five years. Take a year or 2 to get going, but a good fruit tree will produce 20kg or more fruit a year if looked after properly. Different fruit maturing at different times or fruit that hangs around on trees for long periods are go. Also have a massive vege garden that produces all year round. Makes a big difference.
I was happy to see number 6 (cultivate your vegetables.) I’m a market gardener and it is extraordinary how much food you can get from a given piece of land. And the quality too! The fundamentals for success are 1) soil quality (regular applications of compost and blood and bone will sort that out), 2) correct watering and 3) keep weeds under control.
Lynda, I respectfully disagree with reducing meat. I would’ve instead advised the practical elimination of ultra-processed food (UPFs) in one’s diet. Purchasing UPFs is a waste of money given how nutritionally empty such foods are, whereas meat is the bees knees! Take for example some muesli bars I saw at the supermarket. Marketed with wholesome images on the front and having real honey in it, I turned to the ingredients: more added sugar than honey! Plus oats and some other rubbish ingredients that humans shouldn’t consume and probably cannot pronounce. The cost of these such UPFs does not reflect nutritional value, so - as others have advised - cook with wholesome ingredients instead. If you want to reduce money spent on meat, consider such items such as lambs liver; cheap, nutritionally outstanding and delicious.
Odd. Ultra processed foods are certainly nutritionally empty but very few people build their meals around them. They are the foundation for snacks which could also be described as 'time-saving-food-distractions'. You could do your own baking instead or construct them out of shelf-stable foods like nuts, but you need to be functioning at a high level for that to not be a big time consumer.
The meat reduction suggestion is one of the 10 on the list because it is easy and palatable to our NZ sensibilities. If you want you can add another item "replace your usual meat with cheap nutritious liver, heart, etc", but the initial point can not be disagreed with: A normal meat portion in a kiwi meal costs $3-10 per person and a lot of people think that is somehow unavoidable. Replace the meat once a week with dried or tinned legumes, tofu, and that portion is costing 50c-$1 instead.
Wonky box is fab, a) Good quality, b) No extra plastic packaging, all just comes in one big box, c) Delivered to your door - easy, d) Seasonal, local - you get to try the odd new vege/fruit you might not pick out in a supermarket, e) No more expensive - often cheaper - than the big supermarkets. I'm a huge fan of it
I enjoyed the article. But that aside, because ad revenue for digital publishers is so dependent on eyeballs, you need more content to drive more views to make enough money.
The only other way around it is to pull an NBR and make the site entirely behind a paywall (NBR having gone the opposite route to most digital publishers, narrowing content to the point they no longer publish editorials for example).
If the editors start publishing content about the economic impacts of Taylor Swift, I might consider it a bridge to far, of course.
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