Top 10 tips for Grocery Shopping

The supermarkets spend millions on trying to get you spending in their stores.
Celebrities like Jamie Oliver have generated huge profits for Sainsbury’s by providing ideas for meals with specially promoted products. However, most supermarkets claim to save you more money than the others.
They can’t all be the cheapest and their price comparison methods they use do not paint a true picture of why they think they are cheaper. Even when you add into the fold club card points, nectar points and perhaps you’re even using a cash back credit card to pay for groceries but are you really saving money?
Our research suggests probably not as much as you think you are saving and Money Mentor Michael Taylor the following tips for really being on the ball with your grocery shopping:
  1. Plan your meals for the next seven days before you create your shopping list. You will probably have to do a “top up” shop for perishables and fresh meat later in the week so take this into consideration when writing your list
  2. When planning your meals be conscious of food wastage. Think about where a meal can provide leftovers for other meals e.g. having a roast chicken on a Sunday can provide meat for sandwiches for tea or for lunch or for a risotto on a Monday.
  3. Separate your branded goods requirements from your supermarket own-branded goods. Washing powder, breakfast cereal, milk and tinned items have little or no difference (and are often made by the same company e.g. Weetabix makes many of the supermarket own brand similar cereals, a tin of tomatoes is just a tin of tomatoes no matter whose label is on it and milk comes from the same cows no matter who puts the label on the bottle – remember the supermarkets subsidise some products (ie sell them at a loss) in order to get you into the door to buy more profitable products 
  4. Don’t be a supermarket snob Aldi, Lidle, Netto etc on average offer the cheapest fruit, vegetables and milk. Most are sourced locally where possible the same as Waitrose, M&S, Tesco, Sainsburys claim. If you have access to multiple supermarkets then plan you shopping list accordingly to what you want from each supermarket. Loo roll is another product where premier brands are offering less for your money in terms of size and lets face it you’re never going to stop buying it so why not make sure you buy the best value. 
  5. Check out pound shops for toiletries, even branded products like Macleans and Parmolive can be regularly found in these shops You can make an absolute killing on consumable toiletries sometimes up to 70% by having a look in the pound shops. 
  6. Doing your weekly shop at a premier supermarket such as Waitrose and M & S and you are paying on average 23% more for your groceries – ask yourself if you spend £100 a week at Waitrose can you really afford to throw £23 away? – that’s like buying a nice takeaway or a bottle of champagne and then throwing it straight in the bin. 
  7. Microwave meals for one are a false economy and are not substantial enough to fill you up, for the sake of 25 minutes of preparation you can have a shepherds pie, a lasagna, a fish pie or a spaghetti Bolognese that’s four times the size and will last you longer for a few pence more and a bit of planning.
  8. Nectar points and club card points don’t cover a third of the cost savings you make by cherry picking the right products from the cheapest sources. You need to spend a £100 to get £1 back in vouchers – shopping smarter can save you on average 30% - that’s £30 saved for every £100 you spend!!
  9. Before you dive into a celebrity chef recipe book assess the true cost and the re-usability of the additional ingredients (spices, herbs etc) you will have to purchase and look for cheaper alternatives
  10. Keep your supermarket receipts and look at how much you are spending every month. Make sure you have a budget for what you can spend on groceries and keep a regular check that you are sticking to it."

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