While doing your monthly expenses at the end of every month, you will realize that a huge portion of your expenses goes to grocery shopping. But no worries, you’re a cautious shopper. You scrutinize your bill and your mantra is “buy only what you need”. But, is that enough?
Consider the following scenario. You walk down the lane; you see a pack of Oreos on offer. “Buy 2 get 1 FREE” – in goes the Oreos. You walk down the next aisle; you see the fruit juices on promotion. “$2.95! U.P:$3.75” – in goes 2 cartons of juice. “Thank god for all these promotions in the store, I can save a ton!” But, reality hits you when your final bill is $120 and when you unpack the groceries at home, all you find is junk. You will probably end up forgetting the items that you really needed to buy.
We have all been through this, even myself. I used to spend hours at the grocery store (I still do, it’s my retail therapy), browsing through lanes, looking at the promotions and deals, whipping out my phone’s calculator, punching in numbers to see if they’re worth it to purchase.
But through all this experiences and lessons learnt, I actually found myself spending lesser every week on groceries, even though I still walk out of the store with bags in my hands (and arms) – that’s how much I can buy!
Err… duh??? Why state the obvious?!?! Before you question my intelligence, please hear me out.
What is your purpose of going to the grocery store today? Is it to get fresh produce? Or, to purchase grains and dried goods?
If you want to stock up on fruits and vegetables, I would recommend you to head to GIANT. I frequent the outlet at PARKWAY PARADE, because it’s quite a big outlet and their fresh produce are still of satisfactory level. Their products are also cheaper as compared to other local supermarkets and best of all, they have a ‘reduced to clear’ section – which I’ll talk about later.
GIANT, unfortunately does not have an array of dried goods especially if you’re vegan. It’s harder to find but, that’s why I love the outlet at PARKWAY PARADE. Because its such a huge store, I’m still able to get organic vegetables and stock up on my dried products from the brand ‘origins health foods’ – it’s one of my favourites! I get my basics from there; Fruits, vegetables, potatoes, legumes, rice – all the whole foods! They also have 2 sections of organic food near the weighing station (local organic produce and local organice dried foods like rice and noodles)
If I want something a little extra like rice milk… I’ll then head to FAIRPRICE FINEST at BEDOK MALL on the way home.
If you see someone pushing an empty trolley and heading straight to that section, that’d most probably be me. My friends call me an aunty, I guess I can’t deny that.
Being vegan, I eat tons of carbs like rice, potatoes and bananas. Sometimes bananas can be really pricey, especially when you buy 2 bunches or more at one go. I love freezing my bananas to add into my smoothie to make it creamier so it’s always nice to have frozen bananas on hand.
I’m not sure why but many people think that once a banana is spotty- it’s bad. In actual fact, the spottier your banana, the riper and sweeter they are. But like they say, “one man’s junk can be another man’s treasure”. So thank you to all those who hate spotty bananas, for I can purchase them at more than half the original price.
It’s crazy how much I managed to save at GIANT because of this amazing section – I’m so in love. Once, I even got Australian mangoes at “2 for the price of 1” because they were slightly overripe. But….they were the sweetest mango I had in awhile. 🙂
Oh, this is especially for berry season. You really got to do this, it doesn’t come often! A little tip: a punnet of strawberry usually costs $4.95, but when you see it on promotion for $2.95 a pun net, grab 4 at once. Or more, if you’d like. But bear in mind that berries spoil really fast, so keep some in the freezer. You can always have them in your smoothies or oatmeal. The promotion usually last for 2 weeks or so. Imagine the amount of money you can save when you buy all of them during the promotional period.
The same applies for rice/oats – things you eat everyday. Get the 1KG bag (oats) and the 5KG/10KG bag of rice to store at home. Trust me, you’ll save a load more.
Okay, this is going to sound a little confusing (especially if you’re not a mathematician, so I’m going to break it down for you.
There’s this brand of coconut water that I usually buy and they come in 2 different sizes – one in 250ml, one in 1L.
250ml – $1.25
1L – $3.95
Most people would tend to go for the cheaper item, which is the pack of 250ml. 250ml x4 = 1000ml (1L)
$1.25 x 4 = $5
Wouldn’t it be cheaper if you just purchase the 1L pack straight? Even though you may be paying more upfront, but your item has more value because you’re paying less for more.
This is one technique that a lot of brands are using. They trick consumers into thinking that the smaller pack is cheaper but in fact, you actually save more when you buy the bigger pack. Just always take the cost divided by the weight and compare the prices.
This is a no-brainer but this is something that most people tend to skip because they find it troublesome. Before heading out, check your fridge and pantry to see what foods you have. Write down the food that you need to stock up on to refrain yourself from buying items that you already have. Especially perishables – you wouldn’t want to have too many of the same kind because if you aren’t able to finish it on time, they’ll turn bad. And there goes your money.
For NTUC, you can sign up as a NTUC member to earn link points (if I’m not wrong you’ve to be of a certain age). GIANT and COLD STORAGE allows you to use your passion card to earn ‘tapformore’ points. By earning all these points, you can save them up and earn your rebates in the future.
These are the pointers that actually helped me to save on grocery shopping the past few months. I used to be one of those that spend $200 over a month on groceries, now I’m down to $100!
Shop smart and your wallet will thank you. I hope this was helpful! Sometimes, it’s good to be a ‘typical Singaporean aunty” 😉
