I was reading articles from the imoney.ph Learning Centre earlier today and a particular article that caught my eye. It was a piece on '7 Ways To Outsmart Your Supermarket'. I thought it was a pretty good article as it shows us tips on how we can stop the temptation of overspending when in the supermarket. The article has great suggestions, such as (1) stick to your grocery list, (2) never shop when hungry, and (3) more importantly look into substituting items for generic brands.
I would like to build on this article. I think they failed to mention a couple of important tips on how to save money on groceries that I also find quite useful. Here are 4 important tips to save money on groceries.
1. Go Generic!
I know this tip was already given in the imoney article but I want to repeat it in order to drive the point. For items such as garbage bags, sugar, salt, tissue paper, liquid soap, and a lot of other items make sure to look into replacing the branded items in your shopping basket with some generic supermarket items.
I have been using quite a lot of generic 'SM Bonus' products and I can honestly say that I'm happy with the quality. Make sure that you give generic products a chance. The switch will surely save you a lot of money in the long run.
2. Look into Buying Cheaper Brands
I know it's tempting to fill your cart with the first items you see or with products familiar to you, but I really recommend that you compare the different brands available on the shelves even if generic brands aren't available.
For example, in the vegetable section try to look for NVU-branded vegetables rather than Global-branded vegetables since they sell similar vegetables 10-15 pesos cheaper per kilo. You may also want to look into buying Jolly Cow Fresh Milk or Harvey Fresh Full Cream Milk, since they these very good brands are at least 10 pesos cheaper than the more popular Nestle Fresh Milk.
So always make sure to compare brands and prices, you will save money on groceries just by being aware of alternative brands which are just as good or even better.
3. Skip the Convenience Store
Convenience stores such as Family Mart, 7/11, and Ministop are everywhere. You can see one in almost every corner around the Metro, so it is very tempting to buy from convenience stores rather than the supermarket. Who doesn't want the added convenience, right?
The bad news is that Convenience stores typically add around 15-20% markup for every item that they sell, which is even more expensive than the 10% markup of sari-sari stores. You are slowly getting robbed every time you go to a convenience store and you don't even realize it. If you frequently buy from these stores then the added price for convenience eventually adds up to a lot of money that you could have saved.
So try to get some exercise by walking to the nearest supermarket and buy in bulk rather than go to the convenience store across the street. By doing so, both your health and wallet will thank you in the long run.
Better yet, go to the nearest market to buy your fruits and vegetables since provides the cheapest option available!
4. Bigger is Better
My final piece of advice is to always try to BUY IN BULK. Get the 1kg pack of Tender Juice Cheesedog at 181 pesos rather than the 500g pack at 125 pesos, that's only a 56 peso difference for double the size!
A good way to make every items comparable is to compute for the cost of each item per 100g of weight. A pack of Quaker Oats Oatmeal, for example, would cost 114 pesos for 800g while Australian Harvest Oatmeal is prices at 104 pesos for 1kg. If you look at both brands on a comparable basis, Quaker Oats would cost 14.25 pesos per 100g, which is around 40% higher than Australian Harvest, which comes out at only 10.4 pesos per 100g.
This is the same case for most items on the shelves, almost always go for a bigger size and store the item properly when you get home. In doing so, you should be able to save quite a bit of money in the long run.
I hope these tips can help. Do you have any other tips or tricks in mind? Let me know through the comments below!
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Cheers,
Chef Jay
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