How to save money and reduce time spent at the supermarket

In the past my wife and I were terrible shoppers – we would simply amble around the supermarket throwing whatever we fancied in our trolley. We ended up spending staggerring amounts on food that sat in cupboards for all eternity and fruit and veg that ended up in the bin. By following a few simple steps we have not only slashed our grocery bills, but we save time at the supermarket so we can spend it in better ways!

Planning

Every week my wife and I have a quick chat about what we'd like to eat for the week.We only plan dinners as I take my food to work (another good way to save money) and my wife usually makes something at home.  As we are a busy family with 3 kids under 3 (and two cats!) we try to identify dinners that are easy to make.

Note: We have found a great book called 4 ingredients which I highly recommend for busy people.

We plan our dinners Mon-Fri as on Sat we usually have take-away and by Sunday we find that there are usually leftovers from take-away or dinners from the last few days.

This planning helps us to focus on exactly what we need for the week. It also helps us to focus on expenditure - when you lay it all out on paper you might see that having salmon then lamb then prawns in one week might be a bit expensive! - so we usually have a more expensive type of meat once a week and no more. We do love a bit of meat, but we mix it up each week (no not literally!) with fish, chicken and a vegetarian dish or two.

We check the recipes and check in the cupboards to see what ingedients we need and these ingredients are added to the shopping template...this way we only buy what we need.

The Shopping Template

I got so familiar by going to the supermarket every week that I found myself remembering visually where the items werein the store. However, when I wrote my lists I didn’t always get the order right and I found myself having to go back to other aisles to pick things up – very inefficient! However I noticed that at the end of each aisle at the supermarket there was a little index card that listed all the aisles and their contents. When I went home I e-mailed the supermarket and asked them if it was possible to send me a copy of it. Lo and behold they sent me a copy in excel format which I was able to reformat so that I had a list of products in aisle order. I then went through this list and added all the products that we usually buy to create a list that would act as a template. So when we run out of something we really need or when we plan our menus it gets written straight onto the supermarket template – then it’s off to the shops…

At the supermarket

Now that I am armed with my completed template I simply cross off the items as I pick them up. As everything is in the correct order there is no doubling back (wasted time) to pick things up. Having a list also helps to stop impulse shopping (our rule is only to buy what’s on the list) – so this also saves money.

When I buy items I rarely stick to specific brands (except maybe for Heinz tomato ketchup!) as this allows more flexibility to pick things up on special. I usually try to scan for specials but I am always wary that even though an item is on special it may not be the cheapest option (saying that sometimes it can be a false economy to buy the cheapest). If you can – use unit based pricing to do a more accurate analysis. However I am always wary of “buy 2 for X$” offers. Remember – only buy what you need. Ask yourself – “if I buy this special offer this week will it save me from buying it next week”.

I also stack similar items in my trolley together each time. This means that similar items e.g. frozen goods stay together when they are placed onto the checkout, which means that they will be together in the same bag when I get home which makes it faster to unpack them and put them away.

Make it a habit

Try to go to the supermarket a few different times before you settle upon a regular time to go. Items usually go on special at particular times of the week. If you can identify when this happens then you can save yourself some more money (talk to the staff at the meat and bread counters – they may provide some inside knowledge!)

I go to the supermarket once a week. I choose this period because my fruit and veg will stay good for up to a week. I spend about an hour doing it which I think is pretty good for a whole family. This process may seem a bit extreme to some people but it saves me money, time and gets me back to where I want to be – with my family.

Cheers,

TPN