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A couple of months ago, Melanie Bye plugged her family’s grocery expenses into a spreadsheet. The total amount was “so bad” she thought she had “stuffed up the maths”.
But it was accurate. In disbelief that her family of three was shelling out a “ridiculous” $200 a week on food, she took action – creating meal plans, limiting grocery runs to once a week, and taking greater advantage of specials.
“We’re now spending half that - $100 a week,” said Ms Bye, mother of toddler Bridget. “We’ll be saving thousands of dollars a year.”
Shoppers are more conscious of costs than ever before, with new figures from research firm Nielsen revealing that the percentage of discounted products in the average basket has gradually increased and is now at 39 per cent – whether by spend or items.
“Three years ago 38 per cent of the grocery basket was bought on promotion,” said Megan Treston, executive director of retailer services at Nielsen, whose data is supplied and used by the major chains, including Coles and Woolworths.
“Although this seems small, we have seen retailers focus a lot more on everyday low prices and keeping the whole basket at a lower price.”
The latest data shows that one-quarter of the typical basket is now filled with private label products – reflecting both the growing demand for cheaper options and the availability of such lines.
What’s most interesting is that while the value of the average basket has grown by 5 per cent in the past year to $44.30, Australians are shopping less often – now 2.5 times a week.
Plan more, shop less
Gary Mortimer, marketing expert at Queensland University of Technology, says consumers can cut spending by shopping just once a week, because this will reduce their exposure to marketing ploys.
“This takes more planning, but supermarkets are set up to tempt you on every occasion such as impulsive treats, signage, cooking demonstrations,” he said.
He said if shoppers were serious about cutting down on grocery costs, they would start at home and conduct a stocktake so they can avoid buying duplicate (or “triplicate”) products.
Other tried and true strategies include price comparison websites such as Grocery Cop, opting for private label products, and bulk buying the basics such as long life, canned vegetables and milk.
“You should also lose the packaging because multi-tubs of yoghurts … and other small lunch box treats cost more that the whole product,” he said. “The extra cost of packaging and handling are all built into the product.”
He said lesser known but effective strategies included heading to the aisle that offers cheaper prices for the same product, for example, nuts in the fresh food section rather than the health food aisle, and using unit prices, which research shows can save a family of four up to $1700 a year.
“Also, shop late, because as the trading day draws to a close, generally after 7pm, supermarkets start marking down products to clear,” he said.
“And explore alternatives like visiting factory outlets, bulk meat retailers and online retailers that offer great off-price deals on deleted products.”
Jody Allen, author of The $50 Weekly Shop, said in an attempt to rein in spending, which could hit $400 in one trip, she put half a cow on lay-by with a local farmer and paid it off before winter.
This way, she was spending only $6 to $10 per kilogram on meat.
“We had loads of slow-cooked casseroles with the cheap cuts of meat,” she said.
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In a discussion on cutting grocery costs on the Facebook group Ryde District Mums, of which Ms Bye is a member, the strategy of bulk buying items such as meat direct from a farmer or a wholesaler piqued interest.
“We buy meat in bulk from a farmer, fruit and veg which is in season, and I meal plan for the month lunches and dinners,” said mother-of-two Vanessa Huang.
“We buy a quarter of beef once every four months, delivered to our door and we try and stretch it by having vegetarian meals a couple of times a week, but also buy up free range meat from supermarket when it is reduced in price.”