The Weekly Food Shop – How to shop smarter

The food shop – something that people either enjoy or dread doing. Especially with the rise in costs of certain food items this year, it is more difficult than ever to plan and budget for your groceries. 

In this week’s blog, we are sharing our top tips to help you get the best value out of your weekly shopping trip and, hopefully, save a few euro on your shopping bill too. 

So, let’s tuck in… 

1. Look at store brands 

These are usually cheaper and usually located on the bottom shelf. Be conscious of the price per packet versus per kilo. For example, sugar usually comes in 1kg bags, but you might have a 500g bag right beside it for a few cents less (or even more sometimes!) Don’t be caught out, especially with products you use a lot. 

2. Tally up as you go! 

Do a rough tally of the costs as you shop, or better still, use a calculator. Most phones have a calculator. Adding the costs as you go around ensures you don’t overspend and get no big shocks at the checkout. It also removes the urge to impulse-buy expensive items. 

3. Don’t bring the kids shopping with you (if possible!) 

Those little hands and happy faces will surely put a few extras into your shopping trolley, or they will pester you until you buy treats. It’s not easy having to say no a million times. If you have no option but to bring the kids, allow them to have one thing, and factor this into your spending. For example, they can have something that is €1. This helps to teach them the value of money and will get them thinking about what they want to spend that €1 on. A welcome distraction.  

4. Embrace the freeze 

Buy frozen fruit and vegetables. They are just as nutritious and can be cheaper too. They rarely go off unless you forget about them in your freezer! 

5. Shop in the reduced aisle 

Have a look at the reduced section to see if there’s anything on your shopping list that you will be using immediately, this can be a quick way to save a few euro on your shopping bill and you’re also preventing food waste. Ask the shop assistant what times they start reducing and adding things to the reduced section and try plan your shopping around this to avail of the potential savings. 

6. Check the dates  

Always check the dates on fresh goods you’re buying so that you don’t find yourself throwing away food because it has expired. When putting away your groceries at home, arrange them in sequence of when they will expire, place things that will expire first at the front of your cupboard or fridge.
 

We understand that the increases in the cost of goods and services are having an impact on many people living in Ireland. The 6 tips, tricks, and life hacks in this blog are simple suggestions to help you find better value and stretch your euro. 

We hope you find our tips helpful and can keep them in mind when doing your next food shop. If you do find yourself struggling to manage household costs and bills, please get in touch. Our MABS team are here to listen and support you wherever they can. 

Contact Us

You can call the MABS National Helpline on 0818 07 2000 Monday to Friday, from 9am to 8pm or find the contact details for your local office. 

Don’t forget to follow us too at @MABSinfo – Facebook, Instagram., or Twitter. 

Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to ensure this information is current and correct. The details of each case can be unique. As a result, the outcome can be different to what has been described in this blog.

Note: We welcome references to and use of the content in this blog. However, please reference MABS and link said content if you choose to do so.