Topic 8: Savvy shopping

» Buying smarter
» Cheaper living / shopping
» Low-cost options: tips for families
» Getting best value at the supermarket - unit pricing

Buying smarter
Another way to deal with limited funds is to buy smarter - and become a smarter shopper.

Making Cents You could try some simple strategies to see if they work for you. The [cheaper eats] prompt sheet explores cooking at home versus eating take away versus eating out. You could try this activity at home.

Work out the cost of shopping and cooking at home. Work out the cost of getting a take away meal and the cost of eating out.

Try and agree first on what you will eat and then work out how much it will cost. See which one comes out the cheapest and most fun.

Cheaper living/shopping

Buy things you need in bulk and store them
Design a week's menu, then make a shopping list for the ingredients ( this also saves time at the end of a busy day as you will have worked out the meal ahead of time)
Join a food co-operative to buy your fruit and vegetables
Check out the local markets in the area
Check out any local good value shops
Go to garage sales - have a list of what you are after
Organise your own garage sale
Buy things on cheap days - like petrol/or go to the movies etc - - join clubs, use discount tickets.

Low-cost options: tips for families
Another way of becoming a smarter shopper, stretching a budget and controlling how much we spend is to use low-cost options.

What are your best tips for low cost things for the family to do together?
Discuss the low cost options:tips for families that could save you money. Do a Google search to see what low budget menus and recipes are available to download for free.

Shopping at the supermarket
If you do some or all of your shopping at the supermarket there are some things to look out for:

Don't go shopping without a list
Buy in bulk if it's cheaper and you can afford it that week
Have your meals planned out for the week
Avoid vegatables that are pre cut or packaged
Eat before you go - or at least don't be hungry
Give yourself enough time to compare items
Look at the unit costs when things are on offer
Don't forget your reusable bags!

Getting best value at the supermarket - unit pricing
Costs of shopping for everyday items like food, washing powder and toiletries can be high. Families now have access to a new federal government initiative called unit pricing. This means that when you shop in major supermarkets you will not only get the price of the whole product e.g. pack of toilet paper, large apple juice, muesli bars, you will also find information about the price per sheet, per unit or per 100g. This will help you to compare pricing of different brands including the supermarket's own brand, to find out which one is the cheapest.

If shampoo A is on offer for $3.30 containing 250g and shampoo B next to it is on offer at $2.99 containing150g you may be tempted initially to take the cheaper one. When the unit price per 100g is added however, at 1.32 for A and 1.99 for B per100g, it is clear that A is better value for money.

Many supermarkets have been including unit pricing for some time but in July 2009 it became a new unit pricing law. Retailers who have been slow to react have been given until December 1, 2009 to fully comply. Small retailers are not required to introduce unit pricing due to the costs involved but can take part. So you could look out for unit pricing at your local stores too, or ask them to consider taking part!

See useful websites for some comparison shopping websites