2020 Feb 12
We all wish we had more money to spend. More money to do more things in life. But for most of us who are on a fixed monthly income, having more money sounds like a dream. But that doesn’t mean it’s an impossible task! The quickest way to have more money with a set monthly income is, to bring down our monthly expenses. But that does not mean we have to compromise.
Groceries can easily be one of the biggest monthly expenses for all of us. Monthly grocery costs can go as high as 30 per cent of the income of a regular family.Managing this cost efficiently could instantly uplift your living standards with the least amount of effort. Check out these simple steps that we have identified as the best practices to bring down your grocery cost drastically without compromising on quality and living standards.
1. Start by Setting Up a Grocery Budget
Most of us know exactly how much we need to maintain our lifestyles. Setting up a monthly budget and making sure that you stick to it would allow you to live a happy life with minimum compromises. By having a budget for groceries and knowing whether you’ve exceeded it will allow you to manage other expenses such as for shopping, entertainment or travel.
2. Always Make a List Before You Shop and Stick to It
Making a list before a shopping trip will give an idea of what is needed for a given period. This list should consist of the products and quantities you need for the set period. Check with all your family members whether they have anything to add to the list. DO NOT buy anything that isn’t in the list!
3. Avoid Frequent Shopping
Ideally, grocery shopping should be done a maximum of four times a month. Best is to do grocery shopping during the weekend for an entire week.
4. Avoid Buying Groceries from ‘Sillara Kades’
The best “value for money” options for grocery shopping are economic centers, ‘Polas’ (markets), wholesale shops or supermarkets. ‘Sillara Kades’ are usually the most expensive, although they claim to be our friendly neighborhood ‘mudalali’.
5. Check for the Unit Price
We’ve been conditioned to think that bigger is always better which is not always the case. We should only buy what we need for a set period and nothing extra. For example, when buying carrots for a week avoid buying a large quantity because you probably won’t eat carrots for all meals, every day. Check the unit price and buy only what is needed for the set period. But if you are buying label products off the shelf, then it makes sense to buy in higher volume packs as companies tend to price high volume packs at a lower unit price.
6. Buy Small Quantities from a Variety of Products
This provides a lot of options within our budget, with price being balanced between high cost items and low cost items. No compromise on lifestyle!
7. Buy Store Brands
Store brands usually are cheaper than other brands because the price does not consist of any advertising costs or retail margins. But low price doesn’t mean those items are low in quality, so you aren’t compromising quality for low cost.
8. Compare Prices of Labelled Products and Unlabeled Products
When purchasing dry rations like rice, sugar, dhal or grains, it is much cheaper to buy the unlabeled products. Although we know that fact we tend to buy the labelled products over the cheaper options for either convenience or quality, unlabeled products when purchased at supermarkets, still maintain higher quality and can be a smarter option.
9. Buy Products Which are on Offer
Priotise products which are on offer whether it is a loyalty offer, bank offer or a clearance offer. This will bring down the grocery bill drastically. Most supermarkets have credit card offers for fresh fruits, vegetables and meat during weekends.
10. Avoid Buying Anything Unnecessary
The aisles of a supermarket will always entice you to buy products that you don’t need. Think twice and avoid those cleverly placed items at the cashier!
If you try out some of these tips and it proves effective, don’t forget to let us know in the comments!
For more information visit https://www.sampath.lk/en/sampath-credit-card-
