As someone who has recently moved out and is now faced with real life adult bills that need to be paid, I am now always hyper aware and on the lookout for ways I can save money. I'm that lady in Woolies who spends 3hrs doing her grocery shopping because she's got to compare the price per 100g of every single product to make sure she's getting the best deal and value for money😅
I've always been pretty vigilant and somewhat strict with money, but it doesn't have to be that way to see some extra leftover cash once all the bills have been paid. There are lots of small and super easy hacks that you can implement into your life that won't feel like you have to restrict yourself to improve your savings (or spending money ;)). Here's just a few that I've picked up along the way:
1. If you only take one thing away from this blog post , let it be this; The overall price of the product does not matter! It doesn't matter if it seems cheaper, if it's a sale that is too good to be true, or a 2 for 1 deal you can't possibly pass up. The ONLY thing that matters when trying to find the cheapest groceries is the tiny writing on the tag that says "per 100g". This will tell you the cost of each product in comparison to a common unit; per 100g, which therefore tells you the cheapest product overall. Let me give you an example;
You are trying to buy a tin of tomatoes. There are 2 options:
Tin A is a 400g tin and costs $2
Tin B is a 340g tin and costs $1.85
At face value, you would likely pick up Tin B because it is cheaper than Tin A, however the tin is smaller so you are getting less tinned tomatoes (hence why it is cheaper).
If instead you looked at the price per 100g, you would see that:
Tin A is priced at $0.30 per 100g
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| Consumer NZ, 2022 |
Therefore, even though at face value Tin B is cheaper, you are getting more value for money if you purchase Tin A. Basically, if Tin B contained 400g of tomatoes (the same as Tin A), it would be more expensive than Tin A.
This seems tedious however, once you get the hang of it, it is super quick and easy to just do a quick scan over the tags of all of the brands of whichever product you're buying to find the cheapest per 100g. The image to your right shows where to look on a price tag when looking for all the information you need at the supermarket to make the most money conscious product choices.
2. Buy your groceries in bulk. This one is a little counter-intuitive because the upfront cost of your groceries will be a little more than if you were to buy smaller sizes however, this ties perfectly in with my first point. In a general sense, the bigger the size, the smaller the cost per 100g, because it is easier and less costly for companies to produce items in large quantities. For example, let's say you are making spaghetti bolognaise for dinner and you need to buy beef mince. Buying the 500g packet would be enough for dinner tonight, but the cost per 100g is much higher than the 1kg packet. Instead, you could buy the 1kg packet which is much cheaper overall, and either freeze the leftover meat so it's in the freezer when you need it, or make up some rissoles for lunches for the rest of the week. That way you've saved money, and you've made dinner and lunches all in one!
3. Another food based hack; If you're buying in bulk anyway, you may as well cook in bulk too! Back to the spaghetti example, if you're buying a 1kg packet of mince meat, you may as well use it to cook a big batch of spaghetti. This way you'll have lots of leftovers either for lunches or dinner for the next few days without having to go back to the shops and spend money on more groceries! Here's a link to a bunch of recipes that work well for big batch cooking: Taste Batch Cooking Recipes, like this delicious Chicken Tikka Masala...
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| Taste.com Chicken Tikka Masala |
4. Have your spending money in a separate account, and if possible a completely separate bank! I made this change to my banking system a few months ago and it has worked absolute wonders on my spending habits. I have separated the bank account I get paid into away from the bank account that I spend from.
In my case, I have an everyday account with Bank SA which I've named the "Cash Hub". This is where all of my income gets paid into, and also where all of my bills come out of.
I then have an Up Bank everyday account which I transfer into each week from my Cash Hub. As I work in a casual hospo job, I don't have a set income each week and so I choose to transfer this money manually based on how much I get paid, however if you are on a salary you can absolutely set this transfer up as an automatic direct debit. I factor in fuel, groceries and spending money (this is just money used for fun things) and transfer this to my Up account. This is the money I have to spend that week, and it has a completely separate debit card from my Cash Hub. My Cash Hub then remains untouched, and has various automatic direct debits set up for bills and savings accounts.
Giving myself a visible barrier in terms of how much I am allowed to spend for the week (whatever is in my Up account) has really helped me cut down on my unnecessary spending and makes me give a lot more consideration into the pros and cons of a purchase before I make it.
I have lots more money saving hacks to share with you guys. Head on over to Money Saving Hacks Pt. 2 if you're keen to find out more!
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