Price of groceries on the rise: 15 easy ways to cut the price of your weekly shop
The cost of groceries rose by 5.5% in Ireland during 2021.
If you've noticed the cost of your weekly shop increasing, you're not wrong. According to figures from the Central Statistics Office, the cost of staple items in many of our trolleys like bread, butter, milk, pasta and tea rose by up to a third in December.
The report says the price of groceries rose by 5.5% in Ireland throughout 2021 — one of the largest hikes we've seen in 20 years. With prices set to continue to rise, these are some of the easiest ways to save money when it comes to your Big Shop.
1. Most food can be repurposed or cooked into something before it spoils. Tired vegetables can be whizzed into soup — use this foolproof method for any soup to clear out your fridge.
2. Leftover roast meat can be shredded for sandwiches or into sauces for pasta or burritos. I grate the ends of cheese into a box that I keep in the freezer and use for pizzas, lasagnes and quesadillas and also keep a bag of Parmesan and Pecorino rinds in there to add umami to soups and stews.
3. Milk that is on the way out is a perfect substitute for buttermilk, and all those almost-empty jars of ketchup and jam can be loosened and used up by adding a drop or two of water to the bottle or jar.
4. It’s boring but it’s true. If you plan your weekly meals then you will save money. Make sure to factor in lunches, snacks, coffees and juices in order to get a realistic overview of what you and your family eat every week.
5. Be mindful about how much rice and pasta you cook, and how much you eat. Lots of us cook far too much and don’t use it as leftovers.
6. Speaking of leftovers, if you serve your food ‘family-style,’ on platters or bowls in the middle of the table, it allows everyone to help themselves, but also facilitates packing away leftovers with ease, and in a way that makes them easier to repurpose.
7. Buying certain items on your shopping list in bulk can definitely save money, but there are a number of factors that affect this. The first is space. If your living quarters are low on storage space, then buying a year’s worth of cut-price toilet paper may save you money but could cost you in stress.
8. When it comes to food, only buy what you will eat. For example, if you don’t bake, a giant sack of cut-price flour might seem a good idea, but it goes off surprisingly quickly, especially when stored in warm or humid conditions.
9. Large packets of spices may seem like a bargain, but unless they are decanted immediately into airlock canisters, they will lose their strength from the moment they are opened. Spices are nearly always better bought in small quantities — whole if possible, and ground as you need them.
10. Look out for bargains and swoop when items you and your family consume a lot of are on special offer. Large tubs of peanut butter, your favourite grain, good quality tuna or mackerel and dried beans all have a long shelf-life and can be used in hundreds of different ways.
11. Remember a supermarket’s entire purpose is to make us spend money and in order to outwit the mechanisms they have put in place to make you want to buy more, you must plan. Starting your shopping journey from the opposite side of the store to the door is often a good idea, and wear headphones to drown out supermarket music which is played at a slower tempo in order to make you linger more.
12. Buy your baked goods at the end of the day, when the prices have been discounted. Freeze individual rolls and pastries and slice bread before freezing. When defrosting, drizzle with a little water before heating in the oven and they will taste freshly baked.
13. Dropping a ‘quality’ tier will almost always result in a price drop and more money in your pocket. Certain items are a no-brainer. Tinned whole plum tomatoes are cheaper but are better quality tomatoes than those in the tins of chopped tomatoes, which generally contain the bruised or less palatable fruit. Own-brand bread, milk, cheese, rice and other staples like pasta and rice are all excellent quality as a rule (most are made by big-name brands too) and will save you money.
14. When buying meat, choose a large joint of meat and ask the butcher to portion it for you. A chicken can be portioned into at least six pieces, your butcher might be willing to put half of a joint of beef through a grinder for you so that you can make several meals from one piece. Fish is almost always cheaper when bought frozen — and it’s guaranteed to be fresh too.
15. It’s good to be loyal, but don’t be afraid to shop around. When it comes to your big shop every week, there are some important things to weigh up for you and your family. Shopping online is a great way to both save money and time, but it means for the most part that you will be doing your shop from one supermarket. If you shop around and spread your spending according to deals and prices, it will definitely reap the financial rewards, but it also takes more time and planning, which is a very important economy of its own.
