Everybody knows to comparison shop before buying a new car or to wait for a sale before buying a new TV. But when it comes to the small stuff, such as groceries, many people accept the prices on the shelves without a second thought.
I was one of them until a look at our budget revealed that food is one of my family’s biggest expenditures. That began a quest to lower our bill. My methods now save us 10 per cent or more on groceries—about $700 a year. Even if you can bring down your bill by just $5 a week, that’s $260 annually.
Slipping into the store and taking advantage of the hidden deals only other savvy savers can see makes me feel like a grocery shopping ninja. Here are some tips, tricks and apps to help you discover the deals, too.
1. Scan Weekly Flyers to Find the Best Deals
Spend a few minutes each week taking note of the on-sale items in your area. Then skip the drive around town and find a store—typically one from a larger chain—that offers price matching. I recently got a price match on three litres of olive oil—the stuff that usually goes for $20—for just $8.
“Most grocery stores put the best deals on the cover and back page to make it exciting and encourage you to open the flyer,” says Ken Wong, professor of marketing at Queen’s School of Business in Kingston, Ont. “That way, you might see another deal you like and spend more money in the store.”
2. Use Your Phone to Compare Prices
If hauling flyers around isn’t your thing, check out apps such as Save.ca and Flipp. Many cashiers will match the prices just by looking at your phone.
Another app, Checkout 51, goes one step further. You simply take a picture of your grocery store receipt with the app, upload it and select the items you’ve purchased off their list of weekly deals, which typically offer about 50 cents to $3 back per item. The Toronto-based company (which also provides the service through checkout51.com) credits you the amount and will mail you a cheque when your account with them reaches $20 or more. I’ve saved almost $80 this way over the past year.
3. Research Coupons to Cut Costs
You may not be able to whittle your bill down to 12 cents like some of those extreme couponers on TV, but this strategy is still worth the effort. Company websites often offer coupons that you can print out.
Sites like save.ca and Procter & Gamble’s brandsaver.ca let you pick from a wide variety of coupons and will mail them to you. I recently used a manufacturer’s coupon for $1 off a box of our favourite pasta, which usually costs $2.69. I showed the cashier a competing flyer offering the pasta for just $1 and she matched that price. Then I used my $1 coupon. That means I got free spaghetti!
4. Earn and Redeem Points Through Loyalty Programs
Find out what your grocery store offers and make the most of it. For example, Loblaw recently launched their PC Plus program (available at 600 stores), where members earn points on purchases to put toward dollars off their grocery bills. Using their app, once a week I receive a list of personalized offers for extra store points available to me based on my purchase history. I show the cashier a bar code within the app at checkout to collect or redeem points. (The program is also available using a card.) By using their store credit card, I’m able to double the points on my total order (and I pay off the balance right away, so there’s no interest).
I focus my efforts on one points program, so my balance builds up quickly. I redeem my points for a few free grocery runs each year—usually before a fancy dinner party or a holiday meal, like Christmas dinner. “People don’t realize loyalty program points are money,” says Wong. “Not only can you exchange them for merchandise and travel, with [programs like] Air Miles, you can get hard cash back.”
5. Check Your Receipt For Errors
Find out if your regular grocery store adheres to the Scanner Price Accuracy Voluntary Code of Practice managed by the Retail Council of Canada. If an item scans at a price that’s higher than advertised or displayed in the store, you’re entitled to receive it free, up to a maximum value of $10. I recently scored a bottle of Advil this way.
6. Don’t Buy Just Because There’s a Sale
“From a consumer’s perspective, the big question should be ‘Am I buying something I’d like to try and I can justify it at the promotional price or am I buying this because it is on sale?’” says Wong, adding the latter may mean you never use the product.
And don’t buy more than you really need (or can store). I learned that the hard way. My favourite brand of beans was recently on sale for just 75 cents a can, so I bought 12 flats. That’s $108 worth of beans! Despite the deal, my husband wasn’t impressed. Where would we store 144 cans in our tiny Toronto home? They wound up in the basement; I bump into the slowly diminishing stack every time I haul laundry to the washing machine.
Mary Vallis spends Friday nights drinking wine and circling deals with a black marker in the weekly flyers.