Food costs: Look under the bonnet
Easy ways we can save money at supermarkets
I RECENTLY presented to an employee group on personal finances during these inflationary times. Part of the remit was to discuss food consumption and grocery shopping in general.
We are exposed to over 4,000 marketing messages daily in different forms, in an effort to influence what we buy.
There is so much information flooding our thoughts when food shopping, it’s a wonder we make it to the checkout.
When operating on a budget, we sometimes forget how we end up paying added value costs, which in many ways are unnecessary and certainly avoidable with a bit of insider knowledge.
Processed food: This term conjures up packaged, plastic food laden with E numbers and, while this is true to an extent, to me processed is any way the food is altered, from the food our grandmothers’ would recognise (as the saying goes).
The more the food is altered, added to or changed, the more you will pay. Yes there is the convenience, but paying 20 per cent more for a sliced chicken breast ‘for stir fries’ over the actual same weight of unsliced chicken breast? Really?
Air miles: Not strictly processing of course, but added costs accrue due to transportation of the food. So look at the country of origin and keep it local if you can.
Portions, sizes and weight: I perused the porridge products in a leading supermarket recently to see how they were priced. I was surprised
The more that food is altered or changed, the more you will end up paying for it
that the cheapest, relatively unprocessed organic oats, at 99c per kilo bag, cost over nine times less than the same weight of porridge, packaged in an individual portion in an individual plastic pot with a nice colourful foil top and a nice picture of porridge on the side.
Ditto for sliced and miniature cheese, sliced, cooked meat, packaged coleslaw, and egg mayonnaise, to name just a few.
I get the food wastage argument but there is a balance.
Most supermarkets have the handy ‘price per kilo’ shown on
the label on the shelf; check it out and make an informed choice. Stores: This is not related to the actual food but where you buy it. Picking a “few things up” in the corner shop always results in overspending. These shops are substantially more expensive so try to keep the corner shop for just the newspaper and occasional litre of milk. Take away and eating out: The ultimate food processing, in which others process your food to order and likely attract a significant premium. Yes we love them, but if you are looking to keep costs down, give them a miss.