If you know the standard prices of groceries you regularly buy, you can save yourself a nice chunk of money as you hunt for specials and do your grocery shopping each month. Knowing my prices certainly helps me! So I’ve decided to share my list of the lowest prices of grocery items on special. I keep track of each item’s regular price as well as the lowest price on special advertised for in the shops lately. This list includes prices that are valid as of October 2016.

Why is it important to keep track of prices? Well, when the items you regularly buy go on special you would need to know if it really is the lowest price available on that product of if it a reduced price only at a specific store. Quite a few of our local supermarkets run specials on the same items in the same period, and one of those deals will usually be the best deal, so it’s important to know which one it is.

Also, if you don’t know the standard price of items in shops, how can you tell if the advertised amount on special is a good deal or not? I’m sure that many of you have learnt this the hard way, as I have! In fact, I am still learning and I still make a mistake sometimes – just the other day I returned a bottle of shampoo to a shop as it was R10.00 more expensive than in another shop, almost right next door!

Buying in bulk can be misleading. Often, the prices are cheaper per item, yes, that’s true. At other times, the price is cheaper by 20c or 50c which makes you wonder if you are really going to save much by spending money in fuel and driving or paying for public transport to get to a certain shop.

And quite often retailers will advertise buying a certain item in bulk at a certain price when you can actually buy the single item cheaper in another shop! Yes, I know, I am one of those people who walks around the stores doing my end-of-month grocery shopping with a calculator in my hand as I calculate the price per unit of advertised items in bulk but that’s the only way I can check if I am really getting the cheapest deal available!

Whenever I can get items that we regularly buy and use at their lowest price, that’s when I will buy a few, or more if my budget allows it, to add to my stockpile. I’m especially a fan of stockpiling non-perishable items when I can get them at rock-bottom prices and I will usually wait for the specials to come, and stock up as needed, so that I don’t have to buy these items at their regular prices. I will also stash cuts of meat or vegetables in our freezer when I see them at the lowest price possible.

Here is my list of the lowest prices of grocery and household items on special. These prices are up-to-date as of October 2016.

General Groceries

• Sugar (no name brand): R27.99 for 2.5kg.
• Cake Flour: R19.99 for 2.5kg.
• Sunflower oil (non-GMO): R34.00 for 2-litre bottle.
• Eggs: R36.00 for a crate of 30 grain-fed eggs.
• Soya Mince: R9.99 for a 200gr. packet.
• Puff Pastry (Today): R8.90 for 400gr. roll.
• Frozen Pies (Makro): R8.30 per pie (when bought in bulk of 12).
• Noodles (various): R3.30 per 100gr. packet.
• Rice (Tastic): R10.00 for 1kg (bought in bulk).
• Pasta: Fatti & Moni’s R9.99 or Woolworths R10.00 for 500gr. packet

Meat

• Beef shin stewing meat: R39.99 for 1kg.
• Boerewors: R39.99 for 1kg.
• Biltong: R120.00 for 1kg.
• Minced meat: R49.99 for 1kg.
• Whole chicken: R24.99 for 1kg.
• Chicken pieces in brine: R37.99 for 2kg bag.

Dairy

• Long-life Milk (no name brand): R9.99 for 1 litre (in a 6-pack).
• Plain Yoghurt (various): R23.99 for a 1-litre tub.
• Fruit Yoghurt (various): R10.00 for 6 cups.
• Maas (no name brand): R21.00 for a 2-litre bottle.
• Margarine: Blossom R24.99 for 1kg, Canola R36.00/Flora Gold for 1kg.
• Butter: (Woolworths) R39.99 for 500gr or (Emerald’s) R34.99 for 500gr.
• Cream cheese: R17.00 for a 250gr. tub.
• Gouda or Cheddar: (Lancewood) R79.00 for 900gr.

Tinned Food

• Baked Beans (no name brand): R5.30 for 410gr. tin.
• Corn kernels (Koo): R10.99 for 410gr. tin.
• Tuna: R9.99 for 175 gr. tin.

Household cleaning supplies

• Automatic washing powder (Ariel, Sunlight or Skip): R39.99 for 2kg.
• Fabric Softener (Comfort): R25.00 for 800ml bottle.
• Window cleaner (no name): R22.00 for 750ml bottle
• Handy Andy (no name brand): R9.99 for 750 ml bottle.
• Kitchen cleaner (Handy Andy Actifizz): R19.00 per 750ml refill.
• Dishwashing liquid (no name brand): R16.00 for 1-litre bottle.
• Tile Cleaner (Glade): R16.00 for 1-litre bottle.
• Dishwasher tablets (Mr.Sheen): R72.00 for 36 tablets.
• Pine Gel (Westpack): R68.00 for a 5-litre bucket.

Toiletries

• Toothpaste (Colgate/Aquafresh): R7.00 for 100 ml tube.
• Mouthwash (Colgate): R42.00 for 500ml + 250ml bottles.
• Soap (Protex, Dettol or Pears): R7.00 or R7.30 for 200 gr.
• Cotton Buds (Dove): R9.99 for a packet of 200.
• Shampoo or Conditioner (Tres Semme): R49.99 for 900ml.
• Razors (no name brand): R6.00 for a packet of 2 disposable razors.
• Tissues (Twinsaver): R9.99 for a packet of 200.
• Toilet paper (Baby-Soft): R74.00 for 18s.

Fruits

• Bananas: R7.00 for 1kg.
• Oranges: R20.00 for a 7kg pocket.
• Apples: R6,60 for 1kg (when bough in bulk of 3kg)
• Strawberries: R10.00 for a punnet.

Vegetables

• Carrots: R10.00 for 5kg.
• Potatoes: R34.00 for a 7kg pocket.
• Cabbage: R10.00 for 2.
• Lettuce: R10.00 for 3.
• Spinach: R10.00 for 3.
• Butternut: R20.00 for 7kg.
• Mushrooms: R10.00 for a punnet.

I do hope you will find this list useful. There are, of course, once-off specials I may come across from time to time, but unfortunately, these do not repeat (though I wish they did!) and I have not included them in this list.

If you know of any prices that are lower than these though, or if there are any items that you would like to see included in this list, please do let me know by leaving me a comment below.

The post Know Your Prices appeared first on Frugal in SA.

I’m a huge fan of stockpiling non-perishable items in moderation. We don’t have a lot of space to store food or other items so my stockpile can never get too big, which is a good thing! I do have enough space for stockpiling certain items which we use on a regular basis and whenever I can get these items at their lowest in the shops, I buy as much as my budget allows.

When I meal plan for the month, I always make sure I check my pantry and freezer for items which I already have and which I can use in the coming weeks. This helps us keep our grocery bill in check and also helps us save overall – if I bought an item at a very low price this means that the meal I prepare with it will cost me less overall (you can read more about this in my post Meal Planning Around Specials).

Stockpiling allows you to take advantage of very low prices and this carries on throughout the year. Starting a stockpile doesn’t have to cost you a whole lot. Simply spend a bit extra, within your budget of course, to stockpile certain items when they go on special. I try and look for rock-bottom prices. In August, for example, I bought 4 bottles of Comfort fabric softener at R25.00 a bottle when normally a bottle costs over R40.00 and even on special it comes down to only about R36.00 so. This was a huge saving.

In July I found Alpo Purina dog chunks at R 149.00 per 8kg (normally this bag is over R200.00) as well as Husky tinned dog food at just over R17.00 per tin (normally they are about R23.00 or more each) so I bought as much as I could within my budget that month. This means that I will be saving money on those particular items by not buying them at a higher price.

It is important to check the expiry dates on all your stockpiled items. I do this twice: I first check the expiry date on the items before I buy them and when I store the stockpiled items I make a note of expiry dates somewhere visible in my pantry so that I am reminded of what needs to be used up and by which date. This really does help as it’s so easy for items to end up right at the back of a shelf and you only get to them when it’s too late, and you don’t want to turn your intended saving into a waste!

If you stockpile already, what are some of your favourite items to stockpile when you can? Here are my top items to stockpile in my pantry which you might find useful if you are just starting out with stockpiling.

• Coffee and Tea.

• Tinned meat (tuna, sardines, corned beef).

• Tinned vegetables & fruit (baked beans, for example).

• Tinned pet food.

• Pasta & rice.

• Oil, sugar and flour.

• Rusks & crackers.

• Laundry washing powder & fabric softener.

• Household cleaning supplies.

• Toiletries (shampoo, toothpaste, soap, toilet paper)

Having a stockpile, even a small one, can help reduce your expenses each month. Even if you decide to spend only a hundred or two hundred Rand each month, within your budget of course, to stockpile on items when available at their lowest prices, I’m sure you will find that it does help from one month to the next.

Have you ever taken part in a Pantry and Freezer Challenge in order to reduce the amount of items you have in your stockpile, no matter how small, and to save a bit of money? I have! You can start by reading my post Take the Pantry and Freezer Challenge.

The post Are you a fan of Stockpiling? appeared first on Frugal in SA.

I first heard of Snap n Save mobile app sometime late last year. I downloaded and started using the mobile app a few months ago. Having read and come across so many blog posts by fellow frugal bloggers, especially in the UK and the US, about cash-back apps, I was thrilled to finally come across a similar app for us to use in South Africa.

It’s a cash-back app meaning I can get a certain amount of cash back when I buy items that are featured in the app. To download the app simply search for Snap n Save in your mobile app store and after downloading and installing, register with your cell phone number and a password. Then you’re good to go.

Browse the offers and book the ones you want. You then have 48 hours to buy the item before your booking expires. You then take a photo of your till slip and wait up to 48 hours for approval. If the photo has been uploaded correctly and all the necessary information displays accurately on their side, you get the cash back into your Snap n Save wallet. When you decide to redeem your cash you will receive a coupon and you can use it at any Pick ‘n’ Pay or Dis-Chem and a few other shops. You can read in more detail about how it works in here.

What do I like about Snap n Save?

You definitely save money on certain items. Some items display as high as 51% off. Many items, however, offer just over R1.00 or R2.00 or R3.00 or R4.00. Other items offer a saving of R5.00 or R20.00. What I’ve also seen is that they offer cash back on certain items which are on special in store already so you save double, so to speak, but those are really few and far between.

Do I use Snap n Save?

I have it installed on my phone. I check for new additions each week. It seems new items are added on Fridays and some of those items get booked very quickly, especially the ones with the higher savings amounts. I guess the app has become popular since I first came across it.

How many items have I bought and cashed back using Snap n Save?

Just a few over the last few months, and I’ll tell you why. While they offer everyday items such as bread, milk, vegetables, oil, cool drinks, alcoholic drinks, chocolates, pet food, household cleaning materials, etc. some of those brands and/or items I actually don’t buy at all and the items that I do buy, I usually get the cheaper varieties which still cost me less on special than with the cash I would get back by buying the items listed in the app at full price. This is why I only had R16.50 in my wallet and finally this month I decided to spend it instead of having that amount of money just sitting there; after all, it is money that I’d spent some time ago.

Redeeming the Snap n Save voucher at a Pick ‘n’ Pay till was easy enough, although the teller was unfamiliar with it and had to call the supervisor to assist. Other than that, I had no problems redeeming the voucher and I was happy to have at least R16.50 taken off my final bill.

All in all, I prefer the instant vouchers/coupons/specials available on the grocery items that I buy in store each month. If there were more items available on Snap n Save that I actually need and/or buy on a regular basis I’d be happy to use the cash-back app more often. I will keep checking the deals every week though – you never know what awesome deals might become available!

Disclaimer: Financial compensation was not received for this post. Opinions expressed here are my own.

The post My Take on Snap n Save appeared first on Frugal in SA.

Because I’ve been doing the Pantry and Freezer Challenge for a couple of weeks now, and using up groceries from our pantry and freezer, I spent less than what I budgeted for our grocery shopping in both July and August. This month’s grocery shopping was definitely a breeze as I didn’t need to buy too many items at all. We have a number of ready-made meals available in our freezer to use even in September and again all because of the Pantry and Freezer Challenge that I’ve been doing this month! That really has been a money saver for us over the last few weeks. However, I did have to go grocery shopping at the end of the month and here are some of the savings I’d found.

My first grocery stop was at Pick ‘n’ Pay and I bought quite a few of my groceries there. They had a lot of good specials though we didn’t need to buy too many. Pick ‘n’ Pay also offered a R50.00 voucher to Smart Shoppers who spent over R500.00 in their store in one go. I certainly made use of that! And If I’m not mistaken this promotion was valid until 28 August although the voucher is valid for 2 weeks from the date of issue.

I shopped at Pick ‘n Pay on two different days so I got a R50.00 voucher for each shop (that was the plan!). On the second day I used up the first R50.00 voucher I received and kept the second voucher to be used another time (you only get the voucher after you’ve bought but I don’t suppose anyone would stop you from walking back into the shop straightaway to spend it). I also used up another R80.00 in Smart Shopper points, which I was pleased about and for the first time ever, I also cashed in my Snap n Save points at Pick ‘n’ Pay. I didn’t have too much money in my Snap n Save wallet, only R16.50 but I decided to cash it in anyway (you can read why in my post My take on Snap n Save).

Pick ‘n’ Pay had whole chickens at just R24.99 per kg so I stocked up on that as well as minced meat at R55.00 per kg. They also had Canola margarine 1kg for R47.00, a crate of eggs for R35.99, 2.5 kg sugar for R24.99, Mr. Sheen dishwasher tablets 32s for R72.00, ham at the deli for R65.00 per kg (that’s half the price), 1kg Kellog’s cornflakes for R36.99, long life milk (6s) for R65.99, 1 litre plain Yoghurt at R19.00 and Glade automatic freshener refills 2 for R69.99. These are just some of the items that I bought.

Several people have actually asked me why I prefer to buy long-life milk instead of the sachets or the bottles, well, it’s because of the price and I have been buying long-life milk every month on special for several years now. The price of long-life milk on special nowadays is usually R11.00 per litre whereas milk in bottles can go up to R14.00 per litre, or a bit more than that. We go through about 10-12 litres of milk per month which means I save about R36.00 if I buy the long-life milk instead of the sachets or the bottles. Powdered milk would possibly be even cheaper but we just don’t like the taste of powdered milk in our tea/coffee so long-life milk it is!

I found some good R100 deals at Makro this month: 4 bottles of Comfort fabric softener for R100 (they are normally R45.00 each but they only cost R25.00 each with this deal), 6 bottles of Glade tile cleaner for R 100 (they are about R24.00 per bottle but I paid just over R16.00), 7 bottles of Furniture polish for R100 (normally I pay about R19.00 for the cheapest one but this cost me just over R14.00 each) and 2kg Ouma rusks also for R100 as well as 6 bottles of Hall’s 1,25 litre juice concentrate.

If I am buying in bulk I always check the price per unit as I want to make sure that I am paying less per unit that I normally would in the shops. I’m one of those people that you would see walking around the shops with a small calculator to check prices as I go along! Knowing how much items in general cost also helps but since I do our grocery shopping each month I know the prices of items that we regularly buy off by heart. Unless it’s a really good deal, I won’t buy in bulk.

Meat World Alberton had the cheapest Gouda cheese at R69.99 per kg (compare that to 900 gr. of Gouda cheese for R95.00 at Checkers and R89.98 at Woolworths). Pick ‘n’ Pay had no name plain Yoghurt at R19.99 whereas plain Yoghurt at Woolworths was R25.00 if you bought 2 for R50.00 and about R28.00 each at Checkers. Ariel washing powder was just over R44.00 at Checkers while it was on special at Pick ‘n’ Pay for just over R48.00 so of course I stopped by Checkers on my way home to get a couple of bags. All in all I bought a handful of items at Checkers this month and nothing at Woolworths.

At Apple Tree Fresh Food Market I bought potatoes and onions in bulk for the month, some bananas and apples (3kg for R30.00) and I also found about 2kg of Brinjals for R10.00 and 5 very large green peppers for R15.00 which I used to make stuffed Brinjals for us.

All in all, that’s close to R700.00 that I did not spend this month. If I take into account that I didn’t have to do a very large shop this month, and I spent less than what I had originally budgeted for groceries, that was a huge saving.

The post Grocery Savings in August appeared first on Frugal in SA.

Apart from being cold, July has definitely been a quiet month in terms of grocery shopping in our household. I have been so swamped with work over the past 7 weeks, and including weekends, that I have not had the time or the energy to do as much grocery shopping as I normally do.

I bought groceries from Checkers and Pick ‘n’ Pay this month only. I went to Checkers one day after work and then I went to Pick ‘n’ Pay the following day, also after work. The fact that I had been so busy that I actually had to go shopping after work was less than ideal for me. I am tired after a whole day at work and I often feel rushed to get the shopping done before the shops close and then to get home before I am too exhausted to unpack and put everything away.

I did not go to Meat World for any meat or to the Apple Tree in Alberton for fruit and veggies last month. As it happens, I had enough veggie staples, which for us is potatoes, onions and carrots, to last us for at least two weeks. I would have liked to have gone to Apple Tree in Alberton but as I was at work most weekends last month, that just wasn’t possible. Luckily as well, our freezer was more than sufficiently stocked with enough meat to last us for the whole month ahead. I also had several left-over meals and meals that I had cooked in large batches in our freezer so as I was preparing the shopping list I realised that I wouldn’t actually have to do that much grocery shopping in July anyway, which was a relief, considering how little time I had on my hands.

In terms of specials that I’d found, Pick ‘n’ Pay had good specials on no name brand sugar and long-life milk, Protex bars of soap, sandwich ham at just over R50.00 per kilo (or R5.00 per 100 grams), Pedigree meat pouches at R16.00 for 4 pouches (normally they are about R7.00 per pouch), oil, coffee, tea, Ouma rusks, Tropika juices, dishwasher tablets, cookies, eggs (R34.00 for a tray) and puff pastry. Those are just some of the specials that I’d found which I needed or wanted to buy for us for the month ahead.

In terms of specials at Checkers, they had good specials on Lancewood 1-litre yoghurt tubs, Alpo Purina dog chunks at R 149.00 per 8kg (normally this bag is over R200.00), a variety of ready-made meals reduced to clear for R10.00 / R13.00 / R20.00 per meal, reduced to clear ready-to-roast veggie bags at R20.00 for a very large bag and Husky tinned dog food at just over R17.00 per tin (normally they are about R23.00 or more each). I bought less at Checkers as they simply had fewer items on special which we needed for the month.

Overall, I spent about R330 less in July by shopping specials. On an even more positive note, I spent overall less than what I had budgeted for groceries in July simply because I bought less.

And on an even more positive, and frugal, note I’ve decided that I will be cooking up a storm and getting super, super creative this month with whatever we have in our pantry and freezer. This is partly to compensate for the small amount of grocery shopping which I did in July to get us through the month, and also because I want to save that bit of money which I did not spend on groceries and put it to better use.

So join me in the Pantry and Freezer Challenge in the month of August!

Read more about it in my post Take the Pantry and Freezer Challenge.

The post Small Grocery Savings in July appeared first on Frugal in SA.

June has definitely been a good month for grocery savings! There were quite a few grocery items on special, and some of those items I hadn’t seen at such cheap prices in a long time. Although I don’t really like to stock up on a lot of grocery items these days (as this can blow right through my budget for the month!) I did stock up on several items which I thought were really good value as I’m sure they’re not going to be as cheap again in the next few months. I did most of our grocery and toiletries shopping this month at Pick ‘n’ Pay, Apple Tree Fresh Food Market, Meat World, Checkers and Dis-chem.

Pick ‘n’ Pay had a lot to offer for their birthday specials this month. Just before the 25^th they had Husky Purina tin dog food for R17.99 (the current going price is R23.99 or R22.99, depending on where you shop) so I stocked up on 2 months’ worth for our pooches as I haven’t seen this particular brand of food at that price in months. Pick ‘n’ Pay had 3kg OMO washing powder at R54.99, 2kg Skip washing powder at R38.99, 2-Ply Baby Soft toilet paper 18s for R79.99 and Glade automatic air freshener refills R69.99 for 2, all of which I thought was good value. Some of the groceries items on special at Pick ‘n’ Pay which I bought included cooking oil, olive oil, sugar (R27.99), eggs (R35.00 for a crate of large eggs), whole chicken, 2 litre Clover juices, Dewfresh sour cream and Kellogg’s cornflakes, to mention just a few.

While I didn’t buy that much at Checkers this month, I found these 2 really good specials: 900gr. Lancewood Gouda Cheese for R79.00 (regular price is just over R100.00) as well as imported Lavazza ground coffee for R50.00 (regular price is R84.99). As these are items that we go through regularly each month, I stocked us up. Checkers also seemed to have the cheapest yoghurt tubs available which literally seemed to fly off their fridge shelves!

Apple Tree Fresh Food Market had some amazing specials this month. On 2 different days, I bought the following on special:

• 1kg of Bananas for R7.99
• 1 pocket of Grapefruit for R9.99
• 5kg Carrots for R10.00
• 1 whole Pumpkin for R10.00
• 2 head of Cabbage for R10.00
• 1 box of Avocadoes for R15.99
• 3 bunch of Spinach for R20.00
• 7kg of Tomatoes for R29.99

I used most of the tomatoes to prepare a simple yet delicious chunky tomato sauce which we will be using as a pasta sauce and pizza topping over the next couple of months. This is a huge saving for us as we will probably get 15-20 meals out of this. This homemade tomato sauce can be frozen so it will keep a while (you can find the recipe here).

This month I cashed in yet another R100 e-voucher from Toluna which I used at Takealot. I am still using Toluna to complete online surveys and earn points so the vouchers keep coming quite regularly. Once again this month I was quite happy to see that Takealot had the large bag of dog chunks that I usually buy for our doggies R40 cheaper than in any of the shops, so I placed an order for two of those. Takealot also had Rogz dog collars and leashes on special/reduced this month so I was able to get 2 collars for 2 of our doggies that need theirs replaced for less than R100.00 which I thought was good value. As the total order came to over R250.00, delivery was free.

With all these savings, that’s a total of about R553 that I did not spend in June. On dog food alone I saved R260 and a further R150 on coffee which were the big ticket items for me this month.

What were some of your finds and savings for the month of June?

The post Grocery Savings in June appeared first on Frugal in SA.

This weekend we had to go shopping for some fresh fruits & veggies. So off we went to our favourite greengrocer’s in the Alberton area: Apple Tree fresh Food Market Alberton. We went mid-morning so it wasn’t too cold for us to traipse about and being the middle of the month, the area wasn’t as busy as it usually is at the end of the month. Strolling through the shop was a breeze!

The shop had some really nice specials on, including vegetable combos. The prices I thought were much cheaper than the prices of most veggies at supermarkets these days. I’ve actually stopped buying our fruits and veggies at supermarkets long ago and I do most of our fresh produce shopping at the Apple Tree fresh Food Market Alberton. This week we didn’t really need any of the staples such as onions or potatoes, as I normally buy those at the end of the month, but I was on the hunt for some nice, fresh veggies and fruits at a good price. This is what I found:

1kg Bananas – R7.99

2 kg Sweet Potato – R9.99

3 Lettuce – R15.00

2 kg Patty Pans – R20.00

2 kg Grapefruit – R20.00

5 kg Brinjals – R29.99

7 kg Gem Squash – R29.00

As you can see by the amount of veggies and fruits that I bought, and the prices, I thought this was all quite a bargain.

The fruits will last us about 2 weeks, and the lettuce for at least a week. The sweet potatoes were peeled and cut into chips strips straight away. We made sweet potato chips for our supper and we froze the rest to use another time. Whenever we make chips at home, I use our air fryer, and the chips fry with only a tablespoon or two of oil, and that’s it. Not only is this very healthy but it’s also good for our budget – no more wasting or reusing large amounts of oil for frying anything, not only chips, but the taste is almost the same, if not better.

I washed and quartered the patty pans and again, we only used some and stashed the rest away in the deep freeze. I roasted the patty pans with some garlic and parsley and a dash of olive oil. While there are many ways to roast patty pans and so many variations of spices you could use, the less you add the better it tastes; that is, if you love the taste of patty pans! The gem squash will last a while in the pantry and will be used as needed. As for the brinjals, I am looking forward to making some Baba Ganoush, which we so enjoy (you can find the recipe here).

If you are shopping in the Alberton area I would definitely recommend stopping by the Apple Tree fresh Food Market Alberton. You can follow Apple Tree fresh Food Market Alberton on Facebook for their weekly specials or check out the Alberton record weekly inserts. We’ve subscribed to Apple Tree’s SMS notification service so we receive an SMS with their specials each week, and this works for us. It’s good to know what’s available on reduced each week and I can then decide whether to make the trip to the shop or not.

Keep in mind that they usually only advertise their biggest specials and there are always plenty more fruits and veggies on special offer in the store. Whenever I go to the shop it’s always worth our while! Most of the fruits and veggies that we’ve been buying for more than a year now have always been on special and this has been a huge money saver for us.

The post Fruits & Veggies on Special This Week (12/06/16) appeared first on Frugal in SA.

Chasing month end savings and specials around the 24^th and 25^th of the month can be a bit of a nightmare if this date falls on a weekday, which it did this week, and for me that usually means that I have to do the shopping after a full day’s work, which can be exhausting. And postponing the shopping until Saturday, for example, is not really an option as the items on special usually run out by then and I then lose out on the savings. Because I had to shop on a weeknight this week, I am so glad that I didn’t have a whole heap of shopping to do as we still have quite a few cooked meals leftover in our deep freeze so all in all I had to buy less this month that what I normally would do which was a bit of a saving overall.

This month I received another R100 e-voucher from Toluna which I used at Takealot. As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I’ve been using Toluna for a while now to complete surveys and earn points to redeem for a voucher. Although Toluna offers other payment options, I was quite happy to get the Takealot voucher as they had the large bag of dog chunks that I usually buy for our doggies R40 cheaper than in any of the shops, so I placed an order for two of those. While I had to chip in a bit to pay for this, I didn’t have to pay for delivery as the order was over R250.

I did most of our grocery shopping this month at Pick ‘n’ Pay and Woolworths as they seemed to have the most offers on special. There were quite a few of the same items on special both at Checkers and Pick ‘n’ Pay with almost the same price but Pick ‘n’ Pay was still cheaper by about a Rand or so on each item. What I did buy at Checkers this month though is a copy of Essentials and Your Family, for R8 less each with their Eezi coupons. As I was spending less on our groceries this month anyway I thought I could do with a small treat!

I used just over R200 in Smart Shopper points at Pick ‘n’ Pay which reduced my total bill by quite a bit. Pick ‘n’ Pay are still offering all Smart Shoppers a free copy of their Fresh Living magazine, which I was really pleased about once again as I actually enjoy some of their articles as well as recipes. I also managed to stock up on some nice treats for our doggies at Pick ‘n’ Pay which they so enjoy – the Beeno Rollies and the Beeno Flatties, in various flavours – which were on special for only R14.90 each and normally they sell for either R25 or R28 at different shops.

At Pick ‘n’ Pay I also used a Unilever Deals coupon for R10 for a bottle of Comfort Fabric Softener which I needed, as this particular brand hasn’t come on special for several months now. I then spent a R100 voucher which I received from a company in the post just this week too. Last month we had a problem with one of their frozen items which we’d purchased for just over R40. When I phoned the number on the packaging to complain about this, they were nice enough to apologize profusely, take down my details and send me a R100 voucher to use on any of their products, which I did. So, thank you, company, for this small savings though you shall remain nameless in this blog post.

Woolworths had some nice specials on this month. They had the cheapest tins of baked beans around this month at R7 each, although you had to buy 4 tins for R28. What was also good I thought was 4 x 6-pack of low fat fruit flavoured yoghurt for R50 which works out to just R2 for each little tub. I also bought 2kg of Crunchy Munchie apples (these are our absolute favourites) for R20. You can check out lots more items on special at Woolworths here.

With all these savings, that’s a total of about R785 that I did not spend in May.

What were some of your finds and savings for the month of May?

The post Grocery Savings & Finds in May appeared first on Frugal in SA.

The month of March has certainly flown by! It has been a busy month for us too with so much happening and on top of that, I’ve been waiting to see how the recent economic developments in South Africa will affect us, the consumers, and ultimately how this will affect our monthly budget.

Everything has already gone up in the shops. The annual increases in medical aid costs as well as other types of insurance has already come into effect in January this year. The price of electricity has gone up effective 1^st April. The repo and prime interest rates, which affect everyone with any kind of debt, including the bond on your home if you have one with a variable interest rate, has also increased. Even one of my chronic monthly medication has cost more in March meaning that I will be paying about R500 more in 2016 for this item alone. Absolutely every single item or bill that we’ve had to pay for in March has cost us more than it did last month. And with an increase in fuel prices due on 6^th April I suppose we can only expect the prices in shops to go up yet again and very soon at that too.

I have had to make some serious adjustments to our budget in March. It was a choice between spending the same amount and being able to buy less or having to spend more in order to be able to afford to buy the same amount as last month. I honestly didn’t feel like I had a choice. I was very, very careful in choosing where to shop and what to buy for us for the month and this has been a bit more difficult simply because even the specials and deals were priced higher than they were in February. At one point I felt like I hadn’t saved on anything this month – I just had to pay more overall in spite of how careful I was! So even though I am about to share some of my savings and finds for the month of March, honestly, considering everything, I am still feeling a tad bit discouraged with all of my efforts.

I received a R200 e-voucher from Toluna which I used at Takealot. I’ve been using Toluna for a while now, completing surveys and earning points. When I have 20,000 points in my account I can then redeem this amount of points for a R100 e-voucher to spend at Takealot. I would definitely recommend Toluna to everyone: they send surveys very often and it doesn’t take that long before you can redeem your first e-voucher. I found that the large bag of dog chunks that I usually buy for our doggies was R40 cheaper at Takealot than in any of the shops, so I placed an order for two of those. While I had to add a bit more cash to pay for this, I didn’t have to pay for delivery as I ordered via the Takealot app again, so all in all, I did save quite a bit on this item for the month. I also spent some of our Ebucks at Takealot and bought 6 tins of dog food so that was practically a freebie!

I did most of our grocery and toiletries shopping in March at Pick ‘n’ Pay and Dis-Chem and I also bought some items at Checkers, Spar and Woolworths. I feel so grateful that all of these shops are in close proximity to each other in our area so I don’t spend that much fuel driving to all the different shops each month. I used a few Pick ‘n’ Pay vouchers that were available to Smart Shoppers and I also chose to redeem the points I had on my card with them. This was a bit of a saving on my total grocery bill at the shop but nonetheless a saving. Pick ‘n’ Pay also offered all Smart Shoppers a free copy of their Fresh Living magazine, March issue, which I thought was a nice gesture.

Dis-Chem had awesome 3 for 2 specials on certain items so for example I was able to buy 3 packs of hair dye for the price of 2, and the price had already been reduced. This will last me the next few months and has cost me about R130 less in total. Dis-Chem also had certain deodorants for about R10 less than elsewhere which was a good find. Ariel auto washing powder as well as Comfort fabric softeners were also the cheapest at Dis-Chem. I eventually ended up using a few Checkers Eezi coupons as well as Spar coupons to get a few items which were not as cheap elsewhere. I was also happy to receive 2 discount vouchers for Raid products from the Home Tester Club and this couldn’t have come at a better time as we were running low on our mosquito repellent liquid.

With all these savings, that’s a total of about R645 that I did not spend in March although we did spend a bit more on our total bill for groceries and toiletries than we did in February. This is despite my best efforts. Had I not been careful and had I not shopped around we probably would have spent even more.

What were some of your finds and savings for the month of March?

The post Savings & Finds in March appeared first on Frugal in SA.

South Africans spend, on average, 12,8% of their income on food and beverages per month, making this one of the top 3 expenditures in South African households along with transport and housing. We used to spend roughly the same amount of our income on food, and sometimes even more than that, if truth be told. We now spend about 10% of our income on food and beverages each month, and in this amount I also include all the food and treats for our 4 doggies as well as all our household cleaning items and our toiletries. And we pretty much stick to our grocery budget each month.

Our 10% figure took quite a bit of tweaking before we got it right. We manage to stick to it month in and month out because a) I budget, not only for food, but for everything else, b) I plan our meals according to our budget and based on what’s available on special that month, c) I shop at 2-4 different supermarkets at a time to take advantage of the variety of items on special and d) when I do go shopping, I don’t go over our budget even if there are plenty of great deals around which makes it so easy to overstock, and overspend, on lots of items.

More and more supermarkets and just about every other store in South Africa is offering ‘specials’ and ‘3 for 2’ deals and ‘50% off’ and ‘massive savings’ just before month end i.e. payday. While this is good for consumers because we can save on our monthly grocery shopping and stock up on what we need for the month ahead, this can also work against us, and our budget, if we’re not careful.

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While specials and deals will inevitably provide the opportunity for you to buy more at a lower price, you might just end up buying a whole lot more in order to ‘stock up more’, therefore generating higher profits for the retailer and either making a serious dent in your budget or going over your budget completely. And while you’re in the shop, you might also end up buying one or two or three or fifteen items that are not on special or on sale, increasing the amount you spend at the shop even more, and cancelling out the savings you made by going in to buy the items on special in the first place.

I often used to do the same, especially if I didn’t have time to shop around or I was too tired after a long week at work. I avoid this now, no matter how tired I may be and so not in the mood for grocery shopping. I look at the specials and deals available before I leave the house and I plan what to buy and where to buy it. Yes, I do generally end up shopping at 2-4 different supermarkets for the month but they’re all pretty much in the vicinity of each other so I don’t spend more on fuel and my budget benefits as much as possible from all the deals and specials available.

I also no longer overstock, or overspend, on specials and deals. I do sometimes stock up on items that we use on a regular basis but only if I can find those items at rock-bottom prices and even then, I only buy what my budget allows but no more (you can read more about how I stockpile in my post Are you a fan of Stockpiling?). This really helps us stick to our grocery budget each month. I know it’s great to have a stocked up pantry cupboard, it really is, but amid all the other things we have to think about each day, we do tend to forget what there is in our cupboards, how much there is and what the expiry dates are. Having to throw food away because it’s expired means that you’ve wasted, and not saved, the money you spent on it. Now I make sure that expiry dates are labelled and visible so that I know what needs to be used up and by when.

And also, if we’re not careful on how much we stock up we might just find ourselves with something like 20 tins of baked beans and 15 tins of tuna in our pantry at some stage. For us, there is a limit to how many tins of baked beans or tuna we can go through in a month or even two. Besides, certain foods do tend to go on special pretty much every month so I don’t really see the need to stock up on those items. The brands do change and while we have our favourites, I tend to buy whatever is cheapest. Either way, it’s all good and it can all be eaten and used. This is all the more reason for me to stock up only on items when they are at their lowest price.

I also have a pretty good idea of how much of each item we need for the month such as milk, sugar, coffee, tea, rice, pasta, to name just a few. If you’ve been budgeting, as I have, for a while now, you’ll get to know your budget and your expenses quite well. Buying just the right amount of groceries for the month really helps me stay on track with our budget.

Apart from this, I also plan our meals. Stay tuned for my Meal Planning Series coming soon on the blog!

Do you have any tips and tricks that help you stick to your grocery budget each month? Please leave me a comment below and share your ideas. I’d love to hear from you.

*Part of Financially Savvy Saturdays on brokeGIRLrich, Disease Called Debt and Frugal Consumerism*

The post Stick to Your Grocery Budget appeared first on Frugal in SA.