Grocery shopping hacks to help beat inflation

Grocery bills have increased thanks to inflation. Effie Zahos shares tips on how to beat inflation at the supermarket.

Much to my surprise my husband has volunteered to take on the important role of food hunter. Every couple of days he braves the cold Sydney winter morning to fetch us our daily bread. His eagerness to take on this somewhat mundane task may have a lot to do with us being in week six of what is hopefully just a nine-week lockdown.

I’m certain his trips to the supermarket are a substitute for a night out with the boys. The fact that he dresses up for this outing (and puts on cologne) does worry me but, hey, I’m happy to stay indoors. My only concern is that his frequent trips to the supermarket are costing us a small fortune.

If, like me, you’ve noticed an increase in your grocery bills over the past few months, there’s a reason for it. Inflation has spiked to its highest level in over a decade over the June quarter (2021), causing the price of some essential items to rise. Groceries went up by 0.5% in the June quarter with fresh fruit and veggies seeing the biggest hikes (5.5% and 4.7% respectively).

While many of us have our own hacks to save money on groceries, I must say I came across a website – pickyourown.org – that I thought was a great way to not only save on fresh fruit and veg but also help our local farmers.

It gives you a rundown of local producers in your area and a crop calendar to see what produce is in season. By cutting out the middleman there are potentially big savings to be made.

Another way I have saved money is to use my rewards points to use gift cards which I can use towards my groceries. It frees up my cash flow.  If you don’t have rewards points then buying discounted gift cards can be another way to save.

Here’s to getting dressed up more often!

Effie

Cover image source: Dean Drobot/Shutterstock.com