The "smart" shopping list is imposed to reach the end of the month

The record increase in the price of food, with inflation of 15.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
21 February 2023 Tuesday 21:29
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The "smart" shopping list is imposed to reach the end of the month

The record increase in the price of food, with inflation of 15.4% in the last year, has turned the purchase of the supermarket into a luxury for many families with economic difficulties. The average purchase ticket has risen 6.5% in one year, up to 34.6 euros in 2022, despite the fact that the cart is filled with fewer products -no more than twenty-. In this context, the preparation of an "intelligent" shopping list is necessary to be able to beat the effect of inflation.

Yes, there are certain habits and tricks that help soften the blow. "The data shows that the evolution of spending per purchase ticket does not directly correlate with the CPI for food, and this is due to the great choice that consumers have when choosing between a multitude of establishments, products and brands to contain the cost of their shopping cart”, argues Rosario Pedrosa, manager of the Commercial and Marketing Area of ​​the association of manufacturers and distributors AECOC.

Here are some tips that can be useful to reduce spending when visiting the supermarket.

Before making the shopping list, going to the pantry will help save on the purchase of the super. One technique that can be useful in this regard is to avoid spending on non-essential items for a few days. This "financial fast", explains the founder of Ahorradoras.com, Mapi Amela, will force the consumer to consider when facing a purchase "if it is really necessary or not", as well as to resort to products that are in the pantry or in the fridge that was not used and that, otherwise, "maybe they would end up expiring".

The "ideal" thing is to allocate between 90 and 150 euros per person per month, explains the personal finance expert and speaker Pepe Macià. "Depending on the number of members of the family unit, buying by volume can be cheaper," he adds, as well as collecting, if there is sufficient storage space, non-perishable products that due to their characteristics tend to drop in price in certain times of the year, such as perfumery items after the Christmas holidays.

For example, a family of 4 members that sets a monthly budget of 120 euros for each one, should try as far as possible not to exceed 480 euros per month for food. To achieve this, Macià recommends applying the envelope method, which consists of taking out at the beginning of the month the money that will be used for planned expenses -even the so-called "ant"- and distributing it in envelopes that they will carry with them every time they do it. the purchase. The method, explains Macià, makes it possible "to anticipate the expenses that will come and, at the same time, have that sensitivity to spending in cash that does more damage than paying with a card".

Separating the money destined for essential products in envelopes (or in a bank account created for this purpose), Amela adds, “makes you sharpen your wits and look for cheaper alternatives to what you wanted to buy if you see that the money is running out before you leave. time". Therefore, you have to set realistic goals and put into practice methods that help you achieve them.

Once a monthly budget has been established, it will be essential to plan the menus for the week taking into account certain habits that allow optimizing the food that is purchased. “For example, if you are going to make puree, you can save the water from boiling the vegetables and use it to make a soup. In this way, by following the menu you had planned, you will avoid wasting food, as well as saving energy”, Amela details.

Another recommendation that he offers is to learn to cut, chop and slice food "because the luxury of buying it already prepared (unless there are few of you at home and the difference in the long run is little) makes the product more expensive," he argues. This occurs, for example, with chicken, ham and salmon. He also advises eliminating single-serving pre-cooked foods, since "with the same price many times you can cook for four people", in addition to adding seasonal products to the shopping list, which do not require an extra conservation process to lengthen his life.

Another habit that can favor the pocket and not go out of the monthly budget is to go to the supermarket only once a week or once every fortnight. The improvisation in the menus will lead to "the urgent need" to buy certain products and "pay whatever" to get them in the place closest to home, argues Macià.

The finance expert also suggests going to the supermarket "with a full stomach" to avoid the impulse to buy on a whim. "That's why I always recommend doing it on Saturday after lunch, which is also when supermarkets make their best deals on perishable products because most of these establishments don't open on Sunday."

But not only going to the supermarket once a week or two and doing it with a full stomach is enough to achieve the savings goal. It will also be necessary to find out and track the cheapest establishments to make the purchase. In this sense, it must be taken into account, as Macià indicates, that "some offer better prices on perishable products, while others offer cheaper cleaning products, for example". In this sense, it may be useful to consult the rankings of the cheapest supermarkets that are often prepared by consumer organizations.

Indeed, comparing prices can make a difference in our current account, as well as having clear certain marketing strategies to encourage the sales of certain items and avoid falling into them. For this reason, Amela recommends paying attention to the products that are located on the lower and upper shelves, "since supermarkets, as businesses, tend to place the products with which they get more at the level of the consumer's eyes." profit margin".

Added to this advice are other common resources to save money in the supermarket, such as choosing white brands, using discount coupons and loyalty cards to accumulate points (and money for future purchases), as well as resorting to "try it for free" -samples free of products-. “If we add up all these resources, we have verified that more than 100 euros a month can be saved, which at the end of the year is 1,200 euros,” says Amela. "Sometimes, we only look at the short-term result, but incorporating certain saving habits in the long run makes a huge difference," she adds.

However, Macià warns that you should not be tempted to buy a product simply because it has a discount or is on sale. "Loyalty cards, promotions such as Black Friday and sales aim to increase consumption," he recalls. For this reason, he advises looking at expiration dates when stocking up on basic necessities on sale.

Another key aspect to save, according to experts, is to look at the amount of product in each container depending on the brand. Calculating the price for each liter or kilo -the products must also show the price per unit of measure- is a good way to ensure that the purchase of the supermarket ends up spreading at the end of the month.