You can save on groceries without heroics. There is no need to count every coin or eat only pasta. A few habits are enough, and within a month they quietly take the extras out of your receipt. Below are fourteen of them, from the easiest to the ones that need a little patience.

Flyers first, then the list

Habit one: before you go to the shop, open the store catalogues. You see what is on offer and until which date. Habit two: look at the discounts page and find what you buy every week anyway. Do not hunt for the best deal in the world. Hunt for the best deal in your usual basket.

Here is what stands out among the offers right now:

In the catalogues now: discounted products

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If an item you never buy is on offer, skip it. A discount on something you do not need is not saving.

Write the list at home

Habit three: write your list before you leave, not while standing at the shelf. At home you are calm and fed. In the shop you are led by the smell of bread and pretty packaging. Habit four: do not write "meat", write "chicken or minced meat, whichever is cheaper". That leaves you room to choose by the offer.

Habit five: do not shop hungry. It sounds trivial, but it works. A hungry person puts about a quarter more in the basket than planned. Eat before you go, or at least take an apple.

Compare price per kilogram

Habit six: look at the price per kilogram or litre, not at the price of the pack. A big pack is not always cheaper and a small one is not always dearer. We explained how to work it out in the article on price per kilogram. In short: divide the price by the weight and compare the numbers you get.

Habit seven: packs and shelf labels often have a line of small print. Read it. It holds the weight, which in a pretty pack is sometimes less than you expected.

As an example, here is how different shops sell sunflower oil:

Where it is cheaper: sunflower oil

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Buy in season

Habit eight: buy vegetables and fruit when they grow near you. In summer tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and courgettes get cheaper. In winter cabbage, carrots, beetroot, potatoes and apples hold their price. Imported strawberries in January and tomatoes in February cost a lot and have almost no taste.

Habit nine: in season, buy extra and pickle or freeze it. A couple of crates of peppers in summer will rescue you in winter, when they cost several times more at the market.

Which vegetables are in the catalogues now:

In the catalogues now: vegetables

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The store brand and the freezer

Habit ten: try the store's own brand. Flour, sugar, oil, grains, pasta and tins are usually close to the famous brands and cost less. If you do not like it, go back to what you had, but it is worth a try. More in the article on own brand or famous brand.

Habit eleven: keep a freezer and use it. Bread, meat, mince, berries, portions of soup and braised cabbage all survive freezing well. When chicken or mince is on offer, buy double and put half in the cold.

Cook from simple things

Habit twelve: buy basic products, not ready-made ones. Dough, frozen cutlets and ready salads cost more than what is in them. Polenta, beans, borscht and zama are cheap and filling, and the cooking takes an hour on a day off.

Habit thirteen: cook extra and change the dish on day two. Yesterday's soup becomes lunch at work, leftover porridge becomes patties. We covered how not to throw food away in the article on storage and leftovers.

Check the receipt and keep a checklist

Habit fourteen: at the till, glance at the prices on the receipt. Mistakes happen: an offer did not apply or an item was scanned twice. It takes half a minute and is fixed on the spot.

A short checklist before you go:

  • I opened the flyers and matched my list with them.
  • I know how many people and how many days I am buying for.
  • I checked what is already at home: grains, oil, onions, frozen food.
  • I took a bag and I have eaten.
  • At the till I will compare the receipt with the shelf labels.

Do not try to bring in all fourteen habits in one week. Pick two, keep them for a month, then add more.