19 June 2013

Lots of Little Savings Add Up to One Big Amount


This week's $300 a Month Food Challenge debate is raging over in the Member's Centre.

It's all about little savings and if they are worth while.

Of course they are.

Think about  it this way:  it's easy to save $200 on a large purchase (new washing machine or computer or bed), but that's a one-off, you won't be repeating it again for (hopefully) ten years. That's a $20 a year saving.

It's equally as easy to save lots of small amounts, especially on your grocery bill, and end up with more in the bank at the end of the year.

If you could not spend just 10 cents on every item in your trolley (around 50 items say), that's $5.  Repeat that $5 saving every week and you'll have an extra $260 in your bank account at the end of the year. Over 10 years that's $2,600 - makes that $200 saving look sad doesn't it?

Now some of those savings may be more than 10 cents and you can take advantage of them by buying them up in bulk quantities. 

A good example is tinned soups. Heinz condensed soups are on sale at Woolworths this week for $1.08 a can, regular price $2.16, a 50% saving. Buy two cans and you've already saved $2.16 - that's the equivalent 21 "10 cent" savings and you're well on your way to your $5!

A note: over winter soups are on sale regularly, giving you plenty of opportunities to stock-up. If you use just one can of soup a week over a year and stock up on a year's supply (quite a few Cheapskaters do), you've not spent (and hopefully saved) $56.16!

Another example is the onions I've just put into the freezer. I paid 30c a kilo for them, saving $1.20 a kilo on supermarket prices, for a total saving of $24. Not a huge amount on it's own, but when it's combined with the other savings I make over the course of the year it adds up quickly.

And it's the reason I spend $80 a week on groceries for the five of us.

Try it yourself next grocery shopping day. Aim to save an average of 10 cents per item in your trolley and see how well you do.

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