People pay for his or her items at a grocery retailer in Toronto on November 22, 2022.CARLOS OSORIO/Reuters
Jim Dandy reads grocery retailer flyers each week.
It’s a behavior the 79-year-old retiree picked up as a baby and continued as he raised three youngsters whereas attending regulation faculty.
“I learned how important it was to save five cents, and I remember it,” Dandy mentioned in an interview from his house in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Product prices in December grew by 11% in comparison with final yr. Statistics Canada reported this week. Overall, meals costs rose 9.8% in 2022 from a yr earlier, the quickest tempo since 1981.
As customers grapple with rising meals costs, some are turning to ideas and tips lengthy utilized by older Canadians for the primary time.
Dandy, a seventy-year-old man who skilled fast development inflation early Eighties, there are tricks to supply to shoppers who could also be fearful about meals costs for the primary time.
His high tip is to learn grocery retailer flyers repeatedly to familiarize your self with costs.
“You have to know how to define a trade,” Dandy mentioned. “Sometimes sales aren’t as good as they seem.”
In addition to the paper model of grocery store flyers, customers may discover them on-line or with an app on their telephone.
“Flyers remain a proven way to save money on groceries,” mentioned Natasha McMillan, director of day-to-day banking at Ratehub.ca. “Even if it’s not a store where you usually shop, it’s good to know what’s on sale and then use price matching.”
Price matching — the place a grocery retailer matches a sale value marketed by one other retailer — is a technique Dandy says he makes use of repeatedly.
“In most supermarkets, prices will be the same if they are the same (goods),” he mentioned. “The savings really add up.”
Dandy additionally recommends making a purchasing checklist and sticking to it.
While the older individual solely store for themselves – maintaining the checklist pretty easy – McMillan mentioned households might wish to plan meals earlier than beginning their checklist.
“Personally, I start with a meal plan for the week and then figure out what ingredients we need,” she mentioned. “From there, I check what’s already in my kitchen and make a list of what I’m missing.”
Meanwhile, choices are actually accessible to consumers that weren’t accessible within the early Eighties.
For instance, individuals who discover it tough to stay to an inventory when looking for groceries in individual may contemplate ordering groceries on-line, McMillan mentioned.
She encourages customers to take a look at merchandise above and under eye stage.
“Expensive products tend to be right at eye level, while cheaper brands sit higher and lower on the shelf,” McMillan mentioned.
Dandy additionally identified that many grocery shops will promote the value if a buyer buys a number of of the identical merchandise, but when a family cannot devour that a lot of a product earlier than the expiration date, then it would simply go to waste.
“I’m retired and live alone, so these deals don’t suit me,” he mentioned.
However, although grocery shops promote the value of two objects purchased collectively, typically the value per merchandise is similar as shopping for a number of objects.
He additionally seen shrinkage on retailer cabinets as meals producers promote smaller merchandise for a similar or greater value.
“In most stores, the price per unit of goods is indicated on the sticker, and if not, then I will calculate it myself,” Dendy mentioned. “To my great surprise, sometimes the wholesale size is more expensive, so it’s worth checking out.”
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