Three Different Supermarkets… Same List
Three different supermarkets, same list: which was cheapest?
For this experiment, I used a list of things we needed at the time.
I was pretty sure I knew which supermarket would be the cheapest and I expected it to be so much cheaper that the cost of the distance travelled to get there would be justified.
Wrong! Since shifting in June to Taranaki’s best-kept secret, the awesome little town of Waitara, I have vowed to shop locally. But I did wonder if that would put pressure on the $100 budget. However, someone pointed out to me (and quite rightly, too), that the cost of travelling into Countdown in New Plymouth or even The Valley should be taken into consideration. This led me to shop for my listed items locally at Waitara New World, Waitara Bin Inn and Countdown New Plymouth to see which came out the cheapest.
Here’s the list, which interestingly and unintentionally bears a close resemblance to the food bank list that appeared in the paper recently:
Coffee (90g), tea bags (200), a dozen eggs, tin of cream corn, tin of tuna, white vinegar, chocolate mousse sachet, pink iced buns, spaghetti, two loaves of bread, bananas.
Who do you think won?
It was actually a surprise to me to discover that all three bills came within $1 of each other. The total cost of that list was around $30 in all three shops. The items were all priced quite differently, but the bottom line was practically the same. This has led me to conclude that there are bargains in all supermarkets – it’s not the shop, it’s the shopper selecting the items off the shelf that dictates the size of the final bill. So instead of whingeing that you live in, for example, Stratford, and there is only one supermarket and it is really expensive, have a think about the way you shop. By making a conscious effort to select the least-cost acceptable item to fulfil your shopping list, you will be amazed at the savings you can achieve. Just because the supermarket stocks expensive luxury brands and places them on the shelf right in front of your nose doesn’t mean you have to choose them.
I’m just off now to have 600 cups of tea.
Next week: Spoilt for choice and the $75 grocery budget.
* If you want to get in touch with Lyn, you can email her on pigtitsandparsleysauce@gmail.com.
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