Melbourne mum Amanda Dean saves on groceries by shopping supermarket markdowns. (Source: Bargain Boss/Supplied)
An Aussie mum is saving hundreds of dollars on her grocery bill by simply shopping at certain markdown times. Supermarkets like Woolworths and Coles will recuce the price of items when they are nearing their use by or best before date, and the savings for shoppers can seriously add up.
Amanda Dean, known as the Bargain Boss online, has been able to save a whopping $20,000 at the checkout by savvy shopping and finding ways to stretch her dollar further. The Melbourne mum-of-two told Yahoo Finance one way she was saving was by figuring out her local supermarket’s markdown schedule.
“Each store has different timings that they seem to do their markdowns. But there are ways to figure it out,” she said.
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You’ll need to look out for the yellow stickers at your local supermarket, which can often be found in the meat section, along with fruit and vegetables, bakery and dairy.
“Once you find the yellow stickers, you need to look at the timestamp on them and it’ll give you an idea of what time your store marks down items,” Dean said.
“Usually, the day before the item has its best before or the used by, they will start the markdown process.
“It will get the first markdown. Then it should get another the next morning, and finally, it should get one the evening of the best before or used by date.”
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Dean shares her markdown hauls on her social media, including a recent $16 Woolies haul. (Source: Bargain Boss)
Dean used this method recently to score $80 worth of groceries at Woolworths for just $16.
Her haul included BBQ pork belly strips for just $3.10, nine chicken pieces for just $1.82, sausage rolls for $1.70, and tortellini for $2.10.
Dean will usually then cook up a fridge stash for the next few days, or pop items in her freezer and defrost them when she wants to cook them.
She’s noticed Christmas Eve can also be a great time for bargains, given supermarkets are closed on the following public holidays. Last year, she scored rock lobsters for $11 each and a whole pavlova for just $2.50.
It’s just one way that Dean is saving on her family’s grocery bill.
She budgets $200 a week for groceries and will shop between Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and her local butcher depending on where she can get the best deal.
“It’s just shopping differently. So shopping with markdowns, stocking up when things are on sale, utilising the freezer,” she said.
“Occasionally we do hit the full $200 because that’s the week weather say T-bones are on sale, so I stock up on those. But then there are other weeks where because I’m utilising what’s in the freezer, we barely use anything.”
Dean also uses Flybuys and Everyday Rewards, where you can build up points for cash off future shops, along with cashback platform TopCashback when doing online grocery orders or if they are offering discounted grocery gift cards.
Dean said she’s been able to save $20,000 at the checkout through various savings moves, including negotiating with her insurance and internet providers, selling items on Facebook Marketplace, and finding ways to make her grocery shop stretch further.
“My goal is to put all of that to the mortgage and save even more,” she said.
“We have just hit under $100,000 and I’m pretty excited about that. So it’s given me another kick to start selling everything else that’s in the house that I don’t need.”
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