How to do it: save money even as the supermarket gets more expensive
Grocery shopping at the supermarket is getting more and more expensive, but blogger Gierige Gerda isn’t letting it get to her. She shares tips on how to spot those higher prices – because supermarkets are oh so clever at making sure you don’t notice – and, of course, she knows better than anyone how to keep saving on your everyday groceries.
Gierige Gerda is Minke’s blog name. She has been blogging about bargain hunting, saving money and scoring the very best deals since 2017. With plenty of humor and self-deprecation, because otherwise you wouldn’t call your blog Gierige Gerda, of course. Earlier, we followed her advice about the Albert Heijn Bonuskaart Premium and were the first to read about Overblijvers, a new initiative from AH on her blog. And now we see that Minke has also looked at the receipt in surprise a few times at the checkout, because prices have gone up yet again!
Read the newspaper
On the one hand, she doesn’t find it strange that prices are rising. Open the newspaper and you’ll read about higher transport costs, rising energy prices and more expensive raw materials – food producers naturally have to deal with these factors. On the other hand, supermarkets have never achieved such huge global turnovers as they did over the past two years, when the weekly grocery run sometimes felt like a festival or a weekend away.
Cucumber in summer
Are you getting a fright in the vegetable aisle? Relax, those prices are always fluctuating, Gerda says. Eating with the seasons simply pays off, and the prices of potatoes or cauliflower, for example, always depend on that year’s harvest. No green beans in winter; tomatoes and cucumbers naturally become cheaper as summer approaches. Seeing nothing but cabbage and leeks? Then put them straight in your freezer: the prices of frozen vegetables are always the same, and they’re incredibly healthy (and easy!).
Watch out for pods
Pay attention, Gerda says. Sometimes the price doesn’t go up, but the package gets smaller. ‘Laundry detergent is a good example,’ she writes. ‘Especially pods. When they were introduced, there were eighteen to twenty pods in a package; now there are regularly only twelve or thirteen.’ So calculate those prices per item or per kilo, and you can compare properly. You’ll also see that buying in bulk is worthwhile.
Score superdeals
Superdeals are where you can really save. Big offers with substantial discounts as well. And yes, Gerda has also been seeing far fewer of those lately. Be smart, pay close attention and combine promotions, and you can still manage to score, for example, Wereldgerechten for 75 cents. That’s when she strikes, stocking up the pantry at the same time. That’s the ultimate way to budget, she says. And keeping an eye on her blog is also a great idea, because it’s true: Gierige Gerda gives fantastic money-saving tips.
