Best Buy Shopping

 Read more Oily Rag articles by Frank and Muriel Newman 

The personnel in the Oily Rag Research Department have not been idly lying on the beaches this summer. Oh no! Instead they have been through the turn styles and into the shopping isles putting grocery prices to the test.

They started by drawing up a shopping list of 25 everyday items that we all put in our shopping basket – flour, sugar, baked beans, spaghetti, milk, cereals, cheese, tea, coffee, biscuits and the like.

The first port of call was a discount supermarket that promotes itself as having New Zealand’s lowest food prices. After that it was off to a competing supermarket chain that promotes service and selection. Finally it was time for some internet surfing to see how much the items would cost if they were bought online from the same supermarket chain. Here’s what they found.

The discount chain was true to its word. The every-day retail prices for all 25 items on the list were cheaper. The total cost of the shopping basket was $94.52. In comparison, the regular cost of the basket at the ‘big-range, great service’ chain was $115.46.

Six of the 25 items at the second supermarket were on “special”. The specials reduced the total cost by $10 to $104.84, but that was still $10 more than the discount chain. Of the six items on special only two were cheaper than the regular prices at the discount supermarket.

Those who hunted out the bargains and bought the best buys from each store (23 from the discount store and the 2 best buy specials from the other store), would have saved another $2.50, reducing the total cost of the 25 items to $92.02.

Because a lot of oily raggers surf the internet, we wanted to see whether buying your groceries online would cost you more than visiting the supermarket. We found there was no difference between the online prices for the 25 items and that supermarket’s in-store prices. Even the specials were the same the day we looked.

However, there is of course a packing and delivery charge, which was $19.95 for the example we looked at. This cost can be reduced in some cases as some stores offer a ‘buy online and pick up’ service whereby a shopper places their order on-line then collects the box of groceries themselves – on their way home from work!

On-line specials were found by simply clicking an icon – a great way for frugal shoppers to ferret out bargains and compare them against the checkout tape from their regular supermarket.

We conclude this exercise in comparison shopping with a couple of tips for those living off the smell of an oily rag.

• We reckon the best grocery buying strategy for those watching their pennies is to shop at the chain that has the cheapest everyday prices, but to keep a lookout for those extra special specials offered by the other chains. The easiest way to find these specials is to look at the supermarket flyers and advertisements, or go on-line and search their list of specials.

• Products sold online by a major grocery chain do not cost any more than if they were bought directly off the supermarket shelf. On-line buying is not likely to suit most oily rag shoppers, but the convenience of having someone else do your shopping for you, and then delivering the goods to your door, will suit some – especially those with limited mobility, or limited time.

Share your best buy tips with others by visiting the oily rag website (www.oilyrag.co.nz) or write to Living off the Smell of an Oily Rag, PO Box 984, Whangarei.

* Frank and Muriel Newman are the authors of Living off the Smell of an Oily Rag in NZ. Readers can submit their oily rag tips on-line at www.oilyrag.co.nz. The book is available from bookstores and online at www.oilyrag.co.nz.