I'm a big fan of price comparisons and price "books". If you've never heard of a price book, the idea is you keep a notebook in which you list the grocery (and other) items you frequently buy, and keep a record of the lowest price you can find it for, and in which store. This requires a few days of investment time, running around comparison shopping, and I found it worked better for me in the States than here, since prices seemed to be more stable there. I have not yet figured out if there are cyclical sales here like there are there - like knowing which month you can get the best prices on frozen foods, or baking supplies, etc.
So, I plan to get back to keeping a price book - after we are settled into our new home. I know that I like to pick a store that has the best sales for me in a particular week and shop there. So, that means I usually hit enough stores over the course of 2 months that I can buy grocery staples at the "best" price. For instance, I found that the yogurt I've been buying (and I plan to stop, and begin making our own) is priced lower at kimat chinam than any other store in town. So, I buy it there, and only there (unless someone advertises a sale at a lower price, but I've never seen that).
Today, I needed to pick up milk, so I stopped at Mega and got milk, and a watermelon for only 1 NIS/kilo. I chose mega since they've been advertising that they are selling price-regulated items for 10% lower than the regulated price. I'm pretty sure that a couple of other stores are also matching that price, but since I was right near Mega anyway, I saved the gas...
Let me know how you shop for deals, and maximize your grocery budget! The more information we share, the more we can all save!
We all know that Israel is expensive! Here you’ll find ways to save, important announcements, and frugal food ideas. (Please note: ALL posts may contain affiliate links)
thanks for posting! we are planning our aliyah and I was wondering how people save $$ on groceries as there are no coupons. this article was helpful :)
ReplyDeleteHi Busyme! That's so exciting. I'm happy to be able to help you out, and you can feel free to ask me more questions!
ReplyDeleteJust so you know, coupons are starting to show up here. They are still pretty rare, but from time to time there is an awesome coupon out there. Usually thru a "moadon" - club - for a store or brand, and they either email out coupons or post them to their facebook page for people to print out. Once in a while, there's even a "daily deal" on grocery store vouchers through BUY2 or Deal HaYom or Groupbuy or the like (they've run kimat chinam deals - like buy a 70nis voucher for 35nis)... but they sell out really fast.
But really the best way is to shop the sales, esp. looking out for produce in the 1-2 nis/kg range, and plan your meals around those...