Small Savings on Grocery Items in Singapore - 2008

With Grocery taking almost $300-$400 of the monthly budget. It is important that we save on some items which makes sense.

• Go with House Brand!
• This is my favorite of all!. I was at the NTUC(FairPrice) recently and found that Detol Hand wash costs around $5+ whereas similar quantity House Brand Anti-bacteria hand wash costs only $2.50+. We always know Detol or some other brand which is shown on TV, but are unaware of simple house brand alternatives!..Check out similar house brand items at Carrefour too ..Personally I like the Jams there !
  
• Buy from your favorite Shop
  
• This is a no-brainier but it is important that you buy in bulk only from the shop which offers discounts and priced fairly. I am still unable to understand how same brand of Fresh Milk costs $5.20 in One Shop whereas same costs $4.90 in other ;) ..checkout few stores like Cold Storage, Carrefour, NTUC FairPrice etc and you will come to know where to shop more !. My Personal preference is to buy Fruits from FairPrice and Carrefour(whenever possible).
• Order Online if possible
• We order the Indian Groceries online in Singapore using website Online Groceries
• It makes more sense to order online whatever you can specially when you know that the stuff you are ordering is going to be of a same quality as you buy it from the store personally.
• Specially bulky items like Milk Cartons, Rice , Atta flour etc. As you have lot of convenience to get these delivered at your door step. Saves Taxi trip, queue at Taxi Stand, weekend time !
• FairPrice also offers Online Shopping
  
• Compare prices before you buy some items
• This is again common sense but we ignore and assume sometimes.
• A very nice example of Umbrella I had yesterday when I went to FairPrice Xtra at Hougang Point. We bought good quality Umbrella for $2.60(Aluminum frame and light weight) only. I remember buying a similar kind of Umbrella from a local shop for $13 sometime back. Even in Little India I have never seen Umbrella below $5 and they are the heavy ones. Although its a small item, but we keep loosing them sometimes!
  
• Make a reserve list for promotions!
• Always have some items to buy during promotions. Recently I saw promotions of Cock Brand Groundnut Oil for around $7+ whereas same trades at some shops for $10+. So it is a good idea to buy few items from some of the shops which keep offering promotions for the same.
• Buy cut fruits from Grocery Shops !
• You are one of a kind who likes to eat Fruit everyday during lunch or in the evening !. If you are lucky to have a carrefour or FairPrice shop near your office. You should buy the cut fruit from them instead of buying from the Fruit stall as the difference makes a lot of sense. Fruit stalls are good for juices!

Happy Shopping in Singapore !

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• Cost of Living in Singapore 2008
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