3 simple ways to save money on grocery shopping

1. Know the Season

Have you noticed that your favorite fruits and vegetables are considerably more expensive during different seasons? Although most fresh fruit and vegetables are available all year-round, some are less expensive when they are in season. So if you’re looking to save, stick to what’s in season, for instance, avocados, pawpaw and artichokes are in season in spring. Go to this link and download a PDF guide to what’s in season during the spring months.

2. Visit frozen food section

If some of your food constantly get spoiled before you got around to use it, it’s frustrating and a huge waste of money. Frozen vegetables tend to be cheaper than their fresh counterparts, and freezer bags make it easier for you to use only what you need when you need it plus you get the same nutritional benefits but in a more affordable way. Canned food is also cheaper than fresh fruit and vegetables and lasts much longer, so you don’t need to eat it right away.

3. Forget about brand loyalty

Many of us somehow believe in the quality of a brand to the point that we can judge another product on its brand or image. But is the quality of a product really determined by its colour and packaging? It’s very unlikely. So next time you are shopping for example for cleaning products, don’t ignore home-brand products of Woolworths and Coles, so you pay for the product without paying extra for the label.

How do you save money on grocery shopping?

xxx

Leaving the Nest

Top 5 free apps/online tools for students

1. Cook’s Illustrated

It features:
• 50 of our all-time best recipes, covering appetizers and main courses, to side dishes, breakfasts, and desserts.
• A timer built-in to each recipe so your iPhone can keep you on task.
• Recipes which come with videos to show you how it’s all done.
• Requisite shopping list feature
• Dozens of taste test reviews for supermarket ingredients

2. Any.DO Task & To-do List

• Perfect for creating a to-do list.
• It also synchronize all tasks with other devices so that the list can be accessed from anywhere.
• Add new entries to the list with the help of touch-based interface, or use your voice to create tasks.
• You can change the priority of your entry, mark a task as completed, or even shake your device to remove all completed tasks from it.
• The Any.Do widget can be added to your home screen for quick and easy access

3. Pocketbook

• It is automatically updated so you don’t have to manually tap in each time you spend.
• Notifications will also pop-up on screen alerting you to when money has come out of your account
• Monitor your spending across all your bank accounts (automatically sync all your bank transactions with the app into a single view in seconds)
• Bank feeds available for Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ, NAB, St George, Bankwest, Citibank etc.
• It categorises spending into groceries, travel, clothing etc

4. Google Drive

• Online storage tool that lets you keep your photos and documents in one place.
• Perfect for group projects: you can ‘invite’ anyone to edit and view your documents and you can all work within the same document at any time.
• You need to have a Gmail account

5. Written? Kitten!

Sometimes, just a little bit of positive reinforcement is enough to fight procrastination. This program rewards you with the picture of a kitten whenever goals are attained. Who wouldn’t like a cute kitten pic as a reward for hard work 🙂 ?

What apps do you recommend? Have you used any of the ones mentioned above? Share your experience!

xxx
Leaving the Nest

5 Tips for saving and budgeting

image source

1. Join Arc and enjoy on campus and off campus discounts:

• $5 Boost Juice smoothies on Tuesdays from 3-4pm
• Free upsize on all drinks at Share Tea
• 10% off all purchases at Moochi
• Buy one single adult ticket and get a second one for free at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium
• 25% off total order at Eagle Boys Pizza
And that’s just few of them. Want to find out more? Go to this link to see the whole list of amazing discounts

2. Use cash instead of debit/credit cards

There is something that is different psychologically when you use cash instead of a credit or a debit card to pay for something—you realize just how much it really costs. However, it’s a bad idea to carry huge amounts of cash around with you. So try to plan ahead how much money you will need on each day. This will also help to cut back on your impulse purchases.

3. Say no to eating out

Try to start preparing meals in advance at home and consuming the leftovers as well. This will save you a ton of money and plus when you make the meal, you control the ingredients and limit the preservatives, salt, and other unhealthy elements.

4. Stay social on budget

When going out leave your bank card at home. Account for how much money you are willing to spend plus include taxi fare. But if you really want to avoid wasting money, have a day out instead. Consider going to your local scenic walking tracks, beaches or parks. It’s a great way to get out of the house and spending time with your friends without opening your wallet.

5. Remove your credit card numbers from your online accounts

It’s easy to spend money online when you have your card information stored in an account. The best way to break this habit is to simply delete your card from the account. So when you’re tempted to buy something, you’ll be forced to spend the time to first find your card and then type in all the details – and really think about why you’re spending this money.

What about you guys? How do you manage to cut down on your expenses?

xxx

Leaving the Nest