How to REALLY save money on groceries? (Jaya Grocer, Lotus's, etc.)

Always make a list and stick to it. Impulse buys are the wallet's enemy.

Buy house brand products (e.g., Lotus's brand). They are often the same quality as branded ones but cheaper.

I use the Hargapedia app to compare prices across different supermarkets before I go.

Go to the wet market for fresh produce. Much cheaper than supermarkets.

Meal prep! Planning your meals for the week means you only buy what you need.

Always make a list and stick to it. Impulse buys are the wallet's enemy.

Buy house brand products (e.g., Lotus's brand). They are often the same quality as branded ones but cheaper.

I use the Hargapedia app to compare prices across different supermarkets before I go.

Go to the wet market for fresh produce. Much cheaper than supermarkets.

Meal prep! Planning your meals for the week means you only buy what you need.

Always make a list and stick to it. Impulse buys are the wallet's enemy.

Buy house brand products (e.g., Lotus's brand). They are often the same quality as branded ones but cheaper.

I use the Hargapedia app to compare prices across different supermarkets before I go.

Go to the wet market for fresh produce. Much cheaper than supermarkets.

Meal prep! Planning your meals for the week means you only buy what you need.

Always make a list and stick to it. Impulse buys are the wallet's enemy.

Buy house brand products (e.g., Lotus's brand). They are often the same quality as branded ones but cheaper.

I use the Hargapedia app to compare prices across different supermarkets before I go.

Go to the wet market for fresh produce. Much cheaper than supermarkets.

Meal prep! Planning your meals for the week means you only buy what you need.

Always make a list and stick to it. Impulse buys are the wallet's enemy.

Buy house brand products (e.g., Lotus's brand). They are often the same quality as branded ones but cheaper.

I use the Hargapedia app to compare prices across different supermarkets before I go.

Go to the wet market for fresh produce. Much cheaper than supermarkets.

Meal prep! Planning your meals for the week means you only buy what you need.

Always make a list and stick to it. Impulse buys are the wallet's enemy.

Buy house brand products (e.g., Lotus's brand). They are often the same quality as branded ones but cheaper.

I use the Hargapedia app to compare prices across different supermarkets before I go.

Go to the wet market for fresh produce. Much cheaper than supermarkets.

Meal prep! Planning your meals for the week means you only buy what you need.

Always make a list and stick to it. Impulse buys are the wallet's enemy.

Buy house brand products (e.g., Lotus's brand). They are often the same quality as branded ones but cheaper.

I use the Hargapedia app to compare prices across different supermarkets before I go.

Go to the wet market for fresh produce. Much cheaper than supermarkets.

Meal prep! Planning your meals for the week means you only buy what you need.

Always make a list and stick to it. Impulse buys are the wallet's enemy.

Buy house brand products (e.g., Lotus's brand). They are often the same quality as branded ones but cheaper.

I use the Hargapedia app to compare prices across different supermarkets before I go.

Go to the wet market for fresh produce. Much cheaper than supermarkets.

Meal prep! Planning your meals for the week means you only buy what you need.

Buy the store-brand version of the staples — rice, sugar, frozen veg. Usually the same factory, half the price, and nobody at the dinner table can tell the difference.

One more that works for us: shop on weekday mornings. The markdown stickers on meat and fish come out before lunch and it is 30 to 50 percent off for same-day cooking.

The yellow stickers are where the real savings are. The bakery and chilled meat sections get marked down after 8pm, and if you're cooking the same night it makes zero difference.

The biggest saver is the end-of-day bakery and deli counter, not the aisles. Half price after 8pm and it freezes perfectly fine.

Buy the frozen vegetables and the canned staples in one big grab when they are at their cheapest, then skip them for the next few weeks. Chasing every small weekly offer costs more in fuel than it saves.

Read the unit price on the shelf tag, not the pack size. Bigger packs are not always cheaper per kilo, I have caught that on rice and on frozen chicken more than once.

Buy the leafy vegetables on the morning you plan to cook them. My big Sunday basket of greens is always dead in the fridge by Wednesday, so now I only stock up on the root vegetables and the frozen ones.

Do one slow lap before you pick anything up. The same item is often on an end-cap promotion somewhere else in the store while the aisle shelf still carries the old tag.

Sauces and condiments are where I stopped buying big. The large bottle always ends up half used and past its date, so I take the small one and just replace it when it finishes.

Buy the fresh fish on the afternoon the counter does its markdown, then freeze it the same night. It cooks perfectly and you pay a lot less than in the morning.

Buy the store's own brand for cleaning stuff and kitchen basics, and save the branded spending for the things you actually taste. Nobody in my house has ever noticed the difference in the floor cleaner.

Read the unit price on the shelf tag instead of the pack price. The biggest pack is not always the cheapest per hundred grams, and the small one is sometimes the one sitting on the actual markdown.

Do the fresh section last, not first. Everything cold sits in the trolley while you walk the aisles, and the leafy stuff is already limp by the time you reach the counter.

Buy the ghee, the cashews and the dried fruit for the Deepavali baking now, while the big packs are still on the shelf. In the final week the same aisle only has the small packets left and half the store is queueing for them.

Wet market on a weekday morning. Same fish, half the crowd, and they let you pick properly.

Go straight to the reduced shelf when the store opens. The meat and bakery markdowns are gone before nine and they are fine for dinner that same night.

The per 100g line on the shelf label is the honest number. Half the promo packs are a bigger box with the same weight inside, and the smaller one sitting next to it is cheaper per gram.

Shop the top and bottom shelves rather than eye level. The house brand sits low, and it is often the same factory as the branded tin.

Buy the whole chicken instead of the cut pieces and portion it yourself at home. Fifteen minutes of work and the freezer ends up with four separate meals out of one bird.