How to save money on groceries

9. Find a co-op, farmer's market or local growers

Shopping local helps support locals and can help you save money as well. Without the overheads of big supermarkets and stores with shopfronts, co-ops and farmer's markets can offer great value for money.

If you're in a regional area, keep an eye out for food stands – or even free fruit and vegetables if someone's had a bumper crop.

10. Collect Flybuys / Everyday Rewards

It's free to sign up to Flybuys and Everyday Rewards, which let you earn points at Coles and Woolworths respectively. These points can give you dollars off your shop, with 2,000 points equal to $10 off through both programs. Or you can transfer them to a frequent flyer program for future flights and other rewards. That gets you even more value, with 2,000 points typically worth $20 or more if you use them on flights

You earn 1 point per $1 with each program as a standard, and if you used them to get cash off your shop it's equivalent to getting 0.05% off every time you provide your membership at the checkout – plus you can get bonus offers via email or their apps.

11. Choose imperfect foods – they taste the same!

Fruit and veg that wasn't "pretty" enough used to be thrown out or used in other ways, rather than showing up on supermarket shelves.

But a push for sustainability means imperfect carrots, apples, capsicums and other foods are now readily available – and cheaper than their more attractive counterparts.

12. Buy the store brand

Home brand products are usually made by the same factory as the brand names, but at a lower cost. In the case of food, sometimes ingredients may be slightly different – but you could always try the supermarket brand out to see (or do a blind taste test with friends).

Flour, sugar and other pantry staples are almost always the same whether they're branded or not – and things like cleaning products typically get the job done regardless of what the packaging looks like.

13. Buy in season

The further fruit and vegetables have to travel, the more expensive they become – especially with petrol prices in 2022. Buying what's in season means supermarkets can source it from farmers that are closer, helping keep your grocery costs down.

If you're not sure what's in season, The Sustainable Table Fund has a handy seasonal produce guide you can check. Both Coles and Woolworths also have details of what's in season online, and you'll sometimes find recipes in their catalogues.

14. Consider cutting back on meat

Reducing meat consumption can save you $1,844 over a year, according Finder analysis in 2022. Inflation has led to a rise across meat, poultry and seafood, with beef and veal seeing the biggest increase of 12.1% in the year to 2022 – so cutting back will help you save.

15. Avoid specialty ingredients or find substitutes

Recipes that call for ingredients you don't have on hand and hardly ever use don't have to add to your overall grocery costs. You can usually find substitutes in your pantry – or at least ones that you'll use in different dishes.

For example, if a recipe calls for mirin, you could swap it out for a mix of sugar and rice vinegar (or even white vinegar if that's what you have). There's a treasure trove of tips online for substituting just about anything.

16. Store your food correctly

There's a special kind of disappointment that comes from opening the fridge and finding slimy lettuce or floppy carrots. Turns out, there are better ways to store some foods and extend their life, including:

• Storing potatoes and onions separately
• Keeping the core in a cut capsicum
• Cutting off any damaged or bruised parts of the food
• Storing lettuce leaves in a mason jar
• Freezing milk before its expiry date if you won't use it

If you do find your vegetables looking wilted, you can often revive them in very cold water – or chop and use in stews, soups and other cooked meals after checking they taste fine.

17. Leave your kids at home

If you can, try to shop without the kids and keep distractions to a minimum. It makes it easier to stick to your list and avoid impulse buys.

"In terms of marketing, supermarkets overwhelm us with stimuli but they make it easy to make decisions with product placement, labelling and layout," Dr Paul Harrison told Finder.

For example, products targeted at kids will often be at their eye level – so they're more likely to see (and want them). But if you do have to bring the kids with you, Dr Harrison said it can help to be aware of the potential temptations: "Look at reality of what's going on and say 'what can I change to remove some of these barriers?'"

18. Buy your milk and veggies from the back of the shelf for a longer expiry date

Supermarkets rotate stock to move the foods with the shortest shelf life first. So if you know you need a bit longer to use them up, finding a later expiry date can help avoid waste (and lots of money).

19. If you don't like it, return it

Supermarkets have return policies, just like any stores. And if something has gone bad before it should or there's another reason you're not happy, take the product and your receipt to the customer service desk.

They'll usually ask you why you want to return it as part of the process – and as long as it's a legitimate reason you'll get your money back or a replacement.

20. Get discounted supermarket gift cards

If you're a member of a club or service like NRMA, RACQ, RACV or Red Energy, you could have access to gift card discounts.

For supermarkets, you'll usually find discounts of around 2% to 4% – which means saving $2 to $4 for every $100 you spend even if what you're buying isn't on special.

While the cost of living going up, you can still find deals and use these hacks to save on your groceries.