Ways to maximise your spending on groceries in Singapore

Grocery shopping is part of everyday life and even if you do not cook at home, you are sure to buy fruits, canned food, snacks and other foodstuff and toiletries to get you through your time spent outside of work.

Other than the household names of NTUC Fairprice and Cold Storage, do you know that there are many other places where you can get your groceries and at a cheaper price as well?

Here's a list of alternatives to help you save more on your monthly groceries.

1. Online grocery shopping

Tired of carrying heavy bags of detergent, rice and canned food home after work hours? Now, grocery shopping can be as easy as tapping on your phone and getting free delivery as well.

In the last two to three years, we've seen some big players coming into the online grocery market, giving consumers greater convenience when it comes to grocery shopping. Names like Redmart and Honestbee have become the new household name and you can now browse for the products you want in the comfort of your home without even moving from your sofa.

While online grocery stores definitely give you the convenience, they may not always be the cheapest way to go. For instance, some credit cards actually give you discounts and cash rebates when you shop physically at certain supermarkets.

For online grocery shopping, you can make use of sites like Cuponation that consolidates discount codes that you can use for your online purchases.

2. Wholesalers

If you are the type who prefers to bulk-buy and stock up, you are in for a treat. These wholesalers give you not only cheaper prices as compared to traditional supermarkets, products are usually fresher as well since they typically distribute their goods to other suppliers. Some of these wholesalers are:

• Fassler Gourmet - Particular about getting fresh seafood and having them delivered straight to your doorstep? Fassler Gourmet is definitely the place to go, considering that their products are fresher and competitive compared to supermarkets. They offer a wide variety of seafood, including sashimi, smoked salmon, cod, mussels and even crab bisque. You can have your frozen and smoked seafood delivered to you at the time slot you want and offer free delivery if you spend above $100. It is also a great choice if you are organising a party at home as they also sell prepared food which you can easily heat up with little mess.
• Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre - This place is usually crowded near to Chinese New Year as Chinese households stock up on fresh meat and seafood as they prepare for their annual Chinese New Year feast. The place is huge, spanning about 20 football fields and provides a large selection of fresh produce and dried goods as well. However, be prepared to go there in the wee hours since it caters to wholesalers more than individual consumers.
• Victoria Wholesale Centre - if you love to snack on nuts and dried food, you must know that they don't come cheap if you buy from the local supermarket. A great place to get them in bulk and enjoy bulk discounts is the Victoria Wholesale centre. Other than these snacks, you can also stock up on dried provisions and household items, as well as party accessories.

3. "Outlet" shops

You might have spotted one of these "outlet shops" in your neighbourhood - popular names are ValueDollar, ABC Bargain Centre and Beauty Language.

If you compare the prices of some of the products at these shops to those you find at the supermarkets, you'd be pleasantly surprised that they cost about 20 to 40 per cent less!

How could this be? Well, most of these shops sell what we call B-stocks, where the goods could have been slightly damaged packaging, imported from emerging countries or are nearing their expiry dates. Shopping at these shops can greatly cut back the amount you spend on groceries and toiletries per month.

Some items to buy include snacks like cereal bars, chocolate bars, shampoo and shower foam, instant coffee and even deodorant!

4. Use the right credit cards for grocery discounts

Well, this isn't really a place but more of a hack to get cheaper groceries. If you decide that you'd prefer to spend your weekends on the beach instead of visiting wholesalers or outlet stores, you can still get your groceries cheaper even if you buy from an NTUC Fairprice or Cold Storage near your home. You just need to use the right credit card that is optimised for groceries :

Citi Cashback Card - For those of you who are looking for ways to save on all your food expenditures, Citi Cashback Card is one of the best credit cards that can help you do just that. It comes with six per cent cashback on groceries and restaurant bills, and eight per cent on private commute and petrol.

POSB Everyday Card - gives you up to 5per cent cash rebates off Sheng Siong and 5per cent cash rebates off RedMart.

UOB Delight Card - If you are a regular customer of Cold Storage, this is the card for you. You get up to eight per cent rebate at Cold Storage, Jason's, Giant, Guardian and Market Place, and enjoy 10 per cent discount for house brand purchases.

So if you prefer cost-savings to convenience, perhaps using the right credit card at your favourite supermarkets is still the way to go compared to paying for the convenience of online grocery deliveries!

ALSO READ: Groceries getting expensive? How to save money when meal planning

This article was first published in ValueChampion.