When's time to go monthly shopping again? This time, BFI Finance will provide tips to keep your monthly spending money safe. Of course, you have to manage your finances in the right way.
Did you know that the portion of shopping for daily food needs is generally around 40% of your monthly income? Therefore, it is important to know good monthly shopping tips so that your financial condition is maintained. Starting from making a shopping list, and comparing prices, to shopping once a lot.
What can you do to make your monthly shopping even more economical? Come on, take a look at the following tips from BFI Finance Indonesia, to save more on monthly shopping at markets and supermarkets!
BFI Finance's Savings Monthly Shopping Tips
1. Make a Shopping List
Have you done the following tips? If not, come on, do it now! This simple method is proven to make your shopping more economical. You can shop according to the list that is made and avoid shopping for items or foods that are not needed.
In addition, you can also set a shopping budget and find out how much money is spent on monthly shopping this month.
Prioritize buying primary items, such as toiletries or cooking ingredients.
2. Customize Items With Financial Conditions
Next, make sure you buy groceries according to your needs. Choose items such as rice, spices, and so on according to your financial condition. Don't force yourself to buy super-quality groceries or imported goods that are much more expensive. Most importantly, the budget must be maintained as planned.
3. Shop a lot at Once
Since the beginning of the pandemic, it is recommended that you shop in large quantities at once. This can make you more efficient in monthly shopping. Generally, the price of goods in the dozens or Kodi is more efficient than the retail price.
Buying fruit or vegetables in their whole form is also one of the tricks to save money. The price is usually cheaper than fruit or vegetables that have been sliced into small pieces.
Doing this will also prevent you from going out too often, and keep you at risk of contracting the coronavirus.
4. Carefully View Prices and Shopping Time
Finally, make sure that you are careful in comparing and looking at prices. Don't hesitate to take advantage of member promos or shop at discounts. You can check the website or social media of the supermarket you are going to regularly.
In addition to looking at the price, you also have to look at the right time to shop. Shopping on the weekends can make you more focused on choosing the products you really need.
Savings Monthly Shopping List ala BFI Finance
After knowing how to save on monthly shopping tips, here is a monthly shopping list that has been differentiated by type and you can use it as a guide so that no shopping list is missed.
1. Food Staples
The first monthly shopping list is to meet basic food needs such as rice, instant noodles, eggs, meat, vegetables, fruit, milk, and others.
To buy rice, you can choose to buy in kilos or per 5 kilograms according to the daily needs of you and your family members. Store rice in a closed container and not damp to avoid the attack of rice lice and not smell.
Instant noodles are an alternative food ingredient as a substitute for rice if you feel bored. So, it is advisable to buy just enough supplies of instant noodles. For meat needs, you can vary between processed chicken, beef, or other types of meat. The most important thing is how to store the meat at cold temperatures so that it can last a long time with good quality.
Meanwhile, vegetable products are products that do not last long or wilt easily. Some types of vegetables if not placed in the refrigerator, the quality freshness, and nutrition will decrease. In this case, to work around this you may need to buy vegetables on the D-day of cooking or once a week to maintain the quality of freshness. In addition to vegetables, the items that you need to pay attention to are fruits.
Buying frozen food such as nuggets, meatballs, or even frozen vegetables can also be an alternative to basic food ingredients other than meat and rice if you don't have much time to prepare a food menu.
2. Kitchen Supplies
The second monthly shopping list that you need to buy is a variety of kitchen necessities such as sugar, salt, oil, onions, instant spices, and so on.
Buy enough kitchen necessities that can be used for a long time. This is done so that you don't have to visit supermarkets or stalls too often to buy kitchen necessities. There are some spices that cannot be stored at cold temperatures. So, separate kitchen necessities that can be stored in the refrigerator and which cannot. To make it tidier, you can separate the various spices using a food container.
For those of you who rarely cook every month, you can choose an alternative to using catering to meet your daily food needs. Allocate your monthly spending funds to use catering services that have guaranteed quality.
3. Home Cleaning Needs
The cleanliness of the house must be maintained. Therefore, the monthly shopping list such as floor cleaning fluid, detergent, and conditioner should not be forgotten. You can choose to buy various cleaning fluids in bottles or sachets according to your needs. Replacing a mop or broom also doesn't hurt if the function is not optimal.
4. Toiletries
In addition to household cleaning needs, the monthly shopping list that you need to include in the list is toiletries which include soap, shampoo, toothpaste, facial soap, and so on. In fact, if you can save money, the need for toiletries will usually last more than 1 month, depending on the intensity of your use.
5. Vitamins and Personal Medicines
A list of monthly shopping needs that is no less important, namely vitamins and personal medicines. We must always be able to maintain the immune system so as not to get sick easily. Therefore, start by buying vitamins such as vitamin C and dietary supplements. As first aid for disease attacks, it's a good idea to stock up on personal medicines for colds, headaches, coughs, ulcers, diarrhea, betadine, and so on.
6. Cosmetics or Beauty Supplies
Shopping for cosmetic or beauty needs is actually a secondary need, which means it doesn't become a mandatory requirement on your monthly shopping list. If you have more budget, you can spend your money on cosmetic needs such as buying facial moisturizers, facial serums, and other skincare needs.
7. Others
The last monthly shopping list that can be an alternative is shopping for snacks, pet food if you have it, complementary needs for electronic goods such as batteries, and other secondary needs.
So, those are various tips for saving monthly shopping and a monthly shopping list that can be an inspiration for BFI friends. I hope this article helps! Come on, manage your expenses more carefully, and happy shopping!