Much has been said about inflation and the rising cost of living lately, with it not just affecting Singapore but countries worldwide.
According to a recent poll, 4 in 5 Singaporeans have said that inflation has affected their personal financial situations.
In terms of the areas affected, spending on necessities (71%), retirement plans (34%), and Investments (26%) ranked top.
As the purchasing of necessities is something that impacts anyone’s daily life, it comes as no surprise that all age income groups have ranked it as the top concern.
While it doesn’t seem like a deflation may come anytime soon, there are still some tips we can share to help manage your necessities expenditure better. Check them out below:
1. Go for housebrands
This refers to products branded as FairPrice or Meadows for Cold Storage. Housebrand products are typically cheaper without compromising on quality. Wondering why this may be so? Well, sometimes supermarkets like FairPrice work directly with manufacturing facilities, cutting out the middleman costs. Also, how often have you seen housebrands getting advertised? The savings on marketing go towards keeping the costs competitive.
This applies even to vitamins. We know that Watsons also sells its own housebrand vitamin C tablets at a fraction of those branded and heavily advertised brands!
2. Don’t be lazy, do your price comparisons
Besides going to stores physically to check out the prices, you could also download a handy app called Price Kaki. Launched by The Consumers Association of Singapore (Case), the app enables users to check the prices of supermarket items.
If you’re a digital native and do all of your shopping online, fear not – you’ll also be able to see Redmart prices on the app as well! More features are also being built out, such as the ability to cart out on the app. Now, how great would that be!
3. Buy only what you need
A no-brainer, but how many of us have thrown away expired or spoilt food that we bought when it was on sale? Remind yourself not to be tempted by the flashy discounts put up. Unless of course, you’re a much better chef than we are and are able to switch up your recipes using the ingredients on sale.
Also sometimes, the more premium meats might be on sale, but why cart them out when you were never buying premium ingredients for your meals in the first place?
Have other tips for us? Share them in the comments below!
