Don't shop around but check the price per kilo or litre next to the actual price of the item. Don't understand how the litre price of a 6 pack Bavaria is cheaper than the litre price of the 8 can Fridge Pack of the same beer.

I think it's true that "Hamstering" does lead to overbuying; even if you are saving on the price of the product itself, you end up buying far more than planned...

What you need to do is to focus. Look at the booklet each supermarket has delivered to your door, decide which discounted items you want to buy BEFORE going to the supermarket. Write down a list of other must-have items, then go to the supermarket to just buy those things.

Don't buy things you think you MIGHT need in the future. Buy only what you will really use. Also, buy in bulk, so you have a supply until the next time the item is on sale again. This way you never have to buy any item at full price.

One more thing - it helps a lot of you are not brand loyal, either. Just buy whatever is on sale!

I remember in school being told the cost of travelling from shop to shop for special offers often cancels out any saving, have also managed to avoid that advice for most of my adult life in my search for cheaper beer, Bavaria I like but I miss Alfa the most, and my girlfriend of course, in that order ! no the other way around , doh !

'Always shop around and NEVER buy something just because it's cheaper - (Look at the sell-by-date!.) NEVER go shopping when you're hungry or because you have plenty of cash.

Cheapest articles always bottom shelve, bend your back! Avoid processed with added shelf-life E numbers.

Go to the market just b4 it closes and make deals. NEVER be fooled by fancy printing & packaging! 1 kilo Euroshopper spaghetti, €0,58c, as good as the rest.

NEVER throw away bread, freeze it! Avoid factory farmed produce with added antibiotics. cook 10 meals & freeze 8 of them.

Shopping around DOES benefit your wallet!
(I eat for €1, pd, so can you, excluding beer lol!)

Who sponsored the research of Marc. His research is not about shopping around. It is about whether supermarkets can persaude shoppers to deviate from their shopping list and budget whilst they shop around.

Make sure that you eat everything you buy, and you will quickly learn not to buy any food you won't eat.
Other than food, I never buy anything in supermarkets which I did not mean to buy before going in. (Oh, OK, I bought a DVD on sale, one or two years ago.)

Economist Vroegrijk... If this were a Donald Duck story, the name couldn't have been better chosen. ;-)

What I understand is, shopping for bargains does work as long as you focus on what you need only and resist the temptation to buy anything else.

So.... what is new?

I do my shopping in a completely different than most then I guess. I (try to) make a list of everything I really need before I go out of the door, I also make sure I eat something before going to the supermarkets, so I'm not hungry while shopping ;)I start at the TenKate markt, then the Dirk, then Vomar if really necessary. I have a household budget, of course, which includes food, and I record and track this for many years. I save about 20% on food across the board shopping this way. Trick is eating before you go shopping, and sticking with your list. It's not rocket science, all plain common sense.

The biggest problem is the monopoly of the main shops, AH, C1000 & Jumbo.
Why Tesco hasn't penetrated into The Netherlands I dont know. Bring Asda & Tesco here - that would shake up the competition !

hamstering can work but only if you buy non food items generally or food items with a long shelf life such as pasta, rice, tinned goods etc. I always try to buy toiletries such as shampoo, shaving foam etc. when they are on offer and you can hardly buy too much as you will always need it at some point!

@@cluthadubh: The beer in the freezer costs more because it's chilled. It costs money to chill although I'm sure the price more than covers the cost of chilling it.
@Alan Knipmeyer: Asda is Walmart and Walmart had a bad experience in continental Europe, notably German. They left thankfully (Walmart is not good on workers' rights). I don't know what the excuse is for Tesco.

Tesco are just as bad if not worse! My Brother in law is a farmer in the UK and if Tesco decide to have a special offer on for example cabbages of 15% off they tell him that he will be paid 15% less that week. Cheap food means less for the producers not for the retailers!!!!

Do 90% shopping at ALDI, and top up with outstanding items during a 10min visit to AH. I halved my weekly shopping bill overnight.

I buy at the local market.

@groverpm The Bavaria Fridge Pack is simply the name given to their 8 pack which is sold alongside their regular 6 pack, unchilled. So I still don't get why Jan Linders charge more per litre for the same beer.

to save more , just avoid AH , you have no idea how much you end up saving

I do shop around and it DOES save money but you have to do it often to know how to do it best. I'm a stay at home mother and I don't drive a car. I check the weekly ads for all the grocery stores I go to and plan my shopping around what is on sale and where. I also have mental lists of what I buy that is cheaper at each store. Contrary to what most people think, many good prices are found at Albert Heijn. Aldi is not the cheapest for everything!!!

Good example.. I have noticed recently that the price of butter has dropped, except at one 'cheap' supermarket. It's 35c more for 250g of butter at ONE store! insane! Once you get into the groove, you will save just be strong and it helps to not use a car to save more money!