How to Shop Cheap in Australia? -Getting Deals and Coupon Sites

Well let’s face it Australia is no coupon haven. If you are someone from America living down under and are on a coupon hunting spree to tackle the reasonably exorbitant grocery product rates, you will be in for a disappointment. Well there are other ways of saving here. You need to explore those other options, however having a bunch of discount coupons so that you can use it at the counter is not much seen of here.

Grocery shopping in Australia:Saving money from coupons?

There is some respite after all for those seeking to save their hard earned money. Here the mainstream stores are Coles and Woolworth. A close but cheaper third would be Aldi , somehow the bill is slightly lesser. However Aldi is nowhere close in variety or options as the former two. Needless to say here Aldi is quiet popular for its special sales where one week you might find a nice bakeware for your kitchen or on another time you might have your hands on a Dyson Vacuum , not really because often times products like these find a queue waiting for them even before the shop is open and are gone by the time you blinked twice.

Coles and Woolworth are the main grocery stores in Australia

Coming to groceries, what I usually do is that I first shop at Aldi and for the remaining items on the shopping list, Coles/Woolworth is my next stop. These two are the mainstream grocery here. Unlike America which could be said to have might as well double the options. Although at times I do miss my Walmart which is like a One for All stop. Walmart in terms of its size could be 3 times a Coles or Woolworth and usually has everything under their roof. However after so long after living Down Under I realise all my grocery needs are met here too. Its only that perhaps Walmart is providing an exceeding amount of variety in each category of shopping. To explain it to someone who lives in Australia and has never been to a Walmart, it could also be said to be a combination of perhaps a Coles and Kmart.

Walmart seemed to me cheaper , well considerably. However I have full faith that if a Walmart were to arrive at Australia, it would cease to be cheaper any longer . I talk from my experiences here at Costco and even Target. Costco is not a place for regular shopping for people of all incomes unless they enjoy shopping by the bulk as they probably have a bigger family. Picture buying 12 butter croissants for 9.99 Aus.$ which of course is cheaper but I would struggle to finish that with ,my small family every time. Although I love my Costco in Australia and I am yet to find a product there which was not value for money, apart from that Costco’s bakery and deli are really great in case of purchasing food items for a party or other large gatherings as they are huge in quantity and decent in quality. The quantity of the cake or muffins can slightly put you through shock if one considers it for individual use. However if I was to host a party and purchase food from somewhere I would give consideration to Costco.Further If chocolate was what I was after, my choice for shopping would be from Costco any day as that would fall cheaper too considering the price and quantity.

Talking of Coles and Woolworth, the two they have a weekly half price where prices of products are slashed by half. This is the opportunity for home planners looking to save money. Thus one can pick up those half price stuff and store them till they need it.

A half price display at Coles..

This has also lead to the rise of the people which are known as the ‘Hoarders’. Theoretically speaking hoarding is a terminology generally used for people who are living miserable lives as they seem to be unable to discard any and every type of stuff from their home, sometimes even empty cartons/containers. Usually their home is a place bursting with stuffs lying around to the extent that things become unmanageable and might even poise health risks to the inmates of the house. They also create severe hygiene issues.

However there is another other type of hoarders, they are the ones who are hoarding up on the products that they can manage to get from their local superstore on those special/half price deals . Sometimes the items purchased keep getting piled up and are more in number than the need of it in the close future. The goods may at times go up as high as miniature towers. However to be a little fair the appropriate term is stockpiling on grocery. It occurs when one avails in bulk of those stuffs which are available at half price so as ensure better money saving.

Australia is nowhere close to the extreme couponing that is practiced in America. America has multiple websites offering coupons on great deals. It is a common sight to see a customer availing of various coupons at the grocery at their Walmart or Target and even Costco, however it is unseen or unheard of down under. Another way of saving your money at the grocery is to buy home brands. Now both Coles and Woolworth have their own home brands and honestly speaking they are decent enough for your needs.

Besides Sometimes Grocery like Coles even provide some deals on their receipt. Sometimes their is a 5% off on petrol which you can avail of. You only need to keep an eye out for it because often the receipts have some tiny offer. I remember finding a certain receipt from Kfc which was offering a certain deal if I happened to answer their online survey however much to my chagrin the offer time had lapsed.

Another shopping secret for those in Australia would be to know your local bargain store. In Melbourne I have been to multiple bargain stores and there are some which are even known as 2 dollar stores. They all are different in terms of the goods they stock up on but they are more likely to fulfil all your cleaning, home organizing, kitchen wares, stationary, craft and numerous other needs. Almost all of one’s needs could be met except for food and grocery perhaps. They are usually imported Chinese goods and at most times cheaper than you would expect.

A Blog Directory of Coupon Websites in Australia

If you do not expect too much and just happen to look at these coupon sites , you might find whiff of a few deals or at least an inkling of some half price going on in your local store. Some of these websites are actually decent like Oz bargain or even catch.