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- Why Did We Make Grocery Shopping So Stressful?
Why Did We Make Grocery Shopping So Stressful?
This article is brought to you by Suncorp Bank.
Whether you’re a Sunday morning, big haul shopper, or you pop by every afternoon after work just to get what you need, grocery shopping can be stressful, especially when you’re unprepared. The people. The prices. The overwhelming amount of choice. It’s no wonder we end up buying stuff we don’t need, or won’t eat, wasting both food and money. Â
That’s why Suncorp Bank has teamed up with OzHarvest to bring you the Food Savings Challenge to help tackle food waste and save you money. We’ve discovered that solving Australia’s food waste issue begins at the shopping stage, before food even enters your home. With proper planning, grocery shopping can actually become a stress-free experience that helps combat food waste.
- Please, please, please make a list.
It’s a tale as old as time, but it truly bears repeating — do not go grocery shopping without a list. Organisation is key when it comes to tackling the shops. Arm yourself with the tools necessary to get in there and get out unscathed. That all starts with prepping at home. Be sure to scour your fridge, pantry and freezer to work out what you already have and therefore what you actually need and write it down accordingly.
Don’t stand at the potatoes in the shops and try to remember if you have any at home. That’s a one-way ticket to buying food you don’t need because you had it, which means those old potatoes are probably going to end up promptly in the bin.
- Focus on buying, and using, whole ingredients.
It’s easy to think of some produce as only able to be partially used. You’re probably not going to eat a banana peel, right? But, there are some fruit and veggies that can be re-purposed to ensure you’re doing your part to minimise food waste. Take broccoli, for instance – most people only use the florets and toss the stems, but those stems can be peeled, sliced, and added to stir-fries or grated into slaws for extra crunch and nutrition. Vegetable scraps? Use them to build a super punchy stock that can help you build on bigger meals. All about working smarter, not harder.
- Ugly almost never means bad
We’ve all been hoodwinked to think we need the most picture-perfect produce. We want those unblemished apples, those bright orange carrots and lettuce as green as green can be. But, if we’re all doing this, we’re literally leaving produce that might not be visually perfect there to go to waste, when in reality it tastes just as good.
If you can, opt for those wonky carrots or funny-looking onions. Just because it looks imperfect doesn’t mean it is. It’s just as good as any others sold by your local grocery shop, and adding these to your trolley helps work against a stigma that contributes to this nation’s food waste problem.
- Mum was right — don’t go shopping hungry.
Our appetite can betray our minds when we’re stalking down the grocery aisle. One rumble and suddenly everything looks good, and we simply must buy it. Are you sure your eyes aren’t bigger than your belly? Your hunger might be telling you some fibs., tempting you to buy more food than you need. Then, you get home, you eat, you feel like a person again and realise you’ve made a terrible mistake.
Make sure you eat before you brave the shops. Armed with a shopping list, you’ll be way less likely to impulse buy things that you won’t eat.
- If all else fails, the internet will save you.
Maybe you can’t yet resist a sneaky impulse buy. Maybe seeing those promotion ‘2 for 1’ labels makes something come over you, and you can’t help but put food you don’t need in your trolley. Shopping IRL isn’t for everyone — that’s why online grocery shopping might be your saviour.
When you’re not physically walking down each and every aisle, you might be less likely to impulse buy just because something catches your eye. Stick to a list, and you’ll find it much easier to resist the specials, no matter how good your intentions are to use that extra food.
Grocery shopping can be stressful and it can be wasteful, but it doesn’t have to be. Head to Suncorp Bank’s website to check out the Food Savings challenge and learn more ways to help you reduce your food waste.