Where Do You Grocery Shop?

A comprehensive look at rewards programs offered by several major chain grocery stores in Ontario.

Where do you do your grocery shopping? Do they have a rewards program? Are you signed up for it?

Most chain grocery stores offer rewards programs to encourage customer loyalty. Generally people shop at the same grocery store, so why not take advantage of the rewards program they have in place?

If You Shop At Zehrs, Loblaws, No Frills, Superstore, Fortinos, Extra Foods, Valu-Mart, Independent, Provigo, Maxi, SaveEasy or SuperValu 

If you shop at any of the above listed stores you should be collecting PC points. In order to get PC points you need to get a PC Mastercard or bank card. It is free to do so and for the most part they don't charge any fees (except interest of course). For every dollar you spend with your PC Mastercard you earn 10 PC points. For every dollar you spend with your PC bank card you earn 5 PC points. 20 000 points equals $20  in free groceries. To redeem them you simply ask your cashier at the checkout to use your points.

You can earn bonus points by bringing your own reusable grocery bags when shopping. For every bag you bring and use, you get 10 PC points. Just make sure that you inform the cashier of how many bags you have, most won't ask if you are collecting PC points in my experience.

You might not think you would earn that much doing this, but trust me its worth it. Last year I got over $100 in free groceries and I'm living with just one other person so we don't spend that much on our credit cards. Feed a family of 5 and you'll definitely earn a lot more. This is basically free money, why say no to that?

Pros: It's easy to collect and redeem PC points. They are accepted at a large variety of stores. You can redeem them for fun items like clothing and cosmetics at Joe Fresh. Lots of opportunities to earn extra PC points.

Cons: You commit yourself financially through either a credit card or bank account to PC. If you're comfortable doing this then it's great, but not for everyone. 

If You Shop at Sobeys, Foodland, IGA, Fresch Co., Price Chopper, or Thrifty Foods

If you shop at any of the above mentioned stores you should be collecting Club Sobeys points. At participating stores you earn 1 point per dollar spent. 725 points gives you $5 off your next grocery bill. Like PC points you can redeem them at point of purchase. 

You can also convert your Club Sobeys points into Esso Extra points, 2 Club Sobeys points for 1 Esso Extra point. Esso Extra points can be redeemed for free gas and car washes for example. You can also convert them to Aeroplan points, again 2 Club Sobeys points for 1 Aeroplan point. Aeroplan points can be redeemed for travel rewards like discounted flights and hotels. 

If you have a BMO Club Sobeys Master Card you'll earn twice the number of points than with a regular Club Sobeys card. If you don't want a credit card, you can sign up for a BMO Club Sobeys banking account. You won't get bonus points for every dollar you spend, but you can get bonus points if you set up automatic deposits on those accounts. Again, like the PC Master Card and bank account it can be a bit of a financial commitment, but if you do most of your grocery shopping at Sobeys, you could end up with some great rewards.

Pros: The points can be redeemed for a variety of things not just groceries. I like that they can be combined with Esso Extra or Aeroplan points. I also really like that just enrolling in the Club Sobeys program does not involve any financial commitment to the program, unlike PC.

Cons: It takes a long time to accumulate points. Without bonus points, you have to spend $725 to save $5. That's like an interest rate of 0.007%, if you want to look at it another way. Not all stores owned by this company accept Club Sobeys cards, generally only Sobey's does.

If You Shop At Metro

You should be collecting Air Miles. For every $20 you spend at Metro you'll get 1 Air Mile. They offer 3 options: Air Miles Cash, Air Miles Cash and Dreams, or Air Miles Dreams. Air Miles Cash can be redeemed for instant savings in-store. When you have 95 points in your cash balance you can redeem them in-store for instant $10 savings. Air Miles Dreams are accumulated and redeemed online or by mail. 

When you purchase certain products in-store you can earn bonus Air Miles.

Pros: Air Miles can be earned at more stores than just Metro so you can accumulate points faster. It doesn't cost anything to get an Air Miles card, so there is no obligation in joining. There are opportunities to earn bonus air miles.

Cons: It takes a long time to accumulate enough points to get good rewards. 

Conclusion

I've chosen to look at the reward programs for the grocery stores near me, but there are lots more grocery stores and rewards programs out there. So do some research, you have to buy groceries so why not get some rewards for doing it.

Plan Your Next Grocery Visit

Tips for preparing for your next grocery visit to maximize savings.

How To Grocery Shop

How would you describe your approach to grocery shopping? Do you:

• A) Finally go when you have absolutely nothing left and buy anything and everything you need/want?

• B) Shop once or twice a week with a mental list of things you need?

• C) Shop once a week armed with a list of things you need?

If you chose C) I would say that you are one smart shopper. Like I talked about with my food waste post, people often end up buying things they don’t need at the grocery store. It’s on sale, it looks appealing, you think you might want it, so you buy it. Then it sits in your fridge or cupboard until it goes bad or you give it to the food bank. I know we are all guilty of this, but, really, how does this habit make any sense? 

A study from the University of Pennsylvania showed that it is on weekly shopping trips to replenish household supplies that the most impulse spending takes place. So let's stop our impulse shopping and stick to a list!

Make A Meal Plan

Once a week, preferably on a regular set day (just so you get in the habit) come up with a meal plan for you and your family. Do it alone or do it with others, it can be a lot more fun than it sounds and a great way to try new things. By having a list of everything you're going to eat you avoid the inevitable, "what's for dinner tonight?" (you'll probably eat less takeout too). Make sure you include snacks in your meal plan; they don't have to be healthy, but include them. If you think you're going to eat a bag of chips as a snack all week, write it down. Then when you're at the grocery store you only need to buy one bag and not the other one you were eyeing as well.

Write It Down

You know what meals you’re eating, so now you write up what ingredients you’ll need. Double check it to make sure you’re not forgetting anything. I would also recommend dividing the list by how you will find the items at the grocery store. So lump your fresh produce, fresh meats, frozen items, dairy, and canned items together, as an example. 

My husband has an app for his phone and has his grocery lists divided by store so that he can start from the top at each store, instead of wandering around. For him grocery shopping is about getting in and out as quickly as possible. Personally I like to wander, but the University of Pennsylvania study showed that my husband's approach is better. Those "fast and efficient" shoppers are 82% less likely than the average person to make impulse purchases.

Check Your Stock

Chances are your kitchen is going to have some of the ingredients you’ll need already. So take an inventory, look around and eliminate redundant purchases. 

This is also a good chance to check on your supplies of other items you don't regularly buy but use, like condiments and butter. Doesn't it suck when you've just done all your grocery shopping and come home to discover you're out of jam to put on that bread you just bought?

Shop Smarter

Armed with a well-organized list you’re ready to start. Try and buy only what is on your list. Remember that you already made a well-rounded meal plan so there shouldn't be the need for any superfluous spending. Once you have everything, double-check your list just to make sure you haven't forgotten anything.

Other Tips

Ever heard someone tell you to shop the outside aisles of the grocery store? This can be a good approach as the outskirts of the store usually have the produce and fresh meat. However they generally also contain frozen items which can include things like ice cream. And don’t forget those center aisles contain canned fruits and vegetables, pasta, rice, and baking items. These are all things you’ll likely need.

Don’t get distracted by the sales. Items on sale are placed in prominent locations to attract our attention and thus end up in our carts. But they aren't necessarily the best deal (more on this late this this month), so don’t get fooled.

Walk or bike to the grocery store and you'll be less likely to make impulse purchases according to the University of Pennsylvania study.

Shop with a full bladder and you'll want to get in and out as quickly as possible. This can backfire on you though if you wait too long, so be careful...

Overall this might all sound like common sense. That's because in general it is. Personally I would like to see some more studies backing this up to convince more people of the savings they can get. In the absence of those studies I'll try and convince you to do this through my own experience. I've been strictly sticking to a grocery shopping list for about 2 months now and can proudly say I've cut back my household grocery shopping by $150 a month. I credit those savings to creating meal plans and shopping lists. So try it for yourself and save some money.

Food Waste

A comprehensive look at how much food Canadians waste annually and ways to cut that down.

How much food do you think you waste every year? According to a study by Value Chain Management Center, Canadians on average waste 40% of their food, for a total of $27 billion dollars. That is crazy! So if you're wasting 40% of your consumable food, you're buying 40% too much. Isn't that great - you could save up to 40% on your groceries by only buying what you need!

Why Do We Waste So Much?

The Value Chain Management study found that the primary cause of the waste is the consumer. The main reasons for waste are:

• Buying too much food because it's a good deal
• Making too much food
• Not using food before it expires
• Lack of use of leftovers

This make sense to me, so I'm going to cover how we can fix these problems, as well as others I think are important.

It’s A Good Deal, I Should Stock Up

True it makes sense to stock up on items we know we go through because they're on sale. The reason why things go on sale isn't to save us money (that's a happy by-product), but rather to make us buy more and/or get rid of excess inventory. How often do you end up buying something you didn't intend to, but found on sale and thought you might use eventually? Buying on sale makes sense, but only if you need it. When you see something on sale ask yourself when the last time you bought it was? If you buy that item every week and don’t question whether you really need it, then definitely stock up. Otherwise, think hard before buying. Also try to only buy non-perishables on sale. That way you don't have to get around to eating them right away. Finally, set a limit for how much of every item you're going to buy. You don't need 10 bottles of mustard, this isn't Extreme Couponing. 

Making Too Much Food

It's hard to make just the right amount of food. Especially if you're single. Someone really needs to come up with a singles grocery store where everything comes in single servings.

So how does one make the right amount of food? I try to make all the food I'm going to eat all week on Sunday. It takes me about 3 hours and then I don't have to worry about it for the rest of the week. Once the food is prepared I put it into reusable containers with enough food for one meal. Everything goes into the freezer and that way when I want to eat I just heat and eat!

I Don't Feel Like Leftovers

I get it, leftovers aren't the most appealing thing to eat, but you've already made them, so don't let them go to waste. If you don't think you're going to eat them right away, freeze them for later. You could even try adding a new spin on your leftovers by adding another sauce, vegetable, or cheese to them, totally changing the composition.

Watch Those Expiry Dates

Check expiry dates frequently. Use the FIFO system (First In First Out). Make sure that you're eating your oldest eggs first, not the ones you just bought (even though you weren't out of the old ones first!). Rotate your food and put the food that needs to be eaten up first in plain sight.

Cleaning your fridge regularly is a great way to find stuff you didn't know you had. Quickly clean it once a week when you go grocery shopping and you'll find less will slip through the cracks. 

Food Isn't That Expensive, I Can Afford To Throw A Little Out

The Value Chain Management study said that a lot of the waste came from people's attitudes about food, citing that it wasn't that expensive. In fact, groceries are very expensive in Canada. According to Numbeo, the average Canadian would need to spend $312.90 a month to sustain themselves. This makes it the 12th most expensive country in the world for groceries in 2012. Countries where groceries cost less include: Australia, UK, France, Hong Kong, the USA, and Italy to name a few. Bet you thought that it would be much more expensive to buy groceries in Europe – it’s actually not. We as Canadians pay a lot of money for groceries, so why would we waste good money and good food?

What Do We Waste?

According to a 2009 Statistics Canada study the bulk of food wasted by retailers and consumers are fresh and processed fruits and vegetables. 122 kg per capita to be exact. This is followed by 18 kg of oils, fats, sugars and syrups; 16 kg of red meats; 10 kg of poultry; and 6 kg of dairy products. 

How Can I Stop Waste?

Plan your meals. Know how much you're going to eat every day and put everything else you can in the freezer. I prepare most of my meals for the week on Sunday night. The meals are divided into serving portions and frozen to be thawed on the day I eat them. This is great because plans change, so keeping most of your food in the freezer means that if you decide not to eat one of your pre-made meals, it won't go bad.

Don't buy stuff that is already spoiling unless you're going to eat it that day. My grocery store offers food that will be expiring that day or the next for 50% off, its tempting to buy lots, but there is a reason they're selling it cheap.

Shop with a list and only buy what you need. Very simple, but it works.

Finally, here’s something I found on Pintrest that I really like - 27 ways to make your groceries last as long as possible. Check it out, it has a lot of great advice relating to fresh produce in particular.

I know its hard to use everything you buy and make and sometimes things slip through the cracks. But once you start making a conscious effort to stop throwing food out, you'll find you're buying less and saving more. Now that I'm sure you can all go for. 

Grocery Store Month

An introduction to the upcoming grocery month segment on my blog.

I want to keep things new and exciting on this blog, so for the month of February I am introducing the first of several theme months. February will be grocery month! Groceries-they're expensive and we have to buy them. So how can we save money?

I will cover things from shopping the sales, taxes, making your food last longer, and many more! So stay tuned in all month and hopefully learn how to cut down your grocery bill.

Emergency Fund: Get One Now!

An examination of the importance of having an emergency fund and how to approach starting one.

Do you have an emergency fund? I do because I recognize how important it is from personal experience. When I was in university I supported myself by working part-time. I didn't have lots of surplus money, but I got by. Then something unexpected happened - I broke my ankle and I was unable to work for several months. I got a little bit of money on EI, but that wasn't enough to pay all my bills. Luckily, my parents and grandparents were able to help me out, but that experience has instilled in me the importance of having an emergency fund. Nobody plans on bad things happening to them, but it's best to be prepared if they do. The last thing you want to worry about when you're recovering from an illness, death in the family, or job loss, is stress about how you're going to pay your bills.

Why Should I Have An Emergency Fund?

If you were injured and unable to work tomorrow, what would you do? What if one of your family members took ill and you took a leave of absence to care for them? What if your spouse lost their job and you couldn't support your family on one income alone? These are all realistic scenarios that you should be prepared for. We always think nothing bad is going to happen to us (and hopefully nothing ever does), but wishful thinking isn't going stop those things from happening. If you have benefits from work they might help you out, but make sure that you understand exactly what conditions qualify you for assistance. You might be surprised to find out you're not as well covered as you thought.

Some people think that if you lose your job EI will cover your bills. This is not true. You'll only get around 55% of your average salary on EI, and that's after a 2 week waiting period during which time you can't earn any money (including vacation pay and severance). You also have to qualify for EI, which is determined by the reason for leaving your job and how many insurable hours you have banked. So even if you qualify for EI, you'll still need some savings to get you through the waiting period.

How Much Should I Have?

How much you should have set aside in an emergency fund varies depending on who you ask. According to RBC's website, you should have 3 months set aside. They also have a neat calculator on their site that lets you calculate how much you should have set aside according to that principal. Other experts say you should save between 6 and 12 months of your salary. Personally I have a goal of having 6 months of my salary set aside. I am nowhere near there right now, but the point is that I set aside money every month to help me reach that goal. 

Where Should I Keep My Emergency Fund?

You want your emergency fund to be somewhere safe where you can have quick access to it. This means not tying it up in investments. It can be hard to watch your fund sit idle, but when you do need it you want to get it right away. I store my emergency fund in a savings account at my bank. It's earning 1.35% in interest, with an anniversary bonus. This isn't much, but I did research and it was one of the highest interest rates I could find that suited my needs for this particular situation. Do your own research and figure out where you would feel most comfortable keeping it.

Don't Use It Until You Need To

Now, it can be tempting to use your emergency fund to pay for any little emergency that pops up - resist that urge! If you keep spending your emergency fund, it won't be there when you really need it. You should hopefully have other savings accounts for things like medical expenses, home repairs, and car repairs. Save the emergency fund for a genuine emergency!

Conclusion

It can seem impossible to set aside 3, 6, even 12 months of your salary for something that may never happen. But trust me, you should do this, and sooner rather than later. Even if you set aside a little bit every month it will help out. Saving is a habit you have to start. So once you get in the habit of setting aside say $20 a month, it will be easier to increase that later to $100, even $200. In no time at all you'll have the critical savings fund you need, just in case.

Job Loss: What To Do When You're Suddenly Unemployed

A look at how to approach the sudden crisis of job loss and how to start navigating through it.

Losing a job can be overwhelming and scary. Frantic thoughts start running through your head - how am I going to pay my bills? How am I going to feed myself and my family? What am I going to do? This post will help you deal with this unfortunate situation calmly and hopefully help you get on your way again. At the very least, some of these things have certainly proven helpful to me when I've been in this situation.

What To Do Step By Step

1. Breathe! 

Running around like a chicken with its head cut off isn't going to help. Stop and take some time for yourself. This is a very emotional process and it's important not to get overwhelmed. If you need a day to just chill out and process all of the stuff going on around you, take it.

2. Apply for EI

If you qualify, apply for EI (employment insurance). This is a government-run program that workers pay into every paycheque. It's designed to help you pay your basic necessities while you look for a new job. There are a lot of drawbacks to EI so don't expect to continue living the same lifestyle you did while you were employed. You'll likely get around 55% of your average earnings on EI, to a maximum of $501 a week. There is also a 2 week waiting period before you can get your payments. These are important things to know for the next couple of steps.

3. Count your money

Look at your bank account(s) and figure out exactly how much money you have and currently owe. Hopefully you have an emergency fund that you can rely on if you need to. Remember there is a 2 week waiting period on EI where you can't earn any money. This is where your savings will come in handy. Figure out your new income from EI or other sources as you'll need that number to make a new budget work.

4. Readjust your budget

Look at your budget and separate your fixed expenses from the variable ones. Fixed expenses cannot be reduced and will include things like rent, car payments, and insurance. Variable expenses can be reduced or eliminated, and include things like cable, phones, groceries, and entertainment. Some of those things might seem like they should be fixed expenses, but they aren't. That's because you have some control over them. You decide what level of phone coverage or internet service you have. You decide whether you're eating salmon or chicken. 

It's important to keep your budget realistic; while it may seem like a good idea to get rid of entertainment completely, you should keep some money around to relieve your stress; you don't cease requiring leisure activities just because you're unemployed. Once you have a budget you can work with, day to day living should be a bit easier. If you know you have say $100 to spend on gas and you've spent only $90, you don't have to worry that you're spending too much on gas because you're under budget. So don't start acting like I did, making my husband turn off all the lights because I was convinced we were burning up our hydro bill even though we weren't doing anything different than normal.

5. Update your resume

Look at your current resume and update it where possible. Do you have your most recent employment experience on it? You'll be sending out a lot these in the near future so make sure its a good one.

6. Update your online profile

These days having a professional online profile is important for job searching. LinkedIn is the most popular, so having an account there is a good idea. Make sure your Facebook, Twitter, and whatever other social media sites you use have professional-looking profiles as well. Employers do detailed searches of potential employees, so look great online. 


7. Look and apply for jobs

You've got your resume and online profile in tip-top shape so its time to start looking and applying for jobs. Use websites like Job Bank, Monster, and Workopolis to start, but don't limit your search there. Word of mouth is a great way to look for jobs because not all job openings are listed. So ask your friends, family members, hair dresser, anyone you know if they know of any job openings. 


8. Seek professional help

There are lots of free services out there to help you in your job search. Most cities have an employment center, so find the one nearest to you. If you went to a post-secondary institution your alma mater might also have a career center you can use as an alumni. Granted, you'll probably have to live in the same city as the school to take advantage of this, but if you do why not check it out?

Do Not Do This:

- Do not panic. You're going to get through this.

- Do not feel ashamed. Jobs come and go. Gone are the days where you work at the same company from ages 18 to 60. Its expected that you will work for several companies during your working career. There are many reasons for losing a job that are outside of your control.

- Do not rely on credit cards. Cut back your spending where you can, but do not use credit to fill in the gap; this habit will haunt you down the road. Better to eliminate unnecessary expenses and use your own money first. Ask for help from family if you absolutely need to, but pay them back, as no one wants a mooch for a relative.

Conclusion

You're going to be ok. Reading this post is a great start and now you know what to do next. I was unemployed for a couple of months last year and that's what got really got me started in budgeting and learning to manage my money. When I was back to working full time I had a new appreciation for living with less. I was able to do more with my money than before I was unemployed. For me being unemployed worked out really well. I hope you can turn this negative experience into a positive one as well and get started at a new job soon.

Your Credit Report: Why You Should Get It and How

A look at the importance of obtaining a personal credit report for Canadians. 

Something I have been thinking about doing but have not up until recently is ordering my credit report. My excuses to date have been that its too expensive and I don't think I really need it so why should I bother wasting my money on it? I was wrong.

What Is A Credit Report?

According to the government of Canada's website, a credit report is a detailed report of your credit history and is kept by at least one of Canada's credit-reporting agencies. In Canada there are two credit-reporting agencies, EquifaxCanada and Trans-Union Canada. Your credit report and score are used by creditors to determine whether you are safe enough to lend money to. There are differences between the two credit-reporting agencies which are worth a more in depth look later. But briefly, your information will be different for each agency as they have different policies for how long they keep something on your file (generally Equifax keeps them on file for less time than Trans-union, but it depends on what it is) and how they rate you. Also some creditors will use your report from both, while others only the one. So I would say that it is a good idea to get your credit report from each. Maybe from both the first time you do it and then alternate every year after that, or be really prudent and do both each year.

Ordering Your Credit Report For Free

Did you know that you can order your credit report for free in Canada. What, free? I didn't see that! Of course not, the credit-reporting agencies want to make money off of you so they charge you for instant access to your credit report online. However, they cannot charge you to mail it in. Go onto their websites and download the form, fill it out and attach photocopies of proof of identity. To order from Equifax click here. To order from TransUnion click here. Mail it in and voila-in a couple of weeks you will have your credit report. Now this is not the same as a credit score, that you still have to pay for. For Equifax it costs $11.95. However, this might not really be worth doing since the score they provide you with is not a FICO score which seems to be the one most commonly used by Canadian creditors. Currently only Trans-union provides you with your FICO score for the low low cost of $22.90.

Why Should I Order My Credit Report?

It's very important to get your credit checked every year (yes each and every single year) because its important to keep a close watch on any use of your name and credit. This is a great way to protect yourself against identity fraud. A good friend of mine told me this story awhile ago about a cousin of hers that was trying to get a mortgage to buy a house. She had the house picked out, but on the day she went to get the loan and put down a down payment she found out that months ago someone had opened up a credit card in her name and racked up several thousands of dollars in debt. While the situation was eventually resolved it took a lot of work on the cousin's part to prove it was not her who opened the card and the time it took meant she did not get the house. Had she checked her credit before going to look for a house she would have seen this big check against her name and dealt with it immediately.

Sometimes there can be checks against your credit that you are not even aware of but have nothing to do with your identity being stolen. Another friend of mine closed a credit card years ago, but didn't realize she owed $0.75 in interest that was eventually reversed. For years that $0.75 was counting against her and she wan't even aware of it.

So get your credit checked every year because its a good idea to have the best credit you can- you never know when you're going to need it. Find out, when you don't need credit, that something is causing your score to go down and allow yourself time for it to recover. Don't get caught surprised when you're applying for a mortgage or line of credit and get denied.