As finance minister Tito Mboweni invites tips for his upcoming budget speech, Shoprite has a few tips of its own to help cash-strapped South Africans stretch their hard-earned cash a little further.

1.      Start saving every month

Plan for future purchases such as birthdays, holidays and of course the back-to-school period by buying Savings Stamps in units of just R10 or R20 every month. Stamps can be bought, and redeemed, at any Shoprite, Checkers or Usave across South Africa.

2.                  Buy private label

Get more value for your money by buying private label items such as any Shoprite Ritebrand products. These match the established brand names in quality, but at a lower price. This is possible because of the retailer’s efficient supply chain which allows for more cost-effective development and distribution of products.

3.                  Pay attention to unit pricing

The unit price is the cost of a consumer product according to a standard unit of measure, which could be per kilogram, per litre etc. When grocery shopping, look at the unit price - included on the PI (Product Indicator) label on the product shelf - in order to make accurate price comparisons between different product sizes. For example, the unit price of a 1kg box of cereal may be higher than the unit price of a 750g box.

4.                  Capitalise on crazy combo deals

Bulk buys are becoming increasingly popular in South Africa, especially for large families, stokvels and schools who need more bang for their buck. One of the crazy combo deals currently available (until 9 Feb 2020) in Shoprite stores nationwide include 10kg rice, 10kg maize meal and 10kg cake flour for just R240 (a R100 saving).

5.                  Make the most of R5 meals

Look out for Shoprite’s range of heavily discounted R5 deli meals which launched almost three years ago to provide hard-pressed customers, pensioners and students with affordable meal options.