How to do the weekly shop for less in Ireland

The weekly shop is one of the few big bills you can change every single week. You do not have to clip coupons or drive to five shops. A few habits, applied steadily, bring the total down without eating worse. This guide covers the ones that make the most difference in Irish supermarkets.

Start with a plan and a list

Shopping without a list is the most expensive way to shop. You buy what catches your eye, you forget what you came for, and you go back mid-week and spend again.

1. Check what is already in the fridge, freezer and cupboards.
2. Plan the week's main meals around what you have and what is in season.
3. Write a list by section of the shop, so you do not wander.
4. Stick to it, with a small allowance for genuine bargains.

Plan for leftovers. Cooking a bigger dish once and eating it twice is cheaper than two separate meals. Planning also cuts food waste, which is money in the bin.

You can price your own list at every main supermarket with our shopping list tool. It shows where your actual basket comes out cheapest, which is more useful than any general claim about which shop is cheapest.

Own brands versus named brands

Every supermarket sells its own-brand range alongside the big names, often in more than one tier: a basic range, a standard range and a premium range. For many staples, the own brand is made to a similar recipe and the difference is mostly packaging and advertising.

Good candidates for switching to own brand:

• Tinned tomatoes, beans and pulses.
• Pasta, rice, flour and oats.
• Sugar, salt and cooking oil.
• Frozen vegetables.
• Cleaning products, kitchen roll and bin bags.
• Painkillers, where the active ingredient is the same (check the label).

Try one own-brand swap a week. If you do not like it, go back. Most people find they keep more swaps than they drop. You can compare the price of common items across shops on our price guide.

Read the ingredients, not the front

Compare the ingredients list and nutrition panel on the back, not the claims on the front. Sometimes the named brand has more of the main ingredient, sometimes the own brand does. The FSAI explains what food labels in Ireland must show.

Aldi and Lidl

Aldi and Lidl carry a smaller range, mostly their own labels, which keeps costs down. Many households do most of a shop there and pick up the remaining items elsewhere. Whether that works for you depends on what you buy and where you live. If one is close, it is worth pricing your usual basket there. Compare them on our weekly basket page alongside Tesco, SuperValu and Dunnes Stores, or look at the Aldi and Lidl pages.

Watch the middle aisle. The weekly specials on household goods, tools and clothes are not on your list, and they are designed to be tempting.

Loyalty schemes

Most supermarkets run a loyalty card or app. They usually give points, vouchers or member-only prices. They can be worth having, but keep a few things in mind:

• A member price is only a saving if you would buy the item anyway.
• Vouchers that need a minimum spend can push you to buy more.
• Your shopping data is what you are paying with. The Data Protection Commission explains your rights over it.
• Points tied to one shop can keep you loyal when another shop is cheaper for your basket.

Use the card where you shop, but do not let it decide where you shop.

Unit prices: the most useful number on the shelf

The big price on a shelf label tells you what the pack costs. The unit price, in smaller print, tells you what it costs per kilo, per litre or per item. That is how you compare a big pack with a small one, or one brand with another.

In Ireland, shops are required by law to display the unit price for most food and many other products sold by weight or volume, alongside the selling price. The CCPC explains the rules on price display.

Some things unit prices reveal:

• A bigger pack is usually, but not always, cheaper per kilo. Sometimes two small packs on offer beat one big one.
• Pre-chopped, pre-washed and single-portion items cost a lot more per kilo.
• Loose fruit and veg is often cheaper than pre-packed.
• Check the unit is the same. One label may show per kilo and another per 100g.

Worth knowing: if a shelf label is missing a unit price or the price at the till does not match the shelf, tell staff. You can report repeated problems to the CCPC.

Real discounts and fake ones

Not every "offer" is a saving. Some common patterns:

• Price raised before a "sale". The price goes up for a few weeks, then comes down to where it was and is called a discount.
• Multibuy that costs more. "3 for" deals where the single price is no better, or where you only needed one.
• Was and now prices. Under Irish consumer law, a "was" price should be a genuine earlier price. If you doubt one, the CCPC has guidance.
• Bigger pack, worse price. Check the unit price.
• Shrinkflation. The pack gets smaller while the price stays the same. Again, the unit price shows it.

Our deals page lists this week's discounts that are real, checked against what the item cost in earlier weeks.

Frozen, tinned and seasonal

Frozen fruit and vegetables are picked and frozen quickly, keep for months and cost less than many fresh equivalents. They also mean you throw less away. Frozen fish and berries are especially good value.

Buy fresh produce in season. Irish-grown vegetables in their season, like root vegetables, cabbage and potatoes through autumn and winter, are often cheap and plentiful. Out-of-season produce travels further and costs more.

Tinned fish, beans, lentils and chickpeas are cheap sources of protein. Swapping some of the meat in a stew, chilli or curry for beans or lentils stretches it further.

Other habits that add up

• Do not shop hungry. It is a cliché because it is true.
• Look high and low. The most profitable items for the shop sit at eye level.
• Reduced stickers. Late in the day, short-dated items are often marked down. Buy what you will eat or freeze that day.
• Best before versus use by. Use by is about safety, do not eat after it. Best before is about quality, and food is often fine after it. The FSAI explains the difference.
• Online shopping. Delivery fees and minimum orders add cost, but shopping online can stop impulse buys and makes it easy to keep a running total.
• Check your receipt. Mistakes happen, especially on offers.

A quick checklist

1. Check what you have, plan the meals, write a list.
2. Price the list on our shopping list tool to see which shop suits your basket.
3. Swap one named brand for an own brand each week.
4. Compare unit prices, not pack prices.
5. Treat every offer with suspicion until you check it.
6. Use frozen, tinned and seasonal food.
7. Freeze leftovers and use the reduced shelf wisely.

None of these alone transforms the bill. Together, kept up week after week, they make a real difference.