Supermarket Sleuths: The $10 shopping hack that will help you afford more groceries

It may feel like you are bleeding money at the moment in the lead up to Christmas and with seven weeks of school holidays ahead of you.

Actually, this is the perfect time to start making the most of supermarket savings by kickstarting a new strategy that will see you through 2025.

In this week's Supermarket Sleuths, the final one of the year, I'm going to explain to you exactly how it works.

READ MORE: Health scare inflicts TV star with monstrous facial swelling

I've been doing this for years, first out of necessity when my family experienced extreme financial difficulties during the global financial crisis, then I continued it through my divorce and now it's become a habit.

It's a perfect strategy for those on irregular incomes, and it will see you through the next 12 months and beyond.

READ MORE: Aussie model 'embarrassed' to be single at 31 after split with AFL star

Let's call it 'Jo's Supermarket Savings Strategy', because everything needs a catchy name.

Throughout the past few years I've shared multiple strategies for saving money at the supermarket, but I haven't spoken as much about what to do with that money you save each week.

It could be $10 to $20 of savings each week by implementing all of the advice I have suggested and gathered from experts.

Here's how it works.

Say your grocery budget is $350 per week for your family, and you save $20 per week by employing strategies such as switching to ALDI, buying toiletries from The Reject Shop or Chemist Warehouse, looking at specials at Coles, Woolies and IGA before heading to stores or by shopping online to avoid impulse purchases.

Take that $10 to $20 and place it somewhere, either as cash in your purse, as a gift card you can use at your favourite grocery stores or in an account set up especially for the money you have saved.

Write down the pantry staples you use a lot of repeatedly. They are the items you are going to keep an eye out for to stock up on in the future.

Then, every fortnight or month, take that money and stock up on something you use regularly that is on special that week.

For example, if I saved myself $20 each week for a month and ended up with $80 in that savings account, I can use it this week to stock up on all the discount non-perishable Christmas stock that is being marked down.

Set up a cupboard or space in your home and place it all there.

The following fortnight or month you can take the next lot of money and purchase multiple items on your list of pantry staples you use regularly. For me, that would be tinned tomatoes, packets of pasta, tinned tuna, rice, four bean mix and school snacks. They too go in your cupboard.

It's a form of stockpiling but it is more fluid, as you will be purchasing items only that are on special and using them semi-regularly.

Implementing this strategy helps you develop healthy money habits including:

• Setting savings aside to spend it intentionally instead of impulsively.
• Keeping an eye out for pantry staples that are on special each week.
• Stocking up on seasonal items such as non-perishable Christmas goods to use next year.
• Cycling through your pantry items so nothing is forgotten or goes to waste.

As I already mentioned, now is the perfect time to start because all the Christmas stock is about to be marked down, and not just specific Christmas stock such as puddings and mince tarts, but those food items used for making Christmas meals and treats such as cooking supplies and tinned fruits, which will be a perfect kick start to your stockpile.

And it feels good to always have plenty of pantry items you can use to whip up a quick lunch or dinner for your family, particularly when you are short on cash or time poor and just can't get to the shops.

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.