Grocery expenses typically make up the largest part of Ramadan shopping for households.
Families tend to go overboard when buying goods for iftars, suhoors and Eid Al Fitr, leaving a dent in their monthly budgets.
With inflation soaring globally on the back of rising energy and food prices, as well as supply chain disruptions, people in the UAE can adjust for costs incurred during the holy month with a few financial hacks.
Seventy-three per cent of consumers in the UAE plan to purchase their largest quantity of groceries during Ramadan, a March survey conducted by AdColony with research company GlobalWebIndex in the Emirates found.
About 45 per cent of consumers will visit stores for their Ramadan grocery shopping this year, while 46 per cent will shop online and use home delivery, the poll showed.
Grocery and fashion will have the most significant rise in spending in the Middle East and North Africa region during Ramadan this year, with 87 per cent and 70 per cent of consumers planning to increase their outlay in these categories, respectively, said a March report by RedSeer Consulting.
Financial experts advise consumers to prepare a budget for their Ramadan shopping to give them an idea of how much they will spend during the holy month. Shoppers are also urged to stick to their budget as much as possible.
“Try to do your shopping in one go. This will avoid extra trips to the supermarket where there is opportunity to spend more,” says Rasheda Khatun Khan, a wealth and wellness expert and founder of Design Your Life.
“You will also avoid the chaos of extra busy supermarkets during Ramadan. If you need fresh produce that can’t be bought to last the month, then decide on which date you will do the rest of the shopping.”
Consumers are advised to also make a shopping list that covers the whole month to avoid impulse buys.
Bulk-buy your rice, lentils, olives and yoghurts, Ms Khan says. Include extra boxes of dates and other gifts for when you visit families during Ramadan, she adds.
Shoppers can compare the multiple Ramadan offers available across supermarkets and choose the best ones, Ms Khan says.
UAE residents can also rely on Facebook groups that compile the best available supermarket deals.
Dirham Stretcher is one such group that prepares curated lists of discount codes and deals. For Ramadan, the group will publish its updated groceries “cheat sheet”, which is a list of supermarkets that covers the product categories they sell, delivery fees, whether online purchases are available and if there are any additional discounts available.
“This grocery shopping cheat sheet is available on www.sum.ae and we will also send out a newsletter with the best grocery deals,” says Susan Syrek, administrator of Dirham Stretcher, which has about 80,000 members in the UAE.
The group negotiates with stores and online supermarkets to offer followers extra discounts.
“Make a meal plan and buy only what you need, don’t buy anything you see just because it’s cheap,” says Selma Abdelhamid, another administrator of Dirham Stretcher.
Read More : https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/money/2022/04/07/ramadan-2022-how-to-save-on-your-supermarket-bills/
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