There are a great many products sold by Coles, Woollies & Supa IGA which are on special on a regular basis, often for half price, and an item on special at one supermarket this week will often be on special at another supermarket next week and at the third one the following week.
One of the most regular and most expensive are Finish Powerball Quantum Ultimate dishwashing tablets in packs of 36 with a regular price of $32 and a special price of $16.
It seems hard to believe that anyone actually ever pays $32 for a pack when they can pay half of that by either visiting a different supermarket or waiting for the next special at their usual supermarket.
The same applies to a great many other items which are regularly on special so that with some careful planning before going shopping by reading the supermarkets’ catalogues and checking their websites, one can drastically reduce the cost of their grocery shopping.
And for consumers who are able to stock up when items are half price, especially the more expensive ones which are not regularly on sale, there are great savings to be had.
This week Woollies have Schick shaving products on special for half price including Schick Hydro 5 packs of 8 cartridges for just $16.
I stocked up at the beginning of the year when Coles had packs of 6 for half price, but as I now only have 1 pack left, I will restock this week.
If there is one thing that I hate more than paying full price, especially for the more expensive items, it is seeing them on sale shortly after I have bought them.
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Good advice if you are able to do it. But you may also benefit from looking at other retailers as well and checking the CHOICE recommendations about which products provide value for money.
As an example the dishwashing tablets you mention rated in 2018 by CHOICE as 75% (recommended) at a price of around $0.94 per wash. Coles Ultra with Active Oxygen Tablets rated 76% (recommended) with a cost per wash of $0.21. Even better performance was gained by Earth Choice All in One Dish Tablets at 81% (recommended). It was the top result and had a cost per wash of $0.39. (These are not paywalled results so I have listed them here)
Your example of the dishwashing tablets had a normal cost $0.89 (a bit cheaper than CHOICE’s pricing) but even after the savings it was still ~$0.44 per wash. Logix Platinum 18 in 1 Dishwashing Tablets which achieved the same score from CHOICE had a cost per wash of $0.20.
I also buy our meat in ‘bulk’ eg a whole rump or a whole rib fillet when they are on special. Generally I then pay around $8 per kg for rump, $11/kg for rib fillet, $13/kg for eye fillet, $6/kg for chicken breast fillet (when on special does not need to be bulk for this price), $13 per kg for T-Bone.
We try to dehydrate/bottle Tomatoes when they are cheap, same for other storable vege and fruit eg dried bananas, dried apricots. We freeze bread bought on special. This of course demands storage space and dedicated larger freezer capacity that not everyone can have.
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My post was not a recommendation for the brand name products mentioned as I used them as top-of mind examples of ones we regularly buy and use.
However, the recommendations would apply to any brand of these type of products, but the frequency and the level of discounting may be less.
By the way, where do you get your meat at such incredible prices?
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I understood @Fred123 
But it did provide an opportunity to show how using CHOICE, their testing and recommendations could improve results even when buying similar items. Discounting on certain items might not even be needed to save some money by simply buying those that provide similar or better results for less per item used.
I do agree that buying when on special or getting bulk amounts when the price is good can reap big benefits in savings.
My meat is supplied by a butcher near us but we are too far down the coast for it to benefit you sadly. But if you ever make it to Brisbane send me a PM and I will arrange a visit for you so you can take some back with you. You will just need a large Esky or similar and a few bags of ice. They mostly come cryovac sealed and only with the chicken would you need them to do it for you. They do slice for free to your requirements but if they remain sealed it would be better for you to get them home.
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I regularly watch Adrian Richardson on his SBS show “Secret Meat Business” but have often wondered just how old the series is as there is never a production year listed at the bottom of the end credits.
However, after watching yesterday’s episode, I suspect that the series must be much older than I imagined.
He cooked an ox tail casserole using a full ox tail which he said would feed 5 people and he said that the ox tails only cost a couple of dollars each from your butcher.
He has obviously not been to Coles or Woollies recently where both have ox tail priced at $14.00/kg.
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