Eating For $2 A Day: What Live Below The Line Can Learn From Mastercheap 
Why The New flybuys Is A Rip-Off 
Why Store Brand Goods Aren't About To Dominate In Australian Supermarkets 
Which House Brand Goods Do We Buy The Most? 
Top 10 Ways To Save On Supermarket Shopping 
Mastercheap: Why House Brands Matter So Much While bricks and mortar retailing might be under threat, supermarkets are embracing the online age with smartphone apps that help you create a shopping list and find a supermarket. Here’s our round-up of what’s on offer.
Back in August, regular commenter poedgirl alerted us to the fact that items on sale in Coles didn’t always have unit pricing accurately indicated. It seems Coles might have become more efficient at that process, with specials now correctly showing unit pricing.
The question of whether supermarket house brands offer the same quality as branded alternatives is one we visit quite frequently This video from Mumbrella demonstrates that whatever the contents of the box, house brand manufacturers (Coles in this case) go to a lot of trouble to make their products look like name brand versions, with similar colours, photos and designs.
Discount online grocery retailing has been a fairly quiet space in Australia (the two major chains aside), but competition is starting to increase. GroceryRun.com.au offers discounts on a bunch of brand-name goods, but only sells them two days a week.
Coles’ FlyBuys has recently joined Woolworths’ Everyday Rewards in offering “activated rewards”: deals which only apply if you click on a link to activate them and then spend a specified amount of money within a specified time frame. Lifehacker’s advice on these remains unchanged: they’re a good idea if they offer you a saving on something you actually needed to buy anyway, but not otherwise.
Clearly our prediction that all Franklins stores would soon be rebranded as IGA was a little premature. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) just announced it is going to appeal the Federal Court decision which said that Franklins could be sold off to Metcash despite ACCC objections, and it looks like the Foxtel/Austar merger is a factor.
When we asked last week for suggestions on how to save money on your weekly shop, readers responded in record numbers. We’ve collected together that wisdom for the ultimate guide on how to spend less on life’s essentials. Plus: who won the ALDI hamper?
We’ve already seen a heap of interesting entries in our ALDI Hamper competition, but there’s still time to get in before the winners are picked and announced this Thursday. So get over to the original post for the terms and to enter. (Note carefully people: comments on this reminder will not count as entries — go to the source).
Ever since Woolworths released its full iPhone app, Lifehacker readers have been crying out for an Android equivalent. The app appeared in the Android market over the weekend, offering the same broad set of features to make shopping easier (list construction, product scanning and access to special offers).
ALDI is fairly popular amongst Lifehacker readers, both for its regular discount groceries and its one-off tech specials. What’s better than cheap groceries and tech? Free groceries and tech, which is what you’ll get if you win this hamper.
