6.1%. This is the dizzying figure reached by inflation over one year last July, according to INSEE data. For several months, the rise in consumer prices in France has spared no sector. Behind energy (28%), it is food that is suffering the most from this crisis: in the supermarket, food costs, on average, 6.8 times more than last year.

The budget is therefore increasingly tight for French households, and the more the months pass, the more some struggle to fill their shopping cart.

But there are, however, some tips for saving on the shelves of your supermarkets. Kenza, a music teacher who lives in Sarthe, has also relayed it, through the Facebook page she created, “L’économiec’est la vie. Optimization et Bons Plans” . However, nothing seemed to predestine the mother to scrutinize the slightest penny too much on her receipt.

“Before, I didn’t pay any attention to what I bought at the supermarket, she confides to us. And then, when I got pregnant with my second child, during confinement, I came across a show about optimization. I wanted to try: because, in addition, I had time!”

Especially since for Kenza, the shopping budget is huge: every month, she spends around 500 euros to feed her family of 4, and maintain her house. “A large part of the expenses concerned nappies, pots, everything concerning my two young children”, recalls the Sarthoise.

Today, after several months of “optimization”, the receipt has melted like snow in the sun. “I now pay 150 euros for food and non-food shopping per month. So I manage to save about 500 euros per month, almost 90%. Of course, it depends on the months; sometimes it’s more, sometimes it’s less, but in the end it balances out.”

“Optimization, Kenza explains to us, is the idea of ​​combining in-store promotions, reduction coupons, immediate discounts or jackpots, and reimbursement applications, to get closer to free, or less, make a profit on the receipt.”

The system therefore requires good organization, and a keen eye to identify, and accumulate, all these good plans, and make your shopping list accordingly.

“At the beginning, it took me four hours in all, from preparation to storing groceries, confides Kenza. I didn’t know any of the apps, I didn’t really know how to find the right promotions… Today, it takes me less than an hour.”

Kenza has notably discovered, in the meantime, the anti-crisis site, which lists all the promotions in progress in the various supermarkets in France. “They do the work for us, so we can see all the accumulations and everything that we can optimize, and choose to go to the most advantageous supermarket depending”.

Another tool to make the task easier: the young mother has created a table on her Facebook group which lists all the applications that reimburse you for products.

“We can optimize on everything”, continues Kenza, but with limits. Indeed, since 2019, the EGalim law has limited promotions in food to 34%, and it is therefore more difficult to get closer to free access on this type of product. On the other hand, for non-food products, it is the jackpot, assures Kenza. “Because supermarkets are compartmentalized on food, they are catching up on non-food, and there are already huge offers in store. With the accumulation of discount coupons and refund applications, it is very effective”, explains the mother of the family.

But sometimes you have to be ready to “advance money”, specifies the mother. “But these expenses will not end up being profitable, because if you buy 5 boxes of diapers at a lower price, you will have stock for the next few months, and therefore less expenses, instead of going to buy them without promotions as soon as the first packet will be empty…”, explains Kenza.

For this mother, optimization has thus become a game… But a very profitable game, which allows the family to have fun elsewhere. “These savings allow us to do things that we would not necessarily have been able to do before, such as going to restaurants more often, or treating ourselves to vacations…”

Here are some tips from Kenza so that you, in turn, can successfully save at the supermarket: