Food is one of the big-ticket expense items that most people have. The big four being food, housing, transport, utilities. I live with my partner and we have a weekly grocery budget of $100-$120 per week. Although we are two women so I think this does affect things. If you have a big man to feed or three teenage kids the likelihood will be that your weekly grocery bill will be quite a bit more. We try very hard to stay under this budget (but sometimes I’ll be honest we do go over it) Some of our tips for minimising our food waste and saving money at the checkout are below.
1. Do your fruit and veg shop at the independent fruit/veg shop. We are lucky as our local fruit and veg shop is in our main shopping complex and we have found that it is generally a lot cheaper than the supermarket. Not to mention supporting small businesses and local farmers! Check yours out as I was shocked at the price difference. Your local farmer’s markets are also worth looking into as well. I have found these can be a bit hit and miss in terms of price. Sometimes they will be cheaper than anywhere else but other times you a really paying a premium due to the local & organic nature of the produce.
2. Only buy fruit that is in season. $7.99 for one punnet of strawberries and $8 for blueberries. These were the prices of our favourite fruit at woolies as we got to the end of the season. As much as I love berries there is no way I would pay that when bananas and apples are $2.99 per kg.
3. Do your groceries at night. A lot of supermarkets will start marking down their bread, meat and other perishable items as it gets close to the close of business. You will find this addictive if you start shopping this way. Not to mention not having to avoid loads of people in the aisles at peak hours is so much better especially post pandemic. You do have to be aware that if you go one hour before closing (my ideal time) there will most likely be things you are unable to get. But the late-night shop is the perfect time to stock up on your perishable items and then go back one additional time throughout the week in order to finish the shopping.
4. Bake your own cakes & biscuits. You can make your sweet snacks for the week for a fraction of the price and just a few ingredients that you will usually have in the cupboard anyway. Get into the habit of doing some bulk cooking on a Sunday and it will make your life during the working week so much easier. You can easily do this in bulk and freeze some of the baking so that it lasts you for the entire week.
5. Check the unit Pricing. All items should have a label that tells you the unit pricing. This makes it quick and easy to work out which different size items are actually better value. I always check this as sometimes it is not always easy to tell what is the best value due to different quantities of products and also things that are on special.
6. Don’t shop when you are hungry…just trust me on this one. There are so many temptations when you are shopping. Delicious takeaway food to purchase for lunch, chocolates and lollies that are calling your name out as you walk down the aisle. If my weekly grocery budget is $100 and I spent $20 on lunch whilst I did the groceries, that would be 1/5 of the budget for one meal. $20 doesn’t seem like much but when put in that perspective you really see that when dealing in terms of price per meal, buying takeaway is loads more expensive than cooking your own food. How many times I have ended up in the food court spending $20 on lunch I don’t even want to count.
8. Preplan your weekly meals and write a list. We have found this is a great way to reduce waste. Also, throw in some vegetarian options. Eating a bit less meat will be great for your health in the long run and also it is a big cost item in the shopping budget. Veggies cost a lot less than meat products so by cutting out meat from two meals per week you will really cut down on your weekly spend. Not to mention your waistline will thank you for it.
9. Take leftovers for lunch. It is usually cheaper to cook in bulk so planning for leftovers is a good idea. But make sure they actually get eaten and don’t just sit at the back of the fridge in a container. (that may have happened in my house once or twice….) Get some cheap containers that fit in your bag easily to take to work in the morning and get into this habit. Buying lunch at work is another easy way to fall into a cycle of unnecessary spending. Eating the leftovers for work also helps eliminate food wastage. Food wastage is also a big part of reducing the amount you spend on groceries as if it is going in the bin, it is money wasted. Australian households waste so much food each year that it is definitely a space where everyone can make improvements.
10. Check out the specials online and write your grocery list in accordance. If you are someone who enjoys hunting for a bargain you can hit up a few various places to buy groceries throughout the week in order to maximize the specials that are on offer at that particular time. I shop at ALDI however I also go to coles and Woolworths depending on the specials I find. You can also check out the half-price app before you shop to find any 50% off deals.
11. Only shop once per week. It is best to do one shop per week and try and stretch it out rather than do multiple small shops throughout. I have found this works much better in the long run. If I start doing multiple top-up shops through the week because I run out of something I enjoy rather than part of the meal plan then I am much more likely to go over the budget.
These are some of our tips for keeping our food bill low. Food is one of the great joys in life so we should never have to compromise to the point of rice and beans for 5 nights per week.
