It’s basic BUT it will cut your weekly shop.
No, I can’t turn water in to wine or make a loaf of bread feed a nation BUT I’ve gone from over $300 a week to under $130. That’s saving me over $8000 a year!
- Use Homebrand. Nearly everything that is a staple in my house is homebrand. Nappies, cheese, rice, pasta, milk, bread, cling wrap, foil, hand soap, flour, vinegar etc. It’s really about trial and error for what you can swap out.
- ONLY buy produce that is less than $3.50/kg. No exceptions. Plan meals around veggies that are below this or substitute them out. My kids LOVE fruit but if the only fruit under $3.50/kg are apples they eat a lot of apples. Bananas are my favourite but at $4.50/kg I can live without them.
- STOP PAYING FULL PRICE for brand name items. Mostly everything comes on special at some stage. If you run out of something during the week and it’s not on special, go without until it is. I know that sounds ridiculous but you’d be surprised at how fast everyone adjusts. Do you really need 4 cereals and 5 sandwich toppings every single week?
- Bulk out your meals with vegetables. Adding veggies, tinned beans and tomatoes to 1kg of mince could see you getting up to 6 dinners.
- Use beans as your protein source. Chicken breast is around $9/kg and beef is upwards of $20/kg. Beans are from $1.88/kg. The figures speak for themselves.
- DON’T “pop” into the shops midweek. Everyone knows if you go for bread you come out $100 down with one bag of groceries. Work out your staple foods and make sure you have enough or if you run out, improvise!
- Explore your cupboards, fridge and freezer before shopping so you know exactly what you have and so you don’t end up with more than you need.
- Avoid prepackaged snacks. Buy bigger packs and portion them out. Bake once a week using old frozen bananas or frozen fruit and freeze them for lunches.
- Take a step back and drop the idea that we all need to eat five star every night. Leftovers won’t kill you.
Try my methods for a couple of weeks and let me know if you see a difference!
Do you have any tips to add?
