$150 Grocery Spend Per Week

[Pholi]

I'm a 'brie and smoked salmon' shopper, too, and I'm lucky in that we don't have to operate on a strict budget. But I'm curious at the comments suggesting farmer's markets and meat and fish markets - In Perth they are most certainly not the cheap option. They are often very fresh, and organic, and great in other ways - but not cheap.

There is one thing I can suggest that may well make a big difference to your budget - add a few vegetarian meals to your week - homemade hummous for lunches, vegetarian chili or lasagne or bolognese for a couple of meals a week will cut down the amount of relatively expensive meat you eat, and may well help your health, as well. (If it leaves $$ free for smoked salmon, well, oily fish is far better for you than fatty meat, isn't it?)

[Olive]

I spend about $160 a week fir 4, no nappies.
Meal planning is the best way to stick to a budget!

[TaRhLi.]

My budget is $270-$300 per fortnight for a family of 5 - which includes cleaning products etc.

I do my bulk shop (about 90%) at Aldi and use the Aldi smartershopper website as they have all their goods and the prices on it so I know how much I'm going to spend before I walk in the door. The remaining groceries I get from Safeway/Woolworths and I do the same get onto the online shopping site and put in everything I need (which is generally more expensive than in store prices) and so I always know what I will spend on groceries with a buffer for the overestimating at Safeway. I purchase my fruit and veg from a cheaper bulk green grocer and find we still eat well as a family on the budget I have set us.

I found shopping fortnightly better though as when I would shop weekly I would always spend in excess of $200 a week so making a change to fortnightly has also helped us cut down our grocery bill as well. I always by in bulk where possible and the only things I need to top up during the 2 week period are generally fresh milk and fresh fruit.

[Livinthedream]

We just bought
52 finish powerball dish tabs
A bottle of harpic toilet clean (with the curvy neck)
A 64 pack of huggies bum wipes
500mls of Biozet laundry dtergent
A 20 pack of penline biro's
An english brand dishwasher cleaner (the one you put in the dishwasher while its empty and do a hot wash)
2 cintronella candles in cute terracotta pots
6 shower scrubby puffy thingies


Allll for a grand total of



$25.92!!!


At woolies or coles, the 52 finish powerball tabs would have cost this alone.

Crazy Clarks is your friend

He sure as Hell is my new BFF

[Beatrix]

Adelaide needs a Aldi!!

[sangie]

Definitely doable! We spend about that for 4 plus our puppy (no nappies but dog food obviously).

What cleaning products do you use? Because you can save heaps by using vinegar/bicarb. Also buy in bulk where you can.

Do you have a veggie garden? We save quite a bit growing our own and the kids love it.

[fionas]

cleaning product is mainly diluted eucalyptus oil. I'm also diluting the pump soap for hand washing so saving half there.

No veggie garden as yet but something that is on the list

Livinthedream - that's a dead set bargain. No Crazy Clarks near us I don't think though.

We're going to a farmers market tomoz so it will be good to compare the prices on fruit/veg to the supermarket.

[mum_of_5]

I done shopping today and spent $132 and took 5 kids with me meal plan didn't included Nappies buying no name brands most of it was for fresh fruit and veg cause I don't like frozen but when we get towards end of the weekend veggies are looking a little sorry I grate them all up and make a veggie slice during summer ( kids love it cold) and throw them in the slow cooker during winter

[fionas]

OK, last week's meal plan went really well.

Just spent $133 on this week's meal plan including breakfast, lunches and toiletries. No nappies this week.

Some of these dinners are pretty simple cos not sure if DP will be home for dinner:

Chicken and veggie Sesame/peanut (and veggie) noodle salad
Pork rissoles with potato salad and leftover veggie crumble
Risotto parcels with baked beans
Tuna Pasta bake
Fish tacos
Hawaian pizzas

[Livinthedream]

Adelaide needs a Aldi!!

I hate Aldi.
So much of the packaged stuff is made in China.
It tastes funky and cheap. The nappys are crap the Peanut Butter is toxic.
And you can never get everything you need, you still have to drop by one of the chains for a couple of items (cat litter is one that springs to mind) And its not like you have a choice if you dont like one brand of spread/cereal/cheese. They only have the one!
Dont rate it at all.

[fionas]

I hate Aldi.
So much of the packaged stuff is made in China.
It tastes funky and cheap. The nappys are crap the Peanut Butter is toxic.
And you can never get everything you need, you still have to drop by one of the chains for a couple of items (cat litter is one that springs to mind) And its not like you have a choice if you dont like one brand of spread/cereal/cheese. They only have the one!
Dont rate it at all.

Well, tell us what you really think

I've always liked the Aldi stuff we've bought. We use the nappies - fine, except they don't do pull ups and I prefer those (bad back, saves me lifting DD2). Agree that the chocolate is yummo.

I cook most things from scratch and avoid packaged stuff though so I'm not sure it would make that much difference to my bill and I'd need to factor in the petrol to get there.

[fionas]

Sorry, a PP mentioned going veggo a couple of nights per week. I was veggo for 8 years so I actually should do this more often. The other night I made pumpkin soup (with chicken stock made from BBQ chicken bones) and pan-fried gnocchi in blue cheese sauce. Was yummy. (Though not strictly veggo because of the chicken stock).

My secret for vegetarian chilli (apart from all the usual veggies) is sultanas

Veggie risotto is easy too - plus I make put the leftovers into little pastries like pasties and they're good for lunchboxes/snacks.