$150 Grocery Spend Per Week

[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

[Pholi]

Sounds like you're doing pretty well, fionas.

[Rowellen]

Do you have an IGA near you? We often get a whole rump on special for $5 or $6 a kilo. They call it budget rump but we've found the quality to be generally very good to excellent. We cut it up ourselves however we want - steak, stirfry, roast, mince. Saves a fortune. We've also bought other bulk meats from there when we see them on special in their catalogues.

[fionas]

Not in our town but in the two next closest towns we do. I'll keep my eye out but I'm not sure it would be worth it for me and the girls - they don't eat steak and I don't have a mincer. If we ate a lot of red meat though, would be worth it for sure!!!

[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.

[fionas]

Slightly embarrassed that this is my third reply to my own thread but for others interested in meal planning, these are the dinners I've decided on this week. If I had more time, I'd properly map out lunches too.


Veggie chilli with tortillas, avocado, sour cream
Lamb roast (we cut in half and freeze half so not too costly)
Sausages & veggie crumble
Chicken and veggie curry in a hurry
Spag bol (from batch already in freezer)
Pumpkin, mushroom and pea risotto