How do you keep your grocery bills down?

[LaDeeDa]

My grocery bills have gone through the roof - partly because I have to buy more expensive lean cuts of meat and 97% fat free products because of my gall bladder.

But I have noticed that apart from that our weekly shop has gone from $150 per week to $200 easily and I don't buy any "luxuries" and this doesn't even include things like wipes or nappies as I buy them seperately.

I already shop at Maxi Foods which is a "discount" supermarket and last week I experimented with Aldi but I don't think it really worked out cheaper as it cost me $100 at Aldi and then another $88 at the supermarket getting the extras I couldn't get at Aldi.

How do you keep your groceries within a reasonable cost area. There is only the 3 of us although DF does eat enough for 2 men.

TIA

[Nelle]

I don't know if this would work for you, but I keep my groceries down by shopping online. It's $9 delivery, but I'm the worst impulse shopper, so I like being able to review the order at the end, see what the total is, and decide what I can go another week without.

[LaDeeDa]

does it work out cheaper Nelle?
I don't impulse buy that much but I know if I shop at coles at the best of times it normally adds another $50

[Nai]

Meal planning and list writing! If I don't do this it really blows the budget.

[Nelle]

You can always check by signing up and having a go - you don't have to checkout.
It works out cheaper for me, because I think 'oh, I'll just grab a mascara and oooh I want that magazine and ohh I love that hot chocolate and ooh this looks healthy and yeah I'll grab an extra babyfood'...
Where with online shopping, I can view the list at the end and go...'well...I don't really need two bags of brown sugar, one will do, and I don't need the mascara this week, I still have some left, and same with the babyfood'.
So yeah. It might not make a difference for everyone, but for me it's a great resource.

ETA: Oh, and on Nai's train of thought, going through the cupboards BEFORE you shop and figuring out what you can make meals out of. I found some gnocchi in my cupboard the other day, it was very exciting.

[~clover~]

I think the biggest thing for me is home brands & specials. I got continental pasta last week at woolies 4 packs for $5.
Sauces, salt, & basics like that are home brand mostly. Everything else I try to get on special. Cheap bread, cheap milk.
I only buy what I know we will eat for the week too. I don't buy extra, unless by some miracle I have some extra money & can afford too.
We don't buy bikkies or anything exciting Maybe once a month we'll get some tim tams
I don't buy nappies. I use cloth.
If I see shampoo & cond, or toilet paper on sale for a good price I'll buy them even if they aren't needed yet.
HTH.

[organicem]

I buy toilet paper, tissues, washing detergent, dishwashing tablets etc when on special and keep them in cupboard until needed.
Generic brand everthing is found in my cupboard (usually made in the same place as other brands anyway). I also buy things on special at woolies such as herbs, wipes etc.
Nappies I buy snugglers from Big W as they are cheap and effective.
Good luck with cutting your bills!!

[Rouge]

For us there is a huge mark up on Online shopping, up to $50 per shop which is RIDICULOUS. So we don't use it. But I do use it as a reference for prices of things. But I'm pretty good with impulsive buying so its not too hard there. But if you're an impulse buyer, or you prefer not to lug kids around, don't have time etc then yeah coles online is a godsend. When we didn't have a car and lived in Sydney (about oooo 10-11 yrs ago now *eep*) we used it a lot and it was great as often if they don't have what you order we'd get lots of freebies

[mbear]

There have been similar threads to this of late.....as ive said before, i do shopping online ATM coz of newborn , but when he settles into his feeds etc a bit more i will revert back to Franklins. Coles is ridiculoulsy expensive.....ive just ordered the next fortnight of groceries (meal planning etc....) and that does not include meat or veges (prefer to pick that myself...although we not big meat eaters) and bill came to $340 . 12 months ago,my budget used to be $280...and i could get EVERYTHING for 2 weeks (via coles online) for this amount. Now...well, i find in general almost EVERYTHING has gone up in price (steggles munchies nuggets....12 months ago were $5.15....now $7.00, Brut deodorant....used to be $4ish.....now $7ish.....).

Wow Trish.....$100 a week for a family of 4 (soon to be 5....). Thats impressive. My kids wont eat the ALdi food though...and im a bit fussy myself (coffee, milk, cheese etc....).

[~Trish~]

Wow Trish.....$100 a week for a family of 4 (soon to be 5....). Thats impressive. My kids wont eat the ALdi food though...and im a bit fussy myself (coffee, milk, cheese etc....).

It took a while to get used to everything at Aldi LOL! I do buy a few luxuries from Safeway from time-to-time (like deoderant and Jarrah coffee). My DH is extremely tight with money so we have it all down to a fine art now. I know our grocery bill does seem very low for a family of 4, sometimes I wonder how we do it! Keep in mind that I rarely buy nappies from Aldi, so that would be an extra expense on our weekly bill if I did.

I'm sure it will be a different story when we become a family of 5 and our boys are at that age where they eat everything in sight .

Re: Naelfran nappies - bummer about leaking through . Did you try the Premium seconds?

[DoubleK]

i love talking about groceries! lol

i have always done a rough meal planner, then made a list after a quick check of the pantry... these days (because i seem to have all the time in the world atm!) my shopping list writing takes me about 45 mins... lol dp rolls his eyes when he see's me with my pen and paper on thursday nights!!

first i make a rough list (which usually starts the day after i did last weeks shop ) when things run out or get low etc, then i go through the catalogues, and generally pick either Coles or Safeway, depending on who has what i need on special (sometimes i have been known to go to both, plus Aldi) then i make a meal plan, checking what we have in the fridge/freezer/pantry- i may have half a bottle of Honey soy marinade, or 500g mince still in freezer, so i go from there. i write what meat, what veg and whatever else eg steak/schnitzel (i dont eat red meat) with mash/peas/boiled egg- so for that meal i know im going to need 1xsteak, 1xschnitzel (dd has a little of eat meat) 5x potatoes, and 4 eggs...... then all that gets incorporated to my list!

mum thinks im a bit obsessive when it comes to my list... BUT it works for us! we never throw out any fruit or veg. all the meat gets used eventually! the only thing i wish is that i could have an extra $50 a week to spend.. as i like to have a stock up... rather than 'uh oh, we're onto our last toilet roll!'

dp also likes that i can tell him 'groceries will be roughly $140 this week' or '$100 if you can grab the meat' (we get our meat from his mates families butcher)

i dont think ive really helped any, but as i said, i love talking groceries! lol

ETA: i have done 2x safeway online shops. i liked it, i would be happy to be able to do it once a fortnight, and only pay the $9 delivery once. as for pricing... i didnt notice higher prices? then again, i only get minimal stuff from there.. and half is home brand. and Aldi has everything else i need.

[MantaRay]

I have actually found I've saved money when shopping online also, which is interesting as the prices are a bit higher and there's a $9 delivery fee. But they do also have more specials than the real stores (at least it seems so) and it definitely stops impulse buying, so that must be why.

Some other tips:
- plan your meals in advance and use a shopping list.
- Only buy things that are on your shopping list
- Except for things on special that you WILL use and don't go off - for example shampoos, cleaners, toilet paper etc can be much cheaper on special and last for ages so they don't go off if you buy lots of them in advance
- Shop for meat last thing on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon - they usually have the meat which is nearing use-by on special for a quick sale.
- Bread and other bakery items are always marked right down at the end of the day also, so shop within an hour or so of closing for cheap bread
- Make up batches of meals - one packet of mince with heaps of vegies thrown in can make up enough for two or three meals - you can freeze it if you don't want to eat it 3 days in a row!
- Home brand stuff in many items is really good and way cheaper
- Have a meat-free day or two a week - you can have risotto or vegie pasta or something really cheaply, or buy tuna or salmon on special and make up patties
- Buying fresh food at farmers markets can be heaps cheaper and the food is much nicer

I hope this helps!