Need ideas - how to reduce grocery bill

[christy]

christy, you cn use soap nuts in the dishwasher? do you use vinegar to rinse? mine is getting installed next weel woo hoo! but not looking forward to paying for the tablets..............

You can! My box I buy at the markets comes with little calico bags that you put the nuts (2-3) into and then into the dishwasher. Then I put 1 tbsp vinegar in the rinse.

[Danni]

I think you are doing well Willow! BUt good ideas in here to try as well

Bath, could you make your own labels? You can buy the sheets of ready made stickers, then in Microsoft Word or equivalent, you can set the margins to be exactly the same size. Then you can type whatever you like and print yourself. Very cheap

[Astrid]

I only got back into baking recently. What I found helped with having the right ingredients was to pick one basic recipe (eg Anzac biscuits), check the cupboard and then write the missing or low items on the shopping list. The next week I looked up a couple of more basic/everyday recipes and added those ingredients to the shopping list. Doing this I also realised that I did not have all the right tins and trays so I have started picking up one of those every week or two as well. At the moment I work from a Womens Weekly Old fashioned favourites book and a high school cooking book. Good basic recipes, often with variations listed as well.

Bath is right, have all the spices you can. Often I found that was why I could not complete a recipe.

[Bathsheba]

Mabello: yep, technically I could (and have in the past) made my own canister labels but the current set i have is just so perfect and on glossy water resistant sticker paper... they can even handle going through the dishwasher... this is an important thing for me. This set is pretty comprehensive... it has sago, gelatine, semolina etc etc you don't often get on pre-made labels... plus they included a sheet of plain (has the blue border but no text) labels but I haven't used them because I'm so obsessive/anal that I can't bear to not match the font.

[DoubleK]

after reading this thread.. i have been convinced to try cleaning without chemicals!!!

[Danni]

Bath, have you seen the Tupperware labels? I remember someone telling me they are comprehensive too

[krisp]

I don't usually buy "no name" or home brand stuff as I've always thought it was poor quality. But lately I've relaxed that way of thinking a bit!
How about if everyone posts to let each other know what 'no name' products they buy that are equally as good as the popular brand labels?
I bought home brand paper towels the other day and they are great!

[Danni]

We buy no name brand most things as I mainlycook from scratch so I can add my own flavours etc.

I dont buy no name brand toilet paper, toothpaste, stain removal (for washing), dishwashing detergent or washing powder.

[Shalou]

We meal plan to keep our shopping expenses down. Since moving to Adelaide where there is almost no supermarket competition from Aldi, Super IGA, Valuemart etc we've had to re examine our budget to make sure we don't over spend. Our budget is $150 a fortnight which covers all our groceries, nappies and petrol for my car. Sometimes it's a stretch to make ends meet but I've learnt to make cheaper meals, I make everything from scratch and make sure that I only make healthy meals which have enough leftovers for hubby's lunch the following day and to buy only what we need and not what we want.

[christy]

Check out this thread as well for ideas on cooking from scratch! https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...-habit-10.html

It helps once you get your pantry stocked in keeping the food bill down.

[Shalou]

Thanks for the link

[Willow]

Dusty - that would be great! We spend at least $10 a f/night on yoghurt...don't even talk to me about cheese!

[tattoo_mama]

yep we go thru 2 $9 bags of grated cheese and a $7 block of cheese slices a fortnite...one of the only things i splurge on...id rather spend that than eat crappo tasteless cheese lol

[christy]

Ah being a dairy free house we don't have that expense either

I do buy large bags of rice etc so I buy in bulk those large items.