Need ideas - how to reduce grocery bill

[Willow]

I've just come home from doing our f/nightly shop and I could cry. The bill just seems to be creeping up and up. Two big reasons for that are probably that the kids and I are at home full time now (so here for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner most days) and DS is eating more food now that he's older.

We are not extravagant with our groceries by any stretch of the imagination - we don't buy chips, soft drink, lollies, chocolate, biscuits, ice cream, none of that stuff. We shop at Aldi and I really don't know how to get this bill down but with me not working, I've really got to try or we're going to be cutting into money that's budgeted elsewhere.

We buy our fruit, veg and meat at a local market. Meat is brought in bulk every 6 weeks or so, fruit & veg f/nightly.

We were spending around $170 f/night at Aldi (today was $210 ), $60 on fruit and veg and about $150 every 6-8 weeks on meat. Does this seem over the top for a family of 4?

[[M]umma[M]ia]

i would think thats great. We spend $150 a week (not including formula and nappies) and there is just the 2 of us. My sister has 2 girls and spends about $180 a week and my other sister has 6 in their house and spends $200-220 a week.

If you break that down... its costing you $140 a week for all that.

as for ideas of how to reduce it.. im not sure. Mayb buy in bulk from the compaines.. such as spc etc

[Willow]

Yeah, I don't think it is too bad actually but it just keeps creeping up. I was just looking at my receipt and had to buy a few extra items this fortnight that I don't buy every time - shampoo and conditioner, cleaning products, sposies and wipes (grrrr, hate buying them but DS wears them at night and i only get one packet a month) so I guess that alone adds up to the extra $30.

[Indadhanu]

Yeah i think thats a pretty good amount actually, we spend about $100 a week, and $100 meat every 4-6 weeks, just for the two of us. Oh jazz eats a little bit but not much LOL

[Oorki Galoorki]

what about buying your cleaning product in bulk from places like big W?
i spend $40 per yr on washing powder by buying a big box.
also toilet paper from there(i like quilton)

[Pretty Butterfly]

We are a family of 8, and it costs us around $160 a week......

*I breastfeed and use cloth nappies, so that cuts down a lot
* I buy cheaper cuts of meat and make YUMMY meals in the slow cooker or we bbq
* I use only bi carb and vinegar for cleaning, no bought products except washing powder
* I bake... its so much cheaper and yummier
* side of the road stall up here for all fresh produce, its great (about an extra $30 a week)
* I buy all shamp's, cond's, toothpaste, loo paper etc at the "cheap" shops
* buy whatever is on sale, like cereals, pastas etc...

I'll be back if I think of any more babe...

[bon]

I actually think that's pretty reasonable...but you can save money by cooking from scratch as much as possible (ie don't buy packet mixes or cooking jars), going through your pantry and fridge and doing an inventory of what you have then planning meals based on that, and meal planning. Actually meal planning is the main way you can save money - plan all your meals for the week or fortnight in advance, write a list of the ingredients that you need, and only buy what you have on the list.

[mbear]

I think thats reasonable....i spend $320 this week on food - thats not meat. From Coles. That should last a fortnight....

I do all my shopping online....i dont know if im saving money....im defn saving time and energy. I suppose i stick to my budget each fortnight ($300 or thereabouts) and i can delted items if i go over it.........

I used to meal plan - i still do........BUT, i would write out meals for the next 14 nights...buy all the ingredients....but then end up throwing food items out (e.g buk choy, mushrooms, etc) coz by the time i got to use them (i.e 10 days later !!!) they were rather sad looking. So now, i write down what NIGHt of the week we are having meatloaf, or stir fry etc, so that i reduce the amount of food im throwing out. It worked last fortnight....and we've kicked this fortnight off pretty well.

I find all the tips helpful....but food has gone up in price considerably.....theres no escaping that.....

[BeautifulMadness]

i spend $500 a mth on food and what not. so i think ur doing pretty good.

mbear: very true, there is just not getting out of it cheap anymore

[Kitt3n]

great thread!

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..............

for an all purpose cleaner i use bicarb, vinegar and tea tree oil in a pre mixed bottle. You cant use it in a spray though, just doesnt work (put more bicarb than you should and each time you use it/shake it up just add a little more vinegar to get the fizzy cleaner effect happening).

i think you are doing really well, and dou dou is onto something there with quilton - if you buy the bulk packs the nice quilton toilet paper actually turns out cheaper per roll (adding in the extra ply, thereofre you take less off the roll).............

bulk - i just bought 12 of te lip balm that i use, why? a 12 pack ends up being the same as the price of 9 when you buy the in single packs. all these little things add up, but sometimes we have to go without something one week in order to get the better bulk price on something else.

[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.

[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.

[Kazbah]

With the menu planning, I also write out a list of "thaw" "prepare" etc for the next day. stuff like lunches. I'll use leftover rice and cook up some frozen veg and add in some soy sauce for tomorrow's lunch.

Freezing stuff is handy - if you can, get a chest freezer. Leftover fruit to make sorbet (so much easier & healthier than icecream!) along with leftover white wine.

Any juices etc going out of date, I freeze in an icecube tray for cooking later, also I use flat fizzy drinks for home-made iceblocks during summer.

Salad plants in polystyrene boxes on the windowsill etc. for fresh salad most of the year.

Windows, if you're using vinegar, always wipe with a water-damp cloth to stop the vinegar eating the glass. I use tealeaves for cleaning windows & showerscreens and they come up a treat.

Also keep in mind that each person's serve of meat need only be 90g - a single lamb backstrap does us here for 2 meals (2 adults, one toddler) and that saves $$$ considerablly.

[Astrid]

Also keep in mind that each person's serve of meat need only be 90g - a single lamb backstrap does us here for 2 meals (2 adults, one toddler) and that saves $$$ considerablly.

I think DH would leave me if I only served 90g of meat and to be honest I would leave me as well if I did that!