Saving money on the grocery bill

[Chunkydunks]

We've just halved our food budget for the fortnight because we figured $400 was just too much and we did survive on $200 this fortnight out of necessity. I really really want some ideas on where I can cut back and spend less on things. I'm pre diabetic too so there are certain things I have to have like certain cereals that aren't cheap.

Things I'm thinking of in particular are bread (I know some of you have worked out a really cheap way to make this yourself and I have a bread maker so a cheap recipe for wholemeal bread would be great) and any other thing like kiddy snacks that I can get or make cheaper.

We do buy bulk meat packs but sometimes they're quite fatty cuts and the mince is usually the high fat stuff. So with this we've decided to cut back a fair bit on meat and eat more fish and vegetarian meals so ideas for cutting cost there would be great too.

TIA

[Zada]

Shop at aldi :D

Otherwise, make all kids snacks and your snacks too. Bulk up meals with vegies and rice/pasta
umm cook cheaper cuts of meat in the slow cooker

[MamaKoala]

I didn't see whether you shop at Aldi but buying in season veg from local farmers markets can help.
Cheap snacks for kids can be found on taste.com.au. Musli bars from Aldi's are 1.89. Buying ham not sliced lasts longer and can be cheaper per kilo.
Making things with rice bubbles (cheapest I've found is again, Aldi's) is a quick and easy snack.
Getting the kids a cheaper cereal and having your own could work out cheaper over time.
Get a chest freezer if you can afford it to help with bulk meals.
I find buying from outlet stores can be costly initially but lasts a lot longer. Like winter veg in 1.5kilo bags.
Muffins are great and cheap.
Don't have recipes for a bread maker but I buy white flour, unprocessed bran and wheatgerm (costing a total of around $3 for the bran and wheatgerm but it lasts months) and adding them to white flour is alot cheaper than buying wholemeal flour. I use instant yeast (about $4 a can but keeps in the freezer for up to three months) for breads and pizza bases.
I hope this helps a little bit. Food budgetting is hard but necessary in my case too.
Oh and cookies are extremely cheap and easy to make.

[Chunkydunks]

Unfortunately I can't have much rice and pasta. I used to do this all the time and now I'm being told to stop:crying:. Cheaper cuts have become less cheap for me too because I have to cut off fat to reduce the saturated fat and therefore end up trowing away about 1/4 of what I paid for. Thats why we decided to reduce the amount of meat in our diet.

When I get the cataloges my sis and I go through them and then go shopping for the cheapest stuff we need that fortnight. Lucky we live in a small town and when we park in the middle carpark we can walk to the different shops and then we pass the last one on the way home anyway.

[MamaKoala]

Oh also if you buy the coles or woolworths variety mixed vegetables to add to meals . they're square but they are a great filler.

[Mathermy]

Unfortunately I can't have much rice and pasta. I used to do this all the time and now I'm being told to stop:crying:. Cheaper cuts have become less cheap for me too because I have to cut off fat to reduce the saturated fat and therefore end up trowing away about 1/4 of what I paid for. Thats why we decided to reduce the amount of meat in our diet.

When I get the cataloges my sis and I go through them and then go shopping for the cheapest stuff we need that fortnight. Lucky we live in a small town and when we park in the middle carpark we can walk to the different shops and then we pass the last one on the way home anyway.

:hugs: It really is more expensive when you cut out cheap carbs:yes:

Try lots of beans, pulses. Buy the ones in bags rather than cans and soak them yourself.They are usually only a coupleof dollars and they make heaps and heaps-these are tasty and filling and very healthy.

Whenever I buy a meat pack i usually cut it in half and make with the reduced portion-this works really well with soups, stews, stirfries (sometimes I will add nuts to a stirfry for protein and reduce the meat which again makes it cheaper) you hardly notice the reduced portion and I fluff it up with beans, lentils, veg

[Chunkydunks]

I didn't see whether you shop at Aldi but buying in season veg from local farmers markets can help.
Cheap snacks for kids can be found on taste.com.au. Musli bars from Aldi's are 1.89. Buying ham not sliced lasts longer and can be cheaper per kilo.
Making things with rice bubbles (cheapest I've found is again, Aldi's) is a quick and easy snack.
Getting the kids a cheaper cereal and having your own could work out cheaper over time.
Get a chest freezer if you can afford it to help with bulk meals.
I find buying from outlet stores can be costly initially but lasts a lot longer. Like winter veg in 1.5kilo bags.
Muffins are great and cheap.
Don't have recipes for a bread maker but I buy white flour, unprocessed bran and wheatgerm (costing a total of around $3 for the bran and wheatgerm but it lasts months) and adding them to white flour is alot cheaper than buying wholemeal flour. I use instant yeast (about $4 a can but keeps in the freezer for up to three months) for breads and pizza bases.
I hope this helps a little bit. Food budgetting is hard but necessary in my case too.
Oh and cookies are extremely cheap and easy to make.

You have some fantastic ideas and some that I really could have taken advantage of when I was in Brissy but here there is only one place to buy fruit and vege apart from the supermarkets and after my SIL worked there I will never shop there:barf:. The ham idea is a great one and I'll look into that. DS only eats weetbix so we're lucky there. I still buy wholemeal flour because there are 2 reasons I can't eat white flour. 1 its not good for my sugar levels and 2 it sets off my eczema. But I buy just the savings (or you'll love coles brand) of wholemeal and its the same price as white.

And seems I should get baking with the snacks. I can freeze these sort of things too.

Thanks.

[Chunkydunks]

Anyone else got some ideas for me???

[TinyStar]

Can you start up a vegie patch?

Just by having a few "essential luxuries" like fresh herbs, rocket, chillis etc I have saved heaps. A $5 punnet of rocket just keeps going and going and going and in the supermarket it is $2 a bunch. I have worked out what I use the most and what is the most costly at the shops and what can be picked again and again and again, so I have planted mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumbers and herbs. I had broccoli - it tasted great but wasn't that good value for money as for $5 I only got 6 plants which gave me one head each :rolleyes:

[Chunkydunks]

We did have a heap of herbs growing but left them with my SIL when we moved down here. We just haven't started again. We've found ourselves using more dried stuff to save money there. DH was looking at those sorts of thing today but he's looking full blown garden and when we're only here till I fall pregnant again (hopefully soon) I don't see the point. Would love to get my parsley and tomato plants back though.