Grocery bill

[FourAngelKisses]

How much is your usual grocery bill for a week?? What advice would you have for someone who wants to cut their bill down??



For 5 of us, with no nappies and no formula being brought, it is around $250 a week, another $15 if we need nappies. I'd love to cut back, but no matter how I try, I can't as we only buy necessities. HELP!!!!! :eek:

[bekkyboo]

we buy bulk packs of meat - split them up and freeze... I buy some fresh - but alot of frozen veggies, homebrand ones arent bad, and you get alot for the price. I found its all a matter of concintrating on what you need - with a list (otherwise i keep thinking of other things i 'need'), compare prices and sizes, and shop with a calculator... Other thing to do is look through junk mail for the best deals of supermarkets - maybe if they are close go to a couple to get the best price...

[iluvmeboyz]

i buy my nappeis in bulk and thats realy cheap and then i go and get my meat near liverpool its a meat wearhouse and in the meat fridge there is all different types of meat there all freshly cut and realy cheap i buy mainly frozen vegies and fresh as well its not hard to find bargins it depends on where you go.

[CJJHRA]

Some weeks our weekly bill (including extra bread and milk and vegies) all up is $250. (8 of us) School holidays is cheaper because we dont buy the kids their chips/chocolates.

We very rarely have dessert, and the kids have their one cup of milk a day, and the rest of the day its water.

Washing powder, I only try to get it when its $2 and get a few extra, I used to be weary of the cheaper stuff, and it used to make me itchy (and DS#1) but it doesnt anymore like it used to. Toilet paper, again I get it on special, I dont buy the real cheap one, and not the real expensive either, alot of times coles here has softly (18pack cant remember) for $7 (11 when not on special), I get two.

I shop according to specials that week. Milk and bread though, I tend not to get Coles, cause I know I can get them ALOT cheaper at our local IGA store.

I buy the cheap Shampoo, the ones that are like around $2 for the boys LOL, and get me and DD something a little better, as we have long hair, the boys dont, and they dont need conditioner.

You just have to think carefully before you buy something, and think, do I really need it.

Cordial I get the coles brand one(ok, yeah I go to coles 95% of the time) its like $2.10 as compared to $3.80 for cottees, and the kids like it better (probably used to it) Doesnt seem much difference, but when you get 3 bottles a week, it does.

We dont have fruit loops/coco pops very often, maybe once a month I will get one or the other (only lasts two days LOL)

We have cheese sandwhiches for lunch. Soups are cheap, if you have a vegie soup, stews are good, you use heaps of vegies and a touch of meat for flavour.

Suppose it depends on what you like to eat, we arent big meat eaters really.

Our kids love to snack on carrots and celery and bread alot.

[jordy&steph'smumma]

I find it better to shop fortnightly rather then weekly as you can get more meat etc in bulk which costs less.
Also I shop at aldi which is way cheaper (have a look at the aldi thread)
I ususally write things on the white board that we run out of, so I can put them on the shopping list, and I pretty much stick to the list.

I only spend (no joke) $150-$200 a fortnight on groceries and that is for the 4 of us.
We don't eat budget meat either I actually buy chemical free chicken which cost more.

I love to cook so try to make a batch of cakes, or a slice etc for school lunches and I also make chicken filo pies, sausage rolls and quiches and chuck them in the freezer for my dh to take to work and put in the warmer so he saves money on buying smoko every day.

I could easily spend more if I really wanted to but don't need to as we never go without and also have our treats each week.

[FourAngelKisses]

I do 90% of my shopping at Aldi, it costs me about $110 a week there. I spend another $60 or so at Coles/Woolies, the rest is running down to IGA to get things we've run out of, or to the bakery to get bread.

I buy the $3 washing powder (Duo I think??), Aldis loo paper ($4 for 12 rolls). I go through 12 litres of milk a week, which I get from Aldi (it used to be 18L a week, I made the boys cut back).

DH is a big meat eat, we have either mince or chicken each night (which also comes from Aldi), and I know that the meat is a big expense each week. DH also has kangaroo sausages a few times a week (to me, that is like eating road kill, lol).

I don't buy cakes or biscuits, I try to make my own whenever I have time.

I'm actually going shopping tomorrow, so I will try REAL hard to get it down as low as I can. Living a long way away from where I go shopping, I can't get all the specials that are on at nights....I've also found fruit and veggie shops cost almost double to what Woolies does too.

[LittleBoysRock]

I wish we had the Aldi shopping here!! We spend $270 on groceries plus another $100 on fresh vegies per week for 6-8 people. We often have other people here so it varies a bit.

[MissSparkle]

We spend $150 a fortnight on groceries (including nappies, wipes etc). There is only Df, Ds and I and Df often isn't home for lunch or dinner and DS is the only one who eats brekkie. We shop half at aldi and then go to coles to buy specific things that we like.

[madvoice]

$250/fn for groceries (we buy in bulk)
$100/fn for nappies/wipes/extra milk
Its never ending isn't it. At least I'm not feeing formula any more.

[Me]

$250/fn for groceries (we buy in bulk)
$100/fn for nappies/wipes/extra milk
Its never ending isn't it. At least I'm not feeing formula any more.
you are right about the formula - i have just had to switch due to my milk drying up and had to buy 3 tins yesterday to make it through to pay day - and i thought EBM was liquid gold:laughing:
back to topic - i try to go coles when i can and spend about $90-95 per week - we don't go without but i do buy bulk meat then freeze in portion serves and i stock up on specials. I have switched to Spree laundry powder and buy it on special at $2 a kg. it really is the little things that help long term.

[Jem]

we usually spend between $160-$200 per week on groceries.

I get the Junk mail on the weekend,, and study it...

if you find washing powder for eg: $2.99 save $4.99 its worth buying not only 1 but 4 :thumbsup:

[FourAngelKisses]

if you find washing powder for eg: $2.99 save $4.99 its worth buying not only 1 but 4 :thumbsup:

I'd love to do that, can never afford it. But I'm going to try real hard to get my grocery bill down this week, so Might be able to do it soon...I hope!!

[kymmy]

We spend between $150 for groceries plus nappies
We buy nappies and wipes in bulk
We buy a lot of bread from the local bakery for $1 loaf
and(Pura) milk is actually cheaper at the milk bar
There is alot of ways to save
especially if you have alot of time
convenience usually costs more...

[FourAngelKisses]

I got it down to $135 today. :D I even scored a free box of laundry powder....Woolies hadn't changed the signs and they had Duo marked as being $2.58 a box (I grabbed 2) instead of $3.58 but it scanned at the higher price so I complained and got one for the lower price and the other for free.

[Illusional]

I went shopping today with a budget of $150 - I usually shop only when I have run out of everything and desperately have to go to save the kids from starving lol.
I do a major shop once every two - three weeks (based on my crappy income)

Today I spent $16 in the fruit shop - which gave me three bags full of fruit and vege (compared to the one bag for the same price in a supermarket)

$110 on groceries/meat from Bi-Lo (including lunch snacks etc for my sons lunches and a $15 roast for guests on Friday)
What I bought will last at least two weeks if not longer - there are only three of us at home though, so I admire some of you girls spending similar amounts for larger families :p

I always go to Bi-Lo on Wednesdays when they have their market day as they have most substantial things reduced by quite a bit.
I always buy No-Name foods because I really dont see the difference in 90% of them v's Brand Names.
I try to bulk buy as a couple of you mentioned.. but like Angel_Kisses said, I never really have enough money to do that either. Sometimes Ill pick up two lots of washing powder though if they drop under $2 (I buy Spree)
Coles is great for their 'Two for One' deals - provided its something you need lol.

[bearsmummy]

hi girls, i spend on average $150 a week. never goes below that though :thumbsdown: that includes nappies and formula (both top brands too) hubby has gone on a diet so there is no junk in our cupboards now. that has saved us a heap! some weeks are better than others though... its amazing how those little savings make a difference as whats in my trolley doesnt vary all that much! just the prices do!
well done to you all, its such a hard job to get a good deal at the supermarket these days but you all sound like you know your stuff! :yelclap:

[jessgray]

our shopping varies week to week but next week we do a big shop and this week i went and did a little shop and spent $78 on groceries. i went to aldi's first then Bilo. coz aldi dont stock any milk other then dairy and i had to get goats milk or lactose free for DS .
another place i recomened is Not Quite Right i have gone there a few times and saved heaps of money :thumbsup:

[jordy&steph'smumma]

Yay for you angel_kisses9798 for getting your grocery bill down so much!!!:thumbsup:

[HugsAndKisses]

wow girls i feel like i must be living above my means after reading wat some of you spend on shopping:eek: .... i dont mean to spend so much and do feel as though wat i buy is essentials but i must admit they are mostly brands because i worry that the no name's will not taste good or do the job there supposed to....
but im so happy this thread has come up cause i always wondered wat others spent.... my weekly shop is about 200 with nappies and meat and around 100without those two essentials. but im gonna go check out my local aldi tomorrow and just see wats there cause i really wanna save money wherever i can.....

thanks for all the great shopping tips and just sharing your budgets:hugs:

[mykidzrokk]

We shop fortnightly, when centrelink pays up, that way we know we have the money and we dont worry so much about how much we're spending or trying to find money out of DH's pay each week. I guess we spend between $200-$260 a fortnight and in between i get fresh fruit, vegies and bread.

[FourAngelKisses]

I'd like to be able to shop fortnightly, my pantry is rather small though and my fridge wouldn't have enough room for 8-10 three litre bottles of milk, lol.


Good luck with getting your bill down Shannon. I hope you love Aldi as much as I do.

[Briswegian]

I can definatly recommend markets for fruit and vege. I went this morning but forgot the cash!! So DS and I had a sausage in a roll for breakky and bought lady finger bananas for 4 bucks a kilo! (a big saving here in qld after cyclone larry)

[Indy]

I have never heard of these Aldi stores before. Are they only in capital cities? I live in qld.

[Odessa]

ALDI is a discount supermarket chain, they have stores in lots of locations.

Go to their website and try the store locator, you might find a store near you

:thumbsup: (http://www.aldi.com.au/)

http://www.aldi.com.au

[FourAngelKisses]

Go to http://www.aldi.com.au/ then click on store locations at the bottom of the page. It will tell you if there is one near you or not. They only have around 100 stores nationwide, but they are getting more at a rapid pace.

[natasha]

Gosh , i seem to spend an awful lot. I spend around $300-$350 a week on the 3 of us! That includes everything except alcohol!:laughing: Its not even that we eat huge amounts, DH just likes the best of everything. DD HAS to have the best nappies, best wipes, he HAS to have the most expensive cuts of meat, things like that. Plus I don't drive so I have to do all my shopping at the local IGA which is expensive. I do sometimes shop at aldi but their meat isn't very good and they never have the brands i like.:no:

[Odessa]

That is a lot to be spending on three people, especially when one is a wee baby! There's no point sticking to "brand names" as it's just wasting money, imo. There are perfectly good, cheaper grocery items out there. "Brand name" doesn't always mean "best".

[Indy]

Home brand has some pretty good stuff. Our IGA only has black and gold. I don't think its as good in some things. I usually buy home brand cleaning products- their domestos stuff is basically the same as the real stuff and about a third of the price. :D

[FourAngelKisses]

Wow, that is a lot. You may want to try and cut it down now, when you have kids at school it is going to cost a heap more. :(

[yummymummy]

My tip is to shoip around..........especially for nappies and formula, i use Heinz and at Woolies its $12.59 and the other day i got it for $11.01 AT Big W ..........my famlily are also big Aldi fans.........the nappies and baby wipes from there are great too!!!!!

[yummymummy]

My tip is to shop around..........especially for nappies and formula, i use Heinz formula and at Woolies its $12.59 and the other day i got it for $11.01 AT Big W ..........my famlily are also big Aldi fans.........the nappies and baby wipes from there are great too!!!!!

[vanillabean]

My hubby gets paid monthly and each month I go to Big W and buy bulk nappies, tissues and toilet paper, laundry detergent and detergent for the dishwasher. I also buy shampoo/conditioner there (I buy pantene and find it cheaper). It saves a fair bit and that way you are only buying food in youyr groceries. Mind you, I still seem to spend $200 a week just on food!

[sharvs]

I went to the shops today to do some groceries.... $106 later! I couldnt believe it. DF is away, so it is just me, DS, cat & dog. I bought wipes for DS but no nappies or formula. I had about 4 bags and thats it! It was all necessary items, nothing fancy - i was expecting $70 at the most. Unbelievable!

[~Emmylou~]

I've been working on cutting down for about a month now and we are spending $90 a week (three of us). This includes meat and veges.

What really helped us was doing a menu plan. We know what we are having all week and every Saturday I shop for what is on the menu plan plus whatever else we need (toiletries etc).

I used to find we would run around Woolworths in a panic every two weeks or so and buy TONS of convenience foods that we knew we could cook easily at night (I work full time, DH works two days a week). This was so expensive, we would spend at least $180 a week and still run out of food.

We shop at Aldi, and a few things from Woolies. Meat from the local butcher and fruit and veg from the greengrocer. Woolies is a rort for meat and produce.

Aldi nappies and wipes are great.

[SilverStarfish]

My hubby gets paid monthly

Mine too... Ugh. Hate it, hate it, hate it.

Something I'm really grateful for is that he works for a dairy company so we get free milk. He brings home 2-3L almost every day :thumbsup:

It's depressing how much groceries cost isn't it? I usually study the junk mail to see what's on special - esp for things like nappies, coffee, meat etc

[HugsAndKisses]

hey mum's
i already posted the other day in here but just thought i'd say that i shopped at action this week instead of woolies and bought 4 full bags of food and other cleaning items for around $90 and still got a few treats....:smiliedance:
i was so happy i really tried hard to save but i have to admit i then went to the butcher and bought 2 pieces of scotch fillet steak and 6 sausages for $20 total and felt so stupid after all my budgetting to have a cheap shop but i guess it takes time to sink in that i can't always have the best of the best.:no:

[Mummy-2-2]

I spend $75-100 per week on groceries, including formula.

I use cloth nappies so that brought the bill down by about $50 per week, and cloth wipes brought it down by about another $10 a week:smiliedance:

Our pantry is chock full of stuff, have a HUGE fridge and an even bigger deep freeze and just buy stuff on sale, separate it, and freeze it or store it for when needed.

I started off small, when sorbent was on sale for $4 for 9rolls, I bought about 12 of them, that lasted us over a year. Then milk gets bought on sale and frozen, meat etc.

I also use very few cleaning chemicals, and use bicarb and vinegar as it is a more natural alternative to cleaning (cleans better than some chemicals) and it costs a lot less too.

Herbs are in the garden, fruit and veg comes from the markets.

We definitely dont go without, we eat healthily and have dessert sometimes too, dd has breakfast, morning tea, lunch afternoon tea and dinner every day, and generally 3 drinks of milk per day.

It can be done, you dont have to spend a lot to get some great meals:chef:

[EDIOH]

Ok, you girls have to help me. Me and my partner do a weekly shop, but we buy individualy. I spend an avarage of $100 for myself on food and stuff for the cat and DP spends about $50-70 on himself.

I need to cut this down drasticly. But im sooo picky with food. I dont drink milk, eat yogurt. I dont know how to cook (apart from pasta and a few bits and pieces).

Can you girls give me some ideas and tip, what i can cook ( remember i work and have to get up at 3 am, have brwakfast at 8.30am lunch at 11.30 and dinner around 4.30 or 5pm. Meaning icant have dinner with Dp as he doesnt get home till 6.30pm and has dinner arround 8pm.)

I need to find an easier way to do thinks.

So can you girls help?? I need food idea's receips and so on.

Thank you.

[natasha]

I started off small, when sorbent was on sale for $4 for 9rolls, I bought about 12 of them, that lasted us over a year. :eek: :eek: We go through like 12 week!!!! Well, DH does!:rolleyes: :o

[FourAngelKisses]

We got through 12 rolls a month (with 4 of us, soon to be 5 hopefully), I'd die if we went through 12 a week.

[EskimoMumma]

My bill..fluxates so muich but its usually (including cigerettes) is 210-320 dollars a fortnight. I dont have any real tips though, but i use Aldi, safeway/bi-lo, and Tasman meats

[Mummy-2-2]

We go through like 12 week!!!! Well, DH does!:rolleyes: :o

Oh goodness me, I didnt mean 12 rolls a year, I meant 12 packets of 9:eek:

hehe, half a square each time you go:rolleyes:

[diamonds22]

That is a lot to be spending on three people, especially when one is a wee baby! There's no point sticking to "brand names" as it's just wasting money, imo. There are perfectly good, cheaper grocery items out there. "Brand name" doesn't always mean "best".

:thumbsup: very true....Recently learnt lesson....:o (beta late then nva though..)

Our bill use to be $160 per week and that didnt include breakies/lunches!!(thanx to coles/woolies)

Now thanks to Aldi's we have it cut to $90 a week!! (which includes all meals for the week..including extra choc snacks!!!)

[SamanthaJane]

Im not sure whats already been said.... im too lazy to re read the posts :laughing:

Well when i was living with my boyfriend we used to spend around $60 on our big shopping trip. Then throughout the week we'd go in and spend another $20 or so getting extra meat, milk, bread or whatever we had run out of. I dont think we ever would have spent more than $100 in one week on food.

But we included luxuries and good brand names in the things that we bought, only because we knew we could afford it.

Heres some tips on cutting down-
Buy home brand items as much as you can
Buy fruit and vege from the markets (i find it is soooooo much cheaper!)
Look out for really good sales when it comes to meats and stock up while its cheap!!!
Shop early morning or late at night because thats when they reduce lots of the bakery and meat sections of the supermarket.
Read the "specials" catalogues.
Stick to the necessities!

Watch what items u put in the troley- make estimates of how much its costing so far

Always put ur most needed items on the checkout first, so u can quickly chuck the things u dont really need if you've gone over your budget:D

[LadyLauren]

My top 3 best tips...
(they have already probably been said)

1. Go alone - Dont take you partner or children.
2. Stick to the list.
3. Buy in bulk if possible!

[pookiesossige]

Hi Guys :wave:

There's 4 of us and we spend on average $200 per week... Would love to get this down to around $150...

But I do do some of the right things. I can't really afford to buy more then one bulk item a week. The following are the most expensive things on our list:

Bulk washing powder (Big W) - $15
Box of nappies for either DS or DD - around $30
DS's toddler formula (has probs digesting regular milk) -$15
Bulk Wipes (Big W) -$20
Bulk dishwashing powder- $15
Bulk toilet paper

So I make sure that I get one of these a week to spread out the cost, except for nappies- I buy these every week but alternate b/w DS and DH.

I found that if I went nuts during specials when I still had other things to buy that I ended up with a very expensive shop- defeats the purpose hey!

Unfortunetly our meat is pretty costly and DH loves to shop seeing he does most of the cooking... and brings home chips, chocolate, softdrink.......