Food & Dining Grocery Shopping

Hey All,

Was just interested to know what everyone does for grocery shopping to help manage the weekly shop spend.

I thought dropping 350-400 per week for 2 people and 2 dogs was the normal. Having a conversation at work and people with kids and pets were spending only $250!

Admittedly my wife is Gluten and Dairy intolerant so all the alternatives are usually a minimum triple the price. We also eat very healthy which supposedly is a crime when it comes to shopping.

Was thinking if maybe giving the online shop a go as we tend to go into woolies every 2 days and but garbage I know we don’t need.

 

Meal planning and online grocery shopping really do help reduce your grocery spend.

And yes your grocery bill is insane but eating healthy isn't expensive - I do understand that alternative foods do come with a surcharge though but sometimes there are cheap alternatives.

Our menu for the week is often like this:
Monday: slow cooker meal like a stew
Tuesday: mexican
Wednesday: bbq or just meat and salad (bbq if the weather is good)
Thursday: I don't cook so it's take out
Friday: chicken and salad
Saturday: today I'm making pulled pork, macaroni cheese, kaleslaw
Sunday: often a roast or meat and salad

We eat a lot of salad and veggies. Most of the meals I make will have added veggies (tins of chick peas in stews; corn + black + kidney beans in mexican)

Most of those meals I will make extras as we work from home so tend to have left overs for lunch the next day.

Our grocery bill is probably $300 per week for 3 adults + 2 kids (10 and 13) + large dog. I could do it lower but we like nice steak . There is usually at least 1kg of meat in everything I cook

Coles Click and Collect is pretty good system where you order everything online and drive up to Coles Click and Collect parking dock and it goes straight in your car - 5 mins and your done. Woolworth Click system you have to go into the shops to the service desk and they put it in a trolley for you and you take it back out to your car which isn't as handy.

For dog food our dog eats our raw scraps (veggies, meat etc) plus Black Hawk grain free which I buy in 13kg bags from Pet Circle.

 

Wow $350-450 pw

So currently 3 at home, 2 dogs 1 cat
$200 pw tops, but we eat out, twice pw

Our diet has changed dramatically over last 12 months, partner had some health issues....the wake up call

I only buy veg/fruit from markets, good fresh produce

We rarely eat carbs, pretty healthy diet, protein mainly poultry, fish, very little red meats

 

Aldi.

Healthy eating is generally the cheapest way to eat - i.e. buying. seasonal veges, beans and grains and other base ingredients and cooking them instead of prepared food from Coles etc.

I do a lot of huge, hearty soups - and freeze most of it, casseroles, stews etc.

Understandably, if your wife has coeliac disease, then it is pretty important to stay gluten free.

 

Mr Angel and I are not gluten free but we try to limit grains. He is actually allergic to rice and all grains and I certainly have a wheat intolerance. We are a meat and veg household and now that the kinder have moved out, we tend to average $200 a week for two adults and one tiny dog.

We have a new Woollies just down the road who have a lot of competition; their food is both very good quality and reasonably priced. We also have great butchers and F&V markets within 15 minute's drive away. We do not eat fresh seafood as it is ridiculously expensive.

I usually make my own pancakes for breakfast (can buy wheat free flour), eat leftovers from last night for lunch and make all kinds of meat and veg/salad combinations for dinner. After work snack is usually a banana or nuts/avocado or cheese and crackers

(Dream on: I really just eat a mountain of ice cream)

 

Near where we live, you can get many staples at Big W, such as bulk laundry powders, cleaners and toilet paper and paper towels.

I have perfected drinking coffees that cost less than $5 a week for four cups per day. Robert Timms coffee bags are usually $9 per box of 28 but regularly go on special for half price. I buy about 6 boxes at a time. When I am close to running out, they just happen to go back on special again. I keep a box at work.

 

Twice in the past ten years I have gone totally dairy and gluten free for six months. I decided that "gluten free" foods taste like glue and cost multiple times the price of normal foods. The easiest way I found was to just stick to meat or chicken and vegies or other sort of "grains" like beans.

 

I do agree most of the gluten free does taste like cardboard or glue.
I found making my own ended up tasting better and I learnt to like zuchini zoodles instead of rice based pasta which was blurk.

We had one child who was dairy and soy protein intolerant so learnt to love coconut cream, coconut milk and cashew cream in place of milk and cream. My chocolate orange flourless cake is to die for

Anyway tonight's dinner was a great success but is probably not going to win any awards for being super healthy. I've made pulled beef brisket many times but I decided to try pulled pork tonight and Coles had easy carve pork shoulder roasts for $7.50kg so I bought one that was about 1.5kg ($11) and cut off the crackling then cooked it. My family love crackling so I cooked that up too. Had it with a cheats premade salad, some oven fries and macaroni cheese.

$11 Pork Shoulder https://shop.coles.com.au/a/a-wa-metro-bassendean/product/coles-pork-easy-carve-shoulder-roast
$1 spices and stuff for the pork to slow cook in
$3 Superfood veggie mix that I made a dressing for https://shop.coles.com.au/a/a-wa-metro-bassendean/product/coles-superfood-vegetable-mix
$3 beer batter chips https://shop.coles.com.au/a/a-wa-metro-bassendean/product/coles-beer-batter-frozen-steakhouse-chips
$3 macaroni cheese
Total $21 and served 5 with enough for 2 left over - note a normal family probably doesn't eat as much as my 2 teenage boys so there might have been 8-10 normal serves

The $3 veggie mix probably could be done cheaper by buying the actual ingredients but I find that I have less wastage and at $3 this saves me some time and hassle.

 

Love all the posts and I think this week we are going to try and plan our meals for the week and then order it from Coles online.

I also forgot to mention that the wife is Pescatarian and I’m a meat eater so it adds an extra layer of complexity when it comes to preparing meals.
That said I am still happy for vegetarian meals and some gluten free options I have taken a liking to.

I’ll report back at the end of the week.

I need to be truthful that I’m talking purely groceries! This doesn’t include the take away (two/three times per week) and things like coffee (I will never not buy morning coffee, don’t even suggest pods...haha).

I have always very much been in the “just earn more money” camp but the wife and I are trying to start a family and all going well we will soon enough lose an entire salary so I’m not sure that can keep cutting it.

 

Wow - I'm shocked at how cheaply some of you shop.

We are three adults (16yr old) - 2 middle sized dogs and a cat - and usually costs me around $300/wk+ ... and we don't eat expensive. We do live rural and suspect our prices are higher due to cartage.

Admittedly, I am including cleaning products (dishwasher tabs and washing powder) we have to buy for our biocycle septic that cost around 3x more than well known brands ... I have a fussy cat that only likes the expensive biscuits ... the dogs get quality food being active farm dogs ... and I only buy branded (no $1 milk, homebrand cheese, bread or imported tinned/fresh produce here) and free range to support the farmers and local businesses ... I also buy quality personal hygiene products (shampoo/cond, moisturiser etc).

But we don't eat expensive - normal week would be a homemade pizza night - a veg packed frittata night - cheapish steak/chips/salad - sausages with mash/veg - roast "something", which can go 2-3 nights and finally ends up in with a vege/lentil soup - maybe fish every two weeks - chicken schnitzel with sauteed spinach and mash .... lots of other stuff mixed in like chicken with garlic butter sauce, a curry on rice, spag bol and a dozen other's that get tossed in from time to time depending on the mood.

I can't do the curry or spag or potato due to nightshade intolerance so whip up a pasta dish for myself - and replace potato with sweet potato

We eat takeaway maybe once a month. No leftovers (asides from the roast) as hubby freezes it for work lunches.

Maybe I should set myself a challenge

 

That makes sense as our grocery bill includes ALL lunches and only takeaway once a month

 

Have to confess that I'm finding the grocery bills outrageous these days. I'm a foodie for sure.
For me the culprits are meat and junk food (no surprises).
I eat meat and so do the 2 dogs and the umpteen cats I feed. Unfortunately, 'off-cuts' have become expensive in recent years. Chicken necks used to be a dollar or two for a huge tray. They're now $5 or $6. Beef bones were dirt cheap - now pushing that $6 threshold too. To me, these items are necessities.
In the old days I'd buy fresh kangaroo for a few bucks - it's since become gourmet and even the 2nd grade pet mince is $6 a tray.
Definitely preparing and freezing meals is fun, healthy, cost-effective and do-able for individuals and couples as well as families. Beats ordering pre-prepared meals hands down.
Another great way to save money is fasting! Yes. Skip a few meals or even a few days and reap the benefits. Then stretch it all out by having smaller portions - you won't even notice. Fat pets can also cut down a little.

 

I hear you on the cheap cuts becoming expensive!
It's all those paleo people making bone broth!
I'll meal prep dog meals sometimes when I'm in the mood and it will have some awful offal, frozen sardines ($5/kg), raw sweet potato, bones and roo meat.

 

Will Need to double check with wife but I think we're around the 200 fortnight...2 adults, 2 children ( one's a baby) and some pets (cat and dog). We eat mostly veg dishes (dhaal, or vege chill etc) but will have occasional meat dish. Meal plans and correct portion control go a long way.

 

A tricky one as it revolves around household structures, tastes, attitudes and the money available.

Not much use comparing me (single with mundane tastes) with a family of five who live on Smith's Crisps and Iced VoVos.

For what it is worth my weekly spend would rarely top $100. Doesn't include the very rare purchase of wine or maybe Gin (go Four Pillars!)

 

My wife plans meals a month in advance, and does weekly shopping based on that.
We spend $160 a week for 3 of us, which also includes all the 'other' stuff required, not just food.

 

I’m shocked at what we are spending in comparison! I’d be a millionaire if I reigned in the shopping.....actually I’ll probably substitute the savings for more holidays but sounds like a much better option

 

Gluten free alternatives are expensive e.g. bread. Perhaps consider not using alternatives at all e.g. more rice dishes rather than pasta or dough/bread.

 

They are insane! We also live near Lamana and they get some of the best alternative products on the market. For example they get a gluten free pasta that is honestly better than any normal pasta that Coles/Woolies stock but the issue is your paying $9 a packet compared to $1 normal pasta.