Skip to main content

The Biggest Change I Ever Made...

...and the word change in this sentence has two contexts - I made a change to my life and consequently now receive MORE change at the supermarket!!

There are many age old theories and also plenty of new ones regarding how to save money with your groceries.

One that I have never applied nor followed is the art of making a meal plan and thus a shopping list....and then sticking to it.

For the last 2 - 3 months, that is exactly what I've done and by geez has it worked. Combining the meal plan and shopping list with some other tried and true shopping tricks I have kept my grocery budget and we have eaten beautiful, yummy food every day and every night.

This week for me is shopping week so as I complete each step I'll blog it and hopefully you'll see how it actually works. Before we begin, below are my KEY shopping tips to save money that I undertake every shop (for me this is fortnightly)... and because I'm all about sharing my personal grocery budget for a fortnight is $350 - this is for 2 adults (both working), 1 little boy (18 months old, still in nappies) and 2 little dogs. That figure is inclusive of nappies, wipes, dog food, meat, fruit & vegies and all our treats. We allow an extra $20 for a quick supermarket trip throughout the fortnight for additional milk / bread / treats (i.e. chocolate or ice cream!)

  • Make a meal plan for your shopping period, include enough dinners for every night you'll be cooking.
  • Shop from your pantry first e.g if you have a lot of mince leftover from a previous shop include meals with mince as the meat ingredient
  • Go through the specials catalogue from your local major supermarkets and circle anything you need / want (for me these are Woolworths, Coles & Kmart)
  • Take the time to buy those items that you need that are on special at each supermarket.
  • Read the BIG W and Kmart catalogue if you receive them - they sell some grocery items in bulk
  • Shop at ALDI for as much as you possibly can - if you're buying home brand at the other supermarkets, Aldi WILL be cheaper and 99% of the time tastes better
  • Buy your meat from a butcher (bulk / budget if possible) and your fruit & vegetables from a fruit shop or market...YOU WILL SAVE $$$$$$ JUST BY DOING THIS ALONE
  • Check Big W for their bulk items - dishwasher tablets, toilet paper and washing powder, be familiar with their prices. These items work out cheaper everyday than buying smaller amounts at the supermarkets.
I know this seems tedious, but once you start and get into the rhythm and routine it won't feel like extra work.

Once I have created my meal plan for the coming fortnight I will post it so you can see how it works!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Things I Never Knew, the Pool install version

 These are the things I never knew, nor considered, when it came to building a pool.  - Earthing. Do you know what that is? I have a rough idea. Enough to know that I should have realised it would be required when you're putting a huge container of water in your backyard and surrounding it with a metal fence.  - Waterline tiles. They have a purpose. They keep the pool easier to clean, because dirty water leaves a scum line. Like in the bath. You know the bath ring? Guess who doesn't like waterline tiles and opted not to install them. The same person who will be scrubbing the side of the pool every second day so there's no dirty bath ring....which leads me to... - Outdoor pool shower. I want one, they look so neat outside. Never realised there was a purpose. But I feel those that opt for no waterline tiles should invest their funds into an outdoor shower.  - Grass cuttings. Mowers have catchers right. They're meant to catch the cut grass. Apparently, when you have a pool
Post a Comment
Read more

Never underestimate the power of cake.

  On Friday evening, I made cake.  I took a 70-cent packet mix, added about 50-cents worth of milk, maybe 10-cents worth of butter, and an egg, beat it to death, baked it and voila cake.  We iced it with another 5-cents of butter, a splash of milk and a cup of icing sugar and topped it with hundreds & thousands.  So, let’s call it a dollar fifty? $1.50. I made the cake for no reason other than it was Friday and everyone was a bit urgh. And I thought well, cake makes everyone happy!  When that cake was ready, we were taking advantage of the oven being on and pre-heated to cook dinner, which would take about 40 mins.  So ya know what, we ate cake before dinner.  Do you know what that does to a family? It was the cheekiest thing we’d done in ages, we felt like we’d broken the rules of the world and boy did we smile about it.  Dinner came and went; everyone was far more relaxed than they were just an hour or two earlier. We sat at the table and played a board game. Right, I thought, th
Post a Comment
Read more

And so this is Easter..

Did you sing it? And so this is Christmas Easter...what have we done? It's at these times of year that I crave the seeming simplicity of generations or years gone by. When long weekends such as these meant the shops really were closed, that you really couldn't go out for lunch, that there wasn't anywhere else to be - except present. Now, every long weekend is fraught with plans. Who gets first dibs to host the family get-together, the friends get-together. Did you leave it too late and now everyone is busy and you haven't been included? Which two hour window of which day can you see each family group? Will you get any time at all to just unwind? How many odd jobs around the house can we fit in? Should we go camping like everyone else and then spend two days on the road in the most horrendous traffic of the year? My intentions are always to bring back some of that missing simplicity. With the thought that perhaps if I set the scene, everyone can enjoy it. Sh
Post a Comment
Read more