Eating healthy food doesn’t have to cost a bomb!
How much do you spend on food each week? Is it a never-ending chore that you resent? I’ll let you in on a very sad secret; supermarket shopping is one of the highlights of my week. Sad, I know! But I love to see what bargains I can find and how many meals I can go home and create. It’s like a game.
This got me thinking about how much I spend on groceries each week. While there are only two of us, we do eat a lot-six wholesome meals each day, with some type of protein at every meal. Stay tuned and I’ll spill the beans.
Following on from my thinking, I posted on one of our Facebook pages. I asked our members for their top money saving tips on eating healthy food. Here are their awesome tips;
- Buy meat with reduced stickers. Either put it in the freezer straight away or use that day.
- Buy non perishables in bulk when they are on special. Eg. tin tomatoes, rice, flour, tins of tuna.
- Only buy the fresh produce you will use in the next 3-6 days. The supermarket is just down the road – we don’t live 200kms from the shops.
- Plant a vegie garden.
- Eat what is in season. Grapes for $12.95 per kg in winter can stay there. They are most likely imported from USA.
- Market day at IGA has great specials on meat.
- Buy meat in bulk when it is on special (I got the last 2kg of basa fish for 50% off today)
- Buy the fruit and veg in plastic bags that are marked down. Use them that day or put them in slow cooker/casseroles.
- Make your own spices. Taco seasoning is just chilie, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, cumin and oregano. They are usually in your pantry. A packet of taco seasoning is around $2.50
- Make jelly deserts for the kids. Add some chopped fruit in the bottom.
- Buy quick oats for porridge rather than the individual packaged ones. They usually have added sugar in them also.
- Freeze leftovers in take-away containers.
- Don’t take the husband/kids shopping. There will always be extra things that end up in the trolley
- Write a shopping list and stick to it.
- Write a meal plan for the week
- Don’t buy packaged salads. They are great for when you are out and about, but work out expensive and usually go soggy after a couple of days. Buy heads of lettuce and chop them up, storing them in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Buy frozen veg when out of season. They don’t go off and you can use just what you need for each meal.
- Buy spices in bulk. IGA has a great selection of spices.
- If you are making a cake or biscuits, make it from scratch. As well as being cheaper, it’s always tastier than the stuff from the box.
- Buy as much food in bulk as you can. Aldi has 2kg buckets of greek yoghurt that keeps for 2 weeks. You can transfer it into smaller containers for kids lunches.
PHEW! How are you going?
- Read through the weekly specials in the catalogues and stock up on what is on special. I love circling what I am going to buy (although it isn’t quite as exciting as circling items in the jewellery catalogue!).
- Don’t take Steve’s advice “shoplift!”
- Buy fruit/veg from farmer’s markets. Not only are you supporting the local producers, but you know it was probably picked on the same day and usually chemical free.
- Have you checked out the local food swap?
- Buy rice in 5kg/10kg bags. It’s heaps cheaper than the single portion sizes. Cook up 2-3 cups at a time and freeze into portion sizes.
- Buy good quality minced beef and make your own hamburgers.
- Avoid the lolly aisle.
- Stick to the outside of the supermarket (Safeway), as all the crappy food is in the middle.
- If you don’t have room for a garden, join the local “community garden”,
and finally…..
- Remember to take your shopping list with you to the supermarket!
And now for my shopping bill. On Thursday I managed to find some bargains. I paid $16 for 2kg of chicken drumsticks and 2kg of fish on special at Safeway, and a 2kg chunk of roast beef at IGA for $16.50. That is enough meat for around for 32 meals. Fruit, veg, more proteins and other household items on Friday was $92. Total $124.
Feel free to let me know of any extra tips you may have. Also, if you find any bargains, be sure to post on our Facebook Page.