It's Time To Look At Your Shopping List Differently. Part 2

If you are struggling to put food on the table with constantly rising grocery prices,  it's time to do things a little differently. When writing out your shopping list,  ask yourself a few questions -

*  Do we need it ?  Can we go without ? Can we make it ourselves ? Is there a cheaper option ?

Last week I shared 6 ways you can save a small fortune on your grocery bill.  This week I have another 6 ways to save and every single one of them I personally use for Darren and I.  Our grocery budget is $120 a month for 2 adults and has been for about 18 months.

*  Make your own.  If you want to stretch your food budget so you can buy more or save money,  then start making things from scratch.  Jam is dirt cheap to make and even cheaper if you grow your own fruit or know someone who does.  Make gravy from scratch instead of buying those little sachets or ready made.  Make your own wedges / chips / fries instead of buying a bag.  Make foaming hand wash,  surface spray,  custard,  desserts,  lasagnes.  Cut you own veggies  bake your own biscuits,  cook your own pasta sauce.

*  Bulk buying.  Buying larger packets / bags is usually the cheaper option but make sure you know your prices.  Also make sure you can use that quantity within a reasonable time frame.  Go halves with friends or family to split the cost.

*  Buy ingredients.  A trolley full of ingredients will cost far less and provide more meals than a trolley full of processed food.  My grocery bill is proof of this.  Don't listen to the so called experts who report that healthy food is dearer than processed.  My pantry,  fridge and freezers are full of ingredients all bought for $120 ( or even less ) a month.  I had a distant family member tell me recently that it's cheaper to buy a box of biscuit mix to make rather than  buying ingredients.  I don't think she understood the concept that buying ingredients might cost more upfront but can make many batches of biscuits.  The box mix she uses only bakes maybe 12 - 18 biscuits in total.

*  Less meat,  more vegetables.  I'm not going to tell anyone to give up meat.  That's a personal choice and should be talked over with your doctor to make sure you get your nutrients elsewhere.  Darren and I quite enjoy meat but you won't find a hunk of meat on our plates.  On the rare occasion I cook a roast,  I get 2 slices of meat and Darren might get 3.  We fill up our plates with veggies and no one goes hungry.  Chop suey,  stews,  soups and casseroles are a great way to have meat and stretch it further.

*  Cut the treats and give as presents.  If you like chocolate, chips and lollies,  consider adding them to gifts within your family.  They make great Christmas stocking stuffers or gift bag fillers for a birthday present and the recipient will be thrilled to get what they love to eat.  This is the only way Darren and I can afford a food treat and not have it impact our grocery budget.

*  Grow your own.  Have a look at your shopping list.  What fresh items do you buy regularly ?  Could you start growing some of these ?  Lettuce is super cheap, easy and quick to grow.  It can be grown all year round in many areas.  You can grow it in a pot or in the ground.  Even if you start with this you could save $2 - $4 a week. 

Are you looking at your shopping list differently ?

How are you cutting your grocery bill ?

Its Time To Look At Your Shopping List Differently. Part 1

 The cost of living crisis is hitting many people hard.  Prices are going up all the time and when it comes to the grocery bill,  you never know how much it's going to cost from week to week.  I've given up expecting certain items to cost a certain amount.  It seems the prices change constantly.

If you want the cost of living crisis to have a minimal impact on your grocery bill,  things need to change and the change has to come from you. 

My grocery budget for Darren and I is $120 per MONTH and it's been at that amount for about 18 months.  Has it been tough ?  A little. Have we made changes to keep it that low ?  YOU BET WE HAVE !!!  And that's the trick.  CHANGES  !!!

Here are 7 ways to lower your food bill and still eat well.

*  People expect to eat the same food and complain about rising prices.  I don't know how many times I've come across people who insist on buying fancy steaks for their meals and then tell me food costs too much.  Nothing's going to change if nothing changes.   Steak is now a luxury.  Save it for a special occasion.

*  Trying different brands.  Why do people feel the need to fill their pantries,  fridges and freezers with branded products ?  Who are you trying to impress ?  If people are judging you on what brands you consume,  you might want to rethink your friends.  Unless it's curry powder,  chocolate,  tea,  coffee or tomato soup,  it doesn't matter what the brand is.  It will still do the job.  Remember,  flour is flour and sugar is sugar.  I use generic flour to bake all our biscuits,  slices,  cakes and breads and it works perfectly.

*  Going without the extras like lavish sauces / gravies,  gourmet oils ( avocado,  coconut etc ),  fancy cheeses,  deli meats,  recipe bases etc.  You know what I'm talking about.  These items are like icing on a cake.  It's nice to have but not needed.    Save them for special occasions.

*  Portion controlling food.  Have a look at how much you are putting on your plate.  Could you eat a little less ?  If the meal is meant to serve 6,  are you only getting 4 or 5 serves ?    Could you stretch the meal to 7 serves ?

*  Eating whole foods.  I'm not necessarily talking about going to a whole food store and spending a fortune on overpriced nuts and flours.  If you are hungry,  eat an apple or banana.  Think back to when you were a child.  What did you eat in your lunchbox ?  It was most likely whole foods. 

*  Cooking simple meals.  No one can sustain a Master Chef menu.  That tv show doesn't know what a food budget is.  Meat and 3 veg,  casseroles,  stews,  pasta or bakes are comfort foods without the high price tag.  If you'd like some budget friendly,  tasty meals then have a look in the recipe section on this blog.  I personally cook every one of those meals on my tight budget and there are no expensive ingredients.

*  Expensive dinners as a treat.  We all like a good roast don't we ?  Or steak,  or salmon for example.   Salmon is one of my favourite meats but we don't have it just because I like it.  Salmon is saved for my Mother's Day meal or my birthday and you can bet I thoroughly enjoy it.  Best of all,  it doesn't blow our budget because we know it's a treat.

Are you looking at your shopping list differently ?

How are you cutting your grocery bill ?

My Monthly Grocery Shop Sept / Oct 2018

As you are probably aware,  I feed my family on a very tight budget.  At the moment I'm feeding three adults and one cat.  For the last 4 - 5 months the grocery budget has been $120 per month including basic cleaning supplies and toiletries.  It has been tight some months with either no money left over or needing to use the grocery slush fund to make it to the end of the month.

Due to this I've increased the grocery budget to $150 per month.  Sept / Oct is the first grocery shop with the new budget.  We'll see how I go.  Lots of readers have asked for my shopping list to see what I'm buying.  I don't mind sharing but typing out all the items and prices would be time consuming. So here are the photos and receipts of the purchases so far -

 ALDI SHOP

FRUIT AND VEG SHOP

COLES SHOP

HINDUSTAN IMPORTS ( HERBS AND SPICES )

TOATL AMOUNT SPENT SO FAR $ 100.15

If you are wondering where the rest of the food is,  please remember I have a very good stockpile of pretty much everything.  I have enough toilet paper,  toothpaste,  toothbrushes,  deod,  shampoo,  conditioner and makeup for the next year or two.  I make my own soap instead of using shower gel and Darren uses it instead of shampoo.

Generally once or twice a year I stock up on herbs,  spices,  dried fruit and nuts from Hindustan Imports.  Occasionally I pop in for a couple of items that are running low.

I have enough roast beef and silverside in the freezer for the next few months at least.  I still have enough chicken drumsticks for four meals and one whole chicken.  We ran out of chicken fillets a couple of months ago but because the prices are too dear at the moment,  we are doing without.  I have two legs of lamb in the freezer waiting for a special occasion.  Each leg does about 3 - 4 meals.  The mince I bought this month is to make hamburger patties.  I still have about 3 kilos of mince in the freezer to use for other dishes.

When I did this shop I still had half a cauliflower,  one kilo of carrots,  half a pumpkin, eight potatoes and a few frozen veggies on hand.  Soon we'll be picking our own silverbeet on a very regular basis.  The mushrooms and tomatoes in the photo were for homemade pizza on Monday night.

We are not big fruit eaters in the cooler weather but I still had mandarins in the fridge and was gifted apples from a friend. 

Over the next few weeks I'll be popping into the shops to top up on milk,  fruit and veg as needed.

My Grocery Shopping List March 2017

Almost every week I have someone ask me what I buy to feed my family.  I've also had lots of requests for my shopping list  / dockets.  Yesterday was my monthly shopping day so I've taken photos of my dockets and the groceries I bought.

At the moment my monthly grocery budget is $180 for the four of us plus our cat.  Hopefully when our financial situation improves I'll be able to bump it back up to $270 a month. Please keep in mind that our girls are not always home for dinner.  Jessica is at Uni and Megan's current job has her working over dinner a couple of times a week.

As you know,  during Sept - Nov I stockpile heavy,  bulky and non perishable items to last all of Summer and the holiday season.   I still have some of these items left to use.

Here are the shopping dockets so far for the month.  I'll keep adding photos of my shopping dockets as the month goes by.  My month runs from 16th March until 15th April keeping it in line with our credit card statements ( not that the groceries go on credit ).

Yesterday I spent  -

Coles $38.50

Aldi $53.30

I've put away $20 into the meat fund for when I see something on sale.  I'm hoping to get reimbursed from the freezer manufacturer for the loss of meat and food from last month.

This leaves me with $68.20 for weekly milk,  fruit and veg top ups for the next four weeks.

Aldi shopping

Aldi docket

Coles shopping

Coles docket

If you are wondering where the rest of the food is,  please keep in mind that I have a food stockpile.  When I grocery shop I'm stocking up on what I used last month so that my stockpile never runs low or runs out.

Here are some other points -

Herbs,  spices and dried fruit etc -  I made a visit to Hindustan Imports last week and stocked up on the usual herbs,  spices and ingredients to add to my bread.  I spent about $70 from the food slush fund and this will last me for about 6 - 8 months ( some things even longer ).

Snacks -   You might be wondering when all the snacks are.  The flour and sugar I bought will make many baking treats. At the moment we have corn thins ( like rice cakes ),  Salada biscuits and pita chips as savoury snacks.  We also still have an assortment of treats and chocolate from Christmas.   If our girls want extra snacks they buy their own.

Fruit and veg -  We are picking strawberries,  tomatoes and raspberries in abundance at the moment.  On Wednesday I bought a big bag of mixed lettuce leaves that will feed us for four meals.  As soon as our lettuce in the garden grows big enough ( about three weeks ) I'll be crossing it off the list.  I already have cucumber,  carrots,  apples and grapes in the fridge leftover from last week.  In the freezer I have lots of broccoli ( bought on a super duper sale ),  corn kernels,  beans,  celery,  strawberries and raspberries.  In the pantry I have enough potatoes for a week..

Dairy - I bought milk and sour cream on Wednesday and cream last week.  I'm making yoghurt from scratch and we still have a few 1 kilo blocks of cheese in the fridge.  We also have a few small tubs of icecream in the freezer to use up.

Meat -  I have a truckload of chicken fillets ( $4.99 kg ) and drumsticks ( $1.99 kg ) bought on sale late last year.  A few weeks ago I bought 3 or 4 trays of chops ( $7.99 kg ).  I have five legs of lamb bought last Spring ( $7.49 kg ).  I bought fish about 1 month ago ( $5.99 kg I think ). I have a few portions of ham, a couple of meals of sausages and about 20 + portions of mince plus  ready made mince meals ( pie meat,  spag bol etc ).

I did loose a freezer full of meat and other food about 5 - 6 weeks ago.  Due to this loss I haven't got as much meat as I usually would have.

Breakfast -  Darren and I eat my homemade bread as toast every morning.  I only have my homemade jam on the toast.  Darren has jam or tomatoes on his toast.  Our girls occasionally cook a breakfast of pancakes or eggs from our chickens.  We always have quick oats in the pantry to make porridge.  There's always yoghurt,  fruit or cheese and dry biscuits to have.

Spreads -  We've cut down on spreads due to our girls finishing school.. I have a stockpile of Vegemite,  peanut butter,  homemade jam and some honey.

Sauces etc -  We don't use a lot of sauces but have all the usual ones on hand.  I still have a few bottles of salad dressings bought on sale last Summer.

Drinks -   We don't drink coffee,  soft drink,  cordial,  juice or alcohol  We drink milk,  tea,  hot chocolate ( homemade ) and lots of water.  I have enough teabags stockpiled for the next two years.

Toiletries -  A have almost a year's worth of toiletries stockpiled.  If there's a half price sale I stock up.  I still have a six month toilet paper stockpile.

Cleaning -  I don't buy much in the way of cleaning products.  I buy ingredients to make soap,  laundry powder and Miracle Spray.  Anything else needed is bought at a half price sale and used sparingly.

I'll try to post my shopping dockets each month so you get a better idea of what I buy.

Top up shopping day Wednesday 22nd March

This was paid for from the food slush fund.

The apples are to be used in jam making.

Here are receipts and photos from my last two tops up -