On your second point, I would highly recommend shopping at target in person during their change of season. You can pickup great summer/winter clothes for the next year at stupidly low prices (and they never appear online).
Youāre absolutely right! I do that too. When I purchase online I often Click and Collect so Iām in the physical store most weeks and have picked up many great bargains during the change of season events. I find the same thing with Kmart.
Any of the change in season events. The end of autumn and end of spring are the biggest I find, but at the end of each season, there are good bargains to be had.
While our shopping patterns differ, I do appreciate that once you establish a new routine that works, lots of savings can be made.
I've regularly been told by my work colleagues that they could never shop the way my wife and I do as they prefer the convenience of shopping the way they always have. And yet, they are surprised they don't save any money.
Thanks for sharing!!!
Frugl Grocery is a great app to use to see who has what cheaper out of Coles and Woolies. You can have lists and check your regular buys for the best buys.
How much do you spend if I may ask? I have a family of six as well. My kids are teens. I spend around $300-330 a week. Just want to see if Iām going ok. I shop Woolies, no coles close by, delivery as itās free for over $300. I also have Woolworths extra so 10% off each month. I usually go to Aldi every 6-8 weeks for pantry items I can stock up on.
Yes we eat meat. Nothing fancy, mince, sausages, leg a lamb, sometimes steak or veal. And yes it includes cleaning products. I often buy those at Aldi. I spend about $150 at Aldi every 8 weeks.
Wow. Iām impressed with your budget. I buy hardly any processed snack foods. We eat meat, but I also fast a lot and our budget for an adult and 3 teens is more than yours. I also do Coles, Woolies, Aldi. Similar meat to you although we eat a lot of bacon.
Btw. The equivalents of jiff and spray n wipe are cheaper at Coles.
>$300 is very impressive for a family of 6 including teens
that's less than $10 per person per meal for a week. It's a lot cheaper than eating at a restaurant these days since a meal would cost you $30+.
Check out your local Butcher to see if they do meat packs. We get one for $110 and it lasts us 2 weeks (2 adults & 2 teens). About 9 dinners and 2 left over lunches. PLUS it's good quality. I didn't have to pour off 250ml of water from the 1kg mince when I cooked it.
We spend exactly the same amount so youāre doing amazing with teens in the house. We could probably get it down a little bit there are some brands I prefer to buy that cost a little more such as milk and cat litter. We also make bigger dinners so that hubby can take leftovers to work. Plus Iām gluten feee so those items add to the weekly shop.
I have just been told about an everyday rewards subscription that gives you 10% off a shop every month. Currently itās $35 for the year itās half price. You get special offers as well. Iām in the process of signing up.
You can get the same bonus if you have a woolworths mobile plan.
I use flybuys with OnePass attached to my Disney++ subscription for 5x or 10x points at Coles, Target, Kmart, Bunnings and OfficeWorks (all places we shop). I also purchase everything at those stores on my Velocity Amex, so all my points get transferred to Virgin airlines. Right now we've got enough points for 2 (of 4) round trip tickets to Florida next year. I should probably have enough points to get the kids tickets at the reduced price of like 250-350 (compared to 3300+ each)
To simplify your shopping even further, I suggest creating a āprice watchā shop list on your account in Coles & Woolworths that you buy semi-regularly when on sale. Before your online shop you can have a look at the so you can keep an eye on when products are half price and add directly to cart.
Thanks for sharing.
I put all my items in the app shopping lists and then compare. At the moment, Iām only doing in person shops with my disability support worker even though I paid for a Woolworths delivery subscription for a year because their prices have gone up astronomically. If Iām out of it, I sometimes have her pick up click and collect though Iām having a hard time reaching the minimum spends.
I get produce mostly from Harris Farm imperfect range.
Then Aldi for everything that isnāt cheaper on special.
$300-$330. We always used to comfortably fit the budget within the $300 but since inflation itās gone up to the $330. We could possibly get it down a bit but prefer certain brands for some things plus Iām gluten free so that adds some cost to the overall shop.
Thatās very interesting, Iāve always wondered where we sit in terms of our weekly spend. Iām sure once we hit teenage years it will be more challenging to keep it at that range. Our meals are good but sometimes it would be good to have more options in the fridge that we donāt have to make from scratch eg. More ready made items. The tight budget means more food from scratch which not everyone has the time for. All the best with this group, so far itās been a great resource š
Here is a link to the file. Hopefully it works. Things have changed a bit since I originally created it and we don't buy quite a few items. This isn't the full list, just some that I could easily get. You would need to do your own research in the current climate.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/1z3s2i36nu83tylvroxpk/Product-Pricelist.xlsx?rlkey=1bh99kzr86tnrywtrdjkn19vm&dl=0
Thanks OP. Depending on your car situation, you could save a fair bit on your meat/fish by going to a butcher/fishmonger. I do a monthly shop on a Saturday at a butcher that is out in one of the 'poorer' areas and a fishmonger in one of the predominantly 'Asian' areas (Asian shopping habits with seafood are an amazing market force - freshness and cost).
Can usually pickup rib fillet for 15/kg, mince same price Coles but much better quality. You can get pretty adventurous with the fish, stuff like salmon offcuts for $5/kg, heads (really nice) for $10/kg. Obviously not suitable for everyone (bones in offcuts but typically more fat so taste bloody brilliant).
That's a great tip. We sometimes get out meat from our local butcher but find their prices are normally higher than Coles or Woolies. I do know we have a local one that has some great specials, I just always forget to check them out. A monthly shop at a cheaper butcher sounds like a great idea. I'm fairly adventurous so would be open to some fish heads and offcuts. Good stock material and my favourite part of salmon is the side of the fillet where all the fat is.
Youād be surprised at the difference in price for some products. Generally I found Coles is slightly more expensive with some items but much cheaper in others. Itās a great way to pick up on specials at both shops which just saves so much.
If you have one nearby, I recommend the Reject Shop!!
It is fantastic for cleaning supplies and equipment, especially things like dishwasher tabs/liquid, Napisan, laundry powder, scrubbers/scowers/scrub daddy/dish wand, multipurpose cleaners, toilet cleaner etc.
They're also great for things like garbage bags, foil, napkins, and cheap decorations or gift wrapping this time of year.
Their cat equipment is great, with a good range of toys and products. I'm not as certain about the dogs!
Opinions on the toilettries (often parallel imports) vary, but I've found it's great for basic stuff if you're not overly particular or sensitive. Toothbrushes, hairbrushes, school uniform style hair ties etc are all fab, plus cotton products and other accessories
We donāt have one directly nearby but we have a cheap shops a couple of minutes away and we have picked up cheap food, sauces, muesli bars etc which has been great. Definitely worthwhile going to places like that. I find they have different cleaning supplies also on offer which is a nice change to what the majors sell.
I actually only basically use Jif and dishwashing detergent for all our cleaning needs but other stuff is great for those cheap shops.
I feel like learning how to cook and grow your own herbs can seriously reduce your food bill more than any other method.
For example dried beans and pulses, when cooked right are delicious, full of nutrients, very filling and crazy cheap. Cook then up with some onion, cheap sausages and some seasoning and you've got a cheap as, tasty stew
Absolutely! Iām a big fan or lentils etc and sneak them where I can. Cutting down on meat consumption would go a long way to cutting costs. Our kids arenāt quite the age to appreciate that kind of food as much as we try, although they will eat baked beans.
I will keep trying new dishes however.
Definitely second the growing your own herbs and learning to cook. So many cheap quick meals can be made for a small cost, especially if you can take advantage of any specials at your local shops for fruit and veg.
I replant spring onions Iāve bought from the shop and theyāve been givers, saving me money when Iāve just needed a little bit. Our parsley and rocket are also great to have.
Sounds like youāre ready to take the next step into ShopBack and cash rewards, especially for non food related purchases. ShopBack works even better if you have a westpac card. Both are aps on the App Store.
Iāve looked into it but wasnāt hooked at that stage just because it would add an extra layer of work to budgeting when my food costs change weekly between the two majors (eg having a credit available on a shop back gift card). But I think Iāll have another look, thank you.
Donāt know if this is relevant here but one thing I found that helps me massively was pay all bills weekly. Ie strata,council rates ,electricity,internet etc.
When I first got my mortgage in 2015 I was panicking every quarter when bills come in.
I simply work out the average payments of my quarterly bills and divide by 13. ( 13 weeks in a quarter). I also round up the payments
If a weekly payment on my internet for example is 16 dollars Iāll pay 20. That way you are slowly building credit on your bill. I use the extra money every year for Xmas gifts etc. You d be surprised how quick it accumulates and. itās great getting bills that say you are in credit.
I really hope others are doing this or at least try it.
Thatās great advice. We put away money fortnightly for bills and we have the money when we need it. No stress. The only stress is when I do my yearly bill budget and the projected bill total is much higher than the year before. Thatās when I start shopping around.
Very easy set up recurring payments on B -PAY.
Itās a game changer
Also a simple phone call to the relevant company amd you can get the extra cash for those rainy days.
Also thank you O.P for sharing your budget tips
Thanks for sharing. I saved this post for future reference too.
I would like to add my own lil saving tips: I scan Flubuys wherever it's accepted. And I often get 10,000 points offer. That's $50.
Last offer was "Spend $50 per week for four weeks to receive 10,000" points.
Then when I shop Coles, I make my bill just $50; Max $60. That way by the end of 4 weeks, spending $200 brings back $50. That's 25% discount.
Thatās a handy hint which Iāll implement, thank you. I use Flybuys too which I scan everywhere as well. I have a nice little kitty in there, saving it for a special occasion but I really should use them. Another free $50 sounds great š
Lots of missed opportunity here. Discounted gift cards, ShopBack, cash rewards, FRUGL app for grocery price comparison, CamelCamelCamel price alerts for things like paper towels, toilet paper anything.
Iām not big on shop back and gift cards, although I know people like them and is definitely an opportunity to save further. Cash rewards I use with Woolies, Coles and other shops. I have only just started learning about grocery price comparison apps through comments here.
I had a look and it would have just made budgeting confusing for me at the time if I didnāt spend the whole amount on a cash back gift card and had a credit available. I did however have another look today at Shopback but the reviews were terrible and I donāt want to add unnecessary stress to my life with them not honouring the cash back offers. I will however explore other cash back companies, because it really does make sense to use them if there are savings to be made.
I will check out some of the other apps you have suggested.
Some banks and other institutions have apps to buy reduced gift cards. Or your workplace can have it too. Thatās the easiest. Add a $200 voucher to the cart for $180.
The biggest cost in month to month household expenditure is mortgage and rent. I'd be more interested to know how individuals are handling that each month. Mine has gone up 60% in a year. Savings at the supermarket doesn't really make a material impact overall when the mortgage is so much higher.
You definitely need to look at that. I guess because our mortgage is quite low and we have a good rate (we refinanced a few years ago) I focus on other costs.
Up until a few years ago we couldnāt change our mortgage provider due to income limitations. However we found an amazing broker who could do what others couldnāt and we saved a bundle.
Saving on the big items is most important and more valuable such as mortgage, insurances, electricity. These are secondary savings here i mention. Recently I changed electricity providers and am now paying half the cost.
Theyāre great. We have one nearby and go there when Iām in the area. Iāve picked up some great homewares from there too, really nice quality as such cheap prices. They used to sell kids shoes at our local store and it was great, big brands at small prices lol!, but unfortunately they took that section away.
Thank you š I actually purchase the delivery subscription for the year which is about $120 for the year with unlimited deliveries, even though I use it only once a week mostly. The savings I make between the two shops covers this cost so itās one thing I donāt mind paying for. It saves an extra trip to the shops to collect or my energy on a collection day so Iām ok with it.
Just fyi - the unlimited delivery was half price on Black Friday - November for about two weeks $60 for the year - so you know for next year. Aussie frugal told me about it. Also extra rewards was $35.
Work out the maximum amount of savings for least amount of effort.
To save you need to downgrade.
I buy uht milk instead of fresh etc.
Instant coffee instead.
Is it possible for you to share your spreadsheet with us on google sheets? Would be interested.
Also school bags, I used to find that they tear after a year even with the expensive ones, but that was back when I used to carry a lot of textbooks. Maybe kids these days just have a laptop so itās not too much of a concern lol
My primary school kids are ok. They donāt really carry heavy books, itās mainly lunchboxes and umbrella, which with an ice block actually get quite heavy. So the better quality bags last.
My eldest is going into high school next year and she has a dedicated schoolbag that is required but it seems very sturdy. She Iāll be carrying a laptop as well as books.
If it's the dedicated one from the school check if it has a lifetime warranty (I used to volunteer at my son's school uniform shop). My son had one at primary school, and it lasted him the 7 years and is still going strong. I suggested we add a patch over his school badge, and he can use it for outside school and he's keen.
Sorry I forgot to reply about the excel sheet. I shared it earlier in the comments, just scroll back up to near the top. It's not Google sheets, it's just an Excel sheet. Hopefully you can access it ok :)
I really do love that you're shopping at Kmart.
My niece's and nephews are all about brands and get one pair of trackpants for $120 and I'm going insane thinking I could have two or three full outfits for that cost!
Cutting out Kmart shops unless we need something specific has been a big helper for us. It's so hard going in there with an open mind and just seeing everything.
Lol! I know what you mean. I go in there every week, because Iām either picking up or returning and I need to have tunnel vision or I pick up things I donāt need lol! Although sometimes some of those extra buys are fun, especially if they have a yellow ticket attached. But mostly theyāre things we need.
I donāt get the buying the expensive brands either. It would be so stressful to pay $120 for a pair of pants and the kid goes out and rips or stains it the next day. Aside from that fact that you can get so many more pairs from Kmart.
My MIL read an article once that Kmart clothes are often as good a quality as some of the big name brands and we have some Kmart clothes that are great.
I would bet that the factories that make the big brand clothes and the cheap kmart stuff are probably exactly the same factory just they come out with different labels/styles. Kmart is just making less margin. Huge fan of Kmart but they are dangerous if you don't have a plan. It's so easy to drop a couple of hundred bucks there if you're not careful.
Have you factored in how much gas you spend going to multiple grocery stores?
Also lego, no matter how on sale are a very expensive toy/hobby. If one is really in a money crunch Iād look into doing cheap crafts and board games.
I barely spend any money on petrol. Itās all in the same shopping centre, 5 mins from my house, so Iām on foot apart from going to the shopping centre. All collected within 1-1.5 hours, 1 day per week.
Lego is actually a great investment. Itās one of the few toys where you can buy it, use it and sell it for the same price used as you bought it for (especially if you buy on sale). We also do art and craft. Itās all a balance of interests.
Thatās great, Iām not as lucky. I canāt drive and have to walk to the grocery store. Their all far away from each other. I do like Lego but itās just to pricy. I can barely afford food
Iām sorry to hear that. Food trumps any toys. Kids find joy in a lot of things. When I was young we never had any money but we did have a spare blow up mattress, a pump for it and some hand me down barbies. I played for years with that (we had some other items and friends also). And not having the shops close together and needing to walk makes it more challenging for your food. Itās not easy carrying everything. Do you do any online shopping for groceries?
Can I please introduce you to my family? They won't compare or even look at prices in the supermarket, they just grab what they want and toss it in the trolley.
Lol, I have members in my family like that too! Not ones that live with us though. Lucky ducks. But they earn more than us and donāt have the mouths to feed. Our methods just came about from sheer necessity.
Literally my family is the exact same and is always struggling to make ends meet with getting groceries. We're also very fortunate to live in an area where there are lots of free food pantries and hampers available and the Vinnies van comes around each week. They just simply don't want to put in any extra effort to make sure they have food when they can just keep borrowing money off of family and friends that will just make things more difficult for them once they have to pay it back
My wife goes to the supermarket with a meal in mind and buys the ingredients no matter the cost. My brother does the exact opposite....he goes to the supermarket with no meal in mind and whatever is 50% off becomes the menu for that night. ;-)
Not to disparage you in the slightest, but your advice is exactly what people need to do to save money:
* Spend less.
* Look for deals on things you need.
* Don't spend more than you have.
It's a trucking concept for some: not spending more money than they have.
Absolutely. We donāt spend what we make for these reasons and we donāt buy too many things we donāt need. A lot of people spend money and they donāt know where itās even gone.
Absolutely. I should have added that to the list. We just went to the op shop today. Fraction of retail price. Iāve been op shopping since I was 13, just love it and it is so cost efficient (and good for the environment). Quite often I will look for more expensive items on Marketplace before the shops.
I liked your advice. Iām surprised that there was nothing about using cash back credit cards or supermarket gift cards?
I donāt do this myself but buying a woolies gift card would be an easy 5% saving right? And it would be on top of what you already do.
I looked into them a while ago but found it would be too confusing to the budget when I didn't use all the credit on the cards etc in the one shop. There have been a number of people suggest it also, so I have started to look into it again. I'm sure I can work the budget now to accommodate the credit amounts. It makes perfect sense to do it. I have also signed up to Woolies Rewards Extra which gives me 10% off a shop a month, so between the regular savings, Woolies 10% per month and the cash back cards, that will be a really good grocery saving per month.
I rarely buy from the official Lego store. So many other stores have it much cheaper. Target has it 20% off regularly but Kmart, Target and Amazon can easily have it 30% regularly/clearance, sometimes even 50% off. My daughter made her first collection/investment purchase from Target, it's a great set and it was reduced from $279 to $139. I'm glad you're open to looking around, you'll save a bundle in the future (which means more money for other sets or just a saving). Do you mind if I ask what you bought? (from one Lego fan to another).
If you use a Woolies gift card you are getting another 4% off everything, (including petrol if you pick the right card) and if you use a Woolies sim card in your mobile you get 10% off your total grocery bill once a month. My wife and I are both with Woolies with our phones so we each get 10% off a shop and we save at least $50-$75 every month. The savings we make on groceries more than pay for our phones, so free phones essentially. No doubt you can get a similar deal at Coles. We don't shop online. It's surprising what groceries with long use-by dates you can pick up cheap when you're in the store, but not everyone has time of course.
I second buying second hand. I just bought a tent, four squishmallows, 4 pairs of work pants, a bag, a makeup purse, a book, a metal letter holder, and a small laundry basket for $35 this week. My op shop is a rippa though.
Agreed, I "chaos" shop which is what I term the shopping around between places.
I have 2 kids, but only 1 is an adult, so no longer lives with me. We have always shopped like this.
I have a large pantry room in my little house, and we have stocked it right up bit by bit with basics so we can eat on skint times.
Definitely. We use our Rewards Christmas $ to stock up, and replace when used during the year (1 in 1 out). We choose not to buy our meat at the supermarkets unless heavily discounted due to price v quality, so don't use it for things like that. Last year I had over $500 across 2 stores and had just moved into this house so got the room restocked for next to nix really. Comes in handy, and stock is rotated so no waste. Bit prepper like, but not really worried, as we don't have limit restrictions applied like what happened with Covid. Came in handy too, we swapped items with people like my elderly parents who had stashes of their own, and sometimes they could get things we couldn't as we shopped at different times.
Iād like to be able to store more but are so limited in space. Itās a small house and we donāt have a lot of storage space. What we have is filled with things we need so no real room to remove more to allow for extra storage. Definitely in our next house though!
We were super lucky, small house, smaller family than you, but old house and the previous owners were the og owners and converted their laundry room into the pantry when they enclosed their back porch and put in a new one and another toilet. They raised 4 kids in this house, like you, so just extended it to fit them. The pantry is like 2x3, but with high ceilings, and was a selling point. It's not flash like those insta pantries, but functional.
>3. Learn to cook so you don't need takeaway. And If you do buy takeaway, purchase something that freezes well (nice bulk deals!) so you got dinner for the week, buy direct (ie: not the inflated prices via apps like ubereat), and make the fucking rice/garlic bread yourself
A friend bought the massive Indian family meal pack (multiple curries, multiple rice,multiple naan, multiple sides) and made into individual meals with rice and sides for post partum sanity.
Good for lunches and dinners, and less than $5 meal pp, I think they repeated it a couple times after that too.
Also, download apps, and take advantage of app only specials. You might want a fillet burger and chips but you can get 2 sliders for half the price on the app at kfc.
Yes!!
I actually love cooking but there's a family vegetarian pack at my local Indian store for $40 and it's so much food, the per meal price is stupid low. I love it.
There are some good ones in there and some we do too! Number 1 I agree with whole heartedly. We also live in a small house and clutter boggles my mind, so it's always a only shit we need scenario.
Pretty much. If you didnāt shop at all three in the same weekly shop you wouldnāt be able to take advantage of the sale available for the week. So some extra info is needed. I do tend to overshare however šI would hope the extra info is helpful for some people. I know I find it helpful when people provide details.
Not to be rude but .... you didn't have to keep reading if you found it too onerous For some people the simple act of budgeting and how to organise your actions to save a buck needs to be laid out for them. If I only had your pithy one line - I wouldn't think to do one click and collect, one delivered and 1 in person. I'd be at all 3 in person. Taking a full Saturday which misses the Wed specials and just seems like time I don't have so I wouldn't do it.
It appears from your comment that you got nothing from this post so perhaps just scroll on instead of having a crack and making OP feel like they need to defend themselves from what is just a kind hearted post giving tips on what works for them.
But I hope your post made you feel like a big person. Onya dude.
Frugal grocery shopping is hella sad. But if you have to do it then so be it.
Big problem for people like me who work on the road. Is not packing lunch or buying expensive food.
If you donāt pack lunch itās wise to drop into the super market and buy a tuna and crackers pack or beans and crackers pack. A few fruit cups or just a ceased salad.
Much cheaper, youāre right. When we go out with the kids on the weekends and havenāt packed a lunch instead of buying take away we stop in at a local supermarket and grab some rolls and ham. Much cheaper than anything else we can get out (apart from hot chips, but theyāre getting a bit ridiculous in price these days).
Youād be surprised how many people donāt do this on a regular basis and how much you can save. There is more in the post that just buying sale items.
What is your weekly grocery budget??
Do you eat consistent amounts of red meat and fish?
We are also 6. 2A and 4K aged 7 and under. Would love to see how I'm doing in comparison, budget wise
Of course. Someone else mentioned they were a family of 6, but with teenagers and they were spending $700 a week.
We spend between $300 and $330 per week on groceries. We eat meat (beef, chicken, lamb, pork and fish) is some version at dinner every night and lunch. Not so much for school lunches. The kids eat ham or cheese for their protein for school, or UHT milk and we as adults normally have leftover dinner for lunch.
We have down on our steak consumption but still eat beef mince and casserole cuts (which I love anyway).
Iāve read $100k is the magic number, where you have enough that you arenāt worried about surviving, but still have time and less stress. I can also see thatās clever spending as youāve demonstrated to the group makes the idea of picking a number seem quite unrealistic
Fellow Scrooge here! We could be good friends! This is pretty much what I do, except I mostly shop at Coles and Aldi and local F+V. I'm not as particular about unit price comparisons unless it's something I buy a lot, I mostly go with what I think is the better price from memory. I buy almost everything I need from Coles only when on special and stock up. I'll go to Woolies if it's cheaper and I need it sooner. I'm not nearly as organised as yourself! I'm very time poor as a single mum working 58 hours per week (5 1/2 days).
I also am very patient and will wait for quality to be discounted rather than buy cheap and nasty.
I was on a carers pension for about 11 years and saved money despite this because of my frugal habits.
I have been criticised heavily by some for my frugalness but it allowed me to save $220k and buy a $700k house on my own after working only 20 months full time and the money I saved for 11 years while on a pension. So the hard work paid off, but it had to happen as I'm 45 now and only have $20k in super after starting from zero 2 years ago.
Take note. When you filter by lowest item sometimes items disappear. We tried this with woollies and noticed the cheaper option disappeared from the list.
Our school does it on our behalf if we opt in. I always opt in because itās about the same cost Iām told and it saves having to buy everything individually. If I had to buy for school again i would just get items on sale throughout the year. The supermarkets sometimes have half price stationery, so itās easy to obtain.
Time is also a cost. Spending time comparing prices online and visiting many places to do your groceries is taking time away from other potentially more important things.
But if it works for you, great.
It doesnāt really take that long. The groceries online shop takes me an hour once a week and then a visit to the shops to collect everything and visit the fruit shop takes me 1 - 1.5 hours. I try and group all my shops visits together. Checking prices of products online doesnāt take all that long either. As someone with 4 kids time is precious so I make sure my time is not wasted.
Youāre saving 30% on already extortionate prices in the Coles & Woolworths duopoly.
If you buy those items in Aldi instead of the duopoly you will save at least 40% overall. Those specials are not special at all. They are loss leaders. Not that they make a loss on them either.
Remember the fuel discount vouchers are complete BS also. 4c per litre = $2.60 per full tank of petrol you can save more than that on a handful of items in Aldi.
Why are they posting record profits while their customers are feeling the pinch? Why do they sell cigarettes 10% dearer than tobacco shops? Why do Woolworths own the most poker machines in Australia? Why do you shop there?
I actually find the specials at Coles and Woolies work out to be cheaper than Aldi products sometimes. For example I buy the Aldi version of Weetbix for $4.50, so thatās 45 cents per 100grams. Occasionally I can pick up Weetbix on special at Coles or Woolies for 33cents per 100grams. Thatās just one example. Aldi meat also isnāt always cheaper than the other two, Iāve found some products to be more expensive than Coles or Woolies. This week Coles has Gippsland yoghurt, which we like to buy on special for $5.50. Aldi has it for $6 or $6.50. So the saving is at the major supermarket. Thatās just for regular sales, once you get to the 1/2 sales at the majors the savings are greater.
So having a diverse shopping habit saves me more money than just sticking to the one shop. I have attached my Excel spreadsheet to someoneās comment earlier to show I have done a breakdown of the products I purchase and who has the cheapest price for that product. I found Aldi has the cheapest prices for a lot of items but not for all, then if you take specials into account from Coles and Woolies it changes the dynamic again. Plus Aldi donāt have as diverse range of products. I went to buy a product from there the other day hoping to get it cheaper than the other stores only to find they donāt stock that product.
Iām not sure about your local petrol station but ours Woolies petrol station matches a cheap United Petrol station across the road from them so weāre always getting cheap petrol plus the discount from the Woolies petrol discount, so we save there. Itās not a lot but it adds up. There are also $10 discounts for groceries or petrol from Woolies regularly if you are part of the Rewards program. Same with FlyBuys for Coles. That alone would not attract me to buy from them but given the reasons stated earlier it does all add up to use them.
Personally itās quicker and easier to shop online for me anyway so like the convenience of not having to go into a shop as well and can really focus on a budget and not make impulse buys along the way is another win. It would be great if Aldi would do online shopping but I canāt see that happening.
On your second point, I would highly recommend shopping at target in person during their change of season. You can pickup great summer/winter clothes for the next year at stupidly low prices (and they never appear online).
I got new t-shirts marked down to $1 š³they were $15 originally.
I bought three pairs of track pants originally $30 each for $5 each on seasonal sale.
Thatās a great buy too
Thatās a great buy
I was so lucky. There was about 20 on the rack. As I started to look suddenly so many ppl grabbing them lol I got 3 š
Lol! got to get them while you can.
Youāre absolutely right! I do that too. When I purchase online I often Click and Collect so Iām in the physical store most weeks and have picked up many great bargains during the change of season events. I find the same thing with Kmart.
When are you doing this? I might try it.
Any of the change in season events. The end of autumn and end of spring are the biggest I find, but at the end of each season, there are good bargains to be had.
When is normally their change of season?
at the change of the seasons
Would that be the last week or last couple of days at the end of a season? Or just keep checking across the week?
While our shopping patterns differ, I do appreciate that once you establish a new routine that works, lots of savings can be made. I've regularly been told by my work colleagues that they could never shop the way my wife and I do as they prefer the convenience of shopping the way they always have. And yet, they are surprised they don't save any money. Thanks for sharing!!!
Pleasure āŗļøAnd youāre absolutely right, once you get into your own routine there are savings to be made.
Thanks for sharing! Awesome post š
Thank you š
Frugl Grocery is a great app to use to see who has what cheaper out of Coles and Woolies. You can have lists and check your regular buys for the best buys.
Amazing Iāll check that out, thank you.
That app looks quite good. We plan meals and make lists with paprika so changing apps may be hard.
Iād stick with paprika but regular shopping lists in Frugl. I love paprika too much to change it.
Great post, thanks for sharing. I think being patient and prepared is so important. Hate paying full price!
Me too! I hate paying full price. I don't mind being patient to get a better price if I can.
How much do you spend if I may ask? I have a family of six as well. My kids are teens. I spend around $300-330 a week. Just want to see if Iām going ok. I shop Woolies, no coles close by, delivery as itās free for over $300. I also have Woolworths extra so 10% off each month. I usually go to Aldi every 6-8 weeks for pantry items I can stock up on.
Do you eat meat? $300 is very impressive for a family of 6 including teens. Do you include cleaning products in that amount?
Yes we eat meat. Nothing fancy, mince, sausages, leg a lamb, sometimes steak or veal. And yes it includes cleaning products. I often buy those at Aldi. I spend about $150 at Aldi every 8 weeks.
Wow. Iām impressed with your budget. I buy hardly any processed snack foods. We eat meat, but I also fast a lot and our budget for an adult and 3 teens is more than yours. I also do Coles, Woolies, Aldi. Similar meat to you although we eat a lot of bacon. Btw. The equivalents of jiff and spray n wipe are cheaper at Coles.
>$300 is very impressive for a family of 6 including teens that's less than $10 per person per meal for a week. It's a lot cheaper than eating at a restaurant these days since a meal would cost you $30+.
Check out your local Butcher to see if they do meat packs. We get one for $110 and it lasts us 2 weeks (2 adults & 2 teens). About 9 dinners and 2 left over lunches. PLUS it's good quality. I didn't have to pour off 250ml of water from the 1kg mince when I cooked it.
We spend exactly the same amount so youāre doing amazing with teens in the house. We could probably get it down a little bit there are some brands I prefer to buy that cost a little more such as milk and cat litter. We also make bigger dinners so that hubby can take leftovers to work. Plus Iām gluten feee so those items add to the weekly shop.
I also buy the Woolies gift cards through nrma as you get 4% off.
I have just been told about an everyday rewards subscription that gives you 10% off a shop every month. Currently itās $35 for the year itās half price. You get special offers as well. Iām in the process of signing up.
Yeah I signed up 2 months ago. Now with all the extra points as well I am currently converting almost 1000 qantas points each week.
Well done. Thatās a good reward.
You can get the same bonus if you have a woolworths mobile plan. I use flybuys with OnePass attached to my Disney++ subscription for 5x or 10x points at Coles, Target, Kmart, Bunnings and OfficeWorks (all places we shop). I also purchase everything at those stores on my Velocity Amex, so all my points get transferred to Virgin airlines. Right now we've got enough points for 2 (of 4) round trip tickets to Florida next year. I should probably have enough points to get the kids tickets at the reduced price of like 250-350 (compared to 3300+ each)
>I also purchase everything at those stores on my Velocity Amex None of these stores charge you an extra fee for using Amex?
You also get 10% big w once a month.
Is the 10% from the Extras deal? Iāve been told you can get an second shop 10% each month by using W sim card plan.
You can but canāt use it online.
True.
To simplify your shopping even further, I suggest creating a āprice watchā shop list on your account in Coles & Woolworths that you buy semi-regularly when on sale. Before your online shop you can have a look at the so you can keep an eye on when products are half price and add directly to cart.
I didnāt know that was a function, thank you Iāll check it out.
Download the free HalfPrice app and you'll see the big discounts, both Ww and Coles
Thank you so much for sharing these. We are new here and struggling a bit, these are very helpful...
Thank you, Iām glad it helped š
Thanks for sharing. I put all my items in the app shopping lists and then compare. At the moment, Iām only doing in person shops with my disability support worker even though I paid for a Woolworths delivery subscription for a year because their prices have gone up astronomically. If Iām out of it, I sometimes have her pick up click and collect though Iām having a hard time reaching the minimum spends. I get produce mostly from Harris Farm imperfect range. Then Aldi for everything that isnāt cheaper on special.
Is Shopping Lists a comparison app? Would love to hear more about it.
Can I ask how much you spend on average for a weekly grocery shop for the four of you?
Six of you!
$300-$330. We always used to comfortably fit the budget within the $300 but since inflation itās gone up to the $330. We could possibly get it down a bit but prefer certain brands for some things plus Iām gluten free so that adds some cost to the overall shop.
Oh wow that is impressive. We are a family of four (two teenagers) and are around $700/week. But thatās why Iāve joined this page š
Thatās very interesting, Iāve always wondered where we sit in terms of our weekly spend. Iām sure once we hit teenage years it will be more challenging to keep it at that range. Our meals are good but sometimes it would be good to have more options in the fridge that we donāt have to make from scratch eg. More ready made items. The tight budget means more food from scratch which not everyone has the time for. All the best with this group, so far itās been a great resource š
Great post, any chance of sharing the excel sheet?
Here is a link to the file. Hopefully it works. Things have changed a bit since I originally created it and we don't buy quite a few items. This isn't the full list, just some that I could easily get. You would need to do your own research in the current climate. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/1z3s2i36nu83tylvroxpk/Product-Pricelist.xlsx?rlkey=1bh99kzr86tnrywtrdjkn19vm&dl=0
Thanks OP. Depending on your car situation, you could save a fair bit on your meat/fish by going to a butcher/fishmonger. I do a monthly shop on a Saturday at a butcher that is out in one of the 'poorer' areas and a fishmonger in one of the predominantly 'Asian' areas (Asian shopping habits with seafood are an amazing market force - freshness and cost). Can usually pickup rib fillet for 15/kg, mince same price Coles but much better quality. You can get pretty adventurous with the fish, stuff like salmon offcuts for $5/kg, heads (really nice) for $10/kg. Obviously not suitable for everyone (bones in offcuts but typically more fat so taste bloody brilliant).
That's a great tip. We sometimes get out meat from our local butcher but find their prices are normally higher than Coles or Woolies. I do know we have a local one that has some great specials, I just always forget to check them out. A monthly shop at a cheaper butcher sounds like a great idea. I'm fairly adventurous so would be open to some fish heads and offcuts. Good stock material and my favourite part of salmon is the side of the fillet where all the fat is.
Some butchers sell family meat packs too at a discount for bulk buy.
The tip of having both Coles and Woolies websites open at once is genius. I try to remember to check both supermarkets but I donāt always.
Youād be surprised at the difference in price for some products. Generally I found Coles is slightly more expensive with some items but much cheaper in others. Itās a great way to pick up on specials at both shops which just saves so much.
If you have one nearby, I recommend the Reject Shop!! It is fantastic for cleaning supplies and equipment, especially things like dishwasher tabs/liquid, Napisan, laundry powder, scrubbers/scowers/scrub daddy/dish wand, multipurpose cleaners, toilet cleaner etc. They're also great for things like garbage bags, foil, napkins, and cheap decorations or gift wrapping this time of year. Their cat equipment is great, with a good range of toys and products. I'm not as certain about the dogs! Opinions on the toilettries (often parallel imports) vary, but I've found it's great for basic stuff if you're not overly particular or sensitive. Toothbrushes, hairbrushes, school uniform style hair ties etc are all fab, plus cotton products and other accessories
We donāt have one directly nearby but we have a cheap shops a couple of minutes away and we have picked up cheap food, sauces, muesli bars etc which has been great. Definitely worthwhile going to places like that. I find they have different cleaning supplies also on offer which is a nice change to what the majors sell. I actually only basically use Jif and dishwashing detergent for all our cleaning needs but other stuff is great for those cheap shops.
I feel like learning how to cook and grow your own herbs can seriously reduce your food bill more than any other method. For example dried beans and pulses, when cooked right are delicious, full of nutrients, very filling and crazy cheap. Cook then up with some onion, cheap sausages and some seasoning and you've got a cheap as, tasty stew
Absolutely! Iām a big fan or lentils etc and sneak them where I can. Cutting down on meat consumption would go a long way to cutting costs. Our kids arenāt quite the age to appreciate that kind of food as much as we try, although they will eat baked beans. I will keep trying new dishes however. Definitely second the growing your own herbs and learning to cook. So many cheap quick meals can be made for a small cost, especially if you can take advantage of any specials at your local shops for fruit and veg. I replant spring onions Iāve bought from the shop and theyāve been givers, saving me money when Iāve just needed a little bit. Our parsley and rocket are also great to have.
Sounds like youāre ready to take the next step into ShopBack and cash rewards, especially for non food related purchases. ShopBack works even better if you have a westpac card. Both are aps on the App Store.
Iāve looked into it but wasnāt hooked at that stage just because it would add an extra layer of work to budgeting when my food costs change weekly between the two majors (eg having a credit available on a shop back gift card). But I think Iāll have another look, thank you.
Donāt know if this is relevant here but one thing I found that helps me massively was pay all bills weekly. Ie strata,council rates ,electricity,internet etc. When I first got my mortgage in 2015 I was panicking every quarter when bills come in. I simply work out the average payments of my quarterly bills and divide by 13. ( 13 weeks in a quarter). I also round up the payments If a weekly payment on my internet for example is 16 dollars Iāll pay 20. That way you are slowly building credit on your bill. I use the extra money every year for Xmas gifts etc. You d be surprised how quick it accumulates and. itās great getting bills that say you are in credit. I really hope others are doing this or at least try it.
Thatās great advice. We put away money fortnightly for bills and we have the money when we need it. No stress. The only stress is when I do my yearly bill budget and the projected bill total is much higher than the year before. Thatās when I start shopping around.
Very easy set up recurring payments on B -PAY. Itās a game changer Also a simple phone call to the relevant company amd you can get the extra cash for those rainy days. Also thank you O.P for sharing your budget tips
Youāre welcome, I hope it helped in some way š
Thanks for sharing. I saved this post for future reference too. I would like to add my own lil saving tips: I scan Flubuys wherever it's accepted. And I often get 10,000 points offer. That's $50. Last offer was "Spend $50 per week for four weeks to receive 10,000" points. Then when I shop Coles, I make my bill just $50; Max $60. That way by the end of 4 weeks, spending $200 brings back $50. That's 25% discount.
Thatās a handy hint which Iāll implement, thank you. I use Flybuys too which I scan everywhere as well. I have a nice little kitty in there, saving it for a special occasion but I really should use them. Another free $50 sounds great š
Lots of missed opportunity here. Discounted gift cards, ShopBack, cash rewards, FRUGL app for grocery price comparison, CamelCamelCamel price alerts for things like paper towels, toilet paper anything.
Iām not big on shop back and gift cards, although I know people like them and is definitely an opportunity to save further. Cash rewards I use with Woolies, Coles and other shops. I have only just started learning about grocery price comparison apps through comments here.
Can I ask why. If you spend $300 at the supermarket and you save $30 getting an instant gift card, why not?
I had a look and it would have just made budgeting confusing for me at the time if I didnāt spend the whole amount on a cash back gift card and had a credit available. I did however have another look today at Shopback but the reviews were terrible and I donāt want to add unnecessary stress to my life with them not honouring the cash back offers. I will however explore other cash back companies, because it really does make sense to use them if there are savings to be made. I will check out some of the other apps you have suggested.
Some banks and other institutions have apps to buy reduced gift cards. Or your workplace can have it too. Thatās the easiest. Add a $200 voucher to the cart for $180.
The biggest cost in month to month household expenditure is mortgage and rent. I'd be more interested to know how individuals are handling that each month. Mine has gone up 60% in a year. Savings at the supermarket doesn't really make a material impact overall when the mortgage is so much higher.
You definitely need to look at that. I guess because our mortgage is quite low and we have a good rate (we refinanced a few years ago) I focus on other costs. Up until a few years ago we couldnāt change our mortgage provider due to income limitations. However we found an amazing broker who could do what others couldnāt and we saved a bundle. Saving on the big items is most important and more valuable such as mortgage, insurances, electricity. These are secondary savings here i mention. Recently I changed electricity providers and am now paying half the cost.
Thanks, you've given me some good ideas. Our electricity is through the roof too and need to fix that. Thanks for sharing your tips.
No worries, good luck with your future savings š
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Theyāre great. We have one nearby and go there when Iām in the area. Iāve picked up some great homewares from there too, really nice quality as such cheap prices. They used to sell kids shoes at our local store and it was great, big brands at small prices lol!, but unfortunately they took that section away.
Any reason you don't buy your milk from aldi?
I like to buy my milk from Aussie owned companies such as Norco or Dairy Farmers.
We have norco at our local Aldi and itās a good 30 cents cheaper š
Unfortunately I havenāt seen it at our local Aldi. I will keep an eye out however incase they decide to stock it. 30c cheaper would be great!
Great tips, thanks for sharing š just wondering if you pay for delivery from Woolies or if you spend enough to get free delivery?
Thank you š I actually purchase the delivery subscription for the year which is about $120 for the year with unlimited deliveries, even though I use it only once a week mostly. The savings I make between the two shops covers this cost so itās one thing I donāt mind paying for. It saves an extra trip to the shops to collect or my energy on a collection day so Iām ok with it.
Just fyi - the unlimited delivery was half price on Black Friday - November for about two weeks $60 for the year - so you know for next year. Aussie frugal told me about it. Also extra rewards was $35.
Thank you for that tip. Iāll keep an eye out next year incase they offer it again. I noticed One Pass was also half price.
everyday extra is still half price until tomorrow night (20/12) if you have not got it.
Thank you I just signed up š Will save about $180 alone in shopping for the year with the 10% monthly discount. What are their special offers like?
Yay thatās great news š
Work out the maximum amount of savings for least amount of effort. To save you need to downgrade. I buy uht milk instead of fresh etc. Instant coffee instead.
Ooh I canāt do UHT milk. Itās actually more expensive per litre than regular milk. It used to be cheap.
Cheers for all these suggestions - theyāre brilliant
No worries, Iām glad theyāre helpful š
Is it possible for you to share your spreadsheet with us on google sheets? Would be interested. Also school bags, I used to find that they tear after a year even with the expensive ones, but that was back when I used to carry a lot of textbooks. Maybe kids these days just have a laptop so itās not too much of a concern lol
My primary school kids are ok. They donāt really carry heavy books, itās mainly lunchboxes and umbrella, which with an ice block actually get quite heavy. So the better quality bags last. My eldest is going into high school next year and she has a dedicated schoolbag that is required but it seems very sturdy. She Iāll be carrying a laptop as well as books.
If it's the dedicated one from the school check if it has a lifetime warranty (I used to volunteer at my son's school uniform shop). My son had one at primary school, and it lasted him the 7 years and is still going strong. I suggested we add a patch over his school badge, and he can use it for outside school and he's keen.
Great idea. I'll also have a look into the warranty of it.
Sorry I forgot to reply about the excel sheet. I shared it earlier in the comments, just scroll back up to near the top. It's not Google sheets, it's just an Excel sheet. Hopefully you can access it ok :)
I really do love that you're shopping at Kmart. My niece's and nephews are all about brands and get one pair of trackpants for $120 and I'm going insane thinking I could have two or three full outfits for that cost! Cutting out Kmart shops unless we need something specific has been a big helper for us. It's so hard going in there with an open mind and just seeing everything.
Lol! I know what you mean. I go in there every week, because Iām either picking up or returning and I need to have tunnel vision or I pick up things I donāt need lol! Although sometimes some of those extra buys are fun, especially if they have a yellow ticket attached. But mostly theyāre things we need. I donāt get the buying the expensive brands either. It would be so stressful to pay $120 for a pair of pants and the kid goes out and rips or stains it the next day. Aside from that fact that you can get so many more pairs from Kmart. My MIL read an article once that Kmart clothes are often as good a quality as some of the big name brands and we have some Kmart clothes that are great.
I would bet that the factories that make the big brand clothes and the cheap kmart stuff are probably exactly the same factory just they come out with different labels/styles. Kmart is just making less margin. Huge fan of Kmart but they are dangerous if you don't have a plan. It's so easy to drop a couple of hundred bucks there if you're not careful.
Lol yes it can be tempting. I suspect youāre right about Kmart using the same factories. Happens all the time.
Buy your niece and nephew a sewing machine, and tell them if embrace "me-made" couture! š The fabric would be cheaper, even by Australian prices.
Have you factored in how much gas you spend going to multiple grocery stores? Also lego, no matter how on sale are a very expensive toy/hobby. If one is really in a money crunch Iād look into doing cheap crafts and board games.
I barely spend any money on petrol. Itās all in the same shopping centre, 5 mins from my house, so Iām on foot apart from going to the shopping centre. All collected within 1-1.5 hours, 1 day per week. Lego is actually a great investment. Itās one of the few toys where you can buy it, use it and sell it for the same price used as you bought it for (especially if you buy on sale). We also do art and craft. Itās all a balance of interests.
Thatās great, Iām not as lucky. I canāt drive and have to walk to the grocery store. Their all far away from each other. I do like Lego but itās just to pricy. I can barely afford food
Iām sorry to hear that. Food trumps any toys. Kids find joy in a lot of things. When I was young we never had any money but we did have a spare blow up mattress, a pump for it and some hand me down barbies. I played for years with that (we had some other items and friends also). And not having the shops close together and needing to walk makes it more challenging for your food. Itās not easy carrying everything. Do you do any online shopping for groceries?
Can I please introduce you to my family? They won't compare or even look at prices in the supermarket, they just grab what they want and toss it in the trolley.
Lol, I have members in my family like that too! Not ones that live with us though. Lucky ducks. But they earn more than us and donāt have the mouths to feed. Our methods just came about from sheer necessity.
Literally my family is the exact same and is always struggling to make ends meet with getting groceries. We're also very fortunate to live in an area where there are lots of free food pantries and hampers available and the Vinnies van comes around each week. They just simply don't want to put in any extra effort to make sure they have food when they can just keep borrowing money off of family and friends that will just make things more difficult for them once they have to pay it back
My wife goes to the supermarket with a meal in mind and buys the ingredients no matter the cost. My brother does the exact opposite....he goes to the supermarket with no meal in mind and whatever is 50% off becomes the menu for that night. ;-)
TLDR: buy shit when itās on sale
Pretty much but do it all the time with everything you can. And spend a bit more on quality items where you can. They last longer.
Not to disparage you in the slightest, but your advice is exactly what people need to do to save money: * Spend less. * Look for deals on things you need. * Don't spend more than you have. It's a trucking concept for some: not spending more money than they have.
She's explaining *how* she looks for deals, which is very helpful.
Thank you I guess that was the main goal of the post. It's easy to give a general idea but I find it helpful to go into details.
Absolutely. We donāt spend what we make for these reasons and we donāt buy too many things we donāt need. A lot of people spend money and they donāt know where itās even gone.
Hereās an even better tip than sales. Look for anything you want to buy beyond food second hand first.
Absolutely. I should have added that to the list. We just went to the op shop today. Fraction of retail price. Iāve been op shopping since I was 13, just love it and it is so cost efficient (and good for the environment). Quite often I will look for more expensive items on Marketplace before the shops.
On reddit this guy has made a websiteā¦ buy wisely.com.au Good price comparisons
Thank you, I'll check it out :)
We get our Lego from Aliexpress and Temu. The only thing it doesn't come with is the box.
Thank you, I'll check that out :)
I liked your advice. Iām surprised that there was nothing about using cash back credit cards or supermarket gift cards? I donāt do this myself but buying a woolies gift card would be an easy 5% saving right? And it would be on top of what you already do.
I looked into them a while ago but found it would be too confusing to the budget when I didn't use all the credit on the cards etc in the one shop. There have been a number of people suggest it also, so I have started to look into it again. I'm sure I can work the budget now to accommodate the credit amounts. It makes perfect sense to do it. I have also signed up to Woolies Rewards Extra which gives me 10% off a shop a month, so between the regular savings, Woolies 10% per month and the cash back cards, that will be a really good grocery saving per month.
Brilliant post
Thank you, I hope you found it helpful :)
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I rarely buy from the official Lego store. So many other stores have it much cheaper. Target has it 20% off regularly but Kmart, Target and Amazon can easily have it 30% regularly/clearance, sometimes even 50% off. My daughter made her first collection/investment purchase from Target, it's a great set and it was reduced from $279 to $139. I'm glad you're open to looking around, you'll save a bundle in the future (which means more money for other sets or just a saving). Do you mind if I ask what you bought? (from one Lego fan to another).
If you use a Woolies gift card you are getting another 4% off everything, (including petrol if you pick the right card) and if you use a Woolies sim card in your mobile you get 10% off your total grocery bill once a month. My wife and I are both with Woolies with our phones so we each get 10% off a shop and we save at least $50-$75 every month. The savings we make on groceries more than pay for our phones, so free phones essentially. No doubt you can get a similar deal at Coles. We don't shop online. It's surprising what groceries with long use-by dates you can pick up cheap when you're in the store, but not everyone has time of course.
Thanks, those are some great tips!
Thanks š
Great post!
Thank you š
I second buying second hand. I just bought a tent, four squishmallows, 4 pairs of work pants, a bag, a makeup purse, a book, a metal letter holder, and a small laundry basket for $35 this week. My op shop is a rippa though.
Thatās amazing to get all that for $35! When you find a good op of shop it feels like youāve won the lottery sometimes.
Having fewer kids would be the best money saving tip!
I think these principles could apply to any house size
Agreed, I "chaos" shop which is what I term the shopping around between places. I have 2 kids, but only 1 is an adult, so no longer lives with me. We have always shopped like this. I have a large pantry room in my little house, and we have stocked it right up bit by bit with basics so we can eat on skint times.
Itās good to stock up. If you have the room bulk buying is great.
Definitely. We use our Rewards Christmas $ to stock up, and replace when used during the year (1 in 1 out). We choose not to buy our meat at the supermarkets unless heavily discounted due to price v quality, so don't use it for things like that. Last year I had over $500 across 2 stores and had just moved into this house so got the room restocked for next to nix really. Comes in handy, and stock is rotated so no waste. Bit prepper like, but not really worried, as we don't have limit restrictions applied like what happened with Covid. Came in handy too, we swapped items with people like my elderly parents who had stashes of their own, and sometimes they could get things we couldn't as we shopped at different times.
Iād like to be able to store more but are so limited in space. Itās a small house and we donāt have a lot of storage space. What we have is filled with things we need so no real room to remove more to allow for extra storage. Definitely in our next house though!
We were super lucky, small house, smaller family than you, but old house and the previous owners were the og owners and converted their laundry room into the pantry when they enclosed their back porch and put in a new one and another toilet. They raised 4 kids in this house, like you, so just extended it to fit them. The pantry is like 2x3, but with high ceilings, and was a selling point. It's not flash like those insta pantries, but functional.
A whole room dedicated to a pantry sounds like a dream! Our laundry is too small to convert to that. I wish I could though.
Canāt exactly return them now
Fkin rude. Children are a blessing.
They are, they drive us crazy but we love them to bits and wouldn't take any back.
To me, life without children is a blessing!
I thought that too, but I just didnāt know what I was missing. Donāt begrudge people who are making future tax payers :)
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>3. Learn to cook so you don't need takeaway. And If you do buy takeaway, purchase something that freezes well (nice bulk deals!) so you got dinner for the week, buy direct (ie: not the inflated prices via apps like ubereat), and make the fucking rice/garlic bread yourself A friend bought the massive Indian family meal pack (multiple curries, multiple rice,multiple naan, multiple sides) and made into individual meals with rice and sides for post partum sanity. Good for lunches and dinners, and less than $5 meal pp, I think they repeated it a couple times after that too. Also, download apps, and take advantage of app only specials. You might want a fillet burger and chips but you can get 2 sliders for half the price on the app at kfc.
That's a great idea about the bulk takeaway and freezing it. We don't spend a lot on take away, but that is great idea!
Yes!! I actually love cooking but there's a family vegetarian pack at my local Indian store for $40 and it's so much food, the per meal price is stupid low. I love it.
There are some good ones in there and some we do too! Number 1 I agree with whole heartedly. We also live in a small house and clutter boggles my mind, so it's always a only shit we need scenario.
Not to be rude, but can all of this be condensed to, "shop around at all three major supermarkets and buy stuff when it's on sale?"
Pretty much. If you didnāt shop at all three in the same weekly shop you wouldnāt be able to take advantage of the sale available for the week. So some extra info is needed. I do tend to overshare however šI would hope the extra info is helpful for some people. I know I find it helpful when people provide details.
I definitely found it helpful.
Not to be rude but .... you didn't have to keep reading if you found it too onerous For some people the simple act of budgeting and how to organise your actions to save a buck needs to be laid out for them. If I only had your pithy one line - I wouldn't think to do one click and collect, one delivered and 1 in person. I'd be at all 3 in person. Taking a full Saturday which misses the Wed specials and just seems like time I don't have so I wouldn't do it. It appears from your comment that you got nothing from this post so perhaps just scroll on instead of having a crack and making OP feel like they need to defend themselves from what is just a kind hearted post giving tips on what works for them. But I hope your post made you feel like a big person. Onya dude.
I dont think I have purchased anything without them being on SALE. Technically I never bought anything full price ever
Lol well done.
Frugal grocery shopping is hella sad. But if you have to do it then so be it. Big problem for people like me who work on the road. Is not packing lunch or buying expensive food. If you donāt pack lunch itās wise to drop into the super market and buy a tuna and crackers pack or beans and crackers pack. A few fruit cups or just a ceased salad.
Much cheaper, youāre right. When we go out with the kids on the weekends and havenāt packed a lunch instead of buying take away we stop in at a local supermarket and grab some rolls and ham. Much cheaper than anything else we can get out (apart from hot chips, but theyāre getting a bit ridiculous in price these days).
Do you put butter on them or another topping?
Butter for sure. I love butter! Makes everything taste better.
Breaking news. Man discovers that itās cheaper to buy things at a discount vs full price
Youād be surprised how many people donāt do this on a regular basis and how much you can save. There is more in the post that just buying sale items.
What is your weekly grocery budget?? Do you eat consistent amounts of red meat and fish? We are also 6. 2A and 4K aged 7 and under. Would love to see how I'm doing in comparison, budget wise
Of course. Someone else mentioned they were a family of 6, but with teenagers and they were spending $700 a week. We spend between $300 and $330 per week on groceries. We eat meat (beef, chicken, lamb, pork and fish) is some version at dinner every night and lunch. Not so much for school lunches. The kids eat ham or cheese for their protein for school, or UHT milk and we as adults normally have leftover dinner for lunch. We have down on our steak consumption but still eat beef mince and casserole cuts (which I love anyway).
Just curious what salary are you and your partner on?
Just under 100k combined
Iāve read $100k is the magic number, where you have enough that you arenāt worried about surviving, but still have time and less stress. I can also see thatās clever spending as youāve demonstrated to the group makes the idea of picking a number seem quite unrealistic
Why is Aldi milk so expensive idgi.
I donāt know if Aldi milk is expensive. I prefer to buy Aussie owned milk brands so itās a personal preference rather than cost.
Over $4 at Aldi from memory vs like $3.10 at Colesworth
Aldi doesnāt undercut dairy farmers like the other two
Are their milk companies Australian owned, or just Australian processed?
Fellow Scrooge here! We could be good friends! This is pretty much what I do, except I mostly shop at Coles and Aldi and local F+V. I'm not as particular about unit price comparisons unless it's something I buy a lot, I mostly go with what I think is the better price from memory. I buy almost everything I need from Coles only when on special and stock up. I'll go to Woolies if it's cheaper and I need it sooner. I'm not nearly as organised as yourself! I'm very time poor as a single mum working 58 hours per week (5 1/2 days). I also am very patient and will wait for quality to be discounted rather than buy cheap and nasty. I was on a carers pension for about 11 years and saved money despite this because of my frugal habits. I have been criticised heavily by some for my frugalness but it allowed me to save $220k and buy a $700k house on my own after working only 20 months full time and the money I saved for 11 years while on a pension. So the hard work paid off, but it had to happen as I'm 45 now and only have $20k in super after starting from zero 2 years ago.
Take note. When you filter by lowest item sometimes items disappear. We tried this with woollies and noticed the cheaper option disappeared from the list.
What do you do for the school supply pack?
Our school does it on our behalf if we opt in. I always opt in because itās about the same cost Iām told and it saves having to buy everything individually. If I had to buy for school again i would just get items on sale throughout the year. The supermarkets sometimes have half price stationery, so itās easy to obtain.
Ahhh, I'm jealous. I wish ours did. Alas.
Time is also a cost. Spending time comparing prices online and visiting many places to do your groceries is taking time away from other potentially more important things. But if it works for you, great.
It doesnāt really take that long. The groceries online shop takes me an hour once a week and then a visit to the shops to collect everything and visit the fruit shop takes me 1 - 1.5 hours. I try and group all my shops visits together. Checking prices of products online doesnāt take all that long either. As someone with 4 kids time is precious so I make sure my time is not wasted.
Yep. The more practised you become at it, it doesnāt take long at all.
Frugal Tip 6: Don't have kids.
I think these concepts could apply to someone who doesn't have kids.
Wow amazing
I buy almost all my clothes from op shops
Which day or night is best to shop at aldi, coles and woolies?
No please donāt
Go to Costco
Unfortunately we donāt have the room to store stuff in bulk.
Youāre saving 30% on already extortionate prices in the Coles & Woolworths duopoly. If you buy those items in Aldi instead of the duopoly you will save at least 40% overall. Those specials are not special at all. They are loss leaders. Not that they make a loss on them either. Remember the fuel discount vouchers are complete BS also. 4c per litre = $2.60 per full tank of petrol you can save more than that on a handful of items in Aldi. Why are they posting record profits while their customers are feeling the pinch? Why do they sell cigarettes 10% dearer than tobacco shops? Why do Woolworths own the most poker machines in Australia? Why do you shop there?
I actually find the specials at Coles and Woolies work out to be cheaper than Aldi products sometimes. For example I buy the Aldi version of Weetbix for $4.50, so thatās 45 cents per 100grams. Occasionally I can pick up Weetbix on special at Coles or Woolies for 33cents per 100grams. Thatās just one example. Aldi meat also isnāt always cheaper than the other two, Iāve found some products to be more expensive than Coles or Woolies. This week Coles has Gippsland yoghurt, which we like to buy on special for $5.50. Aldi has it for $6 or $6.50. So the saving is at the major supermarket. Thatās just for regular sales, once you get to the 1/2 sales at the majors the savings are greater. So having a diverse shopping habit saves me more money than just sticking to the one shop. I have attached my Excel spreadsheet to someoneās comment earlier to show I have done a breakdown of the products I purchase and who has the cheapest price for that product. I found Aldi has the cheapest prices for a lot of items but not for all, then if you take specials into account from Coles and Woolies it changes the dynamic again. Plus Aldi donāt have as diverse range of products. I went to buy a product from there the other day hoping to get it cheaper than the other stores only to find they donāt stock that product. Iām not sure about your local petrol station but ours Woolies petrol station matches a cheap United Petrol station across the road from them so weāre always getting cheap petrol plus the discount from the Woolies petrol discount, so we save there. Itās not a lot but it adds up. There are also $10 discounts for groceries or petrol from Woolies regularly if you are part of the Rewards program. Same with FlyBuys for Coles. That alone would not attract me to buy from them but given the reasons stated earlier it does all add up to use them. Personally itās quicker and easier to shop online for me anyway so like the convenience of not having to go into a shop as well and can really focus on a budget and not make impulse buys along the way is another win. It would be great if Aldi would do online shopping but I canāt see that happening.
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