I hear so many people say they spend so much on groceries but I find this one of the easiest areas of homemaking. I’m not doing anything new. This is exactly what my Mother and grandmothers did. They had a weekly grocery budget and they stuck to it. Let me explain how to eat well for less.
Are you spending too much?
What you might think is a perfectly normal amount to spend on your groceries could be way too much, especially when there are really simple ways to reduce those costs and save your money for more important things for you and your family.
Gregg Wallace and Chris Bavin from the UK show “Eat Well for Less“ have met people in the supermarket and gone into their homes to show you just how easy it is. I feel like I’m so lucky that I was taught this by my mother so many years ago.
If you want to find out if you’re spending too much on food, take this quick test.
Run your kitchen like a restaurant
The easiest way for me to explain it is to run your kitchen like a restaurant. Think about it. A restaurant has a menu and it buys the ingredients for that menu. They keep those ingredients stocked so they can create the menu items every night for their guests. They only buy seasonal produce as that’s when it’s at it’s peak and costs the least amount of money.
They use up what is expiring soon. They buy in bulk where they can. They sometimes buy really cheap stock and offer it as ‘Special of the Day’.
You can do this in your home. This is what I do. I know what my family eats and I only stock those ingredients. The best part about it is that I can create a wide variety of meals from these basic ingredients so we’re not eating the same thing every night.
Create standard stock lists
Based on your family’s menu, create a standard stock list for your pantry, fridge and freezer. This then becomes your shopping list. As you run out of an ingredient, you write it on your shopping list. You only buy that in the supermarket.
This is how I manage to stick to $150 per fortnight for all my food, cleaning products and toiletries. I’m only ever topping up what I need in my pantry, fridge or freezer.
Cooking from scratch
I know we’re all so busy these days but meals don’t have to involve a lengthy cooking process. Most of my meals only take 20 minutes to prepare.
You don’t have to be a ‘Masterchef’ to prepare simple, nice tasting meals. Remember, it’s what your family likes to eat and what’s on your menu.
Avoid buying takeaway
Takeaway is a killer as far as costs go. You can create just as good or better at home by buying those ingredients.
I like the weekends for these easy meals. We’re usually laid back and relaxing and just when the mood hits you to take the night off and go buy takeaway, you’ve already got the basic ingredients in the pantry to make it yourself.
Think of hamburgers, Mexican food, Chinese takeout, pizza etc. All of these can be quite easily recreated at home as long as you have the basic ingredients at home in the pantry.
Buy homebrand
I’m a big fan of no name brands. The supermarket I’ve been going to all my life has really good quality homebrand products that are a fraction of the cost of no name brands. I have a bad habit of looking into other people’s shopping trolleys when at the supermarket and I see that they might have a product in their trolley that costs $5 when the homebrand one costs only $1 and is equally, if not, better than the branded product.
I do have my brands that I prefer to buy but I keep my eye on the supermarket pricing cycles and hold off until I know it’s coming on special again.
If you think it can’t be done, check out my Youtube channel. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been sharing how I choose what we’re having for dinner in just 5 minutes and take about 20 minutes to cook the meal. I’ve also showed you what I buy for my $150 per fortnight (even if it’s slightly over sometimes.)
