Weekly grocery spending habits - where do you shop, expenditure, eat out frequency?

LTamtim on 20/05/2017 - 20:20

Hi all,

I'm new to Ozbargain and have always wondered what are people's weekly grocery spending habits here? Do you shop at big supermarkets, Coles, Woolworths, Aldi, or smaller IGA, local fruit shops, butchers, fishmongers, or a mix.

How much do you usually spend on average per week? (On things like fresh produce, fridge and pantry staples, toiletries, household items etc)

Before bub, I was trying to keep under a $100 per week budget for 2 people combined, but wasn't very successful. Now with a toddler in the mix, our spend is more like $200 or more, and that's from cooking only 3 or 4 times a week. Seems quite high…

Which leads me to the next question; how often do you usually eat out or buy takeaway each week?

Thanks for all your help :)

Food & Grocery

Comments

  • Peter Enis on 20/05/2017 - 22:05
    +1

    We shop at Aldi, and for the things that Aldi doesn't stock, we buy at Coles/Woolies when its on special.
    Takeaway, maybe once a fortnight. Eat out, about the same (except for 1 weekday lunch for myself as per below).

    We have 2 young kids (youngest 7mths) so its hard for us to get out anyway.

    Best advice is to write up a weekly meal plan so you don't have those nights when you haven't planned anything and all of a sudden takeaway becomes very tempting. Cook up something big on Sunday so you can eat it a on a few weeknights too. Every dinner you cook, make enough to take lunch the next day. I'm blown away at how much my colleagues spend on lunch throughout the week. I do like do eat lunch out once a week to treat myself, and to stay social with the workmates.

    • mskeggs on 20/05/2017 - 22:11
      +1

      I'm blown away at how much my colleagues spend on lunch throughout the week.

      I spent $1.20 on a tomato to add to my ham & cheese from home toasted sandwiches the other day (maybe $2 total) and felt a little guilty at the cost as they are so expensive thanks to the cyclone. The boss spend $16 on a chicken and salad take away. We both enjoyed our lunches about equally.

  • mskeggs on 20/05/2017 - 22:07
    +1

    No take away or eating out most weeks.
    I will buy lunch at work once every fortnight or so.
    Maybe Dominos/pizza once a month and a restaurant meal on special occasions.
    KFC once or twice a year on the way home from camping.

    When we had a tight budget I shopped once a week to a strict list at Coles. $150 was the budget for 2 adults and some kids.
    Now we tend to shop 4 or 5 times a week for fresh stuff and marked down meat/vegetables/etc. at Woolies, and we probably spend more like $200 for 2A & 4Kids. The fruit market is better for potatoes, oranges and whatever they have on special. The butcher makes better sausages and rissoles, which we get, and has superior quality meat, but we can rarely justify the extra price.

    If we are going on holidays or camping and need processed food we'll go to ALDI to by things like muesli bars, yoghurt tubs, and other packaged snacks, but otherwise we steer clear of them and it is a lot cheaper to buy a box of crackers and put 7 or 8 in a little lunchbox container than buy a multi-serve pack of 6 packs.

    If I did no other budget measure, buying things in big packages and dividing them up would be my top tip for savings. 5kg of potatoes at the fruit market is $5.99. 1kg at Woolies is $3.50…
    My other suggestion is cook a bit extra for left overs. 1.5kg of chicken fillets were $11 today. I sliced them up, dipped in egg and breadcrumbed for schnitzel dinner for 7, with enough left over for lunches tomorrow.

  • trustnoone on 21/05/2017 - 05:06
    +2

    I usually get takeaway about 14 times a week, comes to about $140 to $160 (I live in an asian suburb so a lot of those takeaways is 10 dollar rice and something, or 2 bahn mi). This is also probably why I'm fat XD

    • xoom on 21/05/2017 - 09:24

      This is also probably why I'm fat

      you are not fat. you are just big boned.

  • Tamtim on 21/05/2017 - 22:30

    $200 for 2A & 4Kids, that is commendable. Thanks for all your advice guys. Looks like I'm going to have to tighten my belt, shop in bulk and cook in bulk. I have to admit, being health conscious I tend to get swayed by organic, free range, gluten free etc, which is probably adding to my bill. And due to time constraints I find it more convenient to buy everything from one store rather than shopping around for the best prices. I'll have to shop at Aldi more, and I usually stock up on specials at Coles or Woolworths. I don't really buy from my local green grocer though, I find their produce not as fresh as the major supermarkets?

  • Geekomatic on 22/05/2017 - 02:04
    +1

    Me & two young adults in the house. I'd say we spend about $200-ish a week, maybe more if I have to buy Pepsimax that week (I stockpile when it's on a good sale).

    I shop the sales & go to all of them. I stockpile the 1/2 price stuff (what I know we all like). Our local Cole's has amazing mark-downs on end of date stuff— so I try to duck in every chance near closing. I sometimes hit it great & load the freezer with 60-80% off meats! Other shops do this, too— but our Cole's is best for it. We also have a great butcher who does daily/weekly specials & their stuff is fantastic quality. Just got 2-for-1 peri-peri chicken breast, trimmed impeccably well, for the same price as plain breast at Woolies. We're also lucky to have a Spud Shed— their fruit, veg, & eggs are super-cheap (& local), so fresh. Aldi doesn't do anything for me, truthfully. I do better at the other shops. Even the little Farmer Jack's has it's share of good mark-downs.

    We rarely eat out— we enjoy making our own pizzas on pita bread from Woolies or Spud Shed (5 pieces for 99 cents, unless I get the 50% off mark-down & then they go in the freezer @ 50 cents a pack!). We like making tacos, lasagna, quiche, rice & beans, slow cooker with cheap cuts, steamed veg, tuna sandwiches, etc. If mince or chicken is on a good sale, I'll make burgers & freeze them as patties & do marinade-in-a-bag for the chicken (buy 3 kilo, trim it all up, then do four different marinades). That way, I can just pull out a bunch of burgers or chook the night before & let it defrost in the fridge.

    My son, now working 3-4 days in Perth, does eat out sometimes, but is lucky that they have frequent little going-ons where he is so he has a lot of days of "nibblies" provided free. My daughter's schedule sees her eat lunch, at home, either before or after uni. I never eat out if I can help it— I just don't like the food compared to what I can make at home. Actually, all of us prefer eating "real food". We all steer clear of processed stuff & no one eats cereal, fruit bars, or other sugar-filled junk. Cheese on water crackers is about as junky as it gets. And amazingly, no one has a sweet tooth. We basically only hit the meat/veg/juice/dairy/toiletry aisles. It's a quick-trip.

    A splurge for us is buying (on sale) smoked salmon & having it on toasted Turkish bread (end of day markdown at Woolies) with avocado, feta, & poached eggs (omg— so yum!).

    • Tamtim on 22/05/2017 - 17:34

      You sound like a passionate cook! Thanks for the food tips :)

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