October 2022 Food Champions Challenge: Grocery shopping on a budget. What are your strategies, tricks and tips when food shopping on budget?

  1. Agree that ‘Planning’ is the most important factor when shopping on a budget. It might start with ‘stock-taking’ our pantry, fridge, freezer, to make sure we don’t duplicate items, and that we add to our shopping list only those items we are out of and need for the meals we’re planning.
  2. Compare prices between ‘local’ stores (it might not be worth going far from home for something cheaper, as it has been pointed out).
  3. When in store compare prices between brands, and check the unit price whenever possible.
  4. Check the expiry date on something bigger and cheaper but that we don’t regularly use.
  5. Plan our menu, and have a few meat-free days by getting fish which is rich in protein, and use legumes to make filling dishes by adding tomatoes, herbs, pasta or rice.
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8 posts were merged into an existing topic: House Brand Groceries: Good, Bad, or Indifferent

There no doubt that home brands make up the bulk of the cheaper selection at the supermarkets. I understood that those were cheaper because of the saving on fancy packaging, but I don’t think that holds true anymore because the cans and boxes are just as colourful and fancy as the others.

I buy ‘Australia Grown’ generic brand products such as rice, oats, almonds and walnuts….which are of excellent quality and value.

I’m not happy with no-brand Pasta, it seems to be sourced from very low quality brands and also any savings get used up by the longer time it takes to cook.

Salt: I found I needed a lot more than usual, and also with black pepper
( wondering what were the ‘bulking’ ingredients?)

Biscuits have a lot more salt and fat, and so do crackers.

The list is long, it just takes a bit of patience to try and see what’s best for our taste and wallet.

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Please have a better look at my post, I’m talking about home brand salt LOL!

PS I’ve edited a space in between now.

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Very good idea health wise, but if only looking at savings: we can stock up on treats when they go on ‘special’ at 1/2 price :slightly_smiling_face:
Just need a lot of will power to ration them :laughing::joy:

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When at half price the temptation is to eat two when one might have previously consumed one. Take advantage and indulge. Resistance is to buy only one. Success none. :wink:

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Just a gentle reminder that this is a ‘boutique’ area, a Challenge which offers an award, please stay on topic for best results and an interesting reading for everyone :slightly_smiling_face::slightly_smiling_face:

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As anyone tried this trick? :slightly_smiling_face:

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It sounds like it could be useful. The problem I have is that we are not told how you determine the period of the rotation. Presumably you have to keep a diary for a while of the times your favourites are on special and then use that to predict the interval. How do we know these rotations are the same interval for a given product? I would like more data to support the ideas.

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From reading further down the article: it says to count six weeks from the end date of the ‘special’, as printed on the bottom of the sale thicket?

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Like @syncretic, I didn’t find the article very useful.

Most people would already know that the majority of special end at c.o.b. on each Tuesday. Noting that there are some exceptions when the special may run for a 14 day period.

Whilst the article mentions that the six week cycle applies to one particular product, other products may have a different cycle. The information about the cycle interval would only be useful on a wider scale if all specials had the same cycle interval or if there was something on the special price tag that indicated the interval between the special promotions.

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My usual supermarket through their rewards card keeps track of everything I buy.
I get an email usually once a week that tells me when items I buy are on special.
By tracking those emails I can tell pretty much the discount cycles, and buy regular items in bulk when on special.

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I read that but does that mean the cycle is always 6 weeks? It was the origin of the period I was looking for.

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Excellent suggestions by everyone. My tips (some already mentioned)
1- Try Aldi first (if available in your area and not too far).
2- Harris Farm has a ‘imperfect’ section for fruits that is much cheaper. Have a look at this section before you check the other areas. (Although Harris Farm is usually more expensive than other supermarkets)
3- For couples and families who share shopping duties: use a list manager app. We use Microsoft ToDo app on our phones. Whenever we realise we need something, we add it to the list on our phones. The lists are shared. The person who is doing the shopping, does that exclusively from the list. (unless there is a super good special available on something)
4- Create two lists. things you need and not in rush, to be bought on special only, and things you need right now, like milk, egg, etc.
4- Try to avoid Alcohol (it is bad for you)
5- Try to avoid soft drinks (same as above)
6- Never buy bottled water

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Good idea! I’ve been doing my list on the Notes app because my handwritten one would be forgotten on the kitchen table so very often, but my phone is always with me :slightly_smiling_face:

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An alternative is to purchase an effective water filter for the home.
While all Australian reticulated water supplies routinely meet quality standards, many have residual odours and tastes. Doubtless some of us grow accustomed to the flavour.

Keeping to topic - we take our home roof rain water with us in drink bottles. The next best alternative when away from home is to purchase the Coles/Woolies etc home brand water, plain or sparkling.

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An important part of shopping on a budget is to spend well, which doesn’t always mean to spend less. For example: the economic value of a dearer cut of meat could be superior when compared to that of a less costly boned cut which yields a smaller amount of meat.
Or vegetables such as zucchini and capsicums might be better value than other veggies which need a lot of chopping and peeling and the amount of servings they provide is thus diminished.

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