PoppetUK

Hi all,

There seems to be this awareness about how much food is costing over here in Australia.

We want to start budgeting on our food and being much more careful rather than just filling the trolley if it takes our fancy.

Has anyone got any tips on how to keep shopping bills down in Oz and also what sort of budget you could shop on for a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 little ones but they eat more than us!!).

Thanks

Poppetuk

I_Will_Freckle

There was a thread about shopping on here recently and people's spending varied wildly so I don't know how helpful it would be for your planning.

We (family of three) spend less than we did in the UK on shopping. I find that there are fewer temptations here in the way of ready meals and the like so we buy more "real" food, which is both healthier and more economical. Prices vary wildly between shops though. I was in a store tonight that was flogging quiches for $19 each. $19!!!! (Sorry - not trying to scare you off. That is very expensive for here.)

JPSUPERHOOPER

$19 for a quiche, thats expensive. ws it made with truffles

I_Will_Freckle

Looked like cheese and veg to me.

Pollyana

Probably lettuce, that'd acocunt for the price

JoolsB

Your shopping bill will be alot less without trying too hard-ours is about half of what is was in UK as there's nothing much that takes our fancy

Wave goodbye to the delights of Sainsbury, Ocado, M&S etc..& start shopping at Co-op to aclimatise yourself!

kiwinow

Apparently Aldi supermarkets are significantly cheaper, but not everyone likes what they have to offer, or don't have to offer. Woolworths is at the upper end price wise and Coles is cheaper than W but not as cheap as Aldi.

I think it's an individual thing depending on how much convenience food you buy. If you want to save make a list and stick to it and try planning meals ahead, if you can be that organised. I think you crave less stodge in a warm climate, so that's a plus.

sunbather

I recently did an experiment of putting my exact Oz shopping content receipt through my old Tesco direct account and it worked out way cheaper to do my food shopping in WA.

WA doesn't have Aldi btw.

eddie007

spud shed and farmers markets

stuckinblighty

bread's bloody expensive

Nu-Shooz

In the UK i spent about 130pounds a week on food for 5 of us. Here in OZ i spend $300-350 a week on 4 of us. No frills either, just your basics.

Wendy

Here's a poll I did recently: http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...=shopping+bill

Gems

My tip is shop around, we use more than one shop for the shopping. Can be pain going to several shops but works out cheaper.

Eg we find Coles always have better offers on Cereal, and offer is usually
750g box. But Woolworths cereal offers tend to be only 450g for the same price as Woolies 750g offer.

Look through the leaflets and find all the offers eg, you can save $2 off cheese by getting it on offer. We have found that IGA,Coles or Woolies will have it on offer then next week the other store will.


Gems

Angelap

Thats just SO funny(made me laugh out loud) because its SO true!!!! Spot on

asprilla

yep, here's some tips....try not to buy any fruit, veg, fish or meat from the major supermarkets (unless its on sale and its a good deal). Just buy it from the butchers, the fruit&veg markets and the fish monger. More often than not, you'll find that you are buying better quality produce, yet paying maybe 25% to 75% of supermarket retail price.


Also, keep an eye on the "specials" catalogues and buy non-perishables when they are on sale. I thought this was a ridiculous thing to do when I first moved here (why stock up on stuff that you don't need right now?!) but my wife always does it. Took me a while to figure out that you do save a fair bit over time, by doing this....

cheers