**** There will be recipe ideas placed throughout this blog - free for you to use !
The following is just a few ideas that I have implemented over my 30 years as a mum and wife who has had to budget for almost all of that time. We have never had a large income and so, I have had to be wise with my grocery spending.
Now, a few of you will say but you never had boys, or a large family…yes that is true but I do believe some of what I share can be implemented regardless. Often when I hear people say they spent way too much on groceries that week, I can often also hear of potential savings especially if things like the price of museli bars or cereal has gone up!
Just to get you started before you read more extensively, here are my top tips for going grocery shopping….remember – these are tips. Take or leave it all – some will be easier to grasp than others….
1. Meal plan and shop according to that.
2. Take your list with you and a pen and stick to it
3. Shop fortnightly – if things run out – your family will survive and you get used to buying the qty you need
4. If you can….leave the kids behind. I rarely shopped with the kids. I can guarantee you will stick to your list easier without the distraction of them asking for things in every aisle
5. If you cant leave the kids behind, make sure they have a water bottle and a snack to eat as you shop. Don’t be tempted to grab something off the shelf for them as you go around
6. Take a calculator. Yes – a good old fashioned calculator. Don’t use your phone as more often or not a text will come through and interrupt your adding up. Don’t worry about the decimal point. You just mentally do that at the end. If you have a budget of say $200 for the week, once you get towards the end of the shop, you will know how you are travelling. And guess what?! If it looks like you are going over, something goes back on the shelf that week!
7. Look at the low shelves – this is often where the cheapest items are
8. Skip any aisle you don’t need to shop in. This saves impulse buys.
Now a lot of my tips will require some work from you! Most of my Sunday afternoons were spent meal planning, and making lists. Often in school holidays I would bake and cook and stock the freezer with snacks for the next term. This is all doable. I was a full time off farm working mum as well as losing half my Sundays to church. It just takes planning and time and you get in a good routine. You can do this!
Cleaning aisle
I have never bought a tonne of cleaning products. Keep it very very basic.
I only have ever bought the absolute cheapest dishliquid available – usually around the $1 mark. It cleans perfectly ok – remember in reality it’s a person doing the dishes – not the detergent!
Dishwashing tablets – Aldi hands down has the best value tablets around. If they are still too expensive, the pack of powder works just fine with a cheap rinse aid. In fact this is what we used just recently.
I use a mix of water, vinegar and lemon or orange oil to clean all my kitchen benches. If you add a little (1-2tb) of olive oil or coconut oil you can use this on your furniture.
I only ever clean my floors with water and vinegar.
Toilet – cheap duck style cleaner is just as good as the expensive stuff. Guess what – the water/vinegar mix will clean here too!
Bathroom – stick with good old fashioned products that last a long time – Jif or Gumption. You can also make a paste up using bi carb soda etc.
Personal care
We stopped using shower gel a while back and are back to bars of soap. Granted I make my own but I would not go back. Its cheaper by far and we use good old fashioned face washers – not the flimsy puffy things – washers wash really well and do a great job. Shower gel is easily overused and they tend to start at $8 a bottle easily.
Deodorant – look this is a personal one. But I wouldn’t be buying my teenagers expensive ones. I have seen the way they are used at school – like theres no tomorrow! Let nan buy them expensive ones for birthdays and Christmas. If your teen insists on a particular type – well guess what – they can be rewarded by doing a regular job like washing the car. Give them an appropriate pay and they can shop for it. They might quickly see how expensive it is and that they as well have to budget.
Basically, unfortunately if you cant afford stuff in this aisle, walk away! Its just the reality of budgets. Even if the makeup for example is half price, if you have plenty at home you don’t need it. It will come back on sale again.
Drinks aisle
Steer clear!
Soft drinks, expensive juices, cordial etc keep for special occasions. Now that it’s just me and Phil, we can buy more but we recently bought the “house” a soda stream and its been amazing.
Water for a general drink is fine and your kids do not need bottled water. Tap water is perfectly ok in most situations. They certainly do not need sports drinks either. Remember all the sports people are sponsored to be shown drinking these!
I would buy the cheapest juice on the shelf and no – it most likely had no nutritional value but my girls drank it, it had some flavour and they appreciated the good stuff when they got it.
Normalise drinking milk! Supermarket 3 litre bottles are relatively cheap and you cant beat it. We still buy more milk than any other drink. We did buy milo or even the cheap flavoured toppings that could go in the milk.
If you can’t afford the coffee beans or the pods, then it’s time to accept that perhaps until things get easier, you will buy a good granulated coffee. You will survive.
General grocery
I always have the following in the house;
Flour
Sugar
Cocoa
Butter or marg
Vanilla
Eggs
Milk
Evaporated milk
Soy sauce
Curry powder
Mustard (Dijon or grain)
Coconut
Coconut extract
Potatoes
Frozen peas
Bacon
Block cheese
Puff pastry
Bread
Cheap tinned tomatoes
Rice – buy large and a rice cooker!
Of course you will have your own list. The more you meal plan, the easier it is to know your basics list.
With the above staples, you can cook just about anything. The evap milk will replace cream in cooking curries etc . You can add a little flour as a thickener. Coconut essence means you immediately have coconut milk for curries etc without having to have a pantry full of items for different recipes.
Homebrand anything is sufficient! Trust me on this. Remember we are talking budget decisions – not star baker choices.
When things ease up on our grocery bills, you can buy brands again if you so choose.
Learn to bake the basics – have a good basic dessert up your sleeve – an impossible pie or self saucing pudding. Basic bicuits or muffins. An easy chocolate cake.
We almost never had icecream or dessert either. Again – this was a birthday treat and we all appreciated it so much more. When we did buy it, I bought the no name brand icecream. Yep – sometimes you have to sacrifice even icecream choice for the budget. One day you and the hubby will be empty nesters and treats become seriously amazing
Breadcrumbs – I never ever buy these! I use up all my crusts that no one ever uses. Whiz up in food processor and freeze.
I also now never buy dishcloths and paper towel - I cut up an old towel and edged it with my sewing machine. These are reusable then, and thick. Perfect for cleaning and can be washed in the machine.
I learned how to make my own pasta sauces, marinades and am now learning spice mixes. I have been making my own gravy now for a while….just make a roux out of butter and flour.
Mix beef stock or chicken (or a mix of both) in boiling water – about 2 cups worth and whisk into the roux. Add a little sugar to break up if a bit salty
Check the deli for prices before you buy sandwich meat in the packs from the cold section. You do not have to buy from the deli in weights if that is confusing. You can buy in slice amounts. I would often calculate the amount of sandwiches I would be making and buy to that amount – so often I might even just ask for 12 slices of ham. And I would always choose the cheapest one.
I almost never buy anything already crumbed. I always crumb my own chicken for example. Pre-done anything is more expensive.
For breakfast we only ever bought weetbix and porridge. That was the choice. Or toast.
If you make a decision to limit options – guess what – the kids will choose something. They will never starve. Don’t be guilted into making sure everyone has their favourite thing.
Takeaway – find a good local takeaway and just but hot chips and bread for dinner! I always found that as soon as you become a “regular” the owners are so happy to throw in another scoop of chips for your family. This is such a good tasty treat and will always be cheaper than the other options. We often used this to feed even our youth group and for only about $20 we would feed almost 20 kids!
School snacks
The greatest thing I saw at school was parents sending way too much food in the lunch boxes. Kids only have a set time to eat and are much keener to play. So, I always recommend to send along 2 things for recess, 2 for lunch. This may increase as your child gets older, but the young ones will waste too much.
I rarely if ever bought things like museli bars or fruit straps etc. These are way too expensive. Google recipes if your kids really like them.
Popcorn – buy the pack of kernals and pop your own in the pan! Its so easy and can be divided into smaller bags for school
Buy large bags of chips and divide as well – much cheaper and you can get more in a serve.
Do the same for yogurt, just send a spoon along.
You can’t beat a boiled egg! Just take the shell off for them if they are small.
Rather than buy cheese sticks, I would buy a block of cheese and send cubes in the lunch box. Often in a small bag with a couple of pretzels as well and a few grapes. This gives a great choice and they don’t feel like they have to eat a whole bag of the one thing.
If you have ways to seal your bags tight, large bags of pantry items will stay fresh between shopping trips.
Get together with a friend and do a once a term big bake together. Spend a few hours making biscuits, slices, muffins, pastry scrolls etc and pop them into individual bags or wrap in baking paper and pop in a container. They freeze amazing!
A few of my easy recipes are attached to this document. They all will freeze individually and would be good in lunchboxes. You can get them all by heading to my recipe cards (click text)
MEAT
When you are on a budget, meat can be the single most expensive thing you buy. But with a little planning, even a larger family can save money. Here is some ideas;
Mince;
Burgers – make your own! Google a recipe. This is so very easy. Premade burgers are very expensive.
Add breadcrumbs and heaps of grated veggies. If you don’t have breadcrumbs, you can also soak slices of bread in milk, wring out and mix through. It makes mince go further.
Other easy ideas to make large mince dishes are….savoury mince – this can be used on roast potatos, toast or even on corn chips. Goes a long way. Of course spag bol – use a cheap passata instead of an expensive sauce. It stretches things further and passata is heaps cheaper. For Mexican dishes, go to the spice aisle and buy a large container of taco spice – it goes heaps further than the sachets!
Try big bakes of shepherds pie, rissoles or meatballs. These feed large groups cheaply.
Sausages
On their own or any of the following – these are a families friend….
Curried snags, make your own curry sauce – just use a curry powder, a white sauce, maybe a little sugar to balance and there you have it! Serve with rice or potato.
Hotdogs – add onions, cheese etc and you have a great meal
Google a good devilled sausages recipe – this is a great one with mash spuds or sweet potato
Bacon
You can make a meal just out of bacon!
Use on baked potatoes with cheese, tomato and sour cream – delicious,
Bacon and cheese toasted sandwiches.
Bacon and eggs for dinner or whip up a quiche
Make a basic creamy pasta with a pack of cream of mushroom soup, evaporated milk and toss through pasta with crispy bacon
Do a tray bake with all your leftover veggies, add bacon and cheese and whack in the oven. Serve with bread and butter
Chicken
The cheapest cut is drumsticks! Aldi does 2kg bags very reasonably and you can bake them with a little olive oil, or make a honey soy marinade up, or even an apricot chicken sauce or a curry flavour. These can go cold into lunch boxes as well
Serve with basic veg or a fried rice
Chicken breast can be poached for sandwich meat, sliced thin and crumbed for homemade schnittys. Nuggets etc. You can add to pizza, sandwiches, curries and more.
Don’t be scared to buy a frozen chook and roast – delicious!
Lamb
Now, of course this is where I am passionate because I am a lamb producer. But I know the grocery price of this is out of reach for a lot of families. I would never buy cutlets for a family because its way too expensive. So I would suggest looking at the per kilo price and consider a roast. Again, don’t buy one that has been de-boned. It adds to the cost because someone has put more preparation into it. The bone adds flavour for you and will help with your meat keeping moist.
Learn how to prep a good roast. I love a good slow cook – but I still think a roast lamb from the oven is best. Season well with salt and pepper and olive oil. Pop in oven at about 4pm on 160 degrees and by the time 6:30 comes around your roast should be perfect. Just check for its size – this will determine how long you need to cook for.
You can use any leftover meat on sandwiches, in a curry etc.
My best advice for lamb is to find a local farmer who might consider selling you a whole or half lamb. There are a lot out there at the moment. It’s a larger outlay but worth it in the long run.
The same advice I would give for pork and beef.
MEAL PLAN MEAL PLAN MEAL PLAN
This is what I would do almost religiously. It not only makes things easier at the most hectic time of the day, but you can shop according to your plan.
This doesn’t have to be laborious to put together and with a bit of ingenuity, your family will rarely even notice that you are doing basically the same thing week after week!
For example I would often follow this kind of idea:
MONDAYS – Lamb/pork/beef – if you have time do a roast or have cheap chops or even a slow cooker meal. A roast is so easy. Throw the meat in and with about an hor to go – do a tray of veg in the oven as well
TUESDAYS – Mince – think spab bol, savoury mince, tacos, rissoles, loaded spuds
WEDNESDAYS – Chicken
THURSDAYS – Mince again – see above list
FRIDAYS – Pizza/Burgers/Schnitty and chips etc – like a Fakeaway Friday
SATURDAYS – Fridge clean out – so tray bake or fried rice!
SUNDAYS – get your own! Even if this means cereal, or basic toasted sandwiches
Just by cutting out one night a week of cooking, you immediately save money. Guaranteed the whole family will find something to eat. I would even implement this with my 4 year old grandson. Let him choose and help him prepare it.
This is a reward for your work on Sunday arvo of putting the menu plan in place for the week.
I have done a lot of the work for you with my menu plan and grocery plan set - click here for your copy. This is the exact method I have used for years and you can personalise it as you go. Best of all, I have made this absolutely free for you.
FUSSY EATERS;
This is most likely a big challenge if you have one of these! I was very lucky that I didn’t really have one, but I am also very old school and unfortunately for my kids if they didn’t eat it, they would go hungry! Here are some ideas that I use though when I find that my grandson is finding it a challenge to eat….
I use heaps of flavour. Kids have so many tastebuds so don’t be frightened to make sure they are “entertained”. I often put salt and pepper in veggies, I also often will make a mix of the veggies and cook once soft in some olive oil to add more flavour and crisp them up a bit. Then I might sprinkle some cheese on the top. This is much more tasty for kids than just boiled veg
Don’t be scared of offering sauces – my mum was amazing at this. If I needed a heap of tomato sauce to eat something, she allowed it. And I ate it! I now love almost all veggies and rarely use sauce. One of my girls hates egg but if I make a quiche for dinner, she will do her best to eat it but has loads of sauce on it!
Be an example. Phil doesn’t particularly like carrots or pumpkin but he never ever said a word in front of the kids. He ate it – even if he used the previous tip to make it more palatable to him!
There will always be things your kids don’t like – so use that as a tool. Say they don’t like both peas or corn. Always still put both on the plate and tell them to make a choice. They can choose to either eat half of both, or all of one and a few of the other. They never get to say no to both. It will be a stand off but its worth it.
Never raise voices over meals – especially over being fussy. Don’t get cross at their fussiness – just reinforce that you are in charge. If you still have issues with negotiating ways to finish a meal, let them know they are on dishes after each meal they don’t have a good crack at.
This goes on to my next point – don’t spend the whole of meal time focussed on food. Chat about everyones day, ask questions, perhaps do a quiz together. Take the focus off whats on the plate. They will likely eat without thinking about it. Use distractions on your favour and don’t let the fussy eater dominate your time
The obvious is to hide things in other food – eg grated vegetables in mince or curries
Make meal sizes appropriate to their size.
Ask for ideas off them what they might like to see on the menu plan. However, the non negotiable is they must eat it and they only truly get one nights decision.
Perhaps the most definite rule I would use is….What ever you do – don’t cook just for the fussy one. That’s exhausting. Your kitchen is not a restaurant. One meal for the whole family. They will have to work with you as much as you work with them. You are the parent and the provider. Unless this is an allergy situation, I guarantee you they will survive.
I hope all of this does give you ideas to trimming the budget especially where groceries are concerned. Like I said at the top of this article, There will be some point you don’t agree with or may find more difficult to implement but if you really need to make a budget change, then be brave and have a go. Choose to be really amazing at this. Know your prices, be diligent on your family’s behalf. It will be worth it and its so amazing when you unpack the groceries knowing that you weren’t super shocked by the price and that you have a plan for every night of your week!
Don't forget if you want all of my recipe cards in the set I have included - click here
Please feel free to email me and ask any questions at all….farmerswifefarmerslife73@gmail.com
Xxx
Toni
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