Between reaching for that bottle of olive oil you thought you needed but didn’t and adding just one more punnet of raspberries to your already-brimming trolley, it’s very easy to spend more than anticipated at the supermarket.
Wanting to eradicate the risk of a hemorrhaging bank account when food shopping, 30-year-old Clare Reilly made it her mission to get her grocery bill under $200 each fortnight.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Reilly attributes her budget success to methodical planning and discipline.
First of all, Reilly, who lives in Portarlington, Victoria, will visit ALDI, where she will spend $80 on pantry staples, and will then head to Woolworths and spend $10 on anything she couldn’t find on ALDI’s shelves.
The rest of her $200-a-fortnight grocery budget is split between her local butcher, where she spends $80, and the final $30 at a farmer’s market near to where she lives.
Not only that, Reilly, as a seasoned vegetarian, has stripped back her family’s meat consumption to four-five times during a two-week period.
With this in mind, Reilly, who lives with her husband, Jay, 44, and their two-and-a-half-year-old son, Elliot, insists her budget-friendly lifestyle still centres around delicious food.
She told the Daily Mail Australia, “We love what we eat – if it didn’t work for us we wouldn’t keep doing it.”
The big cost difference becomes apparent when you look at how much it costs to Reilly to bake a loaf of bread (75cents) compared to buying one from the supermarket – a loaf of store-bought Helga’s bread can cost $6.99.
For those, like us, who are unsure that we could strip our meat intake to as little as what Reilly’s family consumes, or get our weekly food budget down to $500, she offers some sage advice.
“If you’re shopping in the supermarket, look for those bags of produce they bag up for $3, check out the ‘imperfect’ produce,” she explains.
“Figure out what works for you. I know $200 a fortnight is a pretty extreme food budget, so maybe you aim for $300 a fortnight. Or maybe just try to reduce your current spend by $50.”
If you are thinking about changing your diet in any way, consult a dietitian or GP first.
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