26 Oct 5 Tips for Saving Money on Your Weekly Food Shop

5 Tips for Saving Money on Your Weekly Food Shop

We get that eating healthy nutritious meat, vegetables and fruit can be expensive but there are ways to make it more cost effective and remember – in the long run, you will benefit from fuelling your body right! Most importantly, use a shopping list – this ensures you leave with everything you need and also stops you buying the other random crap that you don’t actually need! (Random shopper about chocolate for example: “But it was on special!!” – who cares, it’s still not good for you or your body!)

Here’s a few ways to save some dollar…

1. Go to the local markets;
2. Buy a whole cow;
3. Shop at Aldi;
4. Create a syndicate/co-op;
5. Bulk buy, prep and freeze.

1. Go shopping at the local markets, you’ll not only be supporting local farmers but you should also be able to find the most in season fruit and vegetables and at the best prices because there is no middle man! If you go towards the end of the opening hours, sometimes they’re offering extra deals so they can get rid of their stock and not have to take any back home with them. If you don’t have any local markets near you, find a family run grocer… We shop at Crisp on Creek in Mount Gravatt because their produce is always super fresh and their prices are competitive.

2. If you have the space for it at home in the freezer, we recommend buying a whole animal, chopping it up and just defrosting it as you want to eat it. Saves money and time and means you can get really high quality meat for not too expensive. A great recommendation we received recently from the guys at Caveman Kitchen is “Andy’s Gourmet Meats” – they are based in Belmont: (07) 3890 0056, for those local to the QLD area – for those of you who are not near us, a quick google search for a butcher that supplies whole cow should do the trick!

3. Aldi and other lower priced supermarkets are actually selling reasonably good quality foods these days at much more reasonable prices. You can generally get hold of most of what you need here at about half to two thirds the price of the mainstream supermarkets. Find out where your local Aldi is and do a shop there for one week, save the receipt and do a price comparison with your usual shop to see how much you can save.

4. Find a group of friends who live or work with you or near you and take it in turns to go to the biggest and cheapest food markets as you should be able to buy a lot cheaper when you buy more. The Rocklea wholesale fresh produce markets in Brisbane open their doors to the public on Thursday’s and Friday’s and you can get in season bulk fruit and veg for a fraction of the cost – but the quantities are so big that you need about 5 or 6 people in on the system for it to work and to be able to get through all the food. I believe you can also head to the markets on the weekend and buy in bulk quite cheap and then just divvy it all up and share it amongst the group.

5. If you don’t find a group of people to share a bulk shop with, you can always buy a heap of food for yourself, do all your food prep the same day for the whole week or even the next couple of weeks and freeze your meals until you’re ready to eat them. This way, not only are you saving heaps of money but you’re also saving time and setting yourself up for success for a week or two without having to cook every day!

If you need help with “WHAT” and “HOW MUCH” to eat for your size, gender and goals we can help. Head to TheChiefLife.com for more info or to order your personalised meal plan!

Stacey Harris, BSc (Nutr) Hons.

– Take responsibility for your choices!