With the cost of groceries continually going up alongside fuel costs, most Australians are starting to feel the pinch. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, even basic items like grains have seen prices go up over 65% compared to the previous year.
Luckily there are many ways that you can look to save money on your weekly grocery bill while also reducing your amount of household waste too.
1. Batch Cooking
For those on diet plans or with strict gym programs, many of you are probably already familiar with batch cooking. If you have a large family to feed, you're probably doing this as routine also. Batch cooking is where your meals for the week (or month) are cooked in larger portions and then separated into containers or stored in a large pot.
So how does this save you money at the supermarket? Purchasing your ingredients in bulk from beef mince to rice can save you money on a weight basis than if you are to purchase the same amounts in smaller quantities more frequently.
To make it easier we recommend purchasing yourself a large slow cooker as they are designed to cook in large batches and make it stress-free.
If you prefer to do without extra appliances, a cast iron dutch oven is definitely a great option too and will keep food warm long after being on the stove or in the oven due to the heat retention properties of cast iron. They're amazing for cooking anything from slow-roasted lamb to stews and soups.
2. Using food storage containers
If you have a busy lifestyle and family, we believe you can never have enough food storage containers! Keep handy food containers in your cupboards to that you can:
- Separate and store your batch cooking for the week
- Store left-overs from meals to consume later or the next day instead of throwing them away
- Keep your ingredients in your fridge fresh for longer or for prolonged freezer storage
- Prepare ingredients in advance to store hygienically and save yourself time i.e making overnight oats
By performing the above you'll immediately notice your grocery bill drop!
3. Stop using single-use plastic or aluminium foil
According to The Guardian, 150 000 tonnes of clingwrap makes itself to landfill in Australia every year! As the cost of aluminium, sandwich bags and cling wrap increases it adds significantly to the grocery bill especially in busy households packing lunch boxes for school or snacks for weekend sports.
For roughly the price of one roll of cling wrap, you can purchase a set of beeswax wraps that can be infinitely reused, saving both the environment and your pocket!
If you're looking to ditch paper or plastic sandwich bags, Another great choice that we love using ourselves at home are Stasher bags. Made of food-grade silicone with their own patented seals to keep things fresh and from spilling out, these air-tight silicone bags are fantastic for storing anything from sandwiches to cut fruit and nuts to even left-over soup! They're also fridge, freezer, microwave and dishwasher safe, making them ideal for busy families.
4. Bake your own bread
Now we get it, we love our bread as much as every other Australian especially when it's a fresh crusty sourdough from our favourite local artisanal bakery. A basic supermarket loaf however can cost upwards of $5 a loaf and that fresh one from the bakery is usually double. Work out the cost of those loaves you buy per month and it quickly adds up, especially when you're buying several to feed a hungry family of growing kids.
For the fraction of the cost, you can however make it an enjoyable weekly activity (remember lockdowns?) and experiment using different grains, seeds and flours.
Take a look at our range of bread tins to start baking your new favourite loaves. We also recommend that you consider a bread bin if you don't have one already to store and keep your loaves fresh for longer.
5. Keep food and ingredients fresh with proper pantry storage
How many times have you opened a packet of food that's been sitting in your pantry for some time, gone to take a bit and realised that it's now stale? Worse is when you open it and there's pantry moths inside!
Next time you go to clear out your pantry or cupboards, count how many packets or boxes you throw away of expired foods or staples. While you're doing so, try to work out roughly how much all those foods cost you at the grocery store counter. An unfortunate truth is that a lot of food waste isn't just from throwing things away unnecessarily but because we tend to lose sight of them in our pantries, tucked away behind more favourable foods or accidentally leaving them open making them become stale.
A great way to store your dry foods is with proper sealing pantry containers. Not only will they make your cupboards and pantry more organised but will keep your food fresh for longer, saving you on unnecessary buying and wastage.
Looking for more ways to save on your grocery bill?
If you're a daily coffee drinker that enjoys barista-made coffees, you're probably spending at least $30 a week, with a couple spending at least double! Try considering a coffee machine where you can make cafe-quality coffee at home with fresh beans. You're likely to pay the machine off in only a couple of months when you add up what you'd normally have spent ordering coffees at your local cafe.
Our team is great at solving everyday problems in the kitchen especially as we test and use so many of the products that we range at home ourselves. Whether you're needing a large stock pot to make soup from your left-over vegetables or wanting a larger roasting pan to buy whole legs of lamb at a cheaper cost, our team will be sure to have many answers to help you enjoy yourself more in the kitchen and save money on your grocery bills by using the right kitchen gadgets or cooking tools.
