Grocery shop for $50 a week

You might be saving for something or maybe you just feel like you spend too much on food. What ever the reason taking a close look at your grocery shop is a great way to save money, time and find great new recipes to add to your rotation.

First step: Eat from your pantry

The very first thing I do every fortnight is grab paper and pen and go and take a look at what I have in the house. The order is fridge, freezer, pantry. Why this order? Because fresh food should be used up first to prevent it going bad and wasting money and resources. Freezer is next as these are often leftovers of complete meals which are great for lunches and fast easy dinners.

I always have a stock of pantry staples to ensure that if its a really lean week I can still make some super tasty meals. These include:

• pasta, spaghetti and spiral usually
• rice
• flour
• self raising flour
• sugar
• brown sugar
• condiments, tomato sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce etc
• cerial, cornflakes are cheapest at about $1 a bag for homebrand
• long life milk
• tinned tuna
• baked beans
• rolled oats
• pasta sauce
• tinned tomato
• tinned corn

Second step: Meal plan

Meal planning is your recipe for success here. First make what you can out of the ingredients you have on hand. I always have yeast in the fridge and flour in the cupboard so homemade pizzas are great for using up ham and cheese.

I buy meats and divide them up, as there are only two of us to feed I make sure I'm not using more meat than is necessary being as its one of the most expensive grocery items.

Have some go to meals that you know are budget savers. I know I can make Tuna Bake out of pantry stapes. It comes in at $1.10 a serve. Crabmeat with spaghetti is 65c a serve! Oats for breakfast is just a few cents also and such an amazing healthy breakfast full of slow release energy.

Third step: shop the sales

When I make a grocery list I use the online ordering. This ensures you know exactly how much you are spending, you can compare products together and you can select the sales. My best tips are:

• shop the half price sales and buy several so you never need to buy at full price 
• get the home brand, it's often the same product inside just less fancy packaging 
• search for ingredients which don't spoil quickly, frozen veg is just as good as fresh for bulking out a meal
• Look at the 'price for 100g' rather than the price total. Often buying in bulk is cheaper.

For more tips on grocery shopping see my other post: How to plan your grocery list

My final rule for keeping the grocery budget under $50 a week is to watch your portion sizes. Today we eat far more than we need. A portion should be about the size of your fist. This may seem tiny but if you are eating the right foods then you will be getting more than enough calories and feeling full. snack on fruit rather than expensive pre packaged snacks. Choose meals that cook once and feed an army. 

I'll share some more frugal recipes and meal plans soon so stay tuned. What's your favourite frugal meal?