Food prices

[Sallyh]

I've been reading around a bit about food prices and household expenditure out of interest, as our income ever decreases and the kids grow and eat more!!

 

It's just come up in conversation in another thread. Last night a friend and I were taking about finances and she asked me about our food bill. We have identical sized families and almost identical aged children so it was a direct comparison. Our food budget is about $80 less than hers weekly. But I would buy more apples and bananas if I could. we both have a thermomix but I suspect don't use it quite the same way.

 

Anyway. There are some interesting stats about but I also just found this article. Interesting read.

 

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/food/why-is-food-so-expensive-in-australia-compared-to-other-countries/news-story/a6fe9cc1c264e39c0536d07a064904bb

 

 

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[Sallyh]

https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/managing-your-money/budgeting/spending/australian-spending-habits

 

This is an interesting infographic. MoneySmart is a great website.

 

 

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Edited June 12, 2016 by Sallyh

[Lazy Cow]

They are both very interesting links, thank you .

 

I was surprised to see that Blossom feels food prices have fallen over the years. I don't have people from other countries to compare prices with, and haven't travelled to the UK for a looong time, and even America was three years ago (sob!), so I found that thought interesting.

 

Looking back though, even in the short time we've been here, I remember when it seemed to take longer to spend $100 on a basket of food. Now, if I'm not careful, or if I have to buy for my son (the omni of the family ), it seems like I get there in no time. Looking at the adverts, it does seem that the price of meat has fallen, which I think is actually quite shameful. I cannot see how an ethical producer can make a profit when the end price of a chicken breast (for example) is $9 a kilo. And we all know the problems dairy farmers have had.

 

So I don't feel prices for the items I buy have fallen, but perhaps others really have. I'll be interested to see what others think.

 

LC

[Sallyh]

I agree. I don't feel as if prices have fallen. I also agree that I seem to get fewer bags for my money. We are in that tension of trying to save the world and live on less. Which basically equates to eating less. there's a benefit to that for dh and myself and I am getting used to that. We have given up sugar as a family and I do think that has made our money go further. So I tend to get more in volume for my money but then they go through apples at an alarming rate...

 

Student life in north adelaide means that I save money on fuel by shopping on foot for many things but pay postcode tax in foodland. I've started a price book and Coles yesterday was $2 cheaper on some things I compared.

 

Also to point out that regardless of whether you are paying delivery fees for Coles online shopping, their online prices are on many items more than the shelf price. So I stopped doing that. Some items were $2 or $3 more when I compared my shopping receipt with online prices.

 

 

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[Sallyh]

What about markets? I love supporting my local greengrocer but I was shocked when I left my north Adelaide bubble last week and walked in the rain with the kids from Rundle mall to the central market. Loved the prices there. So we are probably going to try to fit market shopping in to our week. A friend of mine has offered to show me her favourite places in the gepps cross Sunday market in a few weeks.

 

 

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[Lazy Cow]

We are in that tension of trying to save the world and live on less.

 

Also to point out that regardless of whether you are paying delivery fees for Coles online shopping, their online prices are on many items more than the shelf price. So I stopped doing that. Some items were $2 or $3 more when I compared my shopping receipt with online prices.

 

Yes, we are also trying to buy ethically, and with consideration. I'm trying to cut down on our use of plastics, so am trying to refill laundry liquid bottles etc rather than simply buy a replacement. However, I use a realllllllly cheap one at @$2 a litre. Refilling, however, is coming in at @$10 a litre. It's not, for me anyway, realistic to pay so much which means I end up recycling the plastic. Good, but not ideal.

 

I don't buy online, except for where I work, and I had no idea! That's a real eye-opener / shock! Guess I shouldn't be surprised though. They might get your custom, but I guess they're greedily trying to rake back the cost of paying the person picking the order.

 

LC

[Sallyh]

Yes. I think the price difference came in a while ago but wasn't always the case.

 

I bought earth choice 4kg washing powder yesterday on special at Coles. Will see how good that is though I think my machine is pretty good. I'd like to go over to making my own washing powder and dishwasher tabs. But I'm not prepared to gunk up my machine with grated soap.

 

 

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[Diane]

Central Market is definitely the way to go - especially if you go about an hour before closing on Saturday - not sure what time but think it closes around 3ish - and you can get some real bargains. Making use of the freezer and also things like preserving (I got a second hand preserver and jars from Gumtree) are a great way to make the dollar stretch a little further too. Also independent green grocers tend to be a little cheaper than the supermarkets.

[Sallyh]

Yes. Locally our independent greengrocer is cheaper than foodland for some things and not others, but the quality is much better. The market I went to on weds... A quiet market day there but it was the day I was in the city. I was v happy with the prices I paid. I'm a bit worried how busy it would be on a Saturday. Will investigate tho. we did that a few years ago for a family outing. Will plan it again need a shopping trolley tho.

 

 

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[flossybeth]

If you're going to get a trolley make sure you get a good one or your wheels will fall off - I've had a Rolser for years and although they're not cheap they lug a whole lot of stuff. When my youngest was little and still needed to ride I used a red wagon:

 

 

 

I sometimes make my own washing powder but have recently found one called Euca in Mitre 10; again it's not cheap at $19 for 2kg but it lasts ages (by ages I mean more than 2 months with at least 5 washes a week) and washes really well on our super-eco wash (an hour long cold water wash). I always make my own fabric conditioner though and use white vinegar in hot washes.

 

The balance of trying to be ethical over trying to stretch a budget is something I understand - I wrote a list a while ago trying to work it all out such as fairtrade, no palm oil (in food/toiletries/washing powder etc), MSC fish, free range meat/eggs, locally grown/produced, no extra chemicals in toiletries (eg parabens/SLS etc), no single-use products and on and on.... sometime I think ignorance would be so much better but then I watch a 6 year old TV programme about the death of the oceans (David Attenborough on TV last night) and see how little has been done on a mass scale in that time and I resolve to try even harder.

 

If you live close enough to the Central Market to use it regularly I think you'd find it heaps cheaper than even a local greengrocer - I wish I'd made much more use of it when we lived closer and now we're so far away I still reckon that if I was organised enough the $5 train fare would still be made back in savings... We have Willunga Farmer's Market which is great for a treat but not so much for week in-week out shopping.

Edited June 13, 2016 by flossybeth

[Sallyh]

Such an interesting post.

 

Yesterday I paid $15.30 for 4 kg of earth choice washing powder (on offer, hope it's good). Any recipe you have found to be good I would be interested in.

 

As for a trolley: we have made a commitment as a family to not buy anything new except in a few categories: personal care, shoes, underwear. So I will be looking out on gumtree. Thanks for the advice about brand. I was given a cheap one by another baby wearer and it was ok but didn't fit much more than 1 1/2 shopping bags of stuff in so I still got laden down with bags.

 

 

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