[April Bradford]

Cut your grocery spending in half with this savvy shopper’s hack​

You’ve no doubt seen it in the supermarkets, but the official news is in: inflation is moving at the fastest pace in more than three decades, with economists predicting an inflation rate of 6.3 per cent, a 32-year high.

As a result, consumer prices are rising everywhere. It’s weighing heavy on all Aussies, especially with the widening gap between the average take-home pay and the cost of living.

But not all hope is lost. Adelaidean Kelly Lakewood has a few spending tips to get the most value out of your money.

Appearing on the morning program Sunrise, the frugal mum revealed that she had cut her budget for groceries in half, shaving almost $100 off their weekly bill.

She mentioned to David Koch and Kylie Gillies that her spending at the supermarket had been reduced to $71 a week while feeding a family of four.

Sunrise featured Kelly Lakewood last Friday for her tips on grocery shopping. Credit: Sunrise/DailyMail​

And no, Kelly doesn’t have to resort to low-nutrition meals to sustain her family while cutting down their grocery expenses. The mum-of-two serves plenty of healthy food, including fresh fruits and vegetables, for as little as $10 a day.

Amazing, right? But how does she do it?

The Aussie mum has a few grocery hacks up her sleeve.

One is alternating among stores such as Coles and Woolworths. You don’t have to be loyal to a particular supermarket to get the best bang for your buck.

Another is rummaging stores for marked-down items. Kelly urges shoppers to look up, down and around shelves to find discount stickers. Usually, items that are placed on eye level are not the most affordable.

‘You need to know your prices and you need to shop around,’ Kelly encourages. She even claims not to pay more than $12 for a kilo of meat.

She warns that shopping this way is not particularly easy or straightforward. You must first weigh your options and then go for the least expensive items.

The mum acknowledges this, saying: ‘I know that's really tricky, but it's just a bit of a game that I have and then I can get some really good prices on stuff.’

You also have to know when to shop. The best time is not the same for every store.

Kelly says that the surest way to know when is to inquire directly to store managers. Consumers can ask when their supermarket does markdowns.

While she usually opts for home brands, Kelly sometimes gets branded items with the best deals.

You might be wondering what the Lakewoods’ meal plan looks like. Even with the meticulous way the matriarch of the family shops, they rotate between about 30 meals. The dishes will depend on the discounted ingredients Kelly picks up at the store.

It’s great to know that even with a limited budget, you can still prepare various nutritious meals.

The family also loves their toast in the morning with — you guessed it — marked-down bread. She also makes multiple stops at shops if they run out of bread and other items like milk.

Kelly details these tips and more on her Youtube channel Frugal Fun Mum, which currently has 2.38K subscribers. You can watch her video on how to feed a family of four for under $100 weekly below:

Do you know any grocery hacks and bargain-hunting tips you swear by? Share them in the comments below!

 

[BabsL]

Please buy AUSTRALIAN PINEAPPLE RINGS, not the ones frm China found all over Coles’ shelves, but the GOOD pineapple frm Golden Circle or SPC.
Slice the Pineapple Rings in half horizontally - you get double for yr money AND you keep the QLD canning workers employed.
As a treat, thread pieces of Frozen pine onto skewers with other fruits on hot days. Adults can have the “grown up” frozen pine pieces marinated in kirsch, vodka, or yr fave tipple. Slices of frozen pine with frozen mandarin pieces on short 6” cocktail sticks is lots of fun.
Serve the frozen fruit pieces in a bowl set over an ice container in hot weather.
Dinner can be soooo much fun!
In 1960-70s, mums wld serve dessert of a Pineapple ring w scoop of ice cream in the middle and a cherry or grape on top (+ I had rice bubbles on mine as well!!).
Ham Steaks were great bbq’d w a pineapple ring, or on the griddle or in a frypan, great when camping.
A Ham & Pineapple Sandwich was ‘exotic’ with lettuce & mayo or salad cream.
Pineapple Rings go really well on hamburgers, too.
Golden Circle used to sell 220g tins of THIN Pineapple Rings. It was so helpful of them to do that If you needed to drain the tin first, drain into a tall glass, add ice, Gin, squirt of lemon or lime, and Soda water! Heavenly.
We MUST KEEP OUR OWN FRUIT GROWERS IN WORK, or another country will buy up our land and put “restricted persons only resorts” on OUR LAND in OUR COUNTRY!!!
Protect Australia by buying Australian, please.

 

[Ricci]

We all know what we should be doing to save where we can on our groceries, but sometimes it's hard. The one thing I was advised to do is to do a normal weeks shop but go to the shops one day later each week. In other words buy for 7 days but make it last 8. Most of the time it's not too difficult as we might cook too much one day so have some for the next or at the end of the week you have a good cook up of everything left in the fridge, So, on week 1 you shop on a Monday, week 2 on a Tuesday and so on. Over a period of time you have saved a whole weeks shopping money.

 

[pammieg]

Love Golden circle pineapple pieces etc. support them!!!!! Pammieg