Results!

It’s official. The results are in. In less than a month of participating in this experiment, we have halved our grocery bill! Yes that’s right, halved it. How have I done it? Let me tell you…

The biggest savings have come from no longer buying convenient snack foods and frozen goods. Now, when I go to the supermarket I bypass all of the muesli bars, cookies, cakes, frozen chips, frozen veggies, and cake mixes. Instead I bake from scratch and make my own snacks for Hubby and Little Lady, cook fresh vegetables and make potato chips from actual potatoes. In fact, I got a lovely warm feeling when I looked into my trolley yesterday and realised that it was full of fresh produce and nothing else.

I no longer buy bread. Instead I make my own, saving myself at least $10 per week. That’s a lot to spend on bread, I know, but LL and I only eat the Country Life Rye, and Hubby will only eat Helgas or Abbots Village. So, I was spending at least $10-$12 per week on bread for all of us. Not anymore!

Buying my meat in bulk from the butcher has also helped with my savings. I gave an example the other week of how much you can save by not buying meat from the supermarket.

I’m also saving money on items like cheese, butter, and washing powder. I used to buy a small block of cheese for LL and a pack of grated cheese for Hubby and I. Now I simply buy a large block of cheese, and if we need grated cheese, I get out the cheese grater. I no longer buy butter for cooking and spreadable butter in a tub. Now, I simply buy block butter and put one block into a butter dish for toast etc. I’m also making my own laundry liquid, stay tuned for more details on this…

Overall, I am now saving $100 each week on my grocery bill. I am very proud of this achievement, but, as was pointed out by a lovely friend of mine yesterday, it is a scary thought how much money we were wasting every week, and how much rubbish we were eating every week. I have to admit, beside saving money, Hubby and I are feeling so much better now that we are eating more proper food.

Now, my goal is to only have to do a quick trip to the supermarket each week to buy essentials like milk, cheese, fruit and baking goods. Imagine how much money I’ll be saving when our veggie garden gets underway and I can get my fresh produce from my own backyard? Even better when we buy some chooks and I can have my own fresh eggs as well. I can’t wait!