Menu plan

Food costs: A recipe for success

Food is one of our biggest and most regular expenses, so it makes sense to go in with a plan.

Benefits of a menu plan

Menu planning is where you write down and organise what food you need to feed your family or yourself for the week. 

Benefits include: 

• Makes writing a shopping list easier
• Helps ensure you;re eating a good variety of foods
• Saves you money
• Saves you time shopping
• Helps avoid food waste

Cooking up your menu plan

Aim for easy to cook, affordable meals. You'll find lots of budget friendly recipes on the internet. 

Activity: Menu Plan

Try to plan out a week's worth of meals using this template. 

Supermarket hacks

There are over 30,000 products in a supermarket – that’s a lot to tempt us! Supermarkets try to entice us to spend more with their store layout, advertising and packaging. Here are our hacks to reduce your supermarket spend:

• Stick to the plan: Plan your meals for at least the week and avoid extra trips to the supermarket.
• Listen to your list: Shopping with a list is the most effective way to control food costs.
• Go alone: Shopping on your own helps you stay focused and stick to your list.
• Stay in your lane: Don’t go down aisles you don’t need. Look out for products at the ends of aisles - they’re often more profitable for the supermarket and more expensive for you.
• Look high and low: Supermarkets put the products that make the largest profit margin at eye level. The bargains are found high and low.
• Fresh is best: Buying fruit and veg in season is cheaper. Consider shopping at your local farmers market or buying from local farms.
• Do the maths: Look at unit pricing - it’s the best way to compare the value of items. Buying bulk isn’t always the cheapest.
• Eat before you shop: This reduces impluse buys.
• Avoid checkout choccies: They put temptations like chocolates, lollies and magazines at the checkout to entice us bored and tired shoppers!
• Costly convenience: Snacks and convenience foods are generally the most expensive.
• Go local for a little: If you only need a few things, you may be better off at your local corner store instead of a big supermarket – but only buy what you need because prices are generally higher.