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How to cut your food costs

Peter Barrett

From left: Pascale Pitot, Monique Kennedy and Mel Alexander order in bulk and share the food.
From left: Pascale Pitot, Monique Kennedy and Mel Alexander order in bulk and share the food.Eddie Jim

Jody Allen has never been a big spender. "I'm so tight I squeak when I walk," she laughs.

But recently the former secretary was forced to take saving money to a whole new level. "I was made redundant four years ago when I was due with my second baby. We were building a house at the time so it was a matter of necessity. If we wanted that house, we only had $50 [per week] to spend on groceries."

Callan Boys saved a bundle by buying ugly, unloved vegetables.
Callan Boys saved a bundle by buying ugly, unloved vegetables. Lily Ray/Imperfect Picks Harris Farm
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The lessons and insights Allen learned along the way have morphed into a successful website and two books (her latest is Live Well On Less). She is one of a growing online army of frugal-living advocates. Each has a slightly different take on how to save money on grocery shopping, but there are common themes.

Anyone keen to cut their weekly shopping bill should first, make an audit.

"On Sunday morning I will see what I've got in my fridge, what I've got in my freezer, what I've got in my pantry and what ingredients I need to buy in order to use up what's already in there."

Fiona Lippey, with Tristan, 4, Sam, 10, Elora, 2, and Jacqui, 8, has written 'The $21 Challenge' and runs the simplesavings.com.au.
Fiona Lippey, with Tristan, 4, Sam, 10, Elora, 2, and Jacqui, 8, has written 'The $21 Challenge' and runs the simplesavings.com.au.Michelle Smith

Then, draft a weekly meal plan based on what ingredients you already have. That way you'll avoid buying ingredients you don't need.

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Allen's other shopping tips include: avoid costly inside aisles of supermarkets and stick to outside aisles for staples; check for end-of-aisle-specials; and be wary of multi-pack special offers – often they can more expensive in terms of unit pricing.

"Some of the supermarkets are getting very sneaky like that," she warns.

Callan Boys found 101 ways to cook beef brisket.
Callan Boys found 101 ways to cook beef brisket.Ari Hatzis

Fellow Queenslander, Fiona Lippey, founder of simplesavings.com.au, stresses the importance of cooking from scratch, avoiding anything with overly fancy packaging, growing and using as many herbs as possible and stocking a range of fine oils such as macadamia, sesame and avocado to flavour simple foods.

She also recommends brokering deals with local shops for bulk purchases.

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"I went around all my local butchers and I found there was one who had high-quality meat but the cost was ridiculous. So I did a deal with him where I buy a box of eight chickens. He cuts them up and it works out 40 per cent cheaper than the supermarket, yet the quality is much higher."

Aldi became Michael Harry's new best friend.
Aldi became Michael Harry's new best friend. Bloomberg

New Zealand food writer, author and founder of destitutegourmet.com, Sophie Gray, says you have to start by buying only what's fresh and in season – something we all know. But she says if you are torn between quality food and the higher cost, you need to make a choices.

"It's about identifying the difference between an essential and a luxury. If buying the organic, free-range, free-farmed pork is absolutely essential to you there might be other things that end up having to become a luxury."

Another common theme for these frugal foodies is financial literacy. No need to panic, though, it's pretty basic stuff.

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Have a budget and stick to it.

"Make it a game," says Allen. "I think it's all about mentality. If you think it's hard, it's going to be hard. But I find it really good fun and every week I still think of more creative ways to save money. Run your household like you're running a business."

Good Food decided to take up the frugal foodie challenge. Three members of our team were given a week to reduce their shopping bills. This is what they learnt.

Cheap cuts and 'ugly' fruit

CALLAN BOYS

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I am not a thrifty shopper. Supermarket catalogues go straight the bin, meal planning is a foreign concept and I never, ever, buy in bulk.

I also live alone, with no children to support, and have disposable income I enjoy spending on beer, restaurants, comics, records and more beer. I could go through the Aldi catalogue each week and highlight the best discounts, but for what? Saving $10 that will just be spent on another round at the pub or new issue of Green Lantern?

There's been times when I've questioned this devil-may-care attitude to groceries. Maybe I SHOULD start planning meals week ahead. Maybe I should only buy caviar when it's on special. That Carlton and comic combo could become a Grange and graphic novel, with a bit of commitment.

For this frugal shopping assignment I wanted to find out if there is a way to save on my grocery bill without compromising taste, time and health. Turns out, yes, there is.

I present the ugly fruit, brisket, chicken diet. Appetising, isn't it?

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Harris Farm Markets has been rocking the Imperfect Pick campaign since September 2014 where any produce deemed "out of retail specification" (read: unattractive to consumers) is sold at a highly discounted price to its master-race siblings the aisle over.

Harris Farm isn't the only business rescuing imperfect picks on a large scale, either. Woolworths launched its "Odd Bunch" campaign in December, while French supermarket, Intermarche, and Portugal's Fruta Feia (Ugly Fruit) co-operative are flying the flag for pock-marked potatoes overseas.

It's a fantastic initiative. Farmers sell more produce, the consumer saves money and food waste is reduced. It also makes for cute signs, such as the one at Harris Farm for "Pudgy Packham Pears" that reads "Normally overlooked because they are a bit out-of-shape and lumpy. Who isn't? It's what's on the inside that counts."

Amen. Those pudgy, lumpy Packhams tasted excellent when poached and eaten with porridge and only cost me $1.69 a kilo as opposed to $2.99 a kilo for the "perfect" variety. There's even better value if you want to make a stew to last you through the week (as I tried to do) with "curly carrots" and "unshapely potatoes", both 99c a kilo instead of $2.49 and $2.99 respectively for the straight and shapely varieties.

It's the best way ot save money on fruit and vegies I can think of, if you can't grow your own. As for saving money on meat, best say goodbye to that $38 a kilo Cape Grim porterhouse and hello to $14.99 a kilo beef brisket.

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As much as I love a winter casserole made with chuck steak, I found out there's only so much gremolata in the world to make four days' worth of stew leftovers interesting, and brisket gets my primary vote for a secondary cut.

Thanks to its easily shreddable structure, the versatility of brisket is bigger than Texas. Braise it in beef stock with garlic and onion for a few hours, shred the living daylights out of it and let your creativity go nuts.

From $13 worth of brisket and torch-lit expeditions to the back of the pantry, I made seven different meals for one person over five days. If you have brisket, flour and vegetable oil, you have chimichangas. If you have butter, brisket and bread you have Texan jaffles. With a can of tomatoes in the mix you have a (very) rough ragu and, with a handful of rice and kidney beans, you have a bowl of, er, brisket, rice and kidney beans.

I could happily live on this low-budget spaghetti western diet week in, week out, but I'm certain brisket every day does not keep the doctor away. I figured I needed healthier choice to mix things up, so I bought a chicken.

A free-range chook on special cost $7 and it ended up having more legs than the brisket. After the initial roast dinner with more "ugly" spuds and carrots, there was still three sandwiches' worth of shredded meat for work lunches.

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I used the carcass to make a nutritious stock with water, spring onions, ginger and garlic, and it became a canvas for soup-making over the next four nights. I filled it with seasonal vegies and Mi Goreng instant noodles, but use whatever you like, really, and pretend you're the MacGyver​ of the kitchen or Aristos, the Surprise Chef (#bringbackAristos).

What I learnt: Setting yourself challenges to see how many ways you can use a vegetable or cut of meat keeps frugality interesting.

What I'll keep: The instant noodle seasoning packets to add to fried chicken batter at a later date. Will also keep purchasing as much imperfect fruit and vegies as possible.

Top saver tip: Waste not, spend not.

Worst idea: Thinking I could live on stew for a week.

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Bulk buying through a food co-op

JANE HOLROYD

It's a nippy evening and I'm sitting in a stranger's living room with nine other women debating the merits of raw versus castor sugar; which is more versatile? It's an important consideration when you're buying in bulk.

These women are part of a neighbourhood food co-op in Melbourne's Coburg North. The group, with about 20 members in total, has been getting together regularly for eight years to order food and other household goods direct from producers and organic wholesalers, saving on price, packaging and food miles.

The co-op members purchase roughly $12,000 worth of products from their main supplier, Victoria's Pure Harvest, each year. Their quarterly orders cover pantry staples such as rice, oats and flour, niche products such as almond milk, coconut oil, tamari and apple cider vinegar, and eco-friendly cleaning and hygiene products.

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While they still make supermarket trips for some products, their collective buying power means they can purchase organic, often fair-trade and sustainable products at prices much lower than retail.

A kilo of Australian-grown organic oats costs a member of Mel's group $2.80. Coles sells non-organic oats for $3 per kilo at its online store, but a comparable product in the health aisle costs $10.08 per kilo.

Saving money is just one motivating factor for members of this co-op. At tonight's meeting, the group decides to order 51 boxes of toilet paper (2448 rolls) from a company that donates 50 per cent of profits to sanitation projects in developing countries.

My personal experience of bulk-buying has so far been limited to fresh produce. For the past five years I've been getting most of my fruit and vegetables from CERES Fair Food program. Last week my "small" box consisted of 9.2kg of organic, mostly Victorian-sourced cauliflower, kale, Fuji apples, broccoli, pumpkin, carrots, mandarins, onions, potatoes, beetroots, cucumbers and bananas.

Most Fair Food members pay $37.50 for the small box, but because I act as a neighbourhood "food host" – offering up my front porch as a delivery and collection point – I pay $28.13.

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I work out the same weight and range of produce from Coles and Woolworths, though non-organic, would have cost $36.79 and $33.17 respectively at this week's prices. But the same box would have cost a whopping $67.89 at one Melbourne-based online retailer specialising in organics.

Participating in Fair Food's bulk scheme gives me access to fresh, organic produce at prices I could not otherwise afford. The catch, of course, is that I don't get to choose the weekly mix of fruit and vegetables I receive.

I also get fresh milk, eggs and spelt flour delivered through CERES Fair Food, but after gate-crashing Mel Alexander's food co-op, I find I could be getting organic wholemeal spelt for $3.58 per kilo, compared to CERES' price of $17.95 for 3kg (or $5.98/kg).

However, no one else in Mel's group is much interested in spelt flour, and the minimum wholesale order from Pure Harvest is 22.68kg. I think of weevils, and pass.

Herein lies the rub with food co-ops; while the savings can be considerable, you need to find like-minded members with similar values and tastes. The minimum order to qualify for wholesale prices through Sydney-based Honest To Goodness is $500, and many goods are only available in bulk quantities.

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While hesitant to give out figures, Honest To Goodness deals with co-ops or "buyer's groups" right across Australia, most of them in Sydney and regional New South Wales. Managing director Matt Ward says members are attracted not just by price savings but by environmental and nutritional considerations.

"A lot of our co-ops are regionally based in areas not serviced by independent or specialty health food stores. Members also often favour larger-format bulk packaging that is difficult to merchandise in a typical shopfront, but is easy to divide and share amongst members."

Running a co-op successfully requires high levels of communication and administration (many set up ordering software and bank accounts) and someone to volunteer a delivery point and storage space. Ragna Gilmour from the Nourishing Source co-op in Sydney's lower north shore says many groups form from existing networks, such as mothers' groups or schools.

What I learnt: Joining a food co-op for both fruit and vegetables and for dry goods is a great way to save money, particularly on organics and niche products. As a bonus, you'll meet like-minded folk in your neighbourhood and may establish direct relationships with producers.

What I'll keep: I'll continue hosting a fruit and vegetable co-op from my porch and sign up to a local co-op for dry goods, for staples such as organic oats, almond milk, rice and spelt flour.

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Top saver tip: Buy your organic fruit and vegetables through a bulk seasonal box scheme.

Worst idea: Unless you're in a big, well-established co-op with multiple suppliers, you probably won't be able to get everything you need. You'll also need plenty of suitable storage space for large sacks of dry goods, such as flour and rice. I might pass on the 100 rolls of toilet paper!

LINKS

http://www.goodness.com.au/Food-co-op-buying-group/

http://www.ceresfairfood.org.au/

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http://www.pureharvest.com.au/

The weekly shop

MICHAEL HARRY

I've always wanted to do one of those "My Day on a Plate" questionnaires. You know, the one where Pete Evans immortalised activated almonds, or that juice company executive ate nothing but chia seeds for a whole day?

My day on a plate would be more like this: no breakfast, three strong lattes, a bain-marie curry, a slice of miscellaneous office cake, 11 canapes and four Peronis at an after-work function, and a "second dinner" of cheese on toast eaten in front of the microwave at 10.30pm. Activate that.

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Being asked to halve my food bill was confronting because it forced me to admit I don't really know what my food bill is.

I'm a 33-year-old single bloke who lives in the city, so it's more economical to drop $9.95 on some boiled pork dumplings than to visit the market with a cane basket and spend $16 on biodynamic fennel that will only go off in my crisper.

My aim was to cook every meal at home for a week, and I soon realised the city supermarket chain on the way home is not frugally priced – it's like shopping at a giant 7-11. An avocado is $4. A block of cheese, $9. I had to get real. Where else to go but Aldi?

My big shop cost me $78, a good deal less than the branded equivalent. One thing, though – not all Aldi items are created equal. Marinated feta, dried pasta, chocolate, sauces; all great. Fresh vegies; you can do better. My advice is to download the mobile app, so you can track what's on special, as it's updated every Wednesday and Saturday.

The best way for a worker bee like me to save money is to bring your own lunch, and stop buying $4 coffees. I can easily spend $100 on food-court dross in an average week, but bringing in leftovers and drinking tea from our kitchenette cut that spend by 80 per cent.

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I learnt my financial food woes are largely the result of poor planning, and I can easily halve my bill if I'm willing to think ahead about my day on a plate and not spontaneously graze through the week like a man-child. Everything in moderation – especially canapes.

What I learnt: Planning ahead is key.

What I'll keep: The big weekly shop.

Top saver tip: Aldi's mobile app.

Worst idea: Grocery shopping in the CBD.

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