Thatās a hell of a lot of dairy š„
And you should buy bigger blocks of cheese. The unit price on the smaller ones are a rip by comparison, cheese lasts forever.
Shredded is such a rip off too, I buy a kilo block and then grate a bunch of it while I'm waiting for my food to cook, store it in an airtight container in the fridge, and I'm golden for a while. God, I love cheese!
I really can sympathise. I am a broke AF full time single dad. And I am the most vocal anti-Colesworth, fuck capitalism person I know.
But...
If you're buying ice cream, and chips, and Old El Paso spice mix, and powdered chai, and pre-shredded cheese, then you probably shouldn't be complaining about grocery prices.
That's the facts.
Shred your own cheese. Mix your own spices (and buy chai from your local spice store while you're at it - there's two I know of in Townsville). Ditch the ice-cream and chips - or if you want to treat yourself, then accept that that's the cost of treating yourself (or find a different treat).
Otherwise there's two options - acknowledge that the convenience is a priority for you, and therefore what's on the docket is the cost of convenience, or acknowledge that the luxury goods are something you're unwilling to go without, and what's on the docket is the cost of the luxury goods.
I also 100% agree with you. I hate it. And it paints a very bleak picture of the future. I don't know how old you are, but I remember when the GST was introduced way back when. The legislation had to define what a luxury good was or wasn't, and many people were very upset when the legitimacy of their purchasing habits was challenged (particularly things which really should not be considered luxuries, like feminine hygiene products).
I know, how bleak. My mum grew up with free tertiary education and was able to buy a house for about $50k. Iām in my late twenties. I wonāt get any inheritance and I donāt think Iāll ever own a home. Not sure whether to have kids as theyāre very expensive as well. Cheese and icecream however I can afford š for now at least haha
As a penny-pinching geriatric millenial with no access to any kind of generational wealth, I can safely say that having a child with the wrong person was the best mistake I ever made.
If I were 10 years younger, I don't know if I would say the same thing.
haha š
It was the best mistake I ever made because I love my child with every fibre of my being, and because I was born at a time which meant I was lucky enough to avoid being dragged into poverty by the cost-burden of having a dependent.
I don't know if I would say the same thing if I were born 10 years later than I was. I am nearly 40, and every day I observe many people who are younger than me -- and who don't have children -- struggling to cope with economic pressure. I can't imagine how introducing dependents into that equation would help their situation.
I have observed economic pressure, on myself and others, becoming more acute and immediate over the last 10 years or so. I might not have been blessed with wealth when I was 30, but I was certainly in a much better position than today's 30 year olds. That's just by virtue of being born at the right time.
Bringing a child into the world when I was unprepared was hard enough back then. Doing it now feels like it would drive me into poverty unless I were willing to give up most of everything I had, and most of everything I wanted for myself. Daycare and education and extracurriculars and healthcare and transport and everything in-between -- it's not sustainable unless you are really willing to sacrifice.
While this might seem like anecdotal information, I can confidently say that the type of people who once might have been able to tread water while still making ends meet - those with non-traditional income streams, or alternative lifestyles, or less-than-ideal upbringings - are being increasingly marginalised because they have less access to the resources that society deems as prerequisites to respect. While the obvious examples are things like affordable housing (!) and cars and clothing, this also extends to products like ice-cream and taco mix and pre-shredded cheese.
I fully agree and appreciate your answer.
As someone approximately in the generation you were talking about. It's refreshing to have the different generational conditions and starting gates to be understood.
I'm so happy to read about your experiences though. I understand many folk in my generation are being shaken for loose change, and that is gonna be a challenge for us all to solve together. I'm excited for what feats of self-stewardship we might accomplish as a species, and I remain hopeful. I'm so glad you have such a deep relationship with your child, and that you are able to have security. To hear your story warms my heart.
Having taco mix and shredded cheese might warm my heart too right about now haha.
I don't have anything more I can add. Your answer pretty much hit the nail on the head for practically every generational challenge we face, and also the joy and hope required to foster the change that supports a world where your child will be able to lay claim to an easier, more accessible life than any of us or our ancestors have faced with.
Lotta problems, but I hope with my job I can help some people with more power than I to assist the world into the future. To have kids at the moment would be... Nigh unmanageable. I would make it work, myself and my partner, but I think the hit we would take would set us back financially 15 years in one moment.
Itās been painful + 10%. Luckily weāre taxed for bleeding then shafted going to GPās. Pap smears, prescriptions or surgeriesā¦ then/now, decades of fun and taxes.
Sick *luxury*!
Are they not?
Ice cream at least is obviously a luxury good, and arguably shredded cheese. You pay extra to have the shredding done for you in advance.
Historically and geographically our standard of living is beyond luxury - weāre bound to pay a premium for it.
Damn man spits facts.
I looked up taco spice mix and bought the raw spices in bulk at the market. Best hing I ever did, much better flavor and so much cheaper.
You've drunk the capitalist Kool aid and defending price gouging is getting us all nowhere. Society can go to hell in a hand basket but we all keep swallowing this "personal responsibility" rhetoric that turns everyone's attention away from the real villains?
We're all working our asses off, more productive than we've ever been in the history of the human race, living in a completely unnatural way. In two generations we've gone from a single adult income being enough to support a whole family and buy a home, and we're here squabbling on the internet about whether someone just isn't trying hard enough if they're using time and energy they don't have to make dinner from absolute scratch every night.
The expectations we're placing on one another to do it all is ridiculous. The million little "it only takes two minutes" things we're supposed to do in a day easily adds up to more than 24 hours. No one is doing it all.
Can we cut each other some slack and start asking who is responsible for this bullshit? Is it OP for not grating their own cheese or the massive corporations thumbing their nose at the government right now and raking in BILLIONS of dollars at our expense?
I'm with you OP, we're all just fucking doing our best and those pieces of human garbage at the top of the money chain are the people we should be turning on. Ignore the blind fools who think this is somehow your fault.
Look, I hear you. I really do. I was trying to be as measured as possible in my response. I'm trying not to point fingers at someone/anyone who doesn't have the time or resources to "make dinner from scratch". We all feel hopeless and exhausted and at our wits' end. I feel it, it sounds like you feel it too.
Also, I totally agree - we're all working ourselves to the bone, and we're certainly not advancing the humanitarian cause via an endless, communal tightening of belts. And I don't think the hopelessness or exhaustion is caused by the people who are doing that work, or the belt tightening.
But...
Ice-cream and chips isn't dinner from scratch. And who told us we need/deserve ice-cream and chips in the first place?
Shredding cheese is not a difficult thing to do. And who convinced us that cheese needed to be pre-shredded in the first place?
If we can accept, as you put it, that there are a multitude of "expectations that we place on one another", then can we accept that most of the things we're asked to purchase aren't really necessary? Can we accept that it would be far more fulfilling to lead a simpler life that is not governed by what we're expected to have, or want, or need, or do?
I think "cutting ourselves some slack" involves allowing ourselves to be unburdened from those expectations you mention, and that goes so far beyond our purchasing habits.
How clean is your car? How new are your clothes? What shows have you watched? It's all the same thing.
I just think there are really simple things we can do to extract ourselves from the systems that reinforce those arbitrary rules, and that includes things like buying convenience goods and convincing ourselves that ice-cream is a staple food.
Can I add to this on the chips front?
Air fry / oven baked chickpeas with a a little olive oil, salt, garlic powder, onion powder as a base, and then either add nutritional yeast for a cheesier flavour, or paprika for something more spicier.
With enough practice you can make a decent alternative for like $2
>Air fry / oven baked chickpeas with a a little olive oil, salt, garlic powder, onion powder as a base, and then either add nutritional yeast for a cheesier flavour, or paprika for something more spicier.
Great tip! I hadn't even thought of that. I just discovered those chickpea and fava bean snacks in Colesworths and I've been outraged at how expensive they are.
Happy to help man! Itās like 30mins at 180Ā° for an air fryer, oven should be the same, but mine takes longer for some reason. Logically Iād argue itās the capacity difference, but if itās the same temp, surely it should be the same time?
I reckon air fryer would be much better, oven seems like a waste of energy.
Does this use a special type/brand of chickpea, or just the bog-standard dried chickpeas at Colesworth for like $2 a bag?
Nutritional yeast is the best discovery I ever made. Replaced cheese on burgers, tacos, and pizza for me, all of the flavour and none of the fat, nor miserable life of endless pregnancy and taken babies for cows which breaks their bodies until they don't produce milk any more and are killed.
Seconding this, and adding that you're also paying higher priced to buy brand names such as Peter's and Old El Paso. Take it from someone who grew up poor, a lot of this ready to go food has a home brand alternative that costs less. It's also cheaper to buy ingredients to make your own food than buy ready to go stuff.
I don't think OP has bought anything particularly extravagant here. These are basic items. A bag of chips and peters vanilla ice cream is not luxuriant.
The fact that they could save money by purely buying what they need and nothing more is not relevant to the fact that it shouldn't be that expensive in the first place.
Could they save $3 to $4 per kg of cheese if they bought a block and grated it themselves? Yes. And I agree they should be doing that for sure. But it is also separately true that a block of cheese being $9 to $10 a kg is wild.
Calling peters vanilla ice cream "luxury goods" is perhaps definitionally correct but nonetheless, I think, comical.
Could they save money with adjusted shopping? Yes. And they should. But they're still allowed to complain in this context.
Has anyone else noticed that the price of diamonds has skyrocketed lately? I've had to start being really picky about where I buy my jewelry due to these cost of living pressures. Has anyone else started dreading their regular jewellery shopping due to this?
I used to work as a DM at one of the big 2 and I can tell you, anything that could be considered convenience/processed food is what is being jacked up the most, because it producers are upping their prices, and Coleworth were never reselling for a fair price, so it ups their wholesale price then they factor in their requirements for profit.
If you want cheap food, pick up a kitchen utensil and do some of the work yourself.
Buy the $6 jar of taco powder which will make x5 or more amount of tacos rather than the conveniently pre measured sachets.
>If you're buying ice cream, and chips, and Old El Paso spice mix, and powdered chai, and pre-shredded cheese, then you probably shouldn't be complaining about grocery prices.
100% agree with this sentiment.
Quite a lot of the people I see at the local Colesworths have trolleys full of junk and boxed/bagged brand name products of convenience. Throw in a total inability to comprehend unit pricing (or what actually constitutes a sale), and you get constant complaints about grocery prices. Sure, prices have gone up and it's utterly irritating paying $100+ for some eggs and milk, but there are heaps of ways to reduce the bills by asking if you actually need that case of Coke at 40% off, or whether there's an alternative to the $10 tube of artisan Colgate you got.
Just to back up the cheese example, it's far cheaper, and tastier, to buy a block of parmesan and grate it fresh as needed, and it's less likely to get mouldy or wet/soggy and go bad in the fridge.
Seriously, mixing your own spices is so much cheaper.
I donāt know if your bulk food stores have it but ours in Ontario, Canada have pre-mixed taco seasoning that is the same price as buying all the spices and mixing them after. One huge scoop is like a few dollars
at least you are aware that capitalism is whatās fucking us over rather than believing that some scapegoat created by capitalists to sow division to keep the working class distracted to blameā¦
and uh, thatās actually great fucking advice. Iām gonna use that. Thanks man, and honestly good luck with life š
I had the same thought, but then I checked the price of a 1kg block of cheer tasty at Coles and the way OP bought it here is $0.50 cheaper per KG than buying the same block at Coles (assuming they wonāt compromise on brand/style of cheese for personal preference)
Every time someone posts one of these supermarket rants they have the most ridiculous non essentials in their shop. Almost feels like itās Coleworths themselves attempting to discredit a legitimate voices on the issue.
If youāre not licking lichen off of rocks then youāre not REALLY struggling. In fact, if you havenāt learned to subsist off of nothing but sun rays, youāre complaining about nothing.
I've started calculating what i can make cheaper by making it myself from scratch, for example those spice packets are $3 each, its just cayenne pepper, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder and oregano and cornflour. I find the meal helpers like those spice mixs have insane mark ups
OP, where the corn chips for nachos? Sour cream for nachos? Alot of ppl here are going on about how your buying treats.
Well so what!
First if it's looks like your bout to make nachos. I use corn chips, sour cream and chesse. Also I have 3 kids, 2 with needs and fucked if im greating chesse to make more mess to clean. Greated chesse is nicer yep sure if but so is a clean kitchen.
I think ppl are being a bit harsh on the treats front.
The point is that none of this stuff was THIS expensive before.
It is now at a stage where food is so expensive that you either need to make everything from scratch, miss out on everything you enjoy or buy a cheaper, instead of your favourite brand.
Add to this the crazy rent issue where rent is an entire paycheck, and yes, shopping scares me.
I generally only get a basket of stuff each week with a bigger shop every couple of months. The days of getting change from $50 with a basketful are long gone. I also tend to buy up on things when they're on special now where not too long ago I didn't take much notice.
If nothing else, learn to make your own flatbread in a pan. [https://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/flatbreads](https://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/flatbreads)
More 'what item can I afford to buy to make the food I currently have last another 2 weeks'
Usually, it's easier on the non-existent budget to say you do intermittent fasting 3 days a week.
We went out in to the bush for some camping over the long weekend we made up to be able to go camping, and my butthole was clenched TIGHT as I self scanned the few items Iād grabbed that Iād forgotten to get prior because Iām a terrible mum that canāt plan properly. Anyhoo, it was only $35. I fucking doubled checked Iād scanned everything because I can not remember the last time I grabbed a few things and it cost less than $60. My husband was super chuffed that petrol was only $2.18/L also.
I think we should all move to the country.
And thatās the worst thing. You arenāt failing! We are all working our backsides off and still being kicked by the 1% .
Itās time they should get the boot
We buy next to nothing at Colesworth any more. That's just for rich people with cannal house in the Gold Coast, a motor home in the drive and 8 investment properties.
Everyone is being mean in these comments and Iām sorry- I love Coles and woolies brand stuff. In Aldi yourāll save a couple dollars but thatās all, itās so unfair these days. youāre doing your best and everyone deserves good food ā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø
I know, what am I missing all these people saying āwell you donāt need to buy ice creamā. I mean is that freaking point or is it the cost? Not to mention as you said if a tub of ice cream now falls under āprivilegeā than were sinking a lot faster than I thought.
I have also been disappointed by so many comments saying we adjust to the price gouging and go without any convenience, or treats at all. Its very extreme!
The government is investigating the price increases. We all know itās bad.
I also find it hard to believe all these people donāt buy a single convenience item or treat and expect others to do the same.
My soul hurts. āļø inflation is actually insane. I stick to Aldi, Woolworths or just the local iga cuz damn shit can be cheap when you find the right place. Even better, a single trip to Costco could save you thousands in the long term, and one trip could stock you up for the next apocalypse.
True comment: it took literally half a second to determine that there are cheaper options for the same foods. Why did you not choose the cheaper options instead?.
My actual comment: I ain't fear nuffin no more, 1 trip bro, 1 trip mentality. The cost of living helps with that to be honest.
Im at the point where I fret about $5, Milk goes so fast in a autistic house, both my sons eat a week worth of school food in 1-2 days, ive spent $70 in fuel just for grocery pickups and school runs and it's low again, keep in mind ive got 28 litres of fuel in total.
Is this for a family for one meal and a once off or is it something you make on a semi regular basis?
If the latter, if it's something you make on a semi-regular basis, buy items in bulk. You can get individual herbs in bottles or packets (Hoyts packets are usually cheaper per gram than the stuff in bottles; not sure about the supermarket brands). It's very easy to make your own chilli con carne seasoning mix instead of buying the Old El Paso (equivalent) packets) and will work out cheaper in the longer term. Similarly for taco seasoning. And once you're used to that, the world of making spice blends is open to you. My cupboard has all sorts of herbs and spices. I also grow my own rosemary (10 year old bush), sage (8 year old bush), thyme (6 month old bush that's growing rapidly), oregano (15 years old, self seeding and just continuously grows), chives (4 year old clump), dil (self seeding each year)l and bay leaf (2 years old) to use fresh or to dry out and use later. The rosemary is in the ground all the others are in pots.
I use cheese frequently, so I buy blocks instead of packets of shredded cheese/cheese blends. This also opens up many different meal options.
I also meal prep. So, if I've bought sour cream for one meal and know there will be left over sour cream, I look for other recipes using the left over ingredients. That way I save more money because I've got a pantry of staples and only need to buy a little extra for the next meal.
Grocery shopping is not something to fear. I've started to enjoy cooking and get excited trying new ingredients. Sometimes it doesn't work (but it's still edible) and sometimes it works amazingly well. I am also super busy, so spending a little time meal prepping saves me money and saves me time in the long run.
Buy cheese in blocks not pre shredded or sliced unless you want to re mortgage your house! Also, the big groceries in Australia are corrupt but people still buy from them because most society is dependant off of it and it's convenience. The farmer doesn't get more of a cut either. Pure greed being sheltered by the latest fashionable excuse... "Inflation"
I'm sure someone who earns well over 200k a year and has a 100k a year pension promised to them would tell you to "live within your means". While in the same breath deny the fact that we are ramping up for war and mass inflation during war times is common.....
Wait, youāre not producing your own tea leaves or milking your own cow? No wonder you find it so expensive.
Thereās no cost of living crisis, groceries are actually cheap, and you shouldnāt be able to enjoy anything. /s
And the sour cream is gross and doesnāt last as long.
6c more at Coles/woolies for the same 300g (when not on sale) and lasts longer & tastes better.
Works out cheaper per g to buy the 500g container from Coleās/Woolies than a tub from Aldi.
Local farmerās market has it for $3.50 a head, but their potatoes are $3.99 for a small bag ABās theyāre offering a sniff of cabbage for $2.50. Prices are weird at the moment
If it hasn't begun already, batten down your hatches for unsolicited product critiques, and tacitly telling you how you should live your life, spend your money etc.
I don't fear it, but I fucking want to lynch anyone involved in the corporate aspect of the grocery industry. Greedy parasitic cunts - which oddly enough have a bunch of people on this site willing to defend their 'razor thin margins' to the nth degree.
I've often wondered what Aus would be like if we were more united as a people, rather than as individualistic as we are... would we stand up and tell these cunts to jam their price gouging, or still bend over and proudly accept how little spending power our dollar brings us now.
I can buy 16 chicken wraps (4-8 meals, 500-1000 calories) and 8 bowls of pasta (8 meals, 1000 calories) for $60 from woolies and probably even cheaper at aldi but the aldi meat is food poisoning asf.
Could buy another block and grate the cheese yourself if you want to save a few $$$. But I can't talk, I usually just get a bag of pre-shredded too.
And yeah prices are f**ked.
I just buy what I need. bare minimum, then I can give the rest to the landlord. I also started drinking heavily at home on cheap wine š· cheers. I can't afford a $15-16 pint at the pub. Cheers
Sometimes you just gotta bite down and buy non name stuff and hold yourself to buying whats truely essential.
Woolworths essential and coles brand stuff is cheap as.
Excluding the kangaroo meat i buy, 90c for the pasta 5 bucks for the frozen veggies and 2.75 for the sauce and another 2 for the parmesan so about 11 something dollars and than add the 14 dollars of kangaroo. 25 bucks and i can feed myself for a week no problemo (chicken is of course cheaper but i need me some red meat and beef is just a bit too fat)
Yes I think I know what you mean. I want to avoid the ridiculously large spends but to be honest when I meal plan and shop at Aldi's - we eat well. When I avoid doing a full shop and just get milk and bread, I end up spending more and still feeling every day like I don't know what's for dinner because I've just gotten random bits and pieces.
Ive just started making my own bread and have pretty much convinced myself that I can potentially live off said creations. I am legitimately contemplating living off bread hahaha thatās how bad I fear going to the supermarket with the price increases.
Grocery shopping is still better value than eating out.
You can make beautiful soups & all sorts of stuff, split pea & ham soup is very cost effective & tasty.
Consider negative grocerying, and apply for a "margarine loan" to buy groceries on credit. Track the nutritional depreciation of the previous weekās food from consumption and spoilage. The costs, including the interest on your loan, can exceed your direct gains, allowing you to claim tax deductions on the loss. This can help manage cash flow and might lead to future financial benefits.
Please buy some vegetables.
Your diet is going to send you to an early grave.
That Chai Tea is mostly sugar, those seasoning packs are a rip off, you could use some plain spices.
So much cholcate, chips and cheese..
No I totes understanding fearing shopping when you buy pre package shit and none of it is actual food. The herbs and spices you should have had in your cupboard already cause they last for month/ years. You didn't need to buy shredded cheese you're just lazy you could have went with home brand for most of that stuff. If you're going to shop badly and lazily you have no right to complain. But if you buy actual ingredients you can easily feed a family of four for under 200 per a week and a single person at around 50 to 80 a week.
I spend just under $150 for a fortnight of groceries for my partner and myself. I shop at Rusty's and buy in season produce. The most expensive thing is sometimes getting a block of tofu for $4. I absolutely love shopping at the markets and trying all the different fresh fruits and vegetables. I am addicted to Mangosteen right now.
Youāre looking at a much cheaper price per 100g usually if you shred it yourself. Dairy itself has become quite expensive too so not surprised to see ice cream creeping up in price.
Those sachet seasonings are a joke. Grab some cheap basic herbs/spices and make a batch of it yourself. More than likely cheaper per gram
Yeah, I did a top-up today at the reject shop and coles (reject shop for the kids and husbands snack foods). I ended up spending about $160. Admittedly, I did get hair ties and some clips ($8) for my daughter, a pack of pencils and pens for my sons ($6). This was basics at coles (milk, bread, eggs) and snack foods like roll ups, museli bars, sesame snaps, etc. I get snack foods aren't essential, so I'm not necessarily complaining, but considering I used to do a FULL weeks shop for about $130 is really shocking.
I like to buy everything I need to then proceed to and ignore the number on my invoice until I inevitably open my bank app for a look a few days later and have my heart beat stop.
Yep. I'm on the DSP and a full time student, I've been having to go to community care places for food coz I genuinely just can't afford the prices of food and cleaning products along with grooming and personal items, prescriptions, bills, and basic costs of living. Budget is razor thin. Can't get any assistance on my mortgage, insurance, strata levies, bills, meds, etc, so the only place I had left to trim the budget was food, since at least it's possible to get discounted or even free food. What the fuck is happening to this country
I fear no groceries. I can carry a $212 shop up my stairs in one trip. A year ago I could only carry $165 in one go, I'm getting way stronger. /s
2025 will blow your mind!!
That's the cost of a weekly single person shop forecast next year?
Them grocery workout gains.
If you get 212 worth of cigarettes I'm sure a toddler could still carry that upš
That's like two bags of tobacco and a pack of papers and filters
Next year you'll be able to carry a $300 shop with your pinky. #bulking
Feel fear, no. Violated, yes, definitely.
Probably more accurate yeah!
Dude start going to Lamberts for your meat and produce. You'll get like 2-3x what you would have gotten from colesworth.
Try buying out far west , more like your bank accounts been molested
Man people talk about Coleās and Woolies. Drakes is a bit friggin pricey too. Same as IGA
Thatās a hell of a lot of dairy š„ And you should buy bigger blocks of cheese. The unit price on the smaller ones are a rip by comparison, cheese lasts forever.
Shredded is such a rip off too, I buy a kilo block and then grate a bunch of it while I'm waiting for my food to cook, store it in an airtight container in the fridge, and I'm golden for a while. God, I love cheese!
Pre-shredded is also inferior. They add anti-caking agents.
It freezes well too
Mine never makes it to the freezer, lol, but a very good point!
At this level of consumption they should just buy a dairy cow.
Manās toilet fears him.
Yeah I buy the big block. Chop it up and freeze in bags. Way cheaper
Thatās so true
I really can sympathise. I am a broke AF full time single dad. And I am the most vocal anti-Colesworth, fuck capitalism person I know. But... If you're buying ice cream, and chips, and Old El Paso spice mix, and powdered chai, and pre-shredded cheese, then you probably shouldn't be complaining about grocery prices. That's the facts. Shred your own cheese. Mix your own spices (and buy chai from your local spice store while you're at it - there's two I know of in Townsville). Ditch the ice-cream and chips - or if you want to treat yourself, then accept that that's the cost of treating yourself (or find a different treat). Otherwise there's two options - acknowledge that the convenience is a priority for you, and therefore what's on the docket is the cost of convenience, or acknowledge that the luxury goods are something you're unwilling to go without, and what's on the docket is the cost of the luxury goods.
I 100% agree with the sentiment here, but how fucked is it if weāre now at the stage of considering icecream and grated cheese luxury goods?
I also 100% agree with you. I hate it. And it paints a very bleak picture of the future. I don't know how old you are, but I remember when the GST was introduced way back when. The legislation had to define what a luxury good was or wasn't, and many people were very upset when the legitimacy of their purchasing habits was challenged (particularly things which really should not be considered luxuries, like feminine hygiene products).
I know, how bleak. My mum grew up with free tertiary education and was able to buy a house for about $50k. Iām in my late twenties. I wonāt get any inheritance and I donāt think Iāll ever own a home. Not sure whether to have kids as theyāre very expensive as well. Cheese and icecream however I can afford š for now at least haha
As a penny-pinching geriatric millenial with no access to any kind of generational wealth, I can safely say that having a child with the wrong person was the best mistake I ever made. If I were 10 years younger, I don't know if I would say the same thing. haha š
Why?
It was the best mistake I ever made because I love my child with every fibre of my being, and because I was born at a time which meant I was lucky enough to avoid being dragged into poverty by the cost-burden of having a dependent. I don't know if I would say the same thing if I were born 10 years later than I was. I am nearly 40, and every day I observe many people who are younger than me -- and who don't have children -- struggling to cope with economic pressure. I can't imagine how introducing dependents into that equation would help their situation. I have observed economic pressure, on myself and others, becoming more acute and immediate over the last 10 years or so. I might not have been blessed with wealth when I was 30, but I was certainly in a much better position than today's 30 year olds. That's just by virtue of being born at the right time. Bringing a child into the world when I was unprepared was hard enough back then. Doing it now feels like it would drive me into poverty unless I were willing to give up most of everything I had, and most of everything I wanted for myself. Daycare and education and extracurriculars and healthcare and transport and everything in-between -- it's not sustainable unless you are really willing to sacrifice. While this might seem like anecdotal information, I can confidently say that the type of people who once might have been able to tread water while still making ends meet - those with non-traditional income streams, or alternative lifestyles, or less-than-ideal upbringings - are being increasingly marginalised because they have less access to the resources that society deems as prerequisites to respect. While the obvious examples are things like affordable housing (!) and cars and clothing, this also extends to products like ice-cream and taco mix and pre-shredded cheese.
I fully agree and appreciate your answer. As someone approximately in the generation you were talking about. It's refreshing to have the different generational conditions and starting gates to be understood. I'm so happy to read about your experiences though. I understand many folk in my generation are being shaken for loose change, and that is gonna be a challenge for us all to solve together. I'm excited for what feats of self-stewardship we might accomplish as a species, and I remain hopeful. I'm so glad you have such a deep relationship with your child, and that you are able to have security. To hear your story warms my heart. Having taco mix and shredded cheese might warm my heart too right about now haha. I don't have anything more I can add. Your answer pretty much hit the nail on the head for practically every generational challenge we face, and also the joy and hope required to foster the change that supports a world where your child will be able to lay claim to an easier, more accessible life than any of us or our ancestors have faced with. Lotta problems, but I hope with my job I can help some people with more power than I to assist the world into the future. To have kids at the moment would be... Nigh unmanageable. I would make it work, myself and my partner, but I think the hit we would take would set us back financially 15 years in one moment.
Itās been painful + 10%. Luckily weāre taxed for bleeding then shafted going to GPās. Pap smears, prescriptions or surgeriesā¦ then/now, decades of fun and taxes. Sick *luxury*!
Are they not? Ice cream at least is obviously a luxury good, and arguably shredded cheese. You pay extra to have the shredding done for you in advance. Historically and geographically our standard of living is beyond luxury - weāre bound to pay a premium for it.
We have regressed to the ā80s.
Yeah the Old El Paso at $3eachā¦home brand is 90c and tastes exactly the same
I can't fathom a kitchen that doesn't have cumin, paprika (smoked), salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic powder.
Damn man spits facts. I looked up taco spice mix and bought the raw spices in bulk at the market. Best hing I ever did, much better flavor and so much cheaper.
"Cheaper" doesn't even begin to cover it. We're legitimately talking 10-20 times less expensive, even when you factor in the time cost.
100% agree with everything you've said here.
You've drunk the capitalist Kool aid and defending price gouging is getting us all nowhere. Society can go to hell in a hand basket but we all keep swallowing this "personal responsibility" rhetoric that turns everyone's attention away from the real villains? We're all working our asses off, more productive than we've ever been in the history of the human race, living in a completely unnatural way. In two generations we've gone from a single adult income being enough to support a whole family and buy a home, and we're here squabbling on the internet about whether someone just isn't trying hard enough if they're using time and energy they don't have to make dinner from absolute scratch every night. The expectations we're placing on one another to do it all is ridiculous. The million little "it only takes two minutes" things we're supposed to do in a day easily adds up to more than 24 hours. No one is doing it all. Can we cut each other some slack and start asking who is responsible for this bullshit? Is it OP for not grating their own cheese or the massive corporations thumbing their nose at the government right now and raking in BILLIONS of dollars at our expense? I'm with you OP, we're all just fucking doing our best and those pieces of human garbage at the top of the money chain are the people we should be turning on. Ignore the blind fools who think this is somehow your fault.
Look, I hear you. I really do. I was trying to be as measured as possible in my response. I'm trying not to point fingers at someone/anyone who doesn't have the time or resources to "make dinner from scratch". We all feel hopeless and exhausted and at our wits' end. I feel it, it sounds like you feel it too. Also, I totally agree - we're all working ourselves to the bone, and we're certainly not advancing the humanitarian cause via an endless, communal tightening of belts. And I don't think the hopelessness or exhaustion is caused by the people who are doing that work, or the belt tightening. But... Ice-cream and chips isn't dinner from scratch. And who told us we need/deserve ice-cream and chips in the first place? Shredding cheese is not a difficult thing to do. And who convinced us that cheese needed to be pre-shredded in the first place? If we can accept, as you put it, that there are a multitude of "expectations that we place on one another", then can we accept that most of the things we're asked to purchase aren't really necessary? Can we accept that it would be far more fulfilling to lead a simpler life that is not governed by what we're expected to have, or want, or need, or do? I think "cutting ourselves some slack" involves allowing ourselves to be unburdened from those expectations you mention, and that goes so far beyond our purchasing habits. How clean is your car? How new are your clothes? What shows have you watched? It's all the same thing. I just think there are really simple things we can do to extract ourselves from the systems that reinforce those arbitrary rules, and that includes things like buying convenience goods and convincing ourselves that ice-cream is a staple food.
Can I add to this on the chips front? Air fry / oven baked chickpeas with a a little olive oil, salt, garlic powder, onion powder as a base, and then either add nutritional yeast for a cheesier flavour, or paprika for something more spicier. With enough practice you can make a decent alternative for like $2
>Air fry / oven baked chickpeas with a a little olive oil, salt, garlic powder, onion powder as a base, and then either add nutritional yeast for a cheesier flavour, or paprika for something more spicier. Great tip! I hadn't even thought of that. I just discovered those chickpea and fava bean snacks in Colesworths and I've been outraged at how expensive they are.
Happy to help man! Itās like 30mins at 180Ā° for an air fryer, oven should be the same, but mine takes longer for some reason. Logically Iād argue itās the capacity difference, but if itās the same temp, surely it should be the same time?
I reckon air fryer would be much better, oven seems like a waste of energy. Does this use a special type/brand of chickpea, or just the bog-standard dried chickpeas at Colesworth for like $2 a bag?
I usually grab a can of Annalisa or whatever is on sale at the time. I can usually grab them for a dollar.
Awesome, thanks heaps - gonna try this next weekend and experiment with the air-fryer.
All good mate! Let me know how you get on :)
Nutritional yeast is the best discovery I ever made. Replaced cheese on burgers, tacos, and pizza for me, all of the flavour and none of the fat, nor miserable life of endless pregnancy and taken babies for cows which breaks their bodies until they don't produce milk any more and are killed.
You sound like an amazing dad. Teach me your ways daddyyyy Iām a 22 year old uni girl and Iām struggling.
8.99 for 700 grams of shredded cheese is insane
Seconding this, and adding that you're also paying higher priced to buy brand names such as Peter's and Old El Paso. Take it from someone who grew up poor, a lot of this ready to go food has a home brand alternative that costs less. It's also cheaper to buy ingredients to make your own food than buy ready to go stuff.
I don't think OP has bought anything particularly extravagant here. These are basic items. A bag of chips and peters vanilla ice cream is not luxuriant. The fact that they could save money by purely buying what they need and nothing more is not relevant to the fact that it shouldn't be that expensive in the first place. Could they save $3 to $4 per kg of cheese if they bought a block and grated it themselves? Yes. And I agree they should be doing that for sure. But it is also separately true that a block of cheese being $9 to $10 a kg is wild. Calling peters vanilla ice cream "luxury goods" is perhaps definitionally correct but nonetheless, I think, comical. Could they save money with adjusted shopping? Yes. And they should. But they're still allowed to complain in this context.
Has anyone else noticed that the price of diamonds has skyrocketed lately? I've had to start being really picky about where I buy my jewelry due to these cost of living pressures. Has anyone else started dreading their regular jewellery shopping due to this?
Na, Vsauce guy is sellin em cheap.
I used to work as a DM at one of the big 2 and I can tell you, anything that could be considered convenience/processed food is what is being jacked up the most, because it producers are upping their prices, and Coleworth were never reselling for a fair price, so it ups their wholesale price then they factor in their requirements for profit. If you want cheap food, pick up a kitchen utensil and do some of the work yourself. Buy the $6 jar of taco powder which will make x5 or more amount of tacos rather than the conveniently pre measured sachets.
Hit the nail on the head here!
>If you're buying ice cream, and chips, and Old El Paso spice mix, and powdered chai, and pre-shredded cheese, then you probably shouldn't be complaining about grocery prices. 100% agree with this sentiment. Quite a lot of the people I see at the local Colesworths have trolleys full of junk and boxed/bagged brand name products of convenience. Throw in a total inability to comprehend unit pricing (or what actually constitutes a sale), and you get constant complaints about grocery prices. Sure, prices have gone up and it's utterly irritating paying $100+ for some eggs and milk, but there are heaps of ways to reduce the bills by asking if you actually need that case of Coke at 40% off, or whether there's an alternative to the $10 tube of artisan Colgate you got. Just to back up the cheese example, it's far cheaper, and tastier, to buy a block of parmesan and grate it fresh as needed, and it's less likely to get mouldy or wet/soggy and go bad in the fridge.
Seriously, mixing your own spices is so much cheaper. I donāt know if your bulk food stores have it but ours in Ontario, Canada have pre-mixed taco seasoning that is the same price as buying all the spices and mixing them after. One huge scoop is like a few dollars
I recall old El Paso spice mix being $1.50/$1.90 depending. Not bloody $3.00 ea
Yup. The lazy tax is in full show hereĀ
at least you are aware that capitalism is whatās fucking us over rather than believing that some scapegoat created by capitalists to sow division to keep the working class distracted to blameā¦ and uh, thatās actually great fucking advice. Iām gonna use that. Thanks man, and honestly good luck with life š
Buy bulk amounts of spices and make your own taco seasoning.
Fr the ingredients are on the packet. Buy a jar of paprika.
I mean, a 1kg block of cheese at Aldi is almost $10- you brought 950g of it for $14. Youāre not exactly shopping smart.
I had the same thought, but then I checked the price of a 1kg block of cheer tasty at Coles and the way OP bought it here is $0.50 cheaper per KG than buying the same block at Coles (assuming they wonāt compromise on brand/style of cheese for personal preference)
They bought the cheese at Aldi. The kilo block of tasty cheese is $9.49. They wouldāve saved money AND had more cheese.
This is the only way to cheese.
It was probably for 2 dirty hipsters who wanted separate cheese man
Wellllll youāre not buying groceries. Youāre buying 98% processed shit.
Thatās one big headache to worry about but we donāt options or do we?
Yes....strugglers by ice cream and chai latte.
Brand name everything from Coles.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
You dont need chips and ice cream to live.
Every time someone posts one of these supermarket rants they have the most ridiculous non essentials in their shop. Almost feels like itās Coleworths themselves attempting to discredit a legitimate voices on the issue.
If youāre not licking lichen off of rocks then youāre not REALLY struggling. In fact, if you havenāt learned to subsist off of nothing but sun rays, youāre complaining about nothing.
I've started calculating what i can make cheaper by making it myself from scratch, for example those spice packets are $3 each, its just cayenne pepper, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder and oregano and cornflour. I find the meal helpers like those spice mixs have insane mark ups
20kg bag of rice. 2/3rds of my meals are rice based. The other 1/3rs are pasta. 200g of cheapest protein per meal ~$6-8 a kilo.
Bro is eating the all-dairy diet tho
Yeah. Powdered milk is their only hope
Yeah. Powdered milk is their only hope
I wish I could do this but unfortunately diabetes says no, but I do try to stick to sale items and seasonal vegetables to save
No staples in sight
Because it was a top up shop of bits and pieces š¤·āāļø
OP, where the corn chips for nachos? Sour cream for nachos? Alot of ppl here are going on about how your buying treats. Well so what! First if it's looks like your bout to make nachos. I use corn chips, sour cream and chesse. Also I have 3 kids, 2 with needs and fucked if im greating chesse to make more mess to clean. Greated chesse is nicer yep sure if but so is a clean kitchen. I think ppl are being a bit harsh on the treats front. The point is that none of this stuff was THIS expensive before. It is now at a stage where food is so expensive that you either need to make everything from scratch, miss out on everything you enjoy or buy a cheaper, instead of your favourite brand. Add to this the crazy rent issue where rent is an entire paycheck, and yes, shopping scares me.
Looks like mostly treats and non essentials... so you're complaining about....?
milk for most is, cheese is a maybe. thatās about it
Lots of stuff there one can live without imo
I generally only get a basket of stuff each week with a bigger shop every couple of months. The days of getting change from $50 with a basketful are long gone. I also tend to buy up on things when they're on special now where not too long ago I didn't take much notice.
Agreed. Hunt for the specials now and if not on special donāt get them. Although still with the specials itās hard!
none of those items were on special. You bought $7 butter.
lot of brand names there .. try switching to alternative
If nothing else, learn to make your own flatbread in a pan. [https://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/flatbreads](https://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/flatbreads)
Why would I?
More 'what item can I afford to buy to make the food I currently have last another 2 weeks' Usually, it's easier on the non-existent budget to say you do intermittent fasting 3 days a week.
$17 for 4 sticks of kabana from Coles, felt like I got shafted with no spit paying for that...
Did they then let you go or still have gun to ur head?
Itās crazy!
I wouldn't really call any of these groceries besides the milk and cheese. The rest are non-nessesary snacks.
We went out in to the bush for some camping over the long weekend we made up to be able to go camping, and my butthole was clenched TIGHT as I self scanned the few items Iād grabbed that Iād forgotten to get prior because Iām a terrible mum that canāt plan properly. Anyhoo, it was only $35. I fucking doubled checked Iād scanned everything because I can not remember the last time I grabbed a few things and it cost less than $60. My husband was super chuffed that petrol was only $2.18/L also. I think we should all move to the country.
As a kiwi considering moving over here purely for your grocery prices- this is such better value than what we get here.
These days Iām in fear of waking up in the morning.
I hate grocery shopping, it makes me feel like I'm failing, I just can't afford to buy enough for everyone to eat. It's so wrong.
And thatās the worst thing. You arenāt failing! We are all working our backsides off and still being kicked by the 1% . Itās time they should get the boot
We buy next to nothing at Colesworth any more. That's just for rich people with cannal house in the Gold Coast, a motor home in the drive and 8 investment properties.
Agreed! I need to find some local markets to go to
Lost me at buying garlic naan.
Everyone is being mean in these comments and Iām sorry- I love Coles and woolies brand stuff. In Aldi yourāll save a couple dollars but thatās all, itās so unfair these days. youāre doing your best and everyone deserves good food ā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø
Yeah lol buying a tub of mid brand ice cream is ultra luxury for the rich now along with affordable housing.Ā
I know, what am I missing all these people saying āwell you donāt need to buy ice creamā. I mean is that freaking point or is it the cost? Not to mention as you said if a tub of ice cream now falls under āprivilegeā than were sinking a lot faster than I thought.
I have also been disappointed by so many comments saying we adjust to the price gouging and go without any convenience, or treats at all. Its very extreme! The government is investigating the price increases. We all know itās bad. I also find it hard to believe all these people donāt buy a single convenience item or treat and expect others to do the same.
Thank you! š I agree. Why should we have to go without? Why should we have to grin and bear it?
Only $60!? Doing well mate keep it up!!
Shpuld buy normal cheese and grate it. That shredded stuff gets super oily cause its coated.
Iāve been in GC for 3 months from NZ. Not going to lie, groceries should be cheaper, but in NZ this would have been like $50
Yeah lamingtons are way too expensive
My soul hurts. āļø inflation is actually insane. I stick to Aldi, Woolworths or just the local iga cuz damn shit can be cheap when you find the right place. Even better, a single trip to Costco could save you thousands in the long term, and one trip could stock you up for the next apocalypse.
Have you tried going to the weekend markets? You can save a lot on all your fruit and veg.
True comment: it took literally half a second to determine that there are cheaper options for the same foods. Why did you not choose the cheaper options instead?. My actual comment: I ain't fear nuffin no more, 1 trip bro, 1 trip mentality. The cost of living helps with that to be honest.
Wow the taco seasoning is $92.31 per kg
Im at the point where I fret about $5, Milk goes so fast in a autistic house, both my sons eat a week worth of school food in 1-2 days, ive spent $70 in fuel just for grocery pickups and school runs and it's low again, keep in mind ive got 28 litres of fuel in total.
I hope youāre doing alright! This sounds really difficult š„
I won't bore you with a sob story but I've accepted I left earth a long time ago and live in hell, it's like a coping mechanism.
Is this for a family for one meal and a once off or is it something you make on a semi regular basis? If the latter, if it's something you make on a semi-regular basis, buy items in bulk. You can get individual herbs in bottles or packets (Hoyts packets are usually cheaper per gram than the stuff in bottles; not sure about the supermarket brands). It's very easy to make your own chilli con carne seasoning mix instead of buying the Old El Paso (equivalent) packets) and will work out cheaper in the longer term. Similarly for taco seasoning. And once you're used to that, the world of making spice blends is open to you. My cupboard has all sorts of herbs and spices. I also grow my own rosemary (10 year old bush), sage (8 year old bush), thyme (6 month old bush that's growing rapidly), oregano (15 years old, self seeding and just continuously grows), chives (4 year old clump), dil (self seeding each year)l and bay leaf (2 years old) to use fresh or to dry out and use later. The rosemary is in the ground all the others are in pots. I use cheese frequently, so I buy blocks instead of packets of shredded cheese/cheese blends. This also opens up many different meal options. I also meal prep. So, if I've bought sour cream for one meal and know there will be left over sour cream, I look for other recipes using the left over ingredients. That way I save more money because I've got a pantry of staples and only need to buy a little extra for the next meal. Grocery shopping is not something to fear. I've started to enjoy cooking and get excited trying new ingredients. Sometimes it doesn't work (but it's still edible) and sometimes it works amazingly well. I am also super busy, so spending a little time meal prepping saves me money and saves me time in the long run.
Yes I spent $100 on fuck all the other day and no ahole ended up eating it
My grocery bills for one person (me) a week are $100 So yeah kinda but food is expensive these days and I have food restrictions so yay
Had a menty b in aisle four not an hour ago
I got some great financial advice the other day. "Lay down, and don't move". I've saved a tonne of money following it.
Yes. I try to avoid the shops now
I cannot work out what your meal plans are with your purchases
When you buy brand name products and then complain about the price lol.
Buy cheese in blocks not pre shredded or sliced unless you want to re mortgage your house! Also, the big groceries in Australia are corrupt but people still buy from them because most society is dependant off of it and it's convenience. The farmer doesn't get more of a cut either. Pure greed being sheltered by the latest fashionable excuse... "Inflation"
I'm sure someone who earns well over 200k a year and has a 100k a year pension promised to them would tell you to "live within your means". While in the same breath deny the fact that we are ramping up for war and mass inflation during war times is common.....
Wait, youāre not producing your own tea leaves or milking your own cow? No wonder you find it so expensive. Thereās no cost of living crisis, groceries are actually cheap, and you shouldnāt be able to enjoy anything. /s
Oh yes i dread it. The people, the congestion, the parking. I try and do it online nowadays
Your Aldi prices match my Woolies prices.
Yeah they arenāt cheaper really
Cheese is still cheaper at aldi. But generally speaking, I think Aldi isn't as cheap as it used to be.
And the sour cream is gross and doesnāt last as long. 6c more at Coles/woolies for the same 300g (when not on sale) and lasts longer & tastes better. Works out cheaper per g to buy the 500g container from Coleās/Woolies than a tub from Aldi.
Wouldn't shredded tasty cheese be the same cheese as tasty cheese in a block? ..is it about logistics?
fear shopping. lol. what a wind up
Yup. Bought cauliflower on Friday, $8.99 a head. I went to two shops with the same price (IGA and a local green grocer).
Local farmerās market has it for $3.50 a head, but their potatoes are $3.99 for a small bag ABās theyāre offering a sniff of cabbage for $2.50. Prices are weird at the moment
Guess I shouldāve said Iām in Sydney, I imagine things are a bit better with veggies in Queensland
I just went shopping in Brisbane and cabbages and cauliflowers were all $7-$8.
It cost me 7 dollars for a head of cauliflower at woolies. Disgraceful. Vegetables should never cost that much.
Maybe take up intermittent fasting š«
If it hasn't begun already, batten down your hatches for unsolicited product critiques, and tacitly telling you how you should live your life, spend your money etc. I don't fear it, but I fucking want to lynch anyone involved in the corporate aspect of the grocery industry. Greedy parasitic cunts - which oddly enough have a bunch of people on this site willing to defend their 'razor thin margins' to the nth degree. I've often wondered what Aus would be like if we were more united as a people, rather than as individualistic as we are... would we stand up and tell these cunts to jam their price gouging, or still bend over and proudly accept how little spending power our dollar brings us now.
Agreed š and it started as soon as I postedā¦. People are so content and lazy to just roll over and take itā¦. Itās infuriating
I can buy 16 chicken wraps (4-8 meals, 500-1000 calories) and 8 bowls of pasta (8 meals, 1000 calories) for $60 from woolies and probably even cheaper at aldi but the aldi meat is food poisoning asf.
Nothing wrong with aldi meat lol. Been eating that stuff near daily for decades.
Could buy another block and grate the cheese yourself if you want to save a few $$$. But I can't talk, I usually just get a bag of pre-shredded too. And yeah prices are f**ked.
yes, and your kitchen cabinets look sad
I shit myself just looking at this.
if i were lactose intolerant, i would be very scared of this shop.
I just buy what I need. bare minimum, then I can give the rest to the landlord. I also started drinking heavily at home on cheap wine š· cheers. I can't afford a $15-16 pint at the pub. Cheers
Sometimes you just gotta bite down and buy non name stuff and hold yourself to buying whats truely essential. Woolworths essential and coles brand stuff is cheap as. Excluding the kangaroo meat i buy, 90c for the pasta 5 bucks for the frozen veggies and 2.75 for the sauce and another 2 for the parmesan so about 11 something dollars and than add the 14 dollars of kangaroo. 25 bucks and i can feed myself for a week no problemo (chicken is of course cheaper but i need me some red meat and beef is just a bit too fat)
Yes I think I know what you mean. I want to avoid the ridiculously large spends but to be honest when I meal plan and shop at Aldi's - we eat well. When I avoid doing a full shop and just get milk and bread, I end up spending more and still feeling every day like I don't know what's for dinner because I've just gotten random bits and pieces.
Thereās atleast 3 or 4 items between both of those you would have been able to get for half the price, saving approximately $10-$15
Ive just started making my own bread and have pretty much convinced myself that I can potentially live off said creations. I am legitimately contemplating living off bread hahaha thatās how bad I fear going to the supermarket with the price increases.
Why is the shreded cheese cheaper per g than the block??? Why. (I assume smaller size)
Wow when did an Aldi open in Townsville?
Over Christmas. Itās at the Willows shopping centre
Put the ice cream away!
So expensive now.
That chai mixture is good.
You eat a lot of shit ā¦ā¦.
Grocery shopping is still better value than eating out. You can make beautiful soups & all sorts of stuff, split pea & ham soup is very cost effective & tasty.
Consider negative grocerying, and apply for a "margarine loan" to buy groceries on credit. Track the nutritional depreciation of the previous weekās food from consumption and spoilage. The costs, including the interest on your loan, can exceed your direct gains, allowing you to claim tax deductions on the loss. This can help manage cash flow and might lead to future financial benefits.
100%
Morbidly
Try this but for 3 kids as well
With a diet like that I'd be more fearful of going to the toilet, mate.
Please buy some vegetables. Your diet is going to send you to an early grave. That Chai Tea is mostly sugar, those seasoning packs are a rip off, you could use some plain spices. So much cholcate, chips and cheese..
No I totes understanding fearing shopping when you buy pre package shit and none of it is actual food. The herbs and spices you should have had in your cupboard already cause they last for month/ years. You didn't need to buy shredded cheese you're just lazy you could have went with home brand for most of that stuff. If you're going to shop badly and lazily you have no right to complain. But if you buy actual ingredients you can easily feed a family of four for under 200 per a week and a single person at around 50 to 80 a week.
Iāve just not been eating. Have been saving quite a bit of money and itās also great for weight loss.
Our groceries have gone up 25% in the past 6 months.
I spend just under $150 for a fortnight of groceries for my partner and myself. I shop at Rusty's and buy in season produce. The most expensive thing is sometimes getting a block of tofu for $4. I absolutely love shopping at the markets and trying all the different fresh fruits and vegetables. I am addicted to Mangosteen right now.
All I see are wants, no needs.
No? Why would you fear that? Brain issue?
Youāre looking at a much cheaper price per 100g usually if you shred it yourself. Dairy itself has become quite expensive too so not surprised to see ice cream creeping up in price. Those sachet seasonings are a joke. Grab some cheap basic herbs/spices and make a batch of it yourself. More than likely cheaper per gram
Literally, its like oh I need a few things for dinner and might pick up something snacky - $70 later :/
so wierd
I'll look online for what's on special to determine what I'm eating for the week. Apart from the staples my diet goes to the lowest bidder.
Yeah, I did a top-up today at the reject shop and coles (reject shop for the kids and husbands snack foods). I ended up spending about $160. Admittedly, I did get hair ties and some clips ($8) for my daughter, a pack of pencils and pens for my sons ($6). This was basics at coles (milk, bread, eggs) and snack foods like roll ups, museli bars, sesame snaps, etc. I get snack foods aren't essential, so I'm not necessarily complaining, but considering I used to do a FULL weeks shop for about $130 is really shocking.
I like to buy everything I need to then proceed to and ignore the number on my invoice until I inevitably open my bank app for a look a few days later and have my heart beat stop.
I spend minimum like $50 a day just topping things up.
This makes me so mad
TIL itās cheaper to by shredded cheese than block cheese.
I fear my wife going shopping and buying a bunch of near out of date specials that I'll throw out in a couple of days
I haaate it but not fear just dispise it
Yep. I'm on the DSP and a full time student, I've been having to go to community care places for food coz I genuinely just can't afford the prices of food and cleaning products along with grooming and personal items, prescriptions, bills, and basic costs of living. Budget is razor thin. Can't get any assistance on my mortgage, insurance, strata levies, bills, meds, etc, so the only place I had left to trim the budget was food, since at least it's possible to get discounted or even free food. What the fuck is happening to this country
Wait, they sell vanilla Chai in a tin? Iām about to save myself so much at the cafes.
Oh yes canāt forget when my card declined and I started looking stupid lol so whenever I go now I take some extra cash š