Supermarket hacks that help stretch the budget further as one in three Aussie families struggle to put food on the table

Aussie families are finding it harder than ever to afford food with the increasing cost of living, with new research from Finder showing one in three are struggling to put meals on the table.

Fourteen per cent of those surveyed said they can afford to feed their family but regularly run out of food before the next payday, while 12 per cent prioritise feeding their kids over themselves.

Times are tougher for a further four per cent, who say they sometimes have to eat mouldy or expired food, and three per cent who rely on food banks, family and friends to put food on the table.

“Households that may look comfortable on paper, perhaps even earning two incomes, may still be going without because so much of their money is eaten by living costs,” Sarah Megginson, Finder’s personal finance expert, told nine.com.au.

“For families struggling to make ends meet, every trip to the supermarket can become a balancing act between what they need, what they can afford and what they can leave on the shelf.

“It’s important to look for ways to reduce the cost of essentials where possible, buying cheaper cuts of meat, bulking out meals with affordable carbohydrates and shopping half-price sales to keep costs down.”

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Adelaide mum of two Kenzie has come up with plenty of ways to save on essential supermarket purchases, which helps stretch their budget further while they’re living off one income. She shares her frugal tips on her Instagram account @kenzie.so.good.

Kenzie mostly shops at Aldi and tries to avoid purchasing convenience food like packets of chips, instead looking for more filling foods.

“My kids love overnight oats as their snack, I just put them in the little containers and with a bit of milk and a bit of cinnamon. They love it, and it’s really filling and rolled oats, they’re so cheap,” she told nine.com.au.

To stretch food between supermarket shops, Kenzie freezes what she can and keeps staples like frozen vegetables in the freezer too.

“We freeze bread and items like that so we don’t have to go to the shops, because I think when you do those little top-up shops, it can be really easy to get other things. You see something and next thing you’ve just spent $56, and you’ve just gone in for a loaf of bread,” she said.

Kenzie also has one meal a week as a “pantry and freezer meal”, so they use what they have before going to the shops again or purchasing more ingredients just to have a specific meal.

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Making from scratch has also proved useful. For example, Kenzie makes her own wraps. Even though they’re not too expensive, she finds the convenience of making them with ingredients she has on hand like flour – purchased in bulk, of course – helpful on nights when they don’t know what to have for dinner.

“I’ve taken my hand to everything, I’ve tried gnocchi, I’ve tried making pasta sheets, and then you realise that you don’t need to go to the supermarket if you really want to make something. You can actually generally make these things from scratch,” she said. 

“I always have heaps of flour, like my laundry cupboard at the bottom. I always have flour, rice, and pasta that will get you through most meals.”