As grocery bills soar, take a peek inside the shopping carts of five Illawarra families

The average Illawarra family of four spends $957 on food each fortnight, according to data from a University of Wollongong study.

That’s just shy of $120 per head each week.

The findings come from Dr Katherine Kent and Professor Karen Charlton, experts in the field of dietetics from the Resilient and Sustainable Food Systems Research Group at UOW, who are undertaking a massive survey of households across the region to learn more about our food environment, from grocery costs to healthy food options.

But what does average look like? As grocery costs soar, how do people keep their bills down?

Region Illawarra decided to look close to home for a sample of how ordinary suburban families manage their shopping budgets, by checking out the grocery trolleys of our own staff.

Our households have different makeups, different priorities and different strategies for managing our food budgets. Here’s what we discovered.

The O’Briens

With two teenage girls, the O’Brien family lives by a finely-tuned system centred around the Woolies app.

Kellie budgets $500 a fortnight but is often scuppered by other members of the household.

“I diligently stick to a $250 weekly budget, and then hubby does his best to undo all that by finding any excuse to pop into the supermarket daily,” journalist Kellie said.

“My system includes awaiting new specials announced on a Wednesday, then consulting my ‘regularly buy’ list, followed by in-season items, before bulk buying frozen, household and pantry items on special.

“Why pay $12 for English breakfast tea bags when they’re regularly on sale for $6?

“All the while, I’m collecting Everyday Rewards points towards a big discount on the Christmas shop come December and a 10 per cent discount on one of my bigger shops per month.

“My nan, a true frugal queen, not only taught me to grow fresh produce myself, but also how to stretch cheap cuts of meat, to buy generic brands (except for coffee – that’s a non-negotiable) and make extra for dinner and freeze half.”

The Cartwrights

The Cartwright grocery budget of $200-$300 per fortnight covers two active adults who eat mostly plant-based meals at home.

Journalist Zoe Cartwright thanked the miracle of Aldi for their low grocery bill.

“I do the bulk of our shopping at Aldi, so all the basics plus anything exciting that catches my eye in the specials aisle,” she said.

“That comes out between $150 and $200 per fortnight.

“Then I’ll duck to Coles or Woolies and buy specialty items Aldi doesn’t stock, or brand items we don’t want to compromise on.

“Even though I buy far fewer items, this shop usually comes out between $100 and $150.

“We mostly cook pretty simple meals from scratch, plus a couple of frozen things that are easy to heat up on nights when we’re both stuffed.

“We used to go out for a pub meal or get a takeaway with friends once a week, and it cost about $50 for the two of us.

“We’re all feeling the pinch at the moment, so we’ve swapped that for rotating dinners at each other’s homes – the cost of cooking for a few extra people is barely noticeable, and when someone else hosts you get to enjoy the night off.”

The Suttons

Mum, Dad, a teen and a tween go through about $625 worth of food per fortnight, across three separate shops in the Sutton household.

Fruit, bread, veg, eggs and some meat come from Box Divvy: $275

Pantry and dairy items, toiletries and some meat from Woolworths: $320

Spices, lentils, seeds, nuts and treats from The Source: $30

“We shop online with Woolies and Box Divvy for convenience,” Andrew said.

“We use Box Divvy for quality of product, to fight the Coles/Woolies duopoly, we know who packs the fruit, and there’s no packaging – nothing comes in plastic, except bread, and some of the products are less expensive than Woolies.

“At The Source we supply our own packaging – glass jars or Tupperware containers. We can get the specific weights of items we want and find items that can’t be sourced elsewhere.

“We have a relatively low red meat diet and eat several vegetarian meals each week.”

The Davids

With two adults, two small children and a gluten intolerance to manage, the David family spends about $600 a fortnight on groceries.

“We mostly shop at Woolworths in Bulli, with the occasional stop at our local IGA or Coles in Thirroul when something runs out,” journalist Dione said.

“The bill is significantly higher than the pre-COVID shopping bill, but we prioritise high quality, nutritious food – this is not the part of our budget we would cut back on first.

“When it comes to cost cutting we buy and cook things like meat in bulk so we get a few meals out of it, and keep an eye out for specials.

“The vast majority of our food bill is essentials, like fresh produce, for dinners and lunchboxes.

“We eat out a few times a week – mostly a lunch here and there at work when we haven’t managed to pack something, and a meal or two with the family on weekends.

“If we cut this out the grocery bill would increase by at least $100 a week. This is probably our greatest luxury expense.”

The Whites

Two adults and a geriatric cat chow down on between $300 and $400 per fortnight via Woolworths Click and Collect in the White household.

“I generally stick to brands I know and there are certain brand items I will not forego regardless of budgetary pressures – toilet paper and tissues included,” editor Jen White said.

“I’d love to say I have a meal plan before each fortnightly shop but rarely do, unless I’m planning a roast or corned beef. Both are great because we have leftovers for lunches and a second meal with salads.

“We practically live on mince – only premium lean mince – and our Sunday night spag bol does us for lunch the next day, plus Taco Tuesday.

“We end up calling in to the local Foodworks for items in between shops – milk, bread and anything else we run out of.

“Neither of us are fancy eaters, but husband has been told to cut back on sugar so we’ll be swapping his sweet biscuits for fruit.”

Jen also had a time machine on hand.

“Back in 1988, I kept a diary to celebrate the Bicentennial, and stuck in a couple of grocery bills,” she said.

“I know it’s 36 years ago, but these prices will make you cry.

“Mince was about $3 for 500 g, $4.25 for rump steak and $1.29 for a 375 g packet of Weet-Bix. A pack of 25 tea bags cost 77 cents and tomato sauce $1.40.

“One bill with 49 items cost $84.06 – an average of $1.71 per item.

“I know it’s not comparing apples with apples, but my last grocery bill averaged out at $6.94 per item.”