I recently came across the following mind blowing statistics on Australians’ eating habits, and just had to share these with you:

“Australians spend $45 billion per year on eating out which equates to approximately $100 per household per week. The average Australian eats out two to three times per week.”

futurefood.com.au/blog/2017/1/18/eating-out-in-australia-2016-in-review

Quite frankly, I was both shocked and excited when I read this information.

Shocked because it seemed that Australians were spending increasingly large amounts of money on eating out, whilst many of these Aussie diners were the very same individuals who felt that they couldn’t save a deposit for a home of their own, pay off their mortgages sooner or enter the investment market.

On the other hand I was excited because this meant that with a few simple changes to our dining and shopping behaviour, we could all make big savings in this area. Check out my 7 top tips and start saving today

1. Eat Out Less– If you are currently eating out or dining on take-away meals 2 or 3 times a week, reduce the number of times you do this to 1 or 2 times per month. If you need some motivation to make this change, just imagine how much money you could save, be able to put towards your home deposit, pay off your mortgage with years sooner or start saving for your first investment property.
2. Cook at Home More Frequently– It follows that if you are eating out less, you will obviously be cooking and eating at home more. To achieve this, plan your month ahead including your weekly grocery shopping days and the 1 or 2 eating out dates. In this way, you will be organised in advance and are much less likely to find yourself breaking your new dining regime.
3. Become a Savvy Supermarket Shopper- There are a number of important rules to remember when grocery shopping. If you have to shop instore, carry a shopping list and stick to it, never shop when hungry as you will always spend more, if possible avoid taking children food shopping, always compare prices on store and generic brands as they cost less yet are often manufactured by the same companies, be aware of instore loyalty points promotions and don’t be lured into buying goods you don’t need, check products at the bottom or top shelves first as this generally where the bargains are as supermarkets can be paid for product placement at eye level and watch the cash register when checking out as scanning errors can be costly. Otherwise try to visit the shops as little as possible or choose to buy online.
4. Take Advantage of Product Specials and Bulk Buys- Where ever possible, buy your favourite high use foods in the largest size and bulk buy, keep an eye out for daily specials and reduced price items, use store coupons, stock up on genuine bargains and frequently used non-perishable items when they go on sale such as canned and dried goods, toiletries, cleaning products and more, use your freezer to keep bread, butter and other suitable items, become a comparison shopper and buy specials across several stores.
5. Learn to Cook Smart – Plan meals in advance and cook only as much as you will consume at each meal, use new recipes and cookbooks to add variety to your meals, cook a few dishes at once and freeze meals in advance, watch the expiry date on perishables and use items getting close to use by dates, purchase only what you will use and eat everything you buy to avoid throwing out food each week and consider every ounce of wastage when preparing ingredients.
6. Lower Your Spending on Food and Drinks When Away From Home- If you buy your lunch, snacks, soft drinks and coffee every day, you could easily be spending as much as $100 each week. To save your hard earned money, take your lunch and drinks to work, use leftovers as day time meals, go BYO whenever you can and always carry water with you.
7. Save Money When You Eat Out- And finally when you do eat out, consider choosing from the cheaper specials list, try entrée sized meals instead of the larger mains and share a few with your eating companions for greater variety, avoid fine dining and go for cafe and mid-range venues, go BYOG as much as possible and use special offers and coupons with take away meals.

Wishing you great savings and happy dining champions,

Cheers,

Harry