$50 Grocery Challenge: Can You Eat Well on a Tight Budget in 2024?
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- Can you feed yourself for a week on just $50 ($33USD)? I put myself to the test to see if it's possible to buy groceries and make nutritious meals on a tight budget.
From shopping at farmers markets to creative meal prep, I share money-saving tips, budget-friendly recipes, and insights on rising food costs. Learn how to stretch your grocery budget, reduce food waste, and eat well for less. Perfect for students, families, or anyone looking to save money on food without sacrificing taste or nutrition.
Establishing a safe relationship with food can be difficult, you are not alone.
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I just want to say thank you for all the love and feedback on this video!! I’ve had this channel for a long time but I feel that I’ve finally found my style so I can’t wait to create more videos!! ❤❤
I'm so glad this video is getting more traction!! this video was really well made indeed
I always watch these types of videos but majority are American. It's been so great to see this done in the Aussie supermarkets and see the comparisons. I am sooo going to rethink the way I shop. Thanks!
I agree ! Well done young lady
Its great to see Aussie price challenges like this. Eye opening to see the price difference between all the stores too!
Hold up! You have flour, spices & any liquid left in the airfryer tray from the chicken = gravy.
You did well....
Dang it
@@alismithhhhthis was my exact thought, we know she’s got flour and she’s going to have drippings from the chicken. She’s got salt, pepper, oil and seasonings. This equals better gravy than you will ever buy in the store. (Next time…)
💯
Also, most Aussies and Kiwis have vegemite or marmite in their pantry! Put a dab of that in there too! Yummmmmmmmm
Periodically have to challenge yourself.
Lovely to see an Aussie based food budget 😊
This is like the first time as a fellow Aussie, that i've seen such a realistic budget shop. with where you went, your rules on what most people would and wouldnt have. great understanding of like actually budgetting. Looks like ill need to get some sundays off now so i can go to markets for my produce haha
Even just a dedicated fruit and veg shop (usually open 7 days) has way better deals than Colesworth. Shop around your local ones and see which you like!
True, you get fabulous prices/bargains on fruit, veg, meat at various local asian suburb fresh markets & butchers/seafood shops for sure compared to supermarkets definitely massive savings ... eg strawberry 500g punnets $2, bag of carrots & bak choy $0.99 each, oranges $0.98kg, 🍅 $1.99kg bag, 🥦 $1.99-$3.99kg etc depending on season/stock. Meat/seafood prices are affordable too. On random days you'll be able to score even great bargains snow peas/fresh 🍄 $2.99 per tray plus other fruits on sale!
I'm a huge bargain hunter homecook constantly planning healthy delicious affordable budget friendly meals including gluten free ☺️
When comparing supermarket purchases I personally find WW better than Coles in terms of savings and stock up during ½ price specials.
she did well for $50 everything has gone up so much in price I have celiac disease and lactose intolerance gluten free food costs so much more it stinks the price 😋🙃😩
My struggle! I'm gluten and dairy free and all that costs so much
Sticking to the one ingredient foods should help! Meat, eggs, fish (frozen from ALDI is pretty good), vegetables etc. Then spices, making sauces from canned tomatoes, cream etc. I eat really well doing this personally. Hope that helps! 😌
@@CheechMarie unfortunately I don’t eat meat and I’m allergic to seafood I eat many fruits and vegetables and sometimes chicken and the rest has to be gluten free and dairy free and Aldi is good for some things but I find it’s too destructive with household items and clothes and other items in the middle of the aisle and make you buy things you don’t need I do all my shopping at Woolworths I do a list and add it all up on a calculator and some things I have to order online gluten free Cheerios 😋🙃🙂📱📲🛒🥗🥒🥬🥦🍅
I'm not coeliac but Gluten intolerant and with a dairy allergy...it is rough...just bread alone can chew through any budget
@@marisabelperez2260 yeah I agree with you just to get a loaf of bread that doesn’t taste like dirt in Australia it’s at least $8 to $10 it’s a rip off and a normal loaf of bread is $2 to $5 that’s not fair 🙃🙂🤨😫
I loved this, I went to the farmers market last Saturday and it cost me $40 for a family of four. I’m excited to try and feed my family of four for under a $100 and see how I go.
Well done! You have proved to everyone that Door Dash can be avoided with a little bit of organisation, a small amount of work and some commitment. You have a new subscriber!
I did a week on $23.76 no meat but plentry of bean mixes, eggs and vegetables.
AUD?!
@@alismithhhh yes aud
One person, or more?
@@kathydurow6814 just me
I am vegan and always feel like I save so much money on my food too! I spend a tad more than this about $37 a week
This makes me so sad because I live in a rural town and we definitely don’t have markets, the closest Aldi is 3 hours away and we have to shop at Coles because there’s no Woolworths. And, Coles is 100km away so once you factor in fuel there and back it’s so expensive 😢
Loved watching what recipes you made though! You have given me some ideas :)
I loved that you gave all the figures it is really eye opening!
I’m in NZ and I feel like the fruit and veg alone would cost $50 here. Great video 😊
I’ve heard NZ is out of this world expensive for food and basically everything 😅😢
@@alismithhhh yep pretty much, food petrol, rent… everything. 🙄
This is what I was going to say. Here in NZ food prices are so ridiculous
The price comparison was eye opening 😮
Love your video. Budget tight. Looking forward to Aussie $10 Grocery Challenge for a week if possible.❤
Now that’s a challenge
That would be impossible!!
Watch Nikki Beal for cheap meal planning
This $10 challenge would be difficult to pull off 21 healthy balanced meals over 7 days for me personally being a budget shopper and healthy eater. I think $50 budget per week was reasonable and Ali did a great job showcasing in her video.
🥚🍳 I enjoyed your video. If I don’t have milk I use a little water in my eggs. Helps fluff them up. 😆
Great tip!
Nice to stumble across this Aussie video. very realistic. We shop around too for preference and to save money. Aldi fan all the way! Had to stop getting our organic produce box delivered $60 and instead get a box from the local farmers market for $20. We order online from woollies for essentials (for convenience as a young fam of four), pick it up stop in at Aldi for a few specials then pick up our produce. And only shop once a week!
I love this style of video. I feel like you can ‘use what you have’ but was good to see how you made the $50 stretch 🙌
I shop in a similar way (once a week) as well 😃
The table you created is SUCH a valuable comparison! You should present it on the news. The grocery price percentage increase is INSANE
This is why I shop around for price, quantities and quality. I food prep huge and started canning and preserving for this very reason. Things are so expensive now days and I have hungry teens to feed 😂. I have the magazines from that time from Coles and woolies and I'll be looking at picking a few meals from them to see how different the challenge is on my end. Thanks for the video!!❤❤
Exactly right!!! Also if you have a spare couple of magazines with those recipes I’d love to buy them from you?! Xx
Love your realness and so happy to see a fellow Aussie doing a video like this. Definitely will be trying the dumplings! P.S We have the same fridge! 😅
Do more this was SO GOOD! I want to see every meal 🍽️
I always notice how much further my dollar goes at Aldi, just do woolies when I need the direct to boot and too busy to go in for a shop
That price comparison chart was very enlightening! I already shop at Aldi but markets are a great idea, thank you. Also I would have thought coles and woollies would have been the same so that was surprising
It's not cheating to use things like milk, rice, oats.. even flour i think shouldn't have been part of the main budget. A fair amount of people have plenty of staples. you did so well for how strict you were with this challenge. inspired.
Subscribed. Super impressed you made dumplings from scratch! Great resource in jennnnnaaayy too. I need to go find a tortilla recipe....
You killed it Ali! This is great! Well done, some really good meals here and there's fruit and vegetables, carbs and protein. I'm very impressed! Subscribed! 🧡
I’ve been shopping like this for the last 3 months, it’s crazy how expensive Coles is!! You’d think woolies would be more expensive! We just dont go to Coles anymore lol
I had the same reaction browsing in Coles, really surprised!
Where I live Coles is cheaper the Woolies..Aldinga is cheaper over all..but sometimes the produce is not the best...
Aldinga, crazy! I'm Blackwood/Marion end - If you want a hiking or swimming buddy etc gimme a yell 🌻 I'm a plus size lass who moved from QLD, so active or roadtrip/camping buddies are always fun (if they're cool for unfit/beginner friendly trails etc haha)
Random, but so unexpected to see fellow Adelaide folk on here, figured I'd say howdy 🌈
Thank you for this video! Another tip: Use a stick blender for eggs it will make the eggs in the omelette fluffy and go further too. 😊
Love love love. Great vid ❤ I dont think I could go without milk and coffee 😅 I will definitely be trying the breakky burritos. I have been struggling with stress induced nausea which makes it difficult to eat breakfast in particular so prepping these might help me!
Yes thankyou! I've been telling people that I remember when mince was $3 a pack, but then I was questioning if that was really right because its SO EXPENSIVE NOW!! And 1kg used to be $5 and now its $12 and the mince at the supermarkets doesnt taste right...
Buy brown lentils and use that as your beef mince! Or half of it mince, half lentils.
we dont even have a farmers market where I live :((
You addressed immediately what I was thinking. Produce like that at a grocery store here in the US would have busted the budget.
Please bash Woolworths and Coles all you like! They are literally price gouging. 😥 I really enjoyed your video, though! ❤
So, this is not a criticism in any way, this is a great video, which presented some great information, and Ali did an amazing job! But just a reminder to everyone that this was presented as a challenge because doing this sort of thing is *challenging*.
Ali was focused entirely on budget and nutrition here, time, energy, convenience and accessibility were not major considerations, and it looks as though she probably spent a lot more time and energy on this than your average person would have for shopping and cooking in a week. If it works and is maintainable to her, that's fantastic!
But, if you're watching this and you don't have that same time and energy to make everything from scratch or stick to such a strict budget, that's okay! Different people have different needs and different capabilities, and you might find you need to spend more, or prioritise convenience over nutrition or price sometimes. Please be compassionate, towards others, and especially towards yourself, we're all doing our best. So long as you and your family end up fed and happy, that's the most important part.
Your dumplings are excellent for trying to do this the first time and on camera! It takes many times to learn to handle the dough let alone folding them up 🤗 I do really like the comparison between the stores and market you've done. I'm in Canada so I'm not familiar with the price differences from Australia but I'm sure they're quite similar. Can't wait to check out more content from you!
I love this video! So interesting even though I don't live in Australia. This makes me wanna try to do the same!
Dont have access to a 'vegetable market' that isnt more expensive than a supermarket
Loved this!! It’s inspired me to try and make a few more things from scratch that are simple like the wraps and muffins!
Aww that’s so good!
Wow what an eye opening video. Thanks so much for the actual data itself the difference is crazy! And you kept it real! No $30 ingredient that breaks down to $2.50 per serve ... That's legit.
Really appreciate how chill you are with things, 'But thats ok'
The ending of your video caught me off guard! As someone who obsesses over food videos due to a lifelong eating disorder it was actually just so surprising and nice to hear you acknowledge that you know effected people might magnet to a video like this and then you provide resources ❤! Much love from another Aussie! Your video made me really think about where I obtain my produce! Look forward to more.
I loved Aldi but fell out of love with it due to some mistakes they made and dud products but have gone back to Aldi again because I have discovered some products Ireally like eg dark chocolate with hazelnuts, 2kg bag of mixed chicken pieces, lamb mince ( although this is getting as expensive as the Coles lamb mince I favour), cheeses, butter lettuce, free range eggs ( not any more because there never is any ) , dried fruits, walnuts , garbage bags, water and items from the special buys aisles.
Just remember, $10 meals was a meal not a whole day. $50 would get 5 dinners, no lunch or breakfast
Irrelevant comment. Your eyebrows are FANTASTIC.
Your farmers market prices are amazing! Where I live all those veggies would have been the whole $50 budget. I tried to do a $50 budget challenge but it was impossible with inflation.! But we as a single person or even someone with a toddler I think it could work. Me lol I have 3 teenage boys and a teenage girl. Have you ever done a pantry challenge?
A pantry challenge? Like only eating from the pantry? I haven’t but now I MUST hahahah
@@alismithhhh you should try it. It’s very interesting to challenge yourself
@@alismithhhhgo check out frugal fit mom, she does the pantry challenges, she has just completed one.
Thumbs down for cage eggs. 👎 boo. The animals suffer while you save your money 💰
If you don't use much milk then powdered milk is the way to go. It does cost about $9 for whole milk or a bit more for the skim. But it would last a very long time if stored properly. Your meal plan seemed healthy and it certainly looked delicious. Well done. I must be a bit more strict with myself and do as you did with meal prep and making do with what you had.
I agree Ali, if you did a 2 week budget and got meat on bulk buy it would definitely reduce your weekly budget and easily stretch over to 2 weeks saving you more 🤑
Tips: with the raw chicken carcass (if you remove the meat first) I feed to my dog as he only eats raw. Or if it's cooked bones use to make a stock.
Also with the cheese if you check the price per kilo the shredded cheese is always about 50% more per kilo than buying a 1kg block of cheese (if the budget allows) & shredding yourself
Girl, u r hilarious! You mustn't of had 2 English grandma's like me😅 They had war ration grocerys and depression dinners down! From my observations they bought any cheap meat, sometimes that was just a hamhock and pigs trotters...so we had pea and ham soup for 5days.
It didn't feel like a drama or we where missing out. Different meal everyday all week is nuts to me cause that's alot of dishes😂
I really enjoyed your video, I particularly how you did the price comparison breakdown. I was shocked at the difference. Great job and thanks for sharing
You have oil and flour and you chicken drippings you can make gravy and add water and seasoning to taste!
Love seeing how expensive Cole’s is when I live in a regional qld town that only has a Cole’s 🤦♀️ closes Woolworths is like 200km away
Oh my god.. the woolies and coles prices. I am beyond shocked. Thank you SO much for this.
Love when you taste something and your approval is just "mm hmm" haha
Do we all have the same air fryer, cutting board, frypan, rice cooker, and muffin pan? 🤪😊
Be careful when buying a whole chicken from coles or woolies unless you’re using it the same day, I’ve tried to buy them twice and use them after being stored correctly and both times they were off after 1-2 days of being in my fridge
I highly recommend introducing beans and legumes into your diet if you dont want to spend so much money on food like meat and cheese. You can still buy meat and cheese mind you, just buy less of them and use the beans. Try making spaghetti bolognese using brown lentils as beef mince! You may be surprised how decent it is!
Love your work
I need to start buying at more farmers markets for fresh produce, only $20 for all that! crazy cheap
Can't use food at home already.
Also any fuel cost, people can't afford to go to 3/4 different places to save money on groceries but spen the Same more on fuel.
I was really excited to see an Australian perspective but the plastic produce bags… far out. Nearly all that stuff would have been fine loose in one big reusable bag.
Definitely couldn’t buy all that for $50 in Cairns. I wish we had Aldi and we are probably the last major city that doesn’t have one on the east coast
Ditto in Tas, we don't have an Aldi in the entire state. It's Coles, Woolies, or IGA.
I'd love to see this for people who have dietary restrictions. I have a friend who is coeliac and everything gluten free costs 3x the price of not gluten free. Also would be cool to see a vegan version too
This was cool! We spend $300 at least for a family of 4. That includes nappies tho but my baby isn’t eating. And I’m like this is so hard to get down. I don’t even buy expensive cuts of meat or anything!
I neeeeed this to be a series
you slayed this video honestly 😭 this is so helpful and the video is so well done and well-paced, hope it gets more views 🙏🙏🙏 i think it'll help me quite a lot :))
Thank you so much!!
Thank you so much!!
This was a great challenge. Relevant to so many people.
Do you have your shopping list anywhere for this 😊
I loved your video. I'm 66 and honestly, I grew up when no one used plastic gloves to handle food. There was no such thing as disinfecting soap or all the various "anti germ" devices and products. Food prep was very casual. I don't recall ever being required to wash hands before eating or food prep. We lived on a farm. I had 5 brothers and sisters. We're all still healthy and alive! Imagine that!
Where is your denim jacket from?!
Shop at Asian grocery stores! They can be so cheap for veggies
P.S. yes wash your chicken
I've got $54 NZ a week, the answer is no.
This is a great video and I appreciate all the work that you put into it. Just know that when you’re using eggs, water works as a substitute for milk. It makes them fluffy and delicious. Just the same with Noah added calories and no extra cost.
Aww thanks so much!!
With the bird flu going on, I’v heard that it’s safer to buy cage eggs
I'm not sure where you might have heard that from but the strain of the current outbreak is not highly transmissible & so long as good food hygiene is followed (which it should when handling eggs & chicken anyway) it doesn't matter whether the eggs are free range or not.
Inflationary value of $10 from 2017 to 2024 gives you a $64.10 budget. You could have got the spinach and some cheese ☺
Such an incredible video!!!! Love it subscribed
Thank you so much!!
True answer: no. Not unless you have someone in your house who has a very specific diet restriction and even then it can be expensive depending on where you go. I'm type 2 and high carb intolerant and because of that I save money in the fact I can't eat fruit, limited veg and no wheat/grain products (Meat is a HUGE staple for me unless I want to have a Hyperglycaemia episode). However the rest of my family can and I end up putting that spare money into things they need rather than myself. I've learnt you can feed a family of for in Aldi for under $200 but even then it REALLY depends on what's in stock too and occasionally going without stuff. It's absolutely an awful way to have to think about feeding your family on a tight budget.
I really want to teach you how to make gravy without buying those expensive packets or box mixes. It’s soooooooo cheap to make as well. I would say .10c to make!!
I don't mind you using little bits and bobs that were already in your pantry because, realistically, no one is buying their weekly groceries with a completely empty cupboard. Plus, meal planning around the inventory that's already in the cupboard can be a great money-saver. Recently I wanted to have dumplings, so I put dumpling sauce on the shopping list. It wasn't until after I did an inventory that I realised I already had 3 packs of har gow sauce already in the freezer!
For one person... though.
I always get one of those chickens from aldis. We literally do what you did, hey. We have a bake dinner with the veg and gravy, we save some chicken and use it on two pizzas, any remaining chicken we make chicken and bacon wraps with lettuce, cheese, tomatoe and garlic ailo, for lunches... It's great to know i am being budget friendly. Im gonna give your muffins a try, but with milk, vanilla as i tend to buy cupboard milk, just the homebrand one. So milk is usually a cupboard stable here.. you could maybe try cupboard milk and see if it works for you. Some people call it long life milk, lol.
You can only feed one person for $10. I have two dogs and me to feed. But I did buy a house (spoiler alert, with my sister which is not surprising because I’m 32 years old and coordinate afford a house of any size by myself)
At coles and woolies absolutely not. I can't even feed a family of 2 for $50 from there.
Aldi I get definitely do $50 for 2 people for a whole week that's why I strictly shop at aldi
Your concept is realistic compared to pricing meals per serving.
🫶🏼🫶🏼
Fantastic loved this you did a great job it would be great if you did more .Thanks x
Thank you! Will do!
Ali, I think you underestimate your worth and and your abilities… so far I am loving what you are making 💗
The chicken broth with pasta is also a super cheap meal and great for colds.
This video was awesome. Thank you ❤❤❤❤
If you don't have milk to help your eggs go a little further, try adding a small amount of water. The same goes for mixing muffins. You already had fruit flavours for your muffins, so vanilla essence was not necessary. Well done, on the variety and healthy choices you made on such a low budget. I thought everything looked really delicious.
L💖VE the vegemite pjs
Thank you for doing this 🙏🏾☺️👌
We are gluten free and dairy free in our household- everything is three times more expensive before we start … but Aldi has some great gluten free stuff 🙌
Tip.. you should always was the chicken.. it’s cleaned with chlorine at the factory
Thank you for this. As a aussie family of 4 it has been difficult to get a weekly shop for a reasonable price. Thank you for the break down too. Extremely helpful x
I thought your $50 haul was a lot of produce and then you did the price breakdown and it really makes sense because I usually shop at one store. Sadly farmers markets aren’t open at 9pm on a Tuesday night, so yeah.. you pay for the convenience
I have no markets near me 😢
Fayt girlie ✨
Love me some stats and data! Thank you for such a great video.
You could also make pasta using flour, eggs and water. A lot of the popular recipes use 3 eggs and make way more than we can eat, ao I usually split the recipe in half and use only 1 egg but top it up hy adding a little more oil and water than normal. Works perfect and still makes enough for us to get two meals for two people. Spaetle is also a fun and easy alternative if you can't be bothered rolling out the pasta or want something a bit different.
Great video! I would love to see your thought process while you're shopping and how you're comparing as you shop.