Welcome to the Financial Wellbeing Bootcamp brought to you by ANZ. To sign up and be in the running to win $1,000 towards your savings, click here.
2020 has been a wild ride, but at least we’ve had some top TV to get us through. We won’t lie, indulging in Scottish heartthrob Jock Zonfrillo and the fierce fashion of Melissa Leong in the new Masterchef lineup definitely made lockdown easier—and gave us some stellar cooking inspo. But, cooking can be an expensive hobby depending on where you shop and what you buy. Fear not, we’re bringing you a four-week financial motivation bootcamp, brought to you by ANZ.
Our Financial Wellbeing Bootcamp, is inspired by ANZ’s four-step financial wellbeing check-in and loaded with helpful hints from ANZ which could have you managing money like a pro.
If you’ve just joined us, make sure to check out all of our previous curriculum here to help you on the road to improving your financial wellbeing. This week we’re showing you how you could shave valuable bucks off your grocery shop while still maintaining your inner Masterchef.
Buy In Bulk
Relax, we’re not saying buy your baked beans in slabs of 30 from Costco. But, consider how often you’ve opted for the cheapest product without considering its cost per 100g or per 100ml. Often, the more you buy, the less per unit you’ll pay, so quit being a stinge and get the large bag of rice because you know you’ll use it anyway.
Meal Prep
You’ve heard it before and we’re preaching it again—meal prepping is the ultimate money saver. Just like shopping in volume, cooking in volume could decrease your cost per meal. If you’re making a vego chilli for two, up the portions instead and make it for six, freezing four meals for another day. Less effort, less money, more time for another episode on Netflix? Sounds good to us.
Shop The Ugly Stuff
Did you know supermarkets only select the best looking produce to sell in-store? It’s like a high school prom but for vegetables. You can often snag the uglier veggies much cheaper through local vegetable retailers, or online at Harris Farm, who sell their ‘imperfect pick’ range at discounted prices.
Grow Your Own
Buying fresh herbs for one specific recipe can be expensive and wasteful. You know the scene; you buy your parsley, use half the bunch and find the rest wilted and past it at the bottom of your fridge two weeks later. By growing your own herbs, you use only what you need, and have access to amazing flavours for every meal. You can get herb plants at Bunnings for under five bucks, too. As they’d say on Masterchef—the garden is in play.
Skip Convenience Tax
Convenience items, like pre-made sauces or pre-cut vegetables, could be costing you a small fortune. You could make your pasta sauces from scratch, and commit to chopping your own onions to slash the cost of your grocery bill and minimise plastic waste. But, you do you.
Support Independent
You can often find cheaper fruit and vegetables at local independent grocers rather than your local supermarket. It might mean shopping two stores and a bit of extra planning, but if it gets you more produce for less money, it’s a yes from us.
Reducing your grocery bill is a super easy way that could help you save extra cash on the regular. Shop weekly, save weekly, and you could soon be watching your savings account soar. Stay tuned for next week’s Financial Wellbeing Bootcamp, brought to you by ANZ, where we’ll be showing you how to save for a rainy day.
Keen to know more about how you can spend your money more carefully? Head here to discover how you can spot your emotional spending triggers and break your spending cycle.
Image credit: Frankie Cordoba
Editor’s note: This article has been written and published by Urban List, and is sponsored by ANZ. Unless otherwise stated, all views and opinions belong to Urban List. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who make Urban List possible. Click here for more information on our editorial policy.
