According to recent research from Finder, Australian households are spending hundreds of dollars more year on food.
According to Finder’s Consumer Sentiment Tracker, the average Australian family spent $185 per week on groceries in February 2023, up $37 per week from February 2022.
That’s a staggering $1,924 rise per home over a year or an additional $18,8 billion on a national scale.
One-third of Australians (33%) visit the store every few days, but the majority (53%) shop once each week.
Roughly one-tenth of Americans (9%) shop for groceries every two weeks, while only 1% are able to last the entire month. The study indicated that 2% of Australians purchase food on a daily basis.
Sarah Megginson, a money expert at Finder, stated that the rising cost of living has a significant impact on food expenditures.
“Families are enduring really difficult circumstances, and rising food prices are an additional strain.
Australians are forced to alter their shopping habits and locations in order to put food on the table.
In March, 43% of Australians ranked their grocery bill as one of their top three most stressful costs, the highest level since April 2019, when Finder’s Consumer Sentiment Tracker began.
About half (48%) of individuals questioned prefer to shop at Woolworths, followed by Coles (39%) in second place.
10% of consumers typically shop at Aldi for home necessities, compared to 2% who shop at their neighborhood IGA.
Megginson stated that there are strategies to reduce your food bill.
“Use a shopping list to avoid spending money on unnecessary items. If possible, do your grocery shopping an hour or two before the supermarket shuts, when meat and poultry are up to 80% off.
“Stock up on necessities while they’re on sale and check costs online for expensive products such as laundry detergent and pet food.
“This is also an excellent time to enroll in supermarket loyalty programs. Since you’re going to purchase food anyhow, you might as well get points. These points may subsequently be redeemed for cash back or converted into frequent flier miles,” Megginson explained.
A Past Finder study indicated that 9% of Australians had stolen things from the supermarket at the self-checkout, while 10% have intentionally lied about what they scanned at the self-service checkout.