There's no getting around it. Food is expensive here.We are spending the most we ever have on groceries and it feels like the boys never stop eating!
We expected there to be an increase, after all we are now living in "remote" Australia but the reality stings everytime we hand over the card.
We have trialled various strategies to reduce our bill...
*snacks from scratch vs. packaged snacks
*high meat vs. more veggie meals
*ready made foods vs. prepared from scratch
Thus far, we cannot find the magic meal plan to balance out both cost and health.
We don't normally buy lots of packaged things and ready made meals. So when we tried that option we all felt horrible and I knew it would be costly to our health to continue.
It's the fruit and vegetables and meats that are the killer here.
There are no butcher shops (aside from a travelling butcher we were a bit meh about) and no fruit and veggie markets. We are at the mercy of supermarket prices.
It is fair to say this has just about doubled our grocery costs.
We all want our kids to enjoy fruits, vegetables and a variety of healthy food but it is seriously hard when the costs are so high.
I dream of the $40 fruit/veg box I used to have delivered on the east coast that would meet our needs for more than a week. Here it feels like all the fruit is gone a few days after the shopping is done.
I try to see the costs of good food as insurance for our health but gee, I wish the premiums weren't so high!!
