Food is one of our biggest household expenses.
At a time when thousands of New Zealanders are going hungry, there are also many people spending money on food they'd be better off saving, says financial planner Liz Koh.
Photo: Marcus Aurelius / Unsplash
Liz Koh Photo: CapturedByFridayPhotography2021-38
Many people don't know how much they spend on food, Koh says. But if we're not careful, this outlay can "easily go overboard".
To get a sense of how your food spending compares to other peoples', this annual report on NZ food costs by Otago University is a good starting point, Koh says.
Feelings of choice and comfort are tied in with our individual food expenditure but making sacrifices can offer deeper satisfaction, she says.
"[Food] is an area of your budget where you can make huge savings but also do a favour for yourself healthwise and do a favour for the planet in the sense that you're cutting down on wastage.
"As we go into this next economic cycle where we've got this high inflation, we've got high-interest rates which are going to affect our mortgage payments and our rent, it's the one area that deserves a lot of attention."
Someone who could find a way to spend $125 less on food per week would save well over $6,000 if they kept that up for a year, Koh says. After a decade, that could become over $60,000.
"By simply changing some habits you can actually save a lot of money."
To begin your own investigation, Koh recommends first jotting down a list of everything you spend on food in a week, then looking at where you can cut back.
"Even set yourself a [weekly] limit and say 'my grocery budget is going to be xX-amount per week and once I've exceeded that I'm gonna have to think outside the square in terms of what I put on the table."
Liz Koh's tips for shrinking your food spend:
- Cut down your supermarket visits (and the number of opportunities to "impulse buy" things you don't need)
- Plan meals and make sure you have the ingredients on hand
- Cook in bulk
- Stop buying lunch
- Watch your coffee and cafe snacks
