Australian households cut grocery costs as inflation pressures weekly budgets

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Australian households cut grocery costs

Highlights

Australian households report weekly grocery bills ranging from A$178.78 to A$300, with lower-income families allocating up to a quarter of income to food amid inflation pressures.
Canstar research shows 25% of shoppers changed habits in the past year, with 40% cutting treats, 38% monitoring unit prices, and 34% searching for deals using apps or catalogues.
Foodbank data reveals 100,000 more Australian households experienced some form of food insecurity in the past 12 months, disproportionately impacting single-parent families.

Household budgets tighten at the checkout

As reported by ABC News, shoppers across Australia are changing what they buy as the Reserve Bank says inflation is still not in check and another interest rate hike lands on household finances.

Daniel, who shops for a household with his wife, a toddler and a three-month-old baby, says his family spends about A$250 a week on groceries, with one larger shop in the sample costing A$178.78. He tracks spending on a detailed spreadsheet and says groceries are now his biggest cost after the mortgage.

He says the family has cut back on higher-cost items such as large steaks and now mostly shops at Aldi, balancing price against quality. Louisa, who budgets A$300 a week for herself, her husband and toddler, says her buying pattern is broadly unchanged but the prices of staples such as cereal, rice and meat have risen noticeably.

Udita, a mother of a kindergarten-aged child, says grocery bills are far higher than they were three or four years ago, pointing to mini cans of Coke costing around A$11 or A$12 when not on special. Kirsty, who lives with her teenage son, says groceries account for almost a quarter of her disability pension, underscoring the pressure on lower-income households.

Cost pressures reshape shopping habits nationwide

Consumer research company Canstar says one in four shoppers reported changing their habits in the previous 12 months to help keep costs down. Among the shifts cited, 40% cut back on treats and snacks, 38% spent more time checking unit prices, and 34% used supermarket apps or catalogues to find deals before shopping.

The pressure is also visible in rising food insecurity. Foodbank recently found the number of Australian households experiencing some form of food insecurity in the past 12 months grew by 100,000, with higher rates among single-parent families.

That strain is reflected in Robyn's weekly shop, where most fresh fruit and vegetables come from Foodbank. An avocado included for a Mexican meal is described as a rarity, illustrating how even small discretionary food choices are becoming less accessible as costs rise.

Our earlier coverage of Walmart highlighted how persistent inflation is pushing more budget-conscious shoppers toward value-focused retailers and supporting market share gains. We also noted that analysts see Walmart’s margins and sales benefiting from a broader shift into higher-margin services, automation, and digital tools such as its AI shopping assistant, which is designed to increase basket size.

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