Eight simple hacks to bring down your supermarket bill

Frances Cook talks to culinary budget whiz Alice Taylor and gets her top tips for eating well while shaving dollars off your grocery bill.

You don’t need to be a chef to know how to make dinner cheaper. But it turns out, it helps if you follow one on Instagram.

Former MasterChef contestant, cookbook author and growing Instagram sensation, Alice Taylor's posts aren't the usual polished, perfect, $40-a-plate fantasy food content.

They're apple muffins your three-year-old can help make (I tested this with my own three-year-old, it works), roast chicken that turns into three meals, and tips for saving money without needing to turn into a homesteader with a cow in the backyard.

She’s gained a following for a reason: people are desperate to keep their grocery bills down.

And while we keep waiting for action on the supermarket duopoly and broken political solutions, there are some things we can do now to save ourselves dollars.

I interviewed Taylor this week and gleaned some of her best ideas for saving money on food, with no garden, sourdough starter, or 15 hours of free time required.

Forget the rigid shopping list. Instead, stock your pantry with a handful of reliable ingredients you actually like.

You’re looking for three carbs you regularly use, three proteins (some can be plant-based), three spices, and maybe a couple of sauces.

Then when you hit the supermarket, shop around those staples, keeping an eye out for specials that can jazz it up.

“So I'm going to look at the specials after that, and keep an open mind with what I end up cooking, I think that’s quite important,” Taylor says.

This approach not only saves money, it reduces waste and decision fatigue too.

“I really believe that so many food products that are sold are not necessary,” Taylor says.

She’s not against convenience. But she’s sceptical of products like pre-made spice blends, chilli oil, or fancy marinades that are often priced well above their actual ingredients.

A good rule of thumb is, whenever a supermarket product combines more than one ingredient, be sceptical. You could be paying top dollar for something priced well over the sum of its parts.

Taylor doesn’t advocate cutting meat completely. But she does say it’s worth getting smarter about how we use it.

Cheaper cuts of meat can be used in strategic ways, so that you still get the protein and flavour, but for a lower cost.

“I will always buy chicken drumsticks... but I feel like everyone wants to buy chicken breasts,” she says.

When it comes to saving money, she says using the whole bird gives the most value. Roast it on night one, turn leftovers into sandwiches or stir-fry the next day, and use the bones to make stock for a third meal.

“Three meals and all you've done is thrown the chicken in the oven once.”

Taylor says one of the most powerful habits she’s developed is delaying the next shop, even when the fridge looks bare.

“In the past, maybe a year ago, I'd say, OK I want to go to the supermarket. I want to cook this particular thing and I'm going to do that,” she says.

“But instead I'll pause and be like, I know I can make something good from this... I'm going to pull everything out of the fridge and I'm going to try and make something delicious.”

The result? Less waste, fewer top-up shops, and less pressure on your weekly budget.

While she doesn’t claim to be an electricity expert, Taylor has picked up a few energy-saving tricks in the kitchen.

The oven can be one of the most energy-intensive appliances, so if you’re using it anyway, make it go further.

“If I've got the oven on, I’m making the most of it. I'm throwing in a cake, I'm throwing in a stew, I've got it jam packed,” she says.

“If I've finished cooking, I keep the oven door open and I heat up the whole home.”

She’s also started using her dishwasher more often after learning it’s actually cheaper than washing dishes by hand. That’s a tip that’s backed up by research from Consumer NZ.

Taylor is wary of pricey food marketed as “clean” or “wellness-focused.”

Her approach to healthy eating is one of simplicity. “I honestly think if you've got some veggies and some meat and you cook at home, bravo, good job,” she says.

She notes that people with allergies are often hit with unfair price hikes, and has started posting allergy-friendly recipes that don’t rely on expensive substitutes.

“If you've got an egg allergy, grated Granny Smith apple is the perfect egg replacement,” she says. “And it's... cheaper than an egg, especially now that eggs are like gold.”

Her next hot tip? Don’t try to recreate the exact version of a food you can’t eat. Just find something else that works.

Oil instead of butter. Applesauce instead of eggs. Embrace the difference, rather than forcing the substitute.

One of Taylor’s most important points is that saving money can’t mean spending hours in the kitchen every day. It’s just not realistic.

She might make chilli oil or sauerkraut from scratch (because they take five minutes). But mayonnaise? No way.

“Mayonnaise to me is really hard to make. It's just too much effort, and you can break it.”

Find the shortcuts that make sense for you, not for Instagram. For the others, it’s OK to have premade.

A key way to sabotage the budget is by budgeting for the person we wish we were, instead of the person we are.

So if you like certain treats? Find a smart way to indulge in them. Taylor keeps a loaf of banana bread in the freezer at all times. She slices off one piece each morning and takes it to work, neatly side-stepping the temptation to blow $6 on a sweet treat when the urge strikes.

“I would have just bought something anyway,” she says. “You’ve just got to admit who you are and live your life accordingly.”

Call it budgeting for joy. It saves money, reduces stress, and makes it way easier to avoid takeaways when you’re tired.

While Taylor is full of tips, she’s also clear-eyed about the big picture.

“You can try your best to produce recipes that are cost effective,” she says. “But actually, the price of these supermarket goods need to come down.”

That’s why she’s also used her platform to interview politicians about the cost of living, and post it on Instagram for her followers to judge their answers.

“Until I go to a supermarket and I either see prices come down or more money in my wallet to spend on those supermarket goods, or both, we have a significant problem.”

In the meantime, a tray of drumsticks, a frozen banana loaf, and slightly wilted vegetables turned into a soul-warming soup might just get you through the week.

The information in this artlcle is general in nature and should not be taken as personalised financial advice.