Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
We're constantly hearing about the cost of living on the rise.
It's everywhere, whether it's at the federal pump or the supermarket.
It's all over the news and it seems to be
all that anyone is talking about, and it can be
a little bit exhausting. So today we're actually going to
do something about it. We're going to get productive. We're
going to give you some really practical tips on how
you can keep your grocery shopping bill down, stick to
(00:25):
a budget while still making healthy choices and striking that
right nutritional balance because we don't have to break the
bank to be healthy. Yes, it's an investment, but we
can be more creative, more open minded about what we're buying,
what we're cooking, and nutrition. A Shanna is in next
to give us some tips, and after that we're going
to be delving into something that a lot of WOODLFE
(00:46):
listeners can relate to.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Myself included with a newborn baby at home, by the
time I've fed him and then settled him to sleep,
I just want to collapse into a nap myself. As
a father that's been through this a few times, how
do I get the energy to then work out.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Oh, I can hear it in Katia's voice, And do
I know that feeling, especially right now having a newborn
could be so incredibly hard. Actually really looking forward to
helping Cardia, sharing my tips, sharing my experience. But let's
get into it. So I don't think it's a revelation
(01:39):
for me to say that the cost of living, particularly
right now, feels like it's really on the rise. So
I haven't brought in a bank manager. I haven't brought
in a mortgage broker. I've bought in someone who can
actually help you with something that you need to buy
on a weekly or daily basis, and that is food.
And I've brought in our incredible nutrition Sharna. And rather
(02:01):
than talk today about macros and calories, we're going to
talk about how to save a few dollars by more
efficiently doing your shopping. Now. I did some research, Sharna.
Welcome to the wood Life. First of all, wonderful to
have you back here. I don't even give you the
big long introduction now, because everybody knows who you are
and loves you.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
It's great to be back.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
I did a little bit of research so we know
things are getting expensive when and you won't even have
heard of this because you don't eat AFC, and I
probably shouldn't. I have it occasionally when I'm hungover, and
my pregnant wife was loving it. So we've had a
bit of KFC in our house over the last twelve months,
and I'm comfortable admitting that. But KFC for the first
(02:44):
time ever, let Us was so expensive that they had
cabbage in their chicken Philip burgers, and it caused this
huge kind of funny uproar. There's a prime example that
you know, sometimes you need to just buy the rite
ingredient that's going to be cost effective, and even even
(03:05):
the kernel was getting on board.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Yeah, so interesting. It actually leads way into a great
point because, for example, something like lettuce, at the moment
you can be looking at nine dollars for it, is
that how much it can be. I think at one
point they were like nine dollars. I think yesterday I
paid six dollars for broccolini. Like, things are getting a
bit outrageous. Even snowpeas. I paid nine dollars for some
snowpeas recently. I reckon there was like twelve snowpeas in there.
(03:27):
But on the note of things like let us, being
super expensive, well particular vegetables being super expensive. Whatever it
may be, and whatever comes or goes. If something is
crazy expensive and there's something similar that you can swap
in that's not been affected by the price rise. For example,
let's say lettuce is nine dollars and a bag of
spinach is two dollars, just swap it out, use the
spinach instead. Don't feel like if you're following a meal plan,
(03:48):
like if you're following twenty eight and the lettuce does
appear for some reason, then just swap it for spinach,
or swap it for kale or silver beet or another
seasonal green that doesn't have the crazy price tag attached
to it. Don't feel like just because you're following a recipe,
it has to be exactly what you're putting into the meal.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
I love that you're not going to be missing out
on anything and you be saving some money.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
A recent study from Deacon University found that fruit and
veg prices have gone up by seven percent on a
macro scale. It does impact us all directly or indirectly.
So I guess, Shana, the question that everybody's asking is
can I continue to eat healthily? Because we've spoken on
(04:30):
the show before. You need to look at healthy eating
as an investment, not as a cost. Can I keep
eating healthy because we know that's what you need to do?
Or how can I keep eating healthy? Is probably a
better way of positioning it and still save a few dollars.
So I'm hoping you can give us some really practical
tips today on how we can do that. Can you
(04:50):
do that?
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Absolutely right, Well let's jump straight into it. What are
your top tips on how people can continue to make
good food choices but without breaking the back? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Well, Number one is to shop seasonally. Now, this is
something that ideally we want to do anyway, but when
we can shop food that's in season, we're going to
ensure that it's fresher, it's traveled less, so it ends
up being cheaper because it's actually that seasonal produce. We
haven't had to get it all the way from Mexico
or all the way from another country, the way importing
food from.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
I really love that one because the one that gets
me is raspberries.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
I love raspberries, probably more so my girls love raspberries.
Sometimes it's four dollars, sometimes it's eleven, you know, for
a panet.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
It's crazy, and that's often when it's not in season
because it is harder to get, so it's going to
be more expensive.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Could you give me an example of in summer you
might buy product X, and then in the winter months
you might substitute that with product Y based on a
nice seasonal swap that you like to do.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Yeah, so let's use berries as the example. That would
be a more summer fruit, whereas in winter you're going
for more of those citrus fruits or things like pineapple.
And it's quite interesting because often the food that's in
season in particular months, it's actually really good for that
time of year. For example, citrus, which is in season
in winter that's great for our immune system, and raspberries
are high in antioxidants which are great for things like
(06:10):
sun exposure, which we have heightened sun exposure in summer.
So often the seasonal produce is actually most nutritious for
that time of year as well, which is a really
cool thing to factory.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
And that's something I don't think a lot of people
think about. I'm a taste driven yea. You know, I
won't buy amanda in at certain times a year because
they just taste crap, But when they're in season, I
eat them by the truckload and they're delicious. But I
know it. Our lists are thinking what's in season right now?
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Yeah, so more of the things like root vegetables and
things that are going to end up being cooked and
going into things like our stews and our curries and
those warmer winter dishes that we'd be cooking. So, for example,
in summer, we'd see more things like the leafy greens
and more salad ingredients in season, whereas in winter it's
more of those hearty root vegetables, So things like your potato,
(06:56):
sweet potato, pumpkin, carrots, all of those are very sneezonally
in winter and great things to base meals off and
then grab other things that are in season. The best
way to know whether things a seasonal is actually just
going to the markets, because they're going to be less
likely to be important things like the supermarkets, So rather
than having to memorize a list, there are many lists
(07:16):
online which are great to access, and you can just
google seasonal produce Winter, or you can do it month
by month seasonal produce August, September, October, whatever month you're
shopping in and you can look at it before you go.
But I find rather than taking that guesswork out of it,
and rather than having to remember all the different seasonal produce,
just going to the farmer's market and seeing what's available,
because that's going to be the fresh stuff that is
(07:38):
in season.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
So it's no coincidence that Kesseroles carries soups are what
we love eating at this time of year because it
matches the type of ingredient it is. Season It's a
perfect match for a reason.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Yeah, absolutely, And that's one way that I remember things
like we are more inclined to eat more of those
raw things in summer because it's hotter and our body
likes that sort of stuff. In winter, the last thing
we want is a salad. We're going for those warming foods.
They're easier on the digestive tract. It just helps keep
us warmer and it's cold weather outside, so it's just
very fitting and aligned.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
I love it. I love it. So tip one shops seasonally.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
What's tipto shop locally as well, so that one kind
of feeds into the seasonality and trying not to get
things that have been imported, but going to like small businesses,
little fruit and bed shops in your area, or going
to farmers' markets or just general markets that you have
close by to you. It's often going to be cheaper.
That doesn't apply all the time. Like certain pantry staples,
(08:35):
you might be a bit better off getting from the
supermarket because you can buy them cheaper there. But things
like fresh produce is really good to go direct to
the farmer because you don't have any middlemen. So things
like the farmer markets is the easiest way to get
direct from the farmer.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
I'm notoriously bad at forgetting when the farmer's markets can
be on every weekend, I'm sure people can relate. But
when I do go, I can't believe how much bang
for your buck you get.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Yeah, and often we end up saving money because there's
less available to us too. It is just the real
food and the real produce. Whereas in the supermarket, like
you said, you walk in you're overwhelmed with an abundance
of products, so it's so much easier just to add
things to your cart, and before you know, you've spent
even more on things that you didn't even need.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
There's a lot of benefit sat all right, So they're
two really good tips to kick us off. What next
you got for us?
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Frozen veggies? It's one that we often overlook and one
that can sometimes be interpreted as a less healthy option.
But frozen veggies are just as nutritious as the fresh ones,
sometimes more nutritious because they haven't been sitting out for ages.
They're generally snap frozen when they've been picked, so they're
going to retain all of the nutrients and provided they
haven't been processed, which if you're buying just frozen veggies
(09:42):
and it's just the vegetable, which is perfect, and that's
a great thing to buy and will still fluctuate in cost,
but might not fluctuate as.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Much as And what are your favorite frozen veggie combos?
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Things like cauliflower and broccoli are a good one, especially
now that the those costs are increasing for those particular vegetables.
Things like green beans really easy means you don't have
to peel them or anything either. Pease that's ones obviously, Yeah,
it's easier to find frazer and fresh.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Yeah, save money?
Speaker 3 (10:12):
Yea?
Speaker 1 (10:13):
What else have you.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Got buying in bulk? So this is only relevant for
some things. For example, if there's a box of bananas
that are super ripe, buy them when they're cheap and
freeze them and you've got banans for smoothies for the month,
or things like mangoes. It happens with a lot of
other produce as well, things like carrots, potatoes. Sometimes it
can actually be a lot cheaper to buy them in bulk,
and you might not necessarily use them all at once.
(10:34):
Some of those things will last longer, like potatoes, but
you can freeze things if you don't think you're going
to use them in time, and if they're getting closer
to that expiry date, and that's often when the specials are.
Like if it is something that's not going to last
as long, use it, put it in a soup. Don't
just think, oh it's not new, fresh and super crisp,
so it's not good anymore. You can still get benefit
out of those and it's going to be a better
(10:55):
for your wallet.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Such a simple way to think about it, but I
hadn't acually thought about it that. I love that. I
always think back with these bulk by So. My dad
had a catering company when I was younger, and you
get the trade access to it was called Campbell's Cash
and Carry. It was like Tasmania's version of Costco, I guess,
and I remember it vividly. You know, you have the
(11:16):
trolley that's literally like a full drive and it's been
and Mum would have all three kids on this flat
tray with twenty seven wheels, and we'd be growing around
and you'd buy three years worth a toilet paper and
you'd stack it all up and all this craziness. But
the thing with us was we saved a lot of
money because we didn't go to the supermarket anywhere near
as often, and particularly if you're taking your kids to
(11:40):
the supermarket and it's like can we have this? And
can we have this? And you know, you kids get
sucked in even more than we do as adults. You know,
we all get sucked in by it. But we would
literally do our family shop I think by monthly, you
know weeks. We'd still get milk and bread every couple
of days from the corner store, yeah, but almost everything
(12:02):
else would be bought. It was either every six weeks
or every eight weeks. But it was a big stretch
of time. And the only reason I remember it was
that when the treats ran out, the treats ran out,
but we must have saved a lot of money, Yeah,
by not doing regular family trips to the surf market.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
Now.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
I don't know what your future tips are, but what
are your thoughts on physically going to the soupermarket versus
online shopping.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
I think there's a place for online shopping if you
are trying to save money as well. I personally like
going to markets, like especially like fresh produce and seeing
specials and things to touch.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
And feel, yeah of the fruit.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
And even get inspiration of what I'm going to cook.
Unless I'm following a meal Planet, It's easy to put
it in a shopping list online. But if I'm like, Okay,
what do I want for dinner this week? And I
walk around to season, yeah exactly, I'm like, oh, okay,
this is something I haven't seen at the farmer's market.
I'm going to try and cook something with this. How
can I put this in a dish? So I find
it really helpful for inspiration as well and the experience
(13:02):
if you've got the time. Sometimes like you're just so busy,
and online shop is perfect because it's like, don't have
to think about going to do the shopping or getting
in the car, driving somewhere, picking everything out, paying for it,
getting home, Like, it can add time to the journey
as well. So online shopping is great for time saving
and can be great for money saving too. Yeah, so
there's pros and constant both really is.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
But I think that was a very well balanced argument.
There are definitely some benefits of being there in the flesh,
but it's you probably if you're just looking at money, Yeah,
would buy less online as we tend to see it
and feel like we need it. Like the amount of
stuff you get in the last fifty meters of your
shop as you go past the magazine isle and the
(13:45):
chocolate bar isle and all the stuff that they like
to get you with, it'd be really interesting to see
how much was saved if you didn't get all that stuff.
We keep going, You're on a roll. I'm loving these.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
I want to say something else in regards to that.
So when you are going shopping, regardless of whether you're
doing an online shop or going to a physical store
or market, it can be super helpful to have a
shopping list, and that will actually help you save money.
So it's obviously helpful for time and.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
All of that. A discipline, yeah, and.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
Just being like, Okay, this is what I'm here for,
rather than going in buying all the different things, not
sure how you're going to put all together. And there's
a time and place for that. As I said, I
love doing those kinds of shops every now and then
when I just feel like getting inspired. But as a
general rule, I'll know what I need when I'm heading
to the shop, so I can just go in for
that stuff and not get carried away putting other things
that I'm not going to use, or things that are
(14:33):
going to go to waste, or things that are just
impulse buys in the moment. So having that list can
actually help to bring us back to what's actually important
for the weak ahead and make sure we're spending our
money on the things we're actually going to eat and
they're going to nourish us most.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
And just that communication is a family too. You know,
if if you know you're eating out on a Friday
night as a family, well then we don't need that
extra produce for that meal for that particular And I
think when you are buying a bit more hoc, yeah,
the wastage factory, and then there's nothing worse than oh,
we went out for dinner three times this week. Oh,
(15:08):
look at all this food that we kind of anticipate
in our heads that we were going to eat, and
then we haven't eaten it, and now it's probably no good.
And you know, it's a tragedy when you're throwing all
that food out when you haven't sort of planned a
head or had a list. So, yeah, planning it and
having a list really and then having discipline around your list,
I think is really good advice.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Yeah, definitely, And even if you don't have like full
discipline around it, you're probably more likely to add less
extra things than if you had no list at all
and you're just going like, oh what do I feel
like today?
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Yeah? And yeah, the more specificity you can have around
you list too, if you write snacks, yeah, that opens
a whole pandora that could be very expensive.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
And also I guess that bulk buying can come in
really well there. For example, if you're looking for particular
snacks and you know this particular stacks that you buy
a week upon week and one week they're on special,
buy them in bulk, so then you've got them, You've
saved money. It might have been a bigger outlayer money
in the beginning because you're buying more than you normally
would in your weekly shop. But you've saved, however many
dollars on the future weeks from making the most of
(16:08):
that sale and getting them in bulk.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Then we got a garage fridge and we've started bulk
buying because we now have somewhere to keep it. And
the fridge costs US one thousand dollars. It wasn't free fridge,
but I bet we've saved way over one thousand dollars
since we've had it by bulk buying. Yeah, it can
be a really good investment, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
And if you don't have that extra fridge or freezer,
you might stick to the pantry staples. So, for example,
if you use a lot of rice, buying the big
bags of rice, which are generally cheaper than all the
little small ones, or any like canned things, those sorts
of things that you can just put in the pantry
or put in a cupboard if you've got extra cupboard space,
they can be a good place to start.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
I mean, the savings are astronomical. I don't know if
the dementsions are necessarily but sometimes the bag of rice
as big as your hand is about eighty percent of
the cost is the bag of rice as big as
your whole body? Yeah, you know, like if you are
okay with going big, yeah, I mean the team, you
can barely carry it to the car. Yeah you can
(17:03):
save yeah exactly. Now we're talking about workout, You've got
yourself a beautiful pressing device or carrying device.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
You don't need extra patry.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
You can keep it in your gym vice workout turning
all way everybody. So I absolutely love those. Let's let's
do a quick recape. So number one was shop seasonally,
shop seasonally. Number two shop locally. Number three I look
for specials Number four bu bye by number five frozen
fruit and veggies by Fredegeo Freezer. I've had that in
(17:37):
in brackets by yourself a garage for Jeo Freezer. That's
our top six here at the wood Life. To save
you some money on your grocery shopping as times get
a bit tougher, it will all add up across fifty
two weeks a year, year on year, to help you
in a big, big way. You're an absolute savings superstar.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
You're welcome, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
I love doing Nashana. She gets it, she lives it,
she breaths it. She's out there practicing all of these
things that she preaches, And every time I speak to her,
I know I learn something. I absolutely hope you do too,
and I hope our little chat will help all of
you save a few dollars. Next up, we've got a
question around energy and exercise. That is a really important question,
(18:22):
particularly for new mums. So this question from Cartia, I've
got to say, really hit me because Harper has had
a very tough start to her life. She was in
hospital for the first or for seven of the first
eight weeks. I'm really really happy to report that she
(18:44):
was eleven weeks old yesterday. She is doing fabulously well.
She's got the cutest little chappy cheeks. But as a parent,
we're tired. Not just tired, we're bone dry, exhausted, particularly
Snaz to a lesser extent, but she is bloody superwoman.
But when this question came through from Cartia, it really
(19:07):
it really got me because it's so close to home,
and I think it's something that so many mums dads
to a lesser extent, but dads to do, experience and
It's really important that I can give my advice out
there and hopefully help a little bit when you need
it when you need it most.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Hi, sam, My question is how do I find the
energy to start a workout with a newborn baby at home.
By the time I've fed him and then settled him
to sleep, I just want to collapse into a nap myself.
As a father that's been through this a few times,
how do I get the energy to then work out?
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Sorry, Carter, I was just having a little nap on
the desk here because I hear you. I hear you. Look,
the first thing that I need to say is do
not be hard on yourself when you have a newborn.
I totally get that finding the time, of the energy
or the motivation to exercise can sometimes understandably be the
(20:12):
furthest thing from your mind. What I do have to
say is working out will not give you less energy.
Finding that little spark to get the workout started is
the magic here, and we'll get to that, but I'll
just say that again, working out will not give you
(20:32):
less energy. It will give you more energy. It will
get the blood pumping, it will get the endorphins flowing,
it will wake you up. So I have two rules.
Rule number one, you need to write that down and
you need to accept it because I think often we
think I'm too tired to work out, but the reality
is the workout will wake us up. The second thing is,
(20:54):
just do five minutes. I promise you, hand on heart
if you do five minutes the first five minutes of
any workout you choose, and train at home. Make it
as simple as possible. So let's make that tip number two.
Tip number two, train at home. So whether whatever it
might be, doing a little YouTube free workout, or you're
(21:15):
part of an online program or whatever it might be,
and you press play and you start that workout with
a b yoga or hit or strength or bloodies or
whatever it might be, and then just do the first
five minutes. I guarantee you you won't stop. The key
will be you've done that first five minutes and you
are awake, both in body and mind. You're awake, you're alert,
(21:37):
everything's starting to stimulate, and the blood's pumping, the endorphins
are starting to kick in, and you will want to
keep going. You've done the hardest part of the workout.
We know when we go for a run, the first
five minutes is the hardest. We know when we do
a workout, the first five minutes is the hardest. But
once you've broken through that wall or that barrier or
that hump, you're going to keep going. Another little tip,
(21:59):
don't let your hit the couch. And when you've got
a newborn, that's exactly where you want to be. But
I you've just got home from somewhere, you've just gotten
home from work or whatever it might be, or you've
just waken up, and then you've done a few things
around the house and now you're going to have a
sit down. If you can keep yourself standing up, get
your mat down, get your phone down, and just go
(22:20):
before your bum hits the couch, the chances of you
getting that workout done and the consistency of you're getting
that workout done will drastically improve. It is one of
those times in our lives where we need to accept
that it is absolutely hard, that is real. There's no
sugarcoating that. But I promise you moving your body most
(22:43):
days if you can, is only going to help. And
if you don't feel necessarily like doing the little workout
inside all the time, substitute it with a little workout
inside every second day, and getting out and about with
your newborn for some vitamin D and some fresh air,
pushing the pram walking along for a little thirty minute
walk on the other days. And it's the perfect combination
for a new mum. So cuddie. This is something that
(23:07):
I really feel like as close as being a mum.
I'm not a mum, obviously, I never will be a mum.
I would never profess to fully understand how tough it
is for new mums. But I do have four kids.
I do have one that's only a few months old.
We are sleep deprived. I have conversations about this with
Sneeze often. I'm always in giving her the exact same
(23:29):
advice that I'm giving you here today, and I promise
you it will help. Stay strong, keep it up and
make sure you get back to me and let me
know how you're going. I really love getting these questions.
It's something I'm so passionate about. I really hope that helped,
as I said, and anyone else that wants some help,
(23:50):
that's what I'm here for. If you've got any questions,
please please you can send me a little voice message.
There's a link in the show notes, I'd love to
hear from you, and of course i'll be back on
Monday for another motivational moment. And remember you can always
listen for free on the iHeartRadio app. I'll see you soon.