Don't take your kids. Mike Van De Elzen shares tips to save on grocery bills in the new season of Eat Well For Less. Video / Dean Purcell
With the cost of living front of mind for many New Zealanders it can feel harder than ever to eat healthy on a budget in 2025.
Supermarket shopping can be an anxiety-inducing task as prices continue to increase on items once essential to a Kiwi diet.
At thetime of writing, cucumbers are $6, beef sirloin is surging at $46 per kg, a 500g block of Anchor butter now costs around $11, and two litres of Meadow Fresh blue milk is $5.63 – about the same price per litre as 95 petrol.
It’s enough to make you sprint to the noodle aisle and hold your dear friend Maggi as you set your sights on trusty frozen veg. But what is this horror? Wattie’s peas are now $6 for a 1kg bag, and if you dare consider the convenience of Steam Fresh, that’ll cost you $13.13 per kg. Oosh.
But before you Google “Is couponing still a thing?”, celebrity chef and host of TVNZ’s Eat Well for Less, Mike Van de Elzen says eating well on a budget is still possible, but it’s much more of a challenge.
Ganesh Raj and Mike van de Elzen from Eat Well For Less New Zealand. Photo / Supplied
So, how do we do it? Van de Elzen shares five ways he thinks every Kiwi can save on their grocery bill right now.
Make a plan
It doesn’t need to be for that whole week; it could just be for that day. But make a plan when you go to the supermarket and write it down. Say, “Tonight for dinner, we’re going to have chicken stir-fry. So, what goes in the chicken stir-fry? I’m going to need chicken, I’m gonna need some vegetables and I’m gonna need some egg noodles.” Tick it off and walk out of the supermarket.
Buy in season
Don’t go into a supermarket in winter and say, “I’m gonna make a capsicum harissa”, and you get to the supermarket and capsicums are $9 each, but you’ve still got it in your mind that you want to make that capsicum harissa. Be flexible in what you want to make. Go to wherever you get your produce from and go, “What’s in season right now?” It’s going to be front and centre, and it’s going to be on special.
Buying in season is key to saving money. Photo / 123rf
Be mindful of snacks
Try to take out as many snacks from your pantry as you can. If it’s in the pantry, it’s going to be eaten. Definitely have snacks, but just have some nachos, some potato chips, some cashews, or some nuts, and just leave it there. Don’t go overboard, where you open the pantry and it’s a whole candy store because the kids are just going to go for them and before you know it, you’re spending more money on snacks than you are on the main meals themselves.
Add in a vegetarian night
Even if you just do it once a week, say, “Right, tonight we’re going to go vegetarian and we’re going to make a cauliflower curry and we’re going to serve that on some rice and make a little cucumber raita to go with it”.
Meat is expensive; lamb is expensive, beef is expensive and so is fish. So, start treating it as expensive and cut the portion size down. If you’re going to have a piece of Scotch for dinner, maybe go, “I’m going to have 150g of it instead of this massive big wad, or half a side of Scotch”. Try shopping more in the vegetable and lentil arena – add some cheeses, such as paneer, and keep the proteins to a minimum.
Packed with nutrients and kind on your wallet, beans, peas and lentils might be the most underrated foods on your plate. Photo / 123rf
Where possible, don’t take your kids to the supermarket
Leave the kids at home, because they are going to tug at you. They’re going to say, “Dad, Mum, can I please have this? Just this one time.” And before you know it, half the trolley is full of stuff that you didn’t intend to go to the supermarket for.
So leave the kids at home, write a list, make a plan, shop in season and try and go vegetarian here and there.
New episodes of Eat Well for Less season 5 air every Monday, 7.30pm on TVNZ1 and TVNZ+
