OK. Here's the thing. Often getting cheap means either ignoring Australian for stuff from China, Argentina or Sth Africa or forcing the Aussie farmers to sell too cheap. For instance, the beautiful peaches Coles have been selling are a result of the Coles vs Woolies price war and at $2-4/kg cost more than that for the farmers to produce, forcing many farmers to plough their crops into the ground. So I reckon you can't beat the big chains for good F & V prices, but consider the real cost before you buy.

Farmers markets? Bah! Dunno where you go Carly but the one's I've tried are far more expensive than the shops and the produce is straggly and often old, looking like the stuff John West rejects. As for organic markets, every time I decide to try one someone gets busted for selling non-organic at organic prices, and kills the trust factor. I like Forestway Fresh at Terrey Hills, and as a bonus, they sell proper Dairy Farmers milk at least $1 per 2L cheaper than Coles or Woolies; none of this watered down home brand rubbish.

Meat I buy online from Wiggly Tail Butchery in Port Macquarie. Great quality and variety, good prices and they home deliver to Sydney. As the name would suggest they are particularly good with pork products. If you don't fancy online, then look for the local chinese butchery. For some reason they seem to get really good prices and as well you can usually get some beautiful BBQ pork or roast duck.

As for the other stuff like cleaning products, just avoid the name brands. If you see it advertised on the telly every night then you know they spend a fortune on advertising and they have to recoup that cost somehow. As well they are usually owned by multi-nationals. Look for the lesser known and oftern Aussie-owned brands. They're usually hidden awya on the bottom shelf because they don't pay the supermarkets for prime positioning, but they're equally as good.

Well in all fairness, the French jam is delicious :)

I do agree with your point about Australian made products and I don't want to get too political, but I think a better solution is to target the policy makers rather than spend more than you can afford on groceries, or spend three hours doing the shopping because you have to read the labels on everything. You might say that pollies never listen, but if there's enough voices (i.e. enough votes), they just might.

Hi Carly. Its difficult. Does one buy from Woolies and Coles and support these Australian-owned companies, and in doing so, support their virtuall duopoly in the Aust grocery market, or buy from Aldi, Franklins or Costco, who are undoubtedly cheaper, but who are German, Sth African and American respectively.

There is a fuit growing area nearby in Galston/Dural where one producer I know of, despaired of receiving $2/kg for his peaches, destroyed his orchard and went on the dole.
Walk through the supermarkets and look for Australian apple juice. Almost impossible to find as its all concentrate from Argentina. The biggest selling jam is French and the sweet corn is all from Thailand.

I take your point completely about not always being able to pay the extra to support locals, and you sound very wise with your shopping. There is this incorrect notion that the big supermarkets are cheapest, and its so untrue. I buy batteries and tissues from the local $2 shop, toilet paper from my service station, milk from my fruit shop, detergents and cleaners from the Reject Shop and so on. In doing so, I save money and I support small local businesses.

Thank you for your comment John. I'd like to address your points.

First of all, while it's important to consider the 'real cost', unfortunately a lot of people can't afford to be ethical. I'm sure we'd all love to buy organic, Australian made, free trade, whatever, but the fact is that it's often prohibitively expensive.

Out of general curiosity, where are you getting your information about the farmers who sell to Coles? I know several fruit producers and the price of their produce hasn't dropped. The way they tell it, the supermarkets take a loss on some things to get customers into the stores. That's fifth hand information, though, so don't quote me.

I do my produce shopping at the Manly and Chandler markets in Brisbane. I've never spent more than $10 for a weeks worth of fruit and veg - there's only three mouths to feed in my family, but it's still an enormous saving.

Your point about cleaning products is an excellent one. Many 'high end' companies also have a cheap counterpart, so the brand name stuff and the generic brand stuff is often the same thing, or at least has the same active ingredients, but is packaged differently. I, however, much prefer to use bicarb and vinegar. It's about $5 for a six month supply, it cleans better than a lot of products I've tried, and I'm not inhaling a mouthful of crap everytime I clean the bathroom.

Thank you for your meat tips.