As costs of living continues to bite, West Aussies like Alana Rose forced to be more budget savvy at checkout

When mother-of-five Alana Rose does her grocery shopping, there’s no room in the trolley for any of the kids. Catering for a household of eight, a standard shop sets her back about $400 a week. But with five kids aged between eight months and 12, plus her partner and her sister in the house, sometimes the odd mid-week shop is unavoidable. “We try and do our bulk shops weekly, and we look at alternative places like Aldi, where it is a more affordable place to shop,” Ms Rose said. “Then you do the odd pop to the shop during the week where you have to grab something else, it all adds up.” Ms Rose said she’s definitely noticed the rising price of fruit and other essentials, such as meat and dairy. “Once you realise the price increase, you’ve got to start looking at budgeting more,” she said. “I stick with what’s the most affordable, not what they (the kids) want all the time.” As the cost of living continues to bite, West Aussies like Ms Rose are being forced to become more budget savvy when they hit the supermarket. But for some, it’s not always an option. Latest figures from WA Health revealed that almost one in 10 adults (8.4 per cent) reported running out of food and not being able to afford to buy more in the past 12 months. With affordability a major barrier to healthy provisions, it’s no surprise only a third of adults are meeting the recommended daily intake of two serves of fruit per day, and fewer than five per cent are managing to eat five serves of vegetables. Families like Ms Rose’s are making it work though by getting creative, buying in bulk, and portioning out ingredients to be kept in the freezer for future use. “We try and do our main shop, and then fill the freezer as well. So, we’ll grab back up dinner options for the freezer as a more affordable go-to,” she said. “We probably cook Monday to Friday, and then on the weekend there’s freezer options that we make do.”