Bread and milk

Bread, milk and water are pretty much the staples of life. Until this year I’ve never really taken much notice of what they cost.

Excluding water, which we purchase from a government utility, I’ve now become a keen observer of what it costs to buy the other two.

As a family of six, we consume so much bread and milk that it’s beginning to impact on our bottom line, so value is critical.

Now that James is no longer drinking formula we go through two litres of milk per day. That’s 14 litres a week, plus an extra two litres of low-fat milk for me.

We seem to go through about 10 standard loaves of bread per week and one loaf of multigrain for me.

A standard loaf of white bread costs about $2.50. You can pay much more for special types of bread. Two litres of brand milk cost about $3.50.

That’s a lot of money when you purchase the volumes we do, so we go for the “no name” brands, which taste just as good, but are much cheaper.

The best deal on bread is five loaves from Bi-Lo for $6. With milk, I bought three litres of the house brand at IGA today for $3.30.

The summary is that we’re spending about $15 a week on bread and more than $20 on milk. That’s if we don’t run out and have to stock up with branded products at the local shop.
And Margaret isn’t drinking milk yet! She’s just finishing on formula and will start soon with soy because of allergies.