Budget Groceries for One Person: Aldi Saves $10.96

Aldi comes in at $43.90 for this basket. Woolworths is $52.79. Coles is $54.86. IGA sits in the middle at $49.89.

That's an $10.99 gap between the cheapest and the most expensive full-shop option, on a basket that's deliberately small and waste-conscious. For a single person doing this shop every week, that's more than $570 a year just by walking into a different car park.

But there's a catch, and it's worth knowing before you commit.

What This Basket Actually Costs at Each Store

This is a 14-item list built for one person living alone: small pack sizes, long-life staples, and items you'll actually finish before they go off. Think 1 L milk (x2), a 6-pack of eggs, tinned tuna, microwave rice, rolled oats, instant noodles, a 500 g loaf, frozen veg, chicken breast, cheese, bananas, carrots, pasta, and diced tomatoes.

Aldi is missing one item from this basket entirely. So if you're planning to do your full weekly shop there, you'll need to grab that one item somewhere else or swap it out. Everything else? Aldi has it, and cheaply.

The cherry-pick total, buying each item at whichever store sells it cheapest, lands at $40.30. That's $3.60 below even Aldi's full basket, and $9.59 cheaper than IGA, the next best single-store option. We'll come back to whether that's actually worth it.

Where Aldi Pulls Ahead

The big gaps aren't on fancy items. They're on the boring stuff you buy every week without thinking.

Bananas are $0.81 per kilo at Aldi. That's genuinely hard to beat, and bananas are one of those things solo shoppers often overbuy at the big two because the bunches are larger. A smaller, cheaper kilo at Aldi means less waste.

Tuna in springwater (95 g, x4) is $3.29 at Aldi versus noticeably more at Coles and Woolies. Tinned tuna is a protein staple for anyone cooking for one, it's cheap per serve, it doesn't go off, and four tins is the right quantity for a week without leaving you with half a dozen cans rolling around the back of the cupboard.

Instant noodles (5-pack, x2) come in at $1.79 at Aldi. Again, not a glamorous saving, but it's real.

Pasta at $0.89 per 500 g is another one where Aldi is substantially cheaper than the big supermarkets, which tend to hover around $1.50, $2.00 for comparable sizes.

Carrots (1 kg) at $1.99 at Aldi versus higher at Coles and Woolies round out the produce wins. Carrots are one of those vegetables that genuinely work for a single-person household, they last, they're versatile, and a kilo is enough for the week without going soft.

Where the Prices Are Basically the Same

Not everything is an Aldi blowout. A few items sit close enough across stores that you're not really losing much by picking them up at your usual shop.

Chicken breast (500 g) is cheapest at Woolworths for $4.20, and Coles isn't far behind. If you're already at Woolies for the one item Aldi doesn't stock, the chicken fits naturally into that trip.

Free range eggs (6-pack) are cheapest at Coles for $4.40. That's a narrow margin across the board, though, six-packs of eggs tend to be priced fairly competitively everywhere because shoppers notice egg prices.

Microwave rice (250 g, x2) is $1.65 at Coles, and this is one where the price per serve across stores is fairly tight. It's a convenience product, and the big two know it.

Frozen mixed vegetables (500 g) are $1.09 at Coles, that's actually the cheapest in the basket for that item. Frozen veg is already one of the best-value buys for solo cooks: no waste, no wilting, and you use what you need.

Is the Cherry-Pick Worth an Extra Trip?

Honest answer: probably not for most people.

Cherry-picking, buying each item from whichever store has it cheapest, gets you to $40.30. That saves $3.60 versus a straight Aldi shop. To get there, you'd need to split your run across at least three stores (Aldi for the bulk, Coles for a few items, Woolies for chicken). Factor in the petrol, the parking, and the time, and $3.60 disappears fast.

Where cherry-picking does make sense is if you're already near a Coles or Woolies for other reasons, a medical appointment, picking up a prescription, passing it on the way home. In that case, grabbing the frozen veg, eggs, and microwave rice while you're there costs you nothing extra and saves you a few dollars.

The Aldi-only shop at $43.90 is the sweet spot for most single-person households. It's $10.99 cheaper than Coles, you're in and out quickly (Aldi's range is smaller by design), and you're not burning time or fuel running between car parks.

Budget Groceries for One Person: Who Should Shop Where

Aldi first if you're on a tight weekly budget and don't have strong preferences about specific brands. The savings on staples like tuna, pasta, bananas, and bread are real, and the basket is built around Aldi-friendly items, nothing here requires a particular branded product.

Woolworths makes most sense if you're already a Everyday Rewards member and the chicken breast lines up with a bonus points offer. At $52.79 for the full basket, you're paying $8.89 more than Aldi, so the rewards would need to be meaningful to close that gap.

Coles has some genuinely competitive lines, the frozen veg at $1.09 and free range eggs at $4.40 are standouts, but as a full-basket shop it's the most expensive option here at $54.86. That's a tough sell when Aldi is right there.

IGA at $49.89 is worth considering if you live somewhere without a nearby Aldi or Woolies. It's cheaper than Coles for this basket, and local IGAs often run their own specials that aren't captured in a static comparison like this one.

One last thing: the biggest hidden cost for solo shoppers isn't the sticker price, it's food waste. A $5 block of cheese you don't finish costs more than a $4.20 block you actually eat. This basket is sized to avoid that. Stick to the quantities listed, and you'll spend less at checkout and throw less in the bin.

Frequently Asked Questions

See the FAQ section below for answers to common questions about grocery budgets for one person.