Lisa Bedford has a lot of mouths to feed. Not only does she feed her husband and daughter at home, she also helps her newly married son and ageing parents purchase food each week.
Cost of living pressures have seen Mrs Bedford’s food bills rise up to 30 per cent this year and challenged her ability to purchase the healthiest food for those she loves.
So when she learned she was one of 12 people to win a $10,000 gift card from Coles in the supermarket’s Great Value Hands Down competition, she couldn’t believe her luck.
“At first I thought it was a scam, but then realised I’d really won. It could not have come at a better time,” she said. “I will be able to share the money among my family.”
Mrs Bedford, who lives in Newtown, Victoria, entered in the hope it would mitigate rising costs and ensure the Christmas feast for her extended Italian family could go ahead as planned.
“It is so exciting. My first job was at Coles, my mother worked there and my brother and sister at times, so it’s amazing to win this.”
Mrs Bedford said she was feeling under pressure to buy cheaper cuts of meat and cut back on fresh fruit and vegetables, but will not have to now.
Coles Chief Customer Officer Amanda McVay said the supermarket was trying to make life easier for shoppers with its Great Value Hands Down campaign, which has slashed the price of 500 items. It estimates the average basket saving on ‘Down Down’ products will be 19.7 per cent.
“The shopping tips shared in this competition were so useful and clever and really spoke to the number of ways that customers can get great value at Coles,” Ms McVay said.
“Whether it’s batch cooking meals for the week, buying in bulk, looking for favourite products on special, making the most of Flybuys offers or buying quality fresh produce in season, we were so impressed with number of ways customers make their budgets stretch further each week.
“We hope that the $10,000 gift cards awarded to the winners will help their families and loved ones.”
Entries from most of the winners proved shoppers are deliberately taking advantage of bulk buys and weekly specials to make ends meet.
Kerri Hendricks from Barden Ridge in NSW, says her two teenage sons and tradie husband are like “bottomless pits” when it comes to meal times and the win will come in very handy.
“I try to stick to a budget each week but the boys and my husband are constantly hungry,” she said. “This will come in very handy.”
Mrs Henricks wrote this poem for her entry: “Menu plan and write a list, with special buys, you get the gist. How to meet your budget goals? Always ensure you shop at Coles.”
South Australia mother Sheela Sinniah, from Linden Park, said she pretended her weekly shop was a game show.
“With a strict budget ($150) I have to buy everything for 7 days in one shop. It’s fun and I win!” she wrote.
While William Ridgway from Birkdale in Queensland wrote: “We bulk buy produce for a steal, then batch cook our favourite meals. To freeze servings we can defrost, minimising our food waste and cost.”
Originally published as ‘Couldn’t come at a better time’: Mum wins $10,000 for groceries from Coles