Sydney pensioner travels to four different supermarkets to survive on $50 a week for food

The rising cost of living has placed a burden on thousands of Aussies, and now a pensioner has revealed she travels to four different supermarkets to stick to her tight budget.

Norma Wannell, 70, from Sydney, lives off a $900.80 pension per fortnight and allocates an estimated $100 to $120 just for food.

Ms Wannell starts her shop at Aldi, known for its low prices, followed by Woolworths in the Bass Hill Complex in Sydney’s west.

She then drives eight minutes to George’s Hall IGA before heading on to Coles at Chipping Norton, which is 13 minutes away.

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Sydney pensioner Norma Wannell (pictured, left) travels to four different supermarkets to stick to her tight grocery budget. The 70-year-old lives off of $900.80 pension per fortnight and allocates an estimation of $100 to $120 for food

Ms Wannell starts her shop at Aldi, known for its low prices, followed by Woolworths in the Bass Hill Complex in Sydney’s west. She then drives eight minutes to George’s Hall IGA then Coles at Chipping Norton, which is 13 minutes away

‘Now $80 gets you just two little bags. It just shows you how much things have changed and for a lot of people it’s for the worse,’ Ms Wannell said.

According to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures in the first three months of this year supermarket staples like vegetable rose 6.6 per cent and fruits 4.9 per cent – which was helped along by the floods damaging crops.

Over the past quarter the CPI rose 2.1 per cent, and 5.1 per cent over the last 12 months. 

The national quarterly average price for unleaded petrol also increased to $1.83 per litre in the March quarter. 

This week Ms Wannell picked up a punnet of strawberries, frozen ‘winter’ vegetables, extra tasty cheese, frozen beef lasagne, full cream milk, butter, strawberry yoghurt, coleslaw and other frozen meals

Ms Wannell told FEMAIL she receives emails from all four supermarkets and takes note of the special deals prior. 

‘I screenshot what I need per fortnight as I’m on a disability pension and go shopping,’ she said.

Rather than buying fresh fruit and vegetables, Ms Wannell opts for frozen alternatives to ensure the food lasts longer.

She noted how prices have gone up at both Woolworths and Aldi, and said the price of kale has jumped from $3.90 to $4.90 per bunch. 

The 70-year-old also owns a rabbit, dog and cat and joked the rabbit sometimes eats more vegetables than she does

This week Ms Wannell picked up a punnet of strawberries, frozen ‘winter’ vegetables, extra tasty cheese, frozen beef lasagne, full cream milk, butter, strawberry yoghurt, coleslaw and other frozen meals. 

The 70-year-old also owns a rabbit, dog and cat and joked the rabbit sometimes eats more vegetables than she does. 

Inflation and the rising cost of living has forced Ms Wannell to ask herself tough questions about potential upcoming struggles. 

‘Can I kind of afford to keep doing this or how much more do I have to delete off my list just to survive?’ She said.