Grocery shopping is one of the few weekly costs a student has real control over. Rent is mostly fixed once you sign a lease, and transport fares are set by the state government — but where you buy your food, and how you buy it, can shift your weekly bill by $20 or more without changing what you eat. This guide breaks down the three main ways Melbourne and Brisbane students buy groceries — major supermarkets, fresh produce markets, and bulk buying — with real numbers on what each one actually costs and suits.
Information checked on: 4 September 2026. Prices, trading hours and promotions can change — always confirm current details on the official sources linked throughout before relying on them for your own budgeting.
Why Groceries Feel More Expensive Right Now
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Consumer Price Index (CPI) release for the June 2026 quarter recorded food and non-alcoholic beverage prices up 3.3% over the previous 12 months, part of a broader 3.8% annual rise in the overall cost of living. That’s not as sharp as the jump in housing costs, but it’s a real and steady increase that adds up over a full semester of grocery shopping.
The practical response isn’t to panic-cut your food budget — it’s to be more deliberate about where you buy each category of item. That’s what this guide sets out to do.
The Big Three (Plus One): How Australia’s Supermarkets Compare
A March 2026 basket-price survey by consumer group CHOICE compared identical shopping lists across Australia’s major chains. The results, without factoring in specials:
| Supermarket | Basket cost (16 items, no specials) | Basket cost (with available specials) |
|---|---|---|
| Aldi | $68.80 | $68.60 |
| Woolworths | $77.53 | $76.82 |
| Coles | $78.58 | $78.50 |
| IGA | $91.65 | $86.33 |
What this means in practice:
- Aldi came out cheapest, undercutting Woolworths by roughly 11% and IGA by around 25% on the same basket.
- Coles and Woolworths were close together — less than a 2% difference between them — so loyalty to one over the other rarely saves much money by itself.
- IGA was the most expensive of the four in this survey, which tracks with its positioning as a convenience-focused chain with smaller, more local stores.
- Specials narrowed the gap slightly, but didn’t change the overall ranking — Aldi stayed cheapest even before discounts were applied.
Making supermarkets work harder for you
- Join the free loyalty programs. Everyday Rewards (Woolworths) and Flybuys (Coles) cost nothing to join and convert points into real discounts over time — a small habit that compounds across a year of shopping.
- Plan meals around the weekly specials catalogue rather than shopping from a fixed list every week. Both major chains publish their specials in-app and in-store from Wednesday.
- Check unit pricing, not shelf price. The small “$ per 100g” or “$ per litre” figure on the shelf label is the only reliable way to compare different pack sizes and brands.
- Be realistic about Aldi’s trade-off. Aldi’s savings come partly from stocking mostly its own-brand “Special Buys” range rather than every name brand — genuinely worth it for pantry staples, but it won’t always have a specific product you’re after.
- Don’t assume a blanket “student discount” exists at the majors. None of the three largest chains currently run an ongoing storewide student discount. Occasional promotions do appear through platforms like Student Beans and UNiDAYS, particularly for online grocery delivery sign-ups — worth checking before you order online, but not something to build a weekly budget around.
Fresh Produce Markets: Often the Best Value for Fruit, Veg and Meat
For fresh produce specifically, a market will usually beat a supermarket on price — and both Melbourne and Brisbane have excellent, low-cost options within easy reach of Evantaa’s campuses.
Melbourne: Queen Victoria Market and Footscray Market
| Market | Distance from North Melbourne campus | Trading days | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queen Victoria Market | Around a 10–15 minute tram ride (route 57 and others stop right outside) | Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun (closed Mon; Wed is night market only during the winter season) | Fruit, veg, meat, fish, dairy, cheap eats |
| Footscray Market | About 4 train stops from Melbourne Central, opposite Footscray Station | Tue–Sat (closed Mon and Sun) | Fresh produce, exotic and Asian herbs/spices, seafood, budget grocery items |
Evantaa’s Queen Victoria Market student budget guide covers QVM shopping tactics in detail — comparing stalls before buying, going on a quieter trading day, and bringing your own bags or a trolley. Footscray Market is a strong second option if you’re after a wider range of Asian and multicultural produce at market prices, with over 75 indoor stalls and undercover parking from $1 an hour if you’re travelling with a car-owning housemate.
Brisbane: Saturday Fresh Market (Rocklea) and Chinatown Mall
| Market | Getting there | Trading hours | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday Fresh Market, Rocklea | Rocklea railway station is a short walk from the market on Sherwood Road; check TransLink’s journey planner for the current timetable from the CBD or Fortitude Valley | Saturdays, 6am–12 noon | Fruit, veg, flowers, bakery, meat and deli — Brisbane’s largest food and lifestyle market |
| Chinatown Mall, Fortitude Valley | Walking distance from Evantaa’s Fortitude Valley campus | Daily, with the busiest trading through the day | Affordable Asian groceries and a quick, cheap meal between classes |
Entry to Saturday Fresh Market is $2 per adult (children under 15 free), and it’s genuinely one of the cheapest places in Brisbane to buy fruit and vegetables direct from growers — bring a trolley or reusable bags if you can. Sunnybank (a roughly 25–30 minute train trip via the Beenleigh line) is also known locally as a hub for Asian grocers and specialty ingredients not always stocked by a standard supermarket.
A general rule of thumb for markets: shop quieter days if you can (weekday mornings over Saturday), compare a couple of stalls before buying, and bring cash in small notes — not every stall processes card payments as smoothly as a supermarket checkout.
Bulk Buying: Where It Actually Pays Off
Bulk buying works well for a specific category of items — it doesn’t work for everything, and buying the wrong things in bulk just ties up cash and cupboard space.
Worth buying in bulk (especially if you’re sharing a house):
- Rice, pasta, flour, oats and other dry pantry staples
- Cleaning products and toilet paper
- Frozen vegetables and meat, if you have freezer space
- Canned goods, when they’re on special
Not usually worth buying in bulk as a student:
- Fresh produce that spoils before you finish it
- Anything you’re trying for the first time
- Specialty items you use rarely
Making bulk buying work in a share house: split the cost and the item with housemates (a 10kg bag of rice or large tub of laundry powder is far cheaper per unit, but only if you’ll get through it), check the unit price since the smaller pack is occasionally on the better special, and freeze discounted meat in portions rather than buying only what you’ll cook that week.
A Simple Weekly Strategy That Combines All Three
- Check the supermarket specials catalogue at the start of the week and plan two or three meals around whatever’s discounted.
- Buy fresh fruit, veg, meat and fish at a market where possible — QVM or Footscray in Melbourne, Rocklea or Chinatown Mall in Brisbane — rather than defaulting to the supermarket for everything.
- Use Aldi (or the cheapest specials) for pantry staples — rice, pasta, canned goods, cleaning products.
- Split bulk items with housemates for things you’ll genuinely use up before they go off or go stale.
- Track your actual spending for two weeks using a free tool like the Moneysmart Budget Planner from ASIC, so you know whether the strategy is actually saving you money or just moving the cost around.
This mix-and-match approach usually beats sticking to one shop for everything, without requiring you to overhaul how you cook or eat.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Aldi really cheaper than Coles and Woolworths?
According to CHOICE’s March 2026 basket-price survey, yes — Aldi’s basket came in around 11% cheaper than Woolworths and about 12.5% cheaper than Coles, even before specials were applied. The trade-off is a smaller range of name-brand products.
Do Coles or Woolworths offer a student discount?
Not as an ongoing, storewide discount. Occasional promotions appear through platforms like Student Beans or UNiDAYS, mainly for online orders — check before you rely on one, but don’t assume it will always be there.
Are markets always cheaper than supermarkets?
Generally yes for fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and fish, since you’re buying closer to the source and prices are set stall-by-stall rather than by one retailer. Packaged and pantry goods are usually still cheaper at a discount supermarket like Aldi.
Is it worth buying a car just to get to markets like Rocklea more easily?
Not for grocery shopping alone. Public transport covers all the markets in this guide — train to Rocklea or Footscray, tram to Queen Victoria Market — so check current TransLink or PTV routes and plan around your class timetable instead.
Does Evantaa Institute give personal financial advice?
No. This guide provides general information only. For advice specific to your situation, speak with a free, qualified financial counsellor via Moneysmart, or contact Evantaa’s Student Services team.
A Practical Next Step
Pick one thing to change this week rather than overhauling your whole shopping routine at once — swap one supermarket fruit-and-veg run for a market trip, or start comparing unit prices before you buy. Small, consistent changes to where you shop add up over a semester far more than one big weekly effort.
If you’re building a full weekly budget rather than just tackling groceries, see Evantaa’s Melbourne and Brisbane student budgeting guides for the bigger picture, including rent, transport and OSHC. And if you have questions about settling into student life at either campus, Evantaa’s Student Services team is a good first point of contact.
Sources
- CHOICE — Which is the cheapest supermarket chain in Australia? (basket-price survey, March 2026)
- Australian Bureau of Statistics — CPI rose 3.8% in the year to June 2026
- Brisbane Markets Limited — Saturday Fresh Market, Rocklea
- Footscray Market — official market information
- Queen Victoria Market — Visitor Information
- Moneysmart (ASIC) — Budget Planner
- Study Australia — 10 budgeting tips for international students
- TransLink — Journey Planner
- Public Transport Victoria — Journey Planner