David Campbell
Updated 25 Feb 2026, 1:20pm
First published 25 Feb 2026, 12:15pm
Emelie and Jon have found a unique way to bring their grocery costs down. Picture: TikTok/Livingmorewithless
An Aussie mum’s bizarre grocery hack could shave 12 years off the average home mortgage if weekly savings were diverted into paying down costly loan interest.
The average Australian family spends about $250 per week on groceries but Emilie Watson has brought her family’s own food bill down to virtually zero thanks to a tactic most Aussies would never dream of trying.
The 41-year-old Brisbane resident regularly picks up free food by dumpster diving in supermarket rubbish bins to get groceries close to their expiration date.
Ms Watson and her husband, Jon, began their weekly grocery habit as a way to bring costs down after leaving their careers for more purposeful lifestyles.
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Emelie and Jon document their lifestyle changes on social media. Picture: TikTok/Livingmorewithless
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Breads, muffins, cookies, salads and yoghurts are among the regular finds Ms Watson makes when she visits her local supermarket on weekends to search the bins.
If an average Aussie family followed in Ms Watson’s footsteps and placed the money saved on not buying groceries straight into their mortgage, the savings over the life of the loan would be astronomical.
An extra $250 a week on a 30-year mortgage of $640,000 at 5.75 per cent interest would equate to an extra $13,000 a year in repayments.
That mount would save more than 12 years on the loan and about $325,000 in interest.
For Ms Watson, a former engineering teacher, her “addictive” grocery ‘hack’ is more about doing her bit for the environment.
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Most Australian would never even consider Emilie’s approach to saving money. Picture: TikTok/Livingmorewithless
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“I’m wearing a dress and white shoes and just going to casually check out a dumpster during the day,” she said in a video.
“I feel awkward about going into the shops and paying for things when there is so much in the bin.”
Ms Watson’s unique way of reducing grocery costs comes at a time when Australians have never been spending more on the daily essentials.
The cost of living crisis has resulted in skyrocketing costs across groceries as well as ballooning home and rental prices off the back of the national housing shortage.
Between rising grocery and accommodation costs, Aussies are searching for any small way they can save a few dollars to make ends meet.
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