Saturday, February 20, 2010

Feeding a Family of 4 on $50 per Week

I've had a lot of comments lately asking me how I feed a family of 4 on $50 per week. The composition of my family is myself and my husband, our son (19) and our daughter (14 1/2). We have no pets (puppy passed away 3 years ago and we haven't been able to bring ourselves to get a new dog yet). What I will say is that it requires a certain amount of dedication to the cause, but the longer you practice the easier it becomes.

Twice a year I spend about $160 on meat. By doing this, I rarely have to buy other meat. I always buy in bulk and a variety of meat types, otherwise it can become a little monotonous. Other items I purchase in bulk which don't factor into my $50 per week are Olive oil (4L from Aldi ~ $19-20, depending what's on sale, lasts about 6 months) and bread flour 10kg from Coles $19.95 which lasts about 8 weeks. Our milk is home delivered, as I wanted to support Victorian dairy farmers. It costs a little more, but is worth it for the cause we are supporting( $13.98 for 9L/week). I make my laundry liquid (7L for ~$1.20) we use vegetable oil based soap as shampoo ($1.50 which lasts at least 6 months) and a homemade water, vinegar & lavender oil hair rinse (cost negligible, lasts 2-3 months). I also make my own soap, exfoliator & face masks.

My mission is to eventually make everything that is possible to eliminate the consumerism element from our lives.

So back to grocery shopping! Someone once said to me they spent $200 week on groceries (just her & hubby). I questioned it as I was quite surprised. The response was, "he likes quality food". Food doesn't have to be expensive to be quality. It's what the supermarket can get away with that makes the difference!

I switched to Aldi. I always go there first and buy everything that I can, even though it meant changing brands. I only buy groceries from other stores if I can't get a substitute brand. I try to shop there on the day their produce arrives, because it's at it's freshest on that day (it can be a bit hit and miss otherwise).

I always meal plan for the week. This includes if we are having a dinner party as well, or visitors from interstate (both our families live interstate, so visitors are a regular occurrence.)

I always write a comprehensive shopping list, which I DO NOT deviate from.

I do all of the shopping on one day and then avoid the shops at all costs.

I don't buy junk food/snack food (except special occasions). Everyone has an allowance each fortnight and if they wish to buy anything that deviates from necessity they can do so from their own money. Hubby will often bring home a box of ice creams for everyone as a treat. We love it and I don't feel like I've had to deviate from my plan.

I bake, bake, bake. The house always has a great supply of cookies/cakes/buns & bread. My son's friends used to joke at school that "his mum didn't work, because he always had the best stuff in his lunch box".

Fruit & veg markets (like Little Saigon in Footscray) is a fabulous market and a cultural experience. I love going there!

Buy only what's in season! It adds loads to your grocery bill if you buy produce out of season. They charge a fortune for it!

Be inventive and imaginative. Substitute ingredients. Fill tomato based sauces with vegetables, they go a lot further and are healthier.

A few meatless meals per week always helps stretch the meat a little further. A pot of soup 1 night per week (usually Sunday night for us) is a great cheap meal.

If you run out of fruit, try substituting it for carrot & celery sticks. They are much cheaper and are actually healthier than fruit as they contain no sugar.

Grow what you can! We have a very small inner city block but we still manage each season to have something that we won't need to buy. This summer it was lettuce & capsicums. We also have mandarins & lemons. A few strawberries, chives, sweet basil and schallotts.

The other contributor to my savvy grocery shopping is the $21 Challenge guide by Fiona Lippey & Jackie Gower. It's an outstanding guide to assist you with reducing your weekly grocery bill.

Set yourself a budget and only take that amount of money with you. Soon you'll be able to look into your shopping trolley and guestimate to within a few dollars the cost of your groceries.

I hope this post has been helpful. Just remember, organise, plan and dedicate time to the cause and you will soon see the benefits. I actually get a buzz out of my shopping and see it as a challenge every week!

Happy making and saving!

Martha:))











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