Dear Cath - Thursday 1st January 2015
Q. Hi Cath, I read your recent post about F & V with interest. My small family of 3 go through quite a bit of F&V each week and it's taking up a big chunk of the weekly grocery bill. I currently get F&V from local Coles along with the rest of the shopping, but wondering if you happen to know of a well-priced F & V shop within Boroondara (not Toscanos heehee) where I can save a few dollars. Everything is so dear around here, I was thinking of maybe trying the Asian grocers along Victoria St, but sometimes the quality is not the best. Many thanks, I love your site. Tania
A. Hi Tania,
Fresh produce should be the largest portion of your grocery budget by the way, then meat/poultry/seafood, then basic ingredients with convenience products at the bottom end of the budget.
Supermarket produce is always expensive and the quality is dubious, most of it has been in cold storage for months.
Have you looked into why your fruit and veg bill is so high? Is it just the prices you are paying? Or is it that you are not using all you buy and so wasting money i.e. if you buy 10 oranges but only use 8, the money spent on the other two is wasted and causing you to spend more than you need to. Do you plan your fruit and veg purchases or do you just buy what you think you need or what you like when you are shopping i.e. if you are only having salad once in the week do you need to buy more than two tomatoes and a small cucumber? If you only need four pieces of fruit a day are you buying more than 28 pieces for the week? Planning your fruit and veg purchases is as important to a grocery budget as writing your shopping list.
Can you grow what you eat? Most families eat the same vegetables over and over, so growing your own is easy. That would leave you with just fruit and a few veggies to buy. I grow almost every vegetable we eat. I only buy potatoes, onions and carrots as they all take too much room to grow enough for my family. You don't need a huge garden and once established it doesn't take long to maintain - I spend about an hour a week all up in the garden.
I hope this helps.
A. Hi Tania,
Fresh produce should be the largest portion of your grocery budget by the way, then meat/poultry/seafood, then basic ingredients with convenience products at the bottom end of the budget.
Supermarket produce is always expensive and the quality is dubious, most of it has been in cold storage for months.
Have you looked into why your fruit and veg bill is so high? Is it just the prices you are paying? Or is it that you are not using all you buy and so wasting money i.e. if you buy 10 oranges but only use 8, the money spent on the other two is wasted and causing you to spend more than you need to. Do you plan your fruit and veg purchases or do you just buy what you think you need or what you like when you are shopping i.e. if you are only having salad once in the week do you need to buy more than two tomatoes and a small cucumber? If you only need four pieces of fruit a day are you buying more than 28 pieces for the week? Planning your fruit and veg purchases is as important to a grocery budget as writing your shopping list.
Can you grow what you eat? Most families eat the same vegetables over and over, so growing your own is easy. That would leave you with just fruit and a few veggies to buy. I grow almost every vegetable we eat. I only buy potatoes, onions and carrots as they all take too much room to grow enough for my family. You don't need a huge garden and once established it doesn't take long to maintain - I spend about an hour a week all up in the garden.
I hope this helps.
Q. I need help with the $300 food budget. Can you help me make a meal plan for the week for myself and three children. What do I make them for dinner during the week? I am running out of options. I spend $200 every week on food and I can't afford it as I am on a disability pension. Caroline.
A. Caroline if you follow the $300 a Month Food Challenge you should be spending no more than $69.25 a week on groceries. Before I give you a meal plan for a week, here are some things to help you stick to the Challenge:
1. You will do better if you shop monthly. Take your $300 in cash to do your shopping.
2. Do a detailed pantry, fridge and freezer inventory. Make a note of all the food you have in the house.
3. Using your inventory come up with meals you can prepare with what you have on hand.
4. Write a detailed shopping list, adding the ingredients you need to buy to round out your meal plan. Include everything you need (not want or think you need or feel like - just what you need) in the quantities you need i.e. don't buy 2 kilos of apples if you only need four, or two kilos of sausages if you only need eight.
5. Use the store websites to total the cost of your shopping list. If it's more than $240 (you need to allow $15 a week for milk, bread, dairy and fruit/veg for the rest of the month) then you'll need to rethink your meal plan.
6. Don't be brand precious. If your "brand" is more expensive than another one you need to choose the cheaper brand. And don't dismiss generics, they are cheaper and the quality of basics are just as good as the branded products.
7. Steak, fresh fish and expensive fruit and vegetables are off your menu.
8. Practice portion control - if a recipe says "serves 6" then you get six serves from it and put two in the freezer for freezer meals (basically free meals).
9. Cook from scratch. Sauces, soups, stews, casseroles, biscuits, cakes, desserts, drinks, jams, pickles, pizza bases, bread can all be made easily at home for a fraction of the price of buying them.
10.Choose the cheapest supermarket for your shopping even if it isn't your favourite. For the most part Aldi is cheaper across the board than Coles or Woolworths and carries a full range of basic groceries.
Here's the meal plan I've created for you (you'll find plenty of others in the Newsletter Archive or you can see mine in the Archived Menu Plans).
Breakfast: 2 Weetbix, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 banana OR 1 boiled egg on toast, 1/2 cup tinned fruit, 1/2 cup MOO Yoghurt
Morning tea: 1 muffin OR 1/2 cup trail mix OR 1/2 carrot cut into straws with 1/4 cup dip
Lunch: 1 sandwich (Chicken salad, egg and lettuce, cheese, cheese and Vegemite, Mock Chicken, salad) with carrot sticks & dip OR Lunchbox Cookie OR Yoghurt with 1 piece of fruit (whatever is cheapest when you do the shopping)
Afternoon tea: Pita chips and dip OR 1 piece of fruit
Dinner: Roast chicken, baked vegetables, peas, corn, carrots, gravy; Rissoles, mash, peas, corn, carrots, gravy; Spag bol, salad; Grilled sausages, potato bake, peas, corn, carrots; MOO Margarita Pizza & garlic bread; Tuna Casserole, green salad, wedges; Tacos.
Desserts: Apple sponge and cream; Tinned fruit and custard; pancakes and syrup
Shop wisely and carefully and you'll have change from your $69.25 grocery money for the week.
Sticking to the $300 a Month Food Challenge isn't easy. It is however simple. You need to put the effort in, do your inventories, hunt down the specials, cook from scratch and waste absolutely nothing. Do those things and you'll get your grocery bill down quickly and easily.
A. Caroline if you follow the $300 a Month Food Challenge you should be spending no more than $69.25 a week on groceries. Before I give you a meal plan for a week, here are some things to help you stick to the Challenge:
1. You will do better if you shop monthly. Take your $300 in cash to do your shopping.
2. Do a detailed pantry, fridge and freezer inventory. Make a note of all the food you have in the house.
3. Using your inventory come up with meals you can prepare with what you have on hand.
4. Write a detailed shopping list, adding the ingredients you need to buy to round out your meal plan. Include everything you need (not want or think you need or feel like - just what you need) in the quantities you need i.e. don't buy 2 kilos of apples if you only need four, or two kilos of sausages if you only need eight.
5. Use the store websites to total the cost of your shopping list. If it's more than $240 (you need to allow $15 a week for milk, bread, dairy and fruit/veg for the rest of the month) then you'll need to rethink your meal plan.
6. Don't be brand precious. If your "brand" is more expensive than another one you need to choose the cheaper brand. And don't dismiss generics, they are cheaper and the quality of basics are just as good as the branded products.
7. Steak, fresh fish and expensive fruit and vegetables are off your menu.
8. Practice portion control - if a recipe says "serves 6" then you get six serves from it and put two in the freezer for freezer meals (basically free meals).
9. Cook from scratch. Sauces, soups, stews, casseroles, biscuits, cakes, desserts, drinks, jams, pickles, pizza bases, bread can all be made easily at home for a fraction of the price of buying them.
10.Choose the cheapest supermarket for your shopping even if it isn't your favourite. For the most part Aldi is cheaper across the board than Coles or Woolworths and carries a full range of basic groceries.
Here's the meal plan I've created for you (you'll find plenty of others in the Newsletter Archive or you can see mine in the Archived Menu Plans).
Breakfast: 2 Weetbix, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 banana OR 1 boiled egg on toast, 1/2 cup tinned fruit, 1/2 cup MOO Yoghurt
Morning tea: 1 muffin OR 1/2 cup trail mix OR 1/2 carrot cut into straws with 1/4 cup dip
Lunch: 1 sandwich (Chicken salad, egg and lettuce, cheese, cheese and Vegemite, Mock Chicken, salad) with carrot sticks & dip OR Lunchbox Cookie OR Yoghurt with 1 piece of fruit (whatever is cheapest when you do the shopping)
Afternoon tea: Pita chips and dip OR 1 piece of fruit
Dinner: Roast chicken, baked vegetables, peas, corn, carrots, gravy; Rissoles, mash, peas, corn, carrots, gravy; Spag bol, salad; Grilled sausages, potato bake, peas, corn, carrots; MOO Margarita Pizza & garlic bread; Tuna Casserole, green salad, wedges; Tacos.
Desserts: Apple sponge and cream; Tinned fruit and custard; pancakes and syrup
Shop wisely and carefully and you'll have change from your $69.25 grocery money for the week.
Sticking to the $300 a Month Food Challenge isn't easy. It is however simple. You need to put the effort in, do your inventories, hunt down the specials, cook from scratch and waste absolutely nothing. Do those things and you'll get your grocery bill down quickly and easily.