Hey mummas,
This really isn't a quested but a spot of advice.
I was recently discussed food costs with some work friends and they were all amazed that I was able to run my family of 4 on typically under $150 a fortnight without living off of tinned beans... So I typed up my next two weeks meal plan to share with them and thought others may find it useful.
Disclaimer:
*I am very lucky, my kids will eat anything (6 & 7) and I have a very well stocked pantry,
*I also work 9-5:30 so am not home between 8am and 6pm most days...
*I try to work on a 12-13 day menu as we sometimes don't feel like cooking and at other times I forget to defrost meat or just run out of time.... then we get fish and chips or pizza...
*I buy soap, washing powder, dish washing liquid, toilet paper etc. in bulk which tends to cost about $50 per quarter.. give or take.
*I bake on Mondays (my RDO), I make a batch of muffins with varying choc chips, berries or bananas to mix it up.
*Lunch boxes are x1 fruit, x1 yogurt, x1 muffin, handful of biscuits (shapes, rice crackers etc) and a sandwich with devon and sauce or a range of spreads (Vegemite, jam, honey etc)
*We are nude food (using the food cube) so we cut more costs out by removing pre-packed and wraps for lunches.
*Breakfasts range from cereal, toast, toasted cheese sandwiches and pancakes,
*I buy fresh veg from my local market, it costs about $17.50 a week and we grab whatever is in season to serve beside most our meals.
Shopping List:
22 thin sausages
8 onion
1 green apple
500g frozen peas
11 potatoes
1.5kg beef mince
1kg pasta
1kg cheese
200g mushrooms
6 rolls
Puff pastry
1600g breast chunks
Carrots
6 hotdog rolls
6 hotdogs
200g bacon pieces
600ml cream
Dozen eggs
2 red onions
TOTAL @ COLES: $77.71
2kg Apples
5packets rice crackers (various flavours)
3L milk
margarine
2kg strawberry yogurt
1kg knob devon
x4 loaves bread
x2 vanilla cake mix
Choc chips
560g mighty grain
TOTAL @ COLES $40.95
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(Anything with a P beside it are items I keep stocked in my pantry)
Sausage Curry with Steamed Veg
X7 thin sausages
X1 onion
1tsp crushed garlic (or x2 cloves) P
X1 green apple
1TBSP curry powder P
2C Chicken stock P
1TBSP tomato sauce P
1c frozen peas
Serve with steamed rice. P
Devilled Sausages with Steamed Veg
X8 thin sausages
X2 onions
1tsp crushed garlic (or x2 cloves) P
1tsp chili powder (or to taste) P
400g Crushed Tomato’s P
300ml Chicken stock P
1TBSP Worcestershire sauce P
1TBSP Brown Sugar P
1tsp dried herbs P
2 bay leaves P
X4 large mashing potatoes (eg Dutch cream)
Bolognese
500g beef mince
X1 onions
1tsp crushed garlic (or x2 cloves) P
400g Crushed Tomato’s P
2TBSP tomato paste P
1C Chicken stock P
1TBSP Worcestershire sauce P
1tsp dried herbs P
500g pasta of choice
200g grated cheese
Shepard’s Pie with Steamed Veg
500g beef mince
200g mushrooms
400g crushed tomatoes P
1TBSP Worcestershire sauce P
2tsp beef stock P
1c water P
X3 large mashing potatoes
Roast Chicken Rolls with Carrot, Cucumber & Cheese Sticks
400g chicken breast chunks
2TBS Mayo P
X6 bread rolls
Chicken Pie
X2 sheets puff pastry
400g chicken breast chunks
X1 onion
2C diced veg (peas P, corn P, carrot, mushrooms)
1tsp chicken stock P
4 TBSP flour P
1C milk
Kung Pao Chicken with Rice and steamed veg
1TBSP Soy Sauce P
2tsp Chinese rice wine P
1½tsp corn flour P
400g Chicken breast chunks
1TBSP Balsamic vinegar P
1tsp soy sauce P
1tsp hoisin sauce P
2tsp Sugar P
½tsp cayenne pepper P
1tsp corn flour P
X3 spring onion stems
1tsp chili flakes P
2tsp crushed garlic P
1tsp minced ginger P
Hotdogs
X6 hotdog rolls
X6 Frankfurt sausages
200g grated cheese
Mustard P
Tomato sauce P
Korean beef mince with rice
500g beef mince
¼ c brown sugar P
¼ c salt reduced soy sauce P
½ tsp crushed chili flakes P
¼ tsp ground ginger P
3tsp crushed garlic P
2 stem spring onions
Quiche Lorraine
X2 sheets puff pastry
200g bacon pieces
X1 large onion
300ml thick cream
X4 eggs
200g grated cheese
Sausages in onion gravy with mashed potato
X7 sausages
X2 red onions
1tsp sugar P
1tsp balsamic vinegar P
750ml beef stock P
4tsp corn flour P
4tsp water P
X4 large mashing potatoes
Thai red curry with rice
400g chicken breast chunks
2TBSP red curry paste P
400ml coconut milk P
Rice P
Creamy Chicken Curry Pasta
400g chicken breast chunks
500g dried pasta
2tsp crushed garlic P
2 onions
300mls cream
2tsp curry powder P
3TBSP tomato sauce P
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Meal planning and a highly stocked pantry are the biggest factors in living on a budget... We are currently renting whilst building a house, this is the only way we have been able to manage... I hope at least someone finds this helpful. :)
19 Replies
I've always said I could live off of a lot less if I didn't have MR picky eater to feed! I'm jealous.
Well done you.
If I was out 8-6 every day i would NEVER feel like cooking. Those days my kids get cup noodles or soup and toast. Home days lots more fresh food food. Planting herbs, some veg that grow on their own and locating fruit trees helps the budget a lot too.
What kills it is babies and pets
Thankyou so much for taking the time to share this :) you've inspired me to finally start getting organised and start meal planning properly :) I just seen this has been posted on FB - please don't take the bitchy comments (not enough of fruit/veg/iron, 'I feed my kids only homegrown organic foods that have been blessed by a priest' , blah blah blah ?) This is a great post showing so many people how well they can feed their families when money is an issue (which it is for me so I know the feeling ?)
But that's not feeding your family well - a kilo of Devon, that stuff (plus bacon, , has t dogs, cheap sausages etc) is VERY bad for your body and cancer risk. She should be spending more on fresh fruit and veg and having at least 2 meat free dinners per week and having protein for breakfast or lunch for the kids brains at school. Cereal and pancakes are also not good breakfast foods. Where are the good fats and oils such as avocado, nuts, olive oil etc. A very short term diet
my children get two "fruit snacks" at school each day where their class has a basket of assorted fruit that comes around for variety. I also have friends with beautiful veggie gardens and by shopping at local markets we keep our fruit and veg exceptionally low. We have a serve of veg with almost every meal.
I might add that we do not live off of this, we use this when we have very tight times and cant afford much more.
Oh thank you for sharing this! I wish it would work in my household!
This is absolutely awesome!!! I'm not working at the moment because I'm going back to study, hubby works full-time, but I feel like we're always scrounging around for money!! This is going to help me so much!!! Thank you so much!
This is absolutely awesome!!! I'm not working at the moment because I'm going back to study, hubby works full-time, but I feel like we're always scrounging around for money!! This is going to help me so much!!! Thank you so much!
Wow peas are the only green thing your family eats?? You need way more variety of fruit and veg in your diet and good quality protein (porocessed meat is terrible for you). As soon as you can afford it please improve this, or buy less crap meat and starchy carbs and more veg and eat salad!!
If you read above, we have fresh veggies most nights from markets and friends veggie patches. We also don't follow this full time, only when money is very short :) thanks for your concern. X
Great sharing!
I'd just add - while this is one way to feed a hungry family on a budget, from a nutritional point of view it might be wise to minimise the amount of highly processed 'meat' it contains. Sausages, Devon roll, bacon, hotdogs etc are cheap because they contain lots of nutritionally poor filler ingredients and nasty additives & chemicals ?
Costwise, this can be achieved by instead using smaller amounts of quality lean red meat (buy bulk and freeze if possible) and making up volume with fresh vegetables and legumes (buy bulk dried and soak much cheaper than tins).
I completely agree, we don't always follow this type of meal plans. Tonight was honey mustard chicken, stacked with mushrooms, capsicum, corn, beans and broccoli... I honestly don't have the option to use less meat and local to us, meat is relatively the same but when we aren't going through tough times, our freezer is stacked with different meats, sausages are a rarity. :)
oops! We spend approximately $17.50 on fruit and veg! crazy typo! We manage this by shopping at markets, picking from friends veggie gardens, and worst case scenario we will order a fruit and veg box from aussiefarmers.com.au which lasts us a fortnight but costs $42. I try to avoid this as I prefer to buy a few pieces here and there to keep it fresh :)
Good job mama, thanks for sharing! I will include some of those meals in our home and hopefully bring down our ridiculous grocery bill! Could you please if you see this send me the methods for:
Shephards pie
Chicken pie
Kung Pao chicken
Korean beef mince
Quiche lorraine
Thanks :)
Will do as soon as I can get on the pc :)
Kung Pao Chicken
1. Marinate the chicken: In a medium bowl, stir together the soy sauce, rice wine, and cornstarch until the cornstarch is dissolved. Add the chicken and stir gently to coat. Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.
2. In another bowl, combine the vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sugar, cornstarch, and cayanne pepper. Stir until the sugar and cornstarch are dissolved and set aside.
3. Heat 1 TBSP oil in a fry pan. Add the chicken and stir-fry until no longer pink, 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Add the spring onions, garlic, and ginger and stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Pour in the sauce and mix to coat the other ingredients.
Serve with Rice and if desired, steamed veg.
Sheppard's Pie
1. Peel, cube and boil potatoes
2. Fry beef mince until brown
3. Add sliced mushrooms, tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, beef stock and water and cook on low until sauce reduces (we actually tend to grate our mushrooms or very finely dice them because the kids done really enjoy the texture...)
4. Mash your potatoes with a touch or salt and pepper
5. Move the mince mixture to an oven proof dish and top with mashed potatoes (if you have some spare you can add some cheese on top as well) and bake on 180 for about 15 minutes.
(if you're feeling super lazy as I sometimes am, you can skip the last step all together and just serve the mince with the mash :))
Chicken Pie
1. In an oven proof dish, lay out 1 of your pastry sheets, make sure to cover the edges. And cook at 180 until slightly brown
2. dice and fry one onion along with finely cubed chicken breast.
3. add in coat with chicken stock powder and flour
4. add milk and veggies and stir occasionally until thick.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste (paprika can also offer a nice smokey taste)
6. Add chicken mix to cooked pastry and cover with your second pastry sheet.
7. Bake in the oven until golden brown on top.
Korean Beef mince...
This one is super easy. Fry your beef mince and while thats cooking mix all your other ingredients together, except for the spring onions. Add the sauce to the mice and cook on high for about 5 minutes. Stir through sliced spring onions and serve with rice and steamed brocolli ($2.50 bag frozen) :). I actually like to double this recipe when I can.
Quiche Lorraine
1. In an oven proof dish, lay out both of your pastry sheets, make sure to cover the edges. And cook at 180 until slightly brown
2. finely slice your onion and cube your bacon
4. Mix eggs and cream until well combines and add all other ingredients.
5. Add to pastry and cook until egg mixture is solid.
(this goes great with a simple garden salad or on its own. I like to put tomato slices on top but my partner will not eat it so we usually give that a miss)
Good on you and I'm sure some mummies will find this helpful. I don't see any green vegetables like broccoli or green beans? My son loves his greens and his fruit!
Our veggies vary. Most nights it's steamed broccoli, Brussel sprouts, carrots and Beans. :) we use this meal plan only when we struggle. Not something I could do full time.
Ah that makes sense ? Good on you ?