Those of you who know me well know that I equate every cent I save to a proportion of an airfare. A strange quirk that amuses many. This same quirk has also seen me find the money to travel on occasions where it really shouldn't be financially possible. My sister has recently started her grocery challenge again and I've decided to jump on board. I did start one some time ago but haven't been as strict as Susan's $80 per week. We are planning to take our niece and 3 nephews to Disneyland in around 4-5 years time so I've decided it is time to really start saving for this memorable trip. I also want to start saving for another trip for Jeff and I. Perhaps back to the States or if my health decides to be miraculously accommodating, a cycle trip in Europe.
This weekend Jeff is away on a Scouts training camp so I am going to take advantage of his absence to stock the freezer with some baking, soups and to sit down and menu plan for the next month. I'm going to trawl back through my menu plans and my Destitute Gourmet cookbooks and plan my menus and baking. It's always advantageous to bake when Jeff is away as the man is a human food disposal unit - lucky he exercises so much! I have half a decent chance to freeze the baking in portions where the man with the munchies won't find them as easily.
So in support of and being totally inspired by my dear sister, I will give myself $80 per week to feed our family of 4 (Jeff and I and two raw fed sweet labradors). Wish me luck.
Sandy xxx
Showing posts with label grocery challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grocery challenge. Show all posts
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Savings Challenge Pt 2
A short while back I posted about doing a savings challenge. So far I'm doing quite well. On a larger scale, we are refinancing our home loan which is going to provide us with significant savings annually. We have also transferred our private health insurance to another provider and we are saving near on $200 per month for our trouble and for the same coverage. Love it! Have to look into our insurance plans to see if I can get a better deal there too. Easy BIG savings made with very little effort.
On the front lines, I've started with a grocery challenge. A grocery challenge can mean having a limited amount to spend on groceries per week,like when my sister Susan and her family lived on $80 per week for groceries for three months. It could mean doing a $21 challenge like they do at Simple Savings, where you spend only $21 on groceries for a specific week. For my grocery challenge, I am starting by trying to make better use of what I already have in the house by getting organised and starting to menu plan again. My pantry and freezers are well stocked, in fact overstocked in some ways thanks to a generous gift basket of groceries at Christmas. Here is my process....
1. Take a thorough stocktake of what is in the pantry, fridge and freezer.
Yes my pantry really does look like this.... I don't know whether it is sad or impressive! :) This is mainly grains, legumes, baking bits and pieces, spices. I also have two large, deep drawers beneath this.
This one contains further baking/snack supplies like nuts, dried fruits and cooking chocolate, as well as tinned produce like fish, legumes, standby fruit, coconut milks and a few odds and sods. The bottom draw contains further staples that don't fit in the shelving section. This is mainly due to purchasing in bulk to take advantage of specials.
2. Once I've taken a detailed inventory of all available food in the house, I make a menu plan using what is on hand. My menu plan includes Snacks, Lunches and our main evening meal. I write my grocery list from this.
This weeks menu plan....
Main Meals
Spaghetti bolognaise served over pasta or jacket potatoes.
Corned beef and plum sauce with mixed veg mash and green beans. Cook in slow cooker as it's art day and I'll be tired. (Need corned beef)
Curried or garlic prawns, brown rice and steamed/stirfry veg.
Sausages and vegetables or salad - depending on what we feel like.
My Cranberry, orange and ginger pork chops, roasted sweet potato and balsamic tomatoes, greens.
Leftovers for Jeff (I have a very rare girls night out!)
Snacks
Fruit, vegetable sticks, yoghurt and nuts
Any baking I've done
Lunches
Leftovers
Salad sandwiches or wraps
Salad in a bowl with cold meats, tinned fish or boiled egg
I only needed to pick up the corned beef, milk, fresh fruit and veg and some cheese. I grabbed a tin of tuna and a sauce to replenish pantry stocks and picked up some fish on special to put towards next week's menu. I've been doing the challenge for 3 weeks so far and have saved $200 off my usual shopping over the same period (I'm also not counting meat for the dogs in this). We've had guests for dinner in that time and I've also been having art group here each Tuesday and provide morning tea. Being a bit tired of late I have purchased the morning tea instead of baking at home (which is the much more affordable option). Needs must and I'm not going to beat myself up about it.
I'll keep stretching what I have on hand and may even do a grocery challenge with a set limit in the future. How are you going with your menu plans and using up those things that mysteriously get avoided and overlooked in our pantries.
On the front lines, I've started with a grocery challenge. A grocery challenge can mean having a limited amount to spend on groceries per week,like when my sister Susan and her family lived on $80 per week for groceries for three months. It could mean doing a $21 challenge like they do at Simple Savings, where you spend only $21 on groceries for a specific week. For my grocery challenge, I am starting by trying to make better use of what I already have in the house by getting organised and starting to menu plan again. My pantry and freezers are well stocked, in fact overstocked in some ways thanks to a generous gift basket of groceries at Christmas. Here is my process....
1. Take a thorough stocktake of what is in the pantry, fridge and freezer.
2. Once I've taken a detailed inventory of all available food in the house, I make a menu plan using what is on hand. My menu plan includes Snacks, Lunches and our main evening meal. I write my grocery list from this.
This weeks menu plan....
Main Meals
Spaghetti bolognaise served over pasta or jacket potatoes.
Corned beef and plum sauce with mixed veg mash and green beans. Cook in slow cooker as it's art day and I'll be tired. (Need corned beef)
Curried or garlic prawns, brown rice and steamed/stirfry veg.
Sausages and vegetables or salad - depending on what we feel like.
My Cranberry, orange and ginger pork chops, roasted sweet potato and balsamic tomatoes, greens.
Leftovers for Jeff (I have a very rare girls night out!)
Snacks
Fruit, vegetable sticks, yoghurt and nuts
Any baking I've done
Lunches
Leftovers
Salad sandwiches or wraps
Salad in a bowl with cold meats, tinned fish or boiled egg
I only needed to pick up the corned beef, milk, fresh fruit and veg and some cheese. I grabbed a tin of tuna and a sauce to replenish pantry stocks and picked up some fish on special to put towards next week's menu. I've been doing the challenge for 3 weeks so far and have saved $200 off my usual shopping over the same period (I'm also not counting meat for the dogs in this). We've had guests for dinner in that time and I've also been having art group here each Tuesday and provide morning tea. Being a bit tired of late I have purchased the morning tea instead of baking at home (which is the much more affordable option). Needs must and I'm not going to beat myself up about it.
I'll keep stretching what I have on hand and may even do a grocery challenge with a set limit in the future. How are you going with your menu plans and using up those things that mysteriously get avoided and overlooked in our pantries.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Epic 'Fale'
Yes I know that the correct spelling of 'fale' is f-a-i-l. My spelling and language have been influenced by numerous teens in our life and I thought I'd show how 'with it' I am. Why the epic fail? Well, after being so very good with my Flylady routines and menu planning.....I find myself here this windy Wednesday with NO menu plan and hmmmm, when did I last do my routines around the house...um last week sometime! Ooops. Need to learn how to focus on art and all else in a BALANCED way.
My biggest 'fale' has come about as I followed the inspiration of my sister's grocery challenge. She's doing really well to feed her family of 4 on $80 per week. I decided that I'd like to do the challenge too and set out enthusiastically... Hmm. Here's how I went.
Monday - ALDI $34.95 Cereal, bread
Wednesday - Woolworths $138.60 Fruit, veg, eggs, milk, meat and cheese.
Total: $173.55
That's $95.55 over budget. Yes the cereal will probably last us for a month and the fruit and veg will do for about 10 days but still - what a blow out. I could have got the fruit and veg cheaper by shopping at the fruit stall but chose not to today. I did by dog food and am wondering if I should leave that out of my grocery challenge as being meat it's more expensive. Will have to do a bit more thinking about whether to include dogs or not. I didn't buy anything we didn't need and made the cheapest selections available. For example I wanted 2 pork chops for tonight so I went through all the trays of 2 chops until I found the cheapest ones. The difference, in case your interested was 70cents.
Will update my adventures in art over the next couple of days. Until then, stay well and happy.
My biggest 'fale' has come about as I followed the inspiration of my sister's grocery challenge. She's doing really well to feed her family of 4 on $80 per week. I decided that I'd like to do the challenge too and set out enthusiastically... Hmm. Here's how I went.
Monday - ALDI $34.95 Cereal, bread
Wednesday - Woolworths $138.60 Fruit, veg, eggs, milk, meat and cheese.
Total: $173.55
That's $95.55 over budget. Yes the cereal will probably last us for a month and the fruit and veg will do for about 10 days but still - what a blow out. I could have got the fruit and veg cheaper by shopping at the fruit stall but chose not to today. I did by dog food and am wondering if I should leave that out of my grocery challenge as being meat it's more expensive. Will have to do a bit more thinking about whether to include dogs or not. I didn't buy anything we didn't need and made the cheapest selections available. For example I wanted 2 pork chops for tonight so I went through all the trays of 2 chops until I found the cheapest ones. The difference, in case your interested was 70cents.
Will update my adventures in art over the next couple of days. Until then, stay well and happy.
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