(no subject)

[wickedcherub]

I've been thinking about this whole living frugally business and came across this website:

http://www.stayathomemum.net.au/my-pantry/grocery-shopping/

It's a website that helps people live on one wage so that one parent can stay at home.

Apparently you can grocery shop for $50 a week. This woman shops for her meat only every 8 months. Here is here dinner list:

Dinners: Bacon & Egg Pie, Spaghetti Bol, Beef Chow Mein, Sausages in Pastry, Devilled Sausages, Pasta Cabonara, Apricot Chicken Legs, Savoury Mince on Toast, Spaghetti & Meatballs, Roast Chicken, Chicken Pasta. All are either served with vegies or have vegies in them.

SCREW THAT. I would definitely find work, even one day a week or something, extra work I can do at home, maybe clean someone's house for an hour or two, just so I can get some fish into the family diet. Maybe some fresh meat that isn't minced or cooked to smithereens. Also - how fatty does that all sound? It's all creamy sauces or pastry or sausages! Or sausages in pastry!

That is all.

Comments

[darthbessie.livejournal.com]

Hah, I swear those would be considered healthy meals here in the UK!

[sarahlouise.livejournal.com]

There's this website called the $50 challenge or something like that... Maybe the $100 challenge lol...which has nice recipes on a tight budget. The woman got a lot of flack as she quit her job, went on benefits and did thus website, but the recipes are great. I make her bean burritos (with some amendments, admittedly) all the time.

Those recipes do sound gross though.

[frozen-doll.livejournal.com]

I was reading that website a week or two ago and thought the same thing. I mean, look at all those sausages! FAT FAT FAT! Look at all that pasta and creamy stuff.
It's all very well and good for people to say things like "oh, shop at Aldi because it's so cheap!" But unless you want to live on pies, chips, frozen pastries and packaged foods and eat all of those preservatives then there is no way you can shop as cheaply as people say. I get so frustrated because we are living off one wage and it's so hard to afford decent food to put on the table.
/rant.

[squeezles.livejournal.com]

There's living cheaply and then there's not living your life, you know? We save money on meat (and bread) by buying it when it is reduced (when there are only a few days left, but it is still good to eat). I subscribe to emails from this website http://www.simplesavings.com.au. Most of the suggestions are a little too out there for me to actually do (we don't need to scrimp money that much to you know paper mache yogurt containers for storage bins etc - ok slight exaggeration), but it's still kind of useful reading them to find a different perspective. I think you can join the "vault" of hints for $40 a year or something but I just get the free emails (see I'm saving money already!)

[missdewey.livejournal.com]

Ugh. Seriously? First, I understand it's easier to cut down on food costs than other costs, but when food is the thing that most directly impacts the health of your family, I say it's not worth it. Not sure how Austraila is but most people in America spend a far smaller portion of their income on food than people in other countries do. Cheap calories are not good for anyone, period.

That said, there are far better ways of cutting down your food budget and staying healthy. Examples: have meat at one meal a day or only two or three times a week instead of multiple times per day (better for you, the environment, and cheaper); make homemade "instant" oatmeal and granola instead of buying pre-made; use smaller plates, which encourages everyone to eat a little less (old diet trick); avoid snack foods in favor of fruit, which is healthier and more filling, meaning you consume less and it goes farther; start a garden if you have space (takes an initial investment, yeah, but free fresh veggies and herbs all summer make up for it); bake bread at home and freeze it in slices so nothing goes to waste; get big tubs of plain yogurt instead of little flavored ones; join a CSA; buy frozen veg and fruit, which are often cheaper than fresh and still have all the nutritional value; etc, etc. Lots and lots of tricks out there.

Still, bottom line, I'd rather reduce my cell phone plan or cancel cable tv than cut back the food budget.