$120 Food Challenge : Week 5

 I spent more than last week. Argh! Why can't I reduce my food bill?

Before shopping
As usual I checked what I already had, made a menu up for the week and then constructed my list. I am trying SO HARD to only buy what is essential for the meals because I don't want to throw anything out. I'm encouraging the kids to finish off yoghurt and snacks before they expire, making sure I use vegetables before they go soft, etc. We even ran out of bread this morning so the kids had to have a lunch order.

Lunches
The de-boned ham I bought last week WAS A WINNER! I will buy ham this way from now on because I can use it sliced for lunches and toast, and I can dice it to add to meals...so versatile. Never again will I buy the 'fake' ham bits in the supermarket for pizza toppings or quiches - I will always buy the de-boned ham from now on. I must thank my cousin Kris and brother Sean for this suggestion xox

The de-boned ham lasted a whole week for sandwiches and meals XD

So the kids had ham on their sandwich every day (except the day they bought their lunch) with either lettuce, cheese or grated carrot. They loved the new ham and the skin didn't bother them. I bought another ham this week and it was the same price as last week $16.48 per kilo. Bread was up again - 2 loaves for $5.00. It seems to fluctuate each week.

The meat
This week I bought a split marinated Tandoori chicken at Woolies as per Kris' suggestion. It was $7.99 and cheaper than buying an already cooked one. I look forward to having that tomorrow as it looks delicious. Last week I bought a whole chook from Aldi and baked it and it tasted like bleach! I won't buy their whole plain chook again. The only other meat I bought was chicken thighs. I was going to buy them at the butcher but Woolies had them on sale for $3.82 for 600g so I couldn't say no to that. I plan to make butter chicken with them.

What I learned this week

• The de-boned ham is definitely a winner
• Always look for specials
• If you can do without something for a week or two - do so and buy it when it is on special.

$120 Food Challenge : Week 4

Well I did better than last week, but still can't manage to get my food bill down to $120 per week. Hubby won a small meat tray at the pub during the week so that was a bonus. Where we had planned to have 2 vegetarian meals, we were able to have meat instead.

Before shopping
As usual I did a stock take and decided I needed 4 pork steaks, one whole chicken and 500g beef for a curry. Each week I am buying larger sizes of products so they last longer and the larger size is often, actually always, cheaper than the smaller size. So here's hoping the larger sizes don't spoil!

Lunches
As per my cousin's advice I bought bulk ham from the meat section rather than slices from the deli. I didn't quite buy the same as she buys, but below is a photo of it in the cryo pack. Last week I paid about $16.00 per kilo for triple smoked sliced ham. Well this week I paid around the same, but I'm hoping it will last longer than the usual 5 days for sliced ham. See the photos below. It needs to be kept wrapped in paper towel, and in a freezer bag in the fridge. It's important to change the paper towel every other day. I bought 12 bread rolls for $5.00.

The meat
I bought pork from Woolies because it was on special. I paid $7.60 for 4 heart smart pork steaks. At the butcher I bought chuck steak for $8.99 per kilo and he diced it for me. I'm starting to like the butcher XD Then at Aldi I bought a whole chicken for $6.37.

What I learned this week

• Let hubby go to the pub to win more meat
• Always check the butcher BEFORE going into Woolies
• Even if it costs more - buy the larger size.

$120 Food Challenge : Week 1

This is the first week of this challenge. 'Challenge' is the most suitable word for it, because I seriously cannot see how I will be able to feed my family meat and veg for under $120.

Before shopping
Before I left the house I took the book's advice and did a stock take on my fridge, freezer and pantry and worked out what else I needed to buy to feed us. The only meat I needed to buy was some chicken because I already had meat in the freezer. I also intend to use up the crumbed fish and packaged pies that were in there, along with the eggs in the fridge - they will go into a quiche. Below is my shopping list. You will see I have a list for Woolies and a separate one for Aldi with the meals list on the right.

The bill
Below is a photo of my shopping bill. I don't like everything Aldi sells, so I still insist on buying certain items at Woolies even though they are more expensive. I don't buy from the butcher usually, so decided I wouldn't start doing that until I had shopped 'normally' and set a benchmark so I could gauge the challenge. I have refused to believe meat is cheaper at the butcher, so I will be monitoring this very closely as the challenge progresses. I had to rule out the non-food items like toilettries, cleaning products, pet food, etc so the figures on the sticky note are separated. As you can see I spent more than $120 this week...and the only meat I bought was chicken!!!

The meat
The only meat I needed this week was chicken. I prefer the breast and always buy it at Aldi. Today it cost me $15.30 and weighs about 1 and 3/4kg. I didn't look at the kilo price until I got home - it was $9.49 per kg. I just happened to notice that the butcher I pass every shopping day had chicken breast for $6.99 per kg. So as of next week I will buy it there.

Lunches
I usually buy ham for the kids sandwiches, but today the silverside was cheapest, so I bought that instead...I hope they like it. Bread this week cost $5.00 for 2 loaves of wholemeal. I bought it from the bakery section of Woolies - not the branded loaves. I also bought an 8 pack of flat bread for wraps. I will grate carrot and cheese for fillings when the sandwich meat runs out.

5 things I learned this week

• chicken breast is cheaper at the butcher
• buy the sandwich meat which is on special 
• non-food items really add to your weekly shopping bill
• make home made snacks for the kids lunch boxes instead of buying expensive processed snacks
• buy generic brands when you can...they are often cheaper

XD

See the Introduction to the Food Challenge.