Frugal meals for tight budgets
Current supermarket prices have gone through the roof. My grocery budget has actually tripled just getting the same groceries that I always have in the last year. In Australia right now one lettuce is $12! KFC has actually announced they have had to switch to cabbage in their burgers because they cant get lettuce. I saw a whole watermelon for $45, something that is usually a cheap staple over summer and sells for $1-2 a kg. Unfortunately living in my state its currently winter and literally nothing will grow at the moment, the frost is too bad. So I have had to find alternative ways to save on the grocery shop.
How to save on your grocery bill
These are the few tips that I swear by when keeping costs low in my weekly shop.
- Check what is on sale before making a meal plan. If Chicken is $15per kg but mince is $20per kg then its going to be a chicken week.
- Buy in season. Because its winter in Australia right now the things that are in season are the cheapest so this means cabbage, cauliflower, apples, pears, beans and peas.
- Only buy as much as you need. Meal plan and work out exactly how much you will need for those recipes. Having things sitting around and going bad is not going to be budget friendly.
- If you are using something for a recipe that doesn't use up the whole thing then find other recipes to make that week that will use up the excess.
- Frozen is just as nutritious as fresh sometimes more so because they are snap frozen at the peak time. It wont rot in your fridge and can be much cheaper anyway.
- Build your grocery list online over the week. This stops you forgetting things and having to go back to do top up shops which end out getting things you don't need. It also means that you can see the total as you go and adjust accordingly.
- Keep lazy foods on hand to stop you being tempted to get takeaway. For my family of two its $40 minimum for takeout which is half my weekly food budget.
Budget friendly recipes
We all need a list of go to recipes that we can whip up quickly and for a small budget. Some of these are uni student specials and some are adapted from family favourites to really cut back the cost.
Student spaghetti
Serves 4-6
$1.30- .86c per serve
Spaghetti ($1 500g homebrand)
Can of condensed soup ($1.70 campbells brand)
Frozen veg ($2.50 500g frozen peas and corn, should stretch to at least 5-10 meals)
Leftover chicken if you have it
Cheese ($9, 1kg block. Blocks are cheaper then pre grated. Will last a very long time.)
Boil some spaghetti, the more you cook the bigger this will stretch. Once cooked strain and add to a baking dish. Add the soup, a little milk and how every much veg you want. If you have leftover roast chicken or ham add it in, mix to combine everything. Top with half a handful of cheese and bread crumbs if you have them (or put a stale piece of bread in a blender). Bake at 180C for about 15mins to make the cheese melt and a little crispy.
Garlic noodles
Noodles of your choice. I like Soba but you can use spaghetti or thin egg noodles. (soba $3.70 for 270g enough for 2 big meals or $1 for spaghetti)
Garlic ($2.30 500g minced)
Butter ($5 375g tub.) This is the cheapest per 100g option. Mine was actually 2 for $8 the day I got them which makes it $1.06 per 100g.
