28 meals and 22 snacks for under $60 with leftovers!
I heard on the radio this morning that inflation means an average of $160 extra a week on groceries. I assume that's for the average household of two adults and two kids. Even in my home of me and my son our grocery budget has doubled. Just buying cheap ingredients for me doesn't always work because we are both very picky eaters and time poor, so sometimes just buying pre prepared meals is the way to go. You waste less food, all you have to do is heat it up.
So this week I decided to just go the easy rout and grab some pre prepared meals at Aldi. They weren't the freezer meals but rather I got the meat portion already made up. This is actually quite a bit cheaper than if it made it myself as I don't have any leftover ingredients I will need to use another time or throw out (yes some gets thrown out if I don't have the space or time to use it before it spoils or gets freezer burn).
I got all of this for $47.22!
It will make approximately 24 meals with a 22 snacks with ingredients left over for next time. This is enough to feed me and my son for two weeks!
If you need to buy everything I have used today it will come too $74.62 as current prices at Woolworths and Aldi in Australia as of March 2023. However most things are pantry/ fridge staples and will stretch to many more meals than this and you probably already have at home.
What I bought to eat for the week for under $50
800g Satay chicken $10.99
wraps $2.09
Curly fries $3.19 (getting chips atm is almost impossible with the potato shortage so this was a lucky find)
1kg frozen Mixed veg $4.19
Spring rolls $4.99
Pizza $5.49
Quiche $8.29
Things I used from the pantry $16.70
Rice $3
Jelly $2
825g Two fruits $5
Vanilla cake mix $0.90
Berries I have picked from home and froze or sub in any fruit you have
Eggs $5.20 a dozen
Margarine $2.30
I will try and break down how much each serving will cost but it will be rough guestimates. I did add things I already had in the house also. We both prefer to eat smaller meals during the day as I get full quickly and my son is at school and top up with snacks in the evening. All of these can be bulked up by adding extra rice or vegetables.
The satay chicken I divided into 8 serves with 1/3 cup rice for each at about $1.20 per serve.
Lasagne will serve 6 at $1.33 each or with curly fries and mixed veg about $2.60 a serve.
Quiche will serve 6 for $1.38, with a side of veg $1.60 per serve.
Snacks
The spring rolls are 4 for $4.99 so are $1.25 each
Berry muffins (using the cake mix with 2 eggs and a spoon of margarine and adding berries, diced banana or diced apple) Makes 12 $0.15 each! You can also add a drizzle of icing to the top for a sweeter treat.
Lunches with what you have at home $10.70
For lunches we will be eating the wraps which are $0.34 each and top with ham and cheese which comes too $1.25 per serve.
How much did I spend on groceries this fortnight for two people?
Incidentals I will buy or use this week include 1L long life milk at $1.60, 4 bananas $2.88 and a bag of grapes $4.28 = $8.76.
With the Aldi shop above this means that I have spent $55.98 for two people for two weeks!
I think you can agree that's an amazingly low amount. Of course this won't happen every shop because as I run out of staples they need to be replaced but it goes to show that you don't need to spend big every week to eat well.
