Being Flexible

Being keen as anything to get going on my challenge of cutting food costs, I made a menu plan and a shopping list, hah, that all went out the window when I got to the supermarket.  Normally, I would have used a brochure they stick through the letterbox in the weekend.  Somehow it didn’t arrive and I assumed that the usual specials would apply how wrong I was!

First of all I intended to buy lamb as that has been on special for ages, no it was up to $34 a leg!  No way! I cast my eye along the chiller, oh pork! Yippee!  A good price too.  Such a good price that I am seriously thinking of going to town after my physio on Friday, and get some more joints, as also (I discover that I can see the specials online) the legs joints are even a better bargain! 

There were quite a few bargains that weren’t on my shopping list such as avocados at 89 cents each; Jarrah coffee reduced down to $4.00, normally it is about $7, and potatoes they have been about $2.99 a kilo, I got a 2.5 kg (5 lb) bag for $4.00.  Maggi cup of sups for $1.99, (quite often I will just have a cup of soup and a piece of toast for supper.  Quite a quick and cheap meal, (there are 4 in a pack.) Tasty Cheese $10.00 instead of $12.00'

I quickly realised as I was going around the shop that my menu plan was not valid anymore and also that my actual needs for the next fortnight were only about ¼ my budget.  So I am able to replenish my stock as well.  Well mostly!  I did plan to make a quiche on Friday as I have a friend coming for lunch and she is vegetarian.  I would have used up the butter I have for the pastry, However I could not believe my eyes it was over $5.00 a 500gm block. (Normally you can get it $3.50, what happened?  So, I will make impossible quiche instead and save my butter!  I went on line and the other supermarket in town has it for $4.50, STILL!?!!

Here is my budget and menu plan, I promise, promise you I will not bore you with it every fortnight, I just wanted to list it to show that even when food is dear in your area, if you have a well-stocked store you can be thrifty. As a matter of interest Winz (state benefit people) calculate that when giving out a food grant to its clients, $100 for a single person a week is sufficient!  PLEASE I AM NOT SAYING IT IS TOO MUCH, THESE PEOPLE ARE VERY NEEDY and NEED HELP WHEN UNEXPECTED BILLS COME IN, THEIR BENEFITS DON'T MAKE ALLOWANCE FOR THE UNEXPECTED. (I have been there!) I am only giving this as a benchmark. Also I wanted to show that you can eat really well on my budget.  Yes there is an initial outlay to build up your store, but that can be done gradually during the weeks you have a surplus.

Fortnightly needs:

Pork 2 kg (4 lb) - $14.22

Chicken  1.3 kg (2 ¾ lb.)- $9

½ Cauliflower - $2.70

Eggplant - $2.49

Sour cream 250 gm (8 oz.) - $3.00

500 gm carrots - $2.22

500 gm Onions - $1.47

Total $35.10

Store cupboard

Potatoes $2.50 kg $4.00

Tin diced tomatoes - 80 cents

UHT milk 1 litre - $2.00

4 packets Maggi soup of soups - $8.00

1 Watties Tortellini Sachets 350 gm - 3.00 (stand by treat)

Jarrah Vienna latte coffee - $4.00 (treat)

Bread (el cheapo) -- $1.00 (I like to have a loaf in the freezer in case I don’t get round to making a loaf!)

Tasty cheddar 700 gm - $10.00, will cut it up into 4 pieces and freeze.

Total $32.80

This leaves $32.10 of my fortnightly budget of $100 (US $70) for perishables and replenishment of stores.

Menu plan

Tuesday – Roast chicken, potatoes, kumara, carrots and peas, strawberries

Wednesday –Cold Chicken, potato salad, lettuce salad, fresh peach

Thursday – Broccoli and feta fritters, garden salad and fresh peach

Friday – Impossible Quiche, garden salad and fruit salad with yogurt

Saturday – Chicken Pilaf, lettuce salad, yogurt and berries

Sunday - Roast Pork and the trimmings, Bread and Butter Pudding

Monday - Black Bean`Quesadillas, Fruit salad

Tuesday – Cold pork, broccoli, carrots and Jacket Potato, rest of Bread and Butter Pudding

Wednesday – Chicken curry and rice, yogurt.

Thursday – Stuffed zucchini (mince beef), rice, carrot salad, preserved apricots

Friday – Sweet and Sour pork, noodles and stir fry vegetables, apple

Saturday – Broccoli/cauliflower soufflé and garden salad, apricot crumble

Sunday – Chicken risotto, using last of chicken and stock made from the carcass, chocolate mousse  

Monday – remains of risotto made into a patty with a pocket of feta cheese, chocolate mousse

Breakfast is usually toast and vegemite or jam, or a cereal, such as cornflakes or weetbix, milk and preserved fruit.

Supper will be the cereal if toast is had in the morning or a cup of soup and salad sandwich. I will make ratatouille to have some days as a change.

Today’s main meal I had this evening as it was too hot to eat at midday!  I still haven’t eaten the peach, but will have it later perhaps.  I have planned for desserts but quite often I will miss them. They are there if I want them.

With this plan I have not used all my pork, I will have at least 6 meals lfor the freezer. And I probably will have some vegetables left.  There were only 3 meals that made heavy use of what was in store. 

The key to this is being flexible, go for the bargains and then plan your meals.  Take enough time when you are going around the shop to think what if I have that what else would I need.  This shop was done in only one supermarket; no doubt I could have pared it down even more if I shopped around more.  But we are in the middle of a heat wave and no way was I going to traipse down the other end of town!  I will check it out on Friday.

One bit of good news, the company that is fitting my heat pump in is doing it next Tuesday so if the heat wave is still here I will have air conditioning. Yay!

Crochet news – I have been working on a shawl from some wool I unraveled from an op shop jersey. I am using two strands and it is coming on well.  However I would love someone to tell me how to stop unraveled wool looking like spaghetti junction!

I fell in love with shawls last winter and I do have another one on the hooks, but have put it aside as it is too hot to handle wool comfortably, so, I have been making some doilies.

They are quick and fun to make.  This is made with no 10 cotton and a 1.75 mm hook.  I got the pattern from Ravelry, I must put a link to my project pages on the side bar.  I am not sure if you can see it if you don’t have an account with them, but for those of you that do, you can access the pattern links.

In the Garden

It is too hot to be in the garden much, but I have had to clear the bed against back of the house, so they can put in the unit for the heat pump.  I will start again as the plants are overgrown and rather shaggy.  The Geraniums had got taller than me!  So, a good excuse putting in a new plan for that area.

Tonight I will take some time out to read with a herbal tea, I am reading David Baldacci’s Zero Day, I love his books.  After I have posted this I will strip the chicken carcass and freeze the meat and boil the carcass to make stock. 

Life cannot get any better than this!

Thanks for visiting and have a lovely day/night.

Sharon

PS I want to thank Jane over at Hope and Thrift for inspiring me to take the plunge.

You are never too old to learn!

I have been taught some lessons this week.  The first one is how we can say something without really thinking about the meaning and how it affects the listener or reader.  For example, I know Jane over at Hope and Thrift was a bit miffed when various comments called her ‘lucky”, I don’t think I called her lucky but I think I implied it, and I should know better.  So, apologies, Jane.

 

I think when we use the word lucky today, envy is involved, it’s the grass is greener over the hill syndrome.  I think that there is a bit of laziness involved, people see something they would like but don’t want to put in hard yards.  The true meaning of luck implies unmerited fortune.  Living a simple life actually is hard work, hours gardening, canning, and sourcing bargains and so on.  It is enjoyable and very satisfying, but like everything in life you have to work at it.  So, from now on I am going to be mindful of what I say, that’s lesson no 1.

Lesson no 2 is thinking outside the box.  I have been preparing my garden for the autumn and winter crops, lots of weeding and digging, it’s been a struggle, but I doggedly soldiered on.  Yesterday morning the ground was too wet to do any work (it been raining here 3 days), so I decided to do a bit of blog hopping.  I found some wonderful new sites and will add them to my sidebar soon.  On one blog they mentioned ‘no dig’ vegetable gardening and my fingers quickly clicked on the link to a marvellous video of a trial of traditional and no dig vegetable growing.  I struggled with the gentleman’s accent but got the gist very well.  Excited I googled ‘no dig’ gardening and then went on forest gardening and permaculture.  A wonderful morning spent learning.  I have decided to give ‘no dig’ a trial; I have 6 vegetable beds and will prepare 3 of them the ‘no dig’ way in preparation for next spring. Hedging my bets, ha ha!
Here is a link to some of Charles Dowding videos 

Lesson no 3. Always keep on challenging yourself.  I suppose all of us can get set in our ways, and don’t see that a change can beneficial to our goals in life.  I have been thinking over the last month or so that a mobility scooter would make my life a lot easier.  I don’t want the cost of running a car, as I don’t think the costs would outweigh the advantages.  But I want some independence, at the moment I rely on the kindness of friends and a limited bus service.  The friends I know are only too happy to help but I am conscious that it is awkward for them sometimes, the bus service is free and stops near my house but the times are not necessarily convenient.  Having a scooter would mean that I could shop around the stores for the necessities of life, I could visit friends or go to events without them having to pick me up and I would be free to leave at my convenience and not theirs. 

Anyways, the problem was I didn’t want to dig into my savings as they are earmarked for other things.  I have already started saving towards one but it was going to be a long road because they are about $4000 new or $2000 second hand.  Last night I went der….! I have been reading Jane’s challenge of living on $20 a week for 3 people.  I don’t want or need to so strict, but I could cut my food budget right down, my food larder and freezer are overflowing, I can barter with neighbours for the extras.  I worked out that $50 a week would enable me to live healthfully even if plainly.  It might mean more time preparing meals, but hey I am home all day.  I will also be able to save on electricity costs as I am having a heat pump installed, and also won’t have to spend so much on firewood.  I reckon that I will be able afford the scooter before next spring. Or, even sooner if I can find what I want second hand, which is ok as I wouldn’t want to use it much in winter.

I have decided to chart my progress once a week for this challenge on my blog as I hope it will keep me on the straight and narrow.  So here comes 6 months of tightening my belt, maybe figuratively and well as metaphorically, ha-ha.

Thanks for visiting an d see you next time,

 Sharon