Table For Five

March Family Meal Plan, week 3 Total spend $91.19 We’ve got a bit a cheat this week. You’ll notice there's only 6 dinners because we enjoyed a family dinner out. The big age/interest gap between Mr14 and Mr5 means we don't have a lot of (whole) family outings. Dinner out is one activity that we can all enjoy together every now and again.​ Many family restaurants have designated discount or “kids eat free” night's. Worth taking a look in your local area, if you enjoy a night away from your own kitchen and dining room table​. Dinners: Snacks : orange cake, ANZAC biscuits, grapes, apples, pears, bananas, chips, popcorn. Lunches : leftover pasta, sandwiches:chicken mayo& lettuce, jam, peanut butter. Breakfast : oats, cereal, toast See previous meal plans here

March meal plan, week 2 Total food spend $100.70 Cooking from scratch is cheaper than convenience packs. It's an age old debate that will probably never be definitively proven across the board. I can give you a number of meal examples that are cheaper to make from scratch and I could probably match that with an equal amount of meals that are not. The biggest downfall in convenience cooking is that it limits you in choices. When you work primarily with base ingredients rather than premixed packs, you’ll find you have a broader range of meals to build on while spending the same if not less. A bag of flour becomes a batch of biscuits, a cake, scones, sauce thickener, roux, bread, a crust, a batter….the list goes on. A premixed cake mix, on the other hand, becomes...well...some form of cake, one cake. Sure, you can vary it slightly but ultimately, it's going to make the same sort of thing. A packet of taco seasoning will give the same flavour, no matter how you ...

The new year didn't start out quite as well as we had planned for, financially at least. Life doesn't always play fair and we know that as well as anyone. Still, we continue to make plans because we know, whatever life throws at us, we will get through it. We’ve been through tougher times, really shitty, rock bottom times. These last few months have been a little stumble in comparison. With every plan that fails there is a lesson that needs to be learned. We cannot hope to move forward until we accept our own mistakes and resolve not to repeat them.  Keep trying, keep believing, keep treading water until you find your way forward. Total food spend: $86.98 Every few months, the freezer gets a good clean out. When a 430L fridge freezer is all you’ve got, minimising clutter is essential. This week is clean out week and that always comes with a bonus. Using up what you already have is a great way to make short term savings. If it's not on the list, we al...