Ok, SO it’s been a while since I last wrote a post. It’s quite hard really to think of things I
have to say, that someone might be interested in… but maybe you might be
interested in this one… it’s about budgeting.
There’s always something in the media about budgeting, it
seems the latest and greatest budgeter at the moment is the facebook woman…or
man who was on NZ Best home baker, for one episode apparently… How to feed afamily of 6 for under $20. It’s all
good, a lot of help for people who don’t know where to start. I personally am a huge fan of Sophie
Gray….the Destitute Gourmet. I think I
have all of her recipe books….apart from one, which mum has, so I share it with
her!!! Because I am on a budget!!
Last month we had a bit of a budget blowout. It started with our 10 year wedding
anniversary celebration trip to Queenstown,
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| Me screwing up my nose to look so beautiful |
which was getting paid for by money
that hadn’t yet come into the account!!
And ended with 2 plumber call outs, a new lawn mower, me backing into
someone’s car and paying up front for a trip later in the year.
So this month we had to somehow make up for some of
that. Rules include: no takeaways all
month (apart from Mother’s Day!) and try and empty out the freezer and halve
the grocery budget!
So I have been getting creative. I was lucky, in the fact, that there were a
few good bits of meat in the freezer that hadn’t already been planned into
meals, and both our freezers were somehow chocka!
1. I think one of the best ways to save money is thru
planning. Write a meal plan and stick to
it.
I like to plan 1 week at a time. I used to plan for the whole month, but then I would just end up forgetting things off the list….. or changing my mind ….or things would go off. It just wasn’t working out for me, so I decided to try fortnightly and then weekly. This is working really well for me, and 4 months in a row, I have managed to come in right on budget, or a few dollars below.
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| Example of a meal plan that I havent been sticking too and is longer than 1 week (what not to do!!) |
I like to plan 1 week at a time. I used to plan for the whole month, but then I would just end up forgetting things off the list….. or changing my mind ….or things would go off. It just wasn’t working out for me, so I decided to try fortnightly and then weekly. This is working really well for me, and 4 months in a row, I have managed to come in right on budget, or a few dollars below.
- But because this month is tighter than before. I did my initial week and then I have added to it. So now I have a 12 day meal plan, that should take me thru to next payday. I think I shall put the meal plan next….in an ideal world I would link to the recipes that I can or to the book you need to buy.
- As it worked out, there were a number of meals that had a reasonable amount of leftovers, so I have frozen it and planned it into another meal. E.g. After the Roast Chicken there was heaps of gravy and stuffing left. (I had used the left over chicken for other things!) So I have a new meal waiting that is going to be a roast chicken casserole. I also found a couple of extra drumsticks to use as the chicken. And I did the same for Corned Beef (and Corned Beef Casserole)
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