Spending ~ to aid the children...

Yeah, I can justify $70 spent at the school fete. It's the other spending which is getting a bit ridiculous...

After twelve months of penny-pinching and stretching everything as far as possible (plus a little bit more), our move has resulted in an extra $100 a week available in our budget. And we've been using it on silly things, like $10+ bubbles, chocolate, new books (as in full price, not op shop) and take away coffee to the tune of $50 a week. Ridiculous and frivolous and not really within our spending/income capacity.

We knew upon arrival we would have some outstanding bills regarding the tenants and the need to restock the pantry ~ arriving with nothing food-wise meant a few hundred dollars would be required.

I think we are now at the point we can reign in the spending, return to a weekly budget of about $250 and use the rest to pay down the debts. Time to head back into the Simple Savings Vault and refresh ourselves on some of the great ways to make do without missing out. It's definitely time to get back into baking and making our own repairs on clothes. Most importantly, its time to get back on track with menu planning and grocery shops.

Our principal ~ the queue for this was enormous! 

(as for the $70 at the fete, no ~ I can't really justify $70. Had it stayed at the planned $30 it would have been reasonable, or if we'd won something in one of the raffles maybe, but as neither happened I guess I have to put it down to a 'we've never been able to do that before' experience and never do it again...)

Menu planning miracles 

I have been menu planning now for well over a year although I must admit to being a little lax over the last month while settling in often changing our minds on a whim, or even worse taking the lazy way and getting take-away. So its time to get back to the way I was before we left Victoria!

Meal planning has transformed the kitchen into an organised place where all kinds of delicious aromas float about and mouth-watering meals appear with minimum stress, fuss or panic. No 'its six o'clock and I have no idea what we are having for dinner' in this house.  Even better, they arrive on the table with little or no impact to the bank balance. I can't believe how much I can save on our food bill while our family get to eat better than some of the local restaurants and hotels. All it takes is a piece of paper stuck to my fridge!

I never thought I would be the kind of person to follow a meal regime having been an ad hoc dinner preparer for decades, but the results are so startling that I am a total convert. I've always enjoyed cooking; I just saw it as something I never had enough time to do for every meal, every day, especially when we all worked or studied full time. My collection of recipe books had been neglected, even those I picked up at the OpShop with good intentions of picking one new recipe to try every week. Tipping that goes for a lot of people :D

After stopping work and waiting for spinal surgery (and more so when back on my feet), there had to be a way to ensure good meals would be made, especially if I was to run out of oomfph and Hubby was picking up the slack. I reviewed what was on hand, had a look through my good old 'Cookery the Australian Way' school book and other simple meal type recipe books, drew up a menu plan and straight away couldn't believe how quick and easy it was to jot a menu plan to paper. Here's how I do it:

Step 1: Food on hand:
Have a look through the fridge, freezer and pantry. What staples are there? What meats are in the freezer? What vegetables have I got in the crisper (or garden) to use? Do these form an entire meal or what extras do I need to make the meal? Is there something here (say with mince, or chicken) that I can base a new/untried recipe around? Is there a recipe I have been wanting to try? Can you make one meal stretch out into two? Pies are our usual stretch meal ~ making the Sunday roast return later in the week. Or if there is only a little left over, its a pasta sauce or weekend toasties.

Step 2: Choose some recipes:
Check recipe books, go online, ask a friend for that delicious meal. No doubt you'll have your stock standards and your favourite weekly/fortnightly recipes, and a couple of bulk recipes that get made every few weeks to stock up ready for quick meals or lazy brain days (also known as 'ooops - forgot to take the meal out of the freezer' days).
When you find a recipe you'd like to add to the week's dinner repertoire, pick a day on your menu planner and write it down. I write the name of recipe book and page number, or the website address and recipe name on the menu plan. As well as making it easier to re-find when the time comes to cook, it ensures that Husband knows where to look in case I am having a 'medication' day, or muscle spasms and finding it hard to manage on the day.

Step 3: Check your schedule:
You do need to bear in mind what your commitments are for the week - if Tuesday night is training night meaning you're home later than usual, that is not the best night to schedule making roast pork marinaded in an orange and ginger demi-glaze, with perfectly crispy crackling for the first time! But its the perfect night to schedule the slow cooker meal this night, or use a portion of bulk cooked bolognese and simply prepare the pasta.

And menu planning is not just the dinner schedule, think about some baking to cut the cost of store bought snacks or work day muffins. I've got into the habit of adding one biscuit recipe and one cake, slice or muffin recipe to make per week and this gives us enough for the week's lunches and afternoon teas. Home baking alone has saved a small fortune on snacks and lunchtime treats.

Step 4: Write the shopping list.
While you're filling in your planner, write down any of the recipe ingredients you don't have or need to check the cupboards to see if you've got enough. While finalising your meal plan, you get to start your shopping list for the week. I try to have planned my menu on Sunday, buy everything on my shopping list on Monday or Tuesday when mark downs seem to more available and I'm done. Being prepared with the shopping means I don't end up popping back for 'one more thing' and walk out with 10 or so 'great buys'. It's not a great buy if it blows the shopping budget, is it?

Step 5: Put it up!
My planner is on the freezer or fridge where everyone can see it every time they go to the big white box in the kitchen. I look at it each morning and go straight to the freezer to take out any meat that needs defrosting and I am half way there to being ready. Hubby and I know exactly what is on for dinner and how long it will take. It really is that easy!

We eat consistently on time at a suitably appropriate hour because I'm not fluffing around trying to think what to cook. Being organised is much better than throwing any old thing together for the sake of a meal - dinner is a great time to sit talk, enjoy a meal and wind down after a busy day.

I'm enjoying cooking new things and the family is enjoying eating them. Because the meals are balanced, it's much easier to adapt them to suit everyone's preferences or tweak to work in with what we have on hand. It has also helping me to restock our pantry from scratch without the need to spend $100s immediately on all the herbs, spices, oils, flours, sugars and tinned items like tomatoes and tuna I had accumulated over the years for daily, weekly and occasional use. Meal planning ensures I know what is in the cupboards and I can get new, fresh goods as the need becomes apparent.

Use any recipes you like for your menu planner - you know what your family will eat! Our meals look as if you have spent ages preparing them but they are so quick! The meals look as good as those we've had at restaurants, often taste better and certainly cost a heck of a lot less.  With the majority of ingredients used being items you already have in the pantry,  primarily Home Brand and generic ingredients, I can usually have the evening meal budget come in around $2per head. It's sitting around $2.50 at the moment as we find all the bargain spots and wait for our first veggies to grow ~ but it means a weekly shop of $50 is not unrealistic and the odd bottle of bubbles can make it into the trolley. *grins*

This weeks menu is/was:

Sunday: Roast Chicken (Tandoori) and veg
Monday: BBQ T-Bone steak and salad
Tuesday: Veal Tortellini with tomato and basil sauce
Wednesday: Tandoori chicken and veg pie
Thursday: Roasted pumpkin soup with Turkish pida bread
Friday: Fish patties and chips
Saturday: Baked beans, Bacon and eggs on toasted grainy bread
Sunday: Roast something - probably lamb or chicken (in the freezer)

The tortellini was one of those fresh deli packs, servings for four, marked down to $3.03 from $5,90; bought 2 and froze them. I am making the soup this afternoon, using the remaining pumpkin bought for $2 from the Shalom Market trip 3-4 weeks ago, and will share the recipe on FaceBook. The fish patties will use up the left over rice frozen from last week's stir fry and a tin of homebrand tuna.

If you are interested in seeing and using the menu plan, or my shopping list / pantry stock take sheet ~ leave a comment and I'll work out how this can be made available for followers to use. I've used google docs previously, however any suggestions would be welcome.

Time to get ready for the school walk ~ hope to catch up with you all during the day and I'll get that pumpkin soup made and the recipe posted on FaceBook.  Enjoy your day and let's lower that debt and increase those savings together.

Seasonal Shopping Saves

This week I was made to feel 'odd' or a bit of a freak...

First with SmallBoy's fall from the roof ~ the amount of people mortified we let him climb on the roof was amazing. Oddly, this has been more from younger people (20s/30s) and more so from mothers of children in a similar age group or those who are now grandmothers.

Let me say - we are in the country, not the city. Several times a year Husband and SmallBoy are up on the roof clearing the gutters, nailing down loose roofing, realigning the aerial. It's what you do. So we have started to say to some he fell from a tree or bounced off a trampoline and the outpouring of sympathy is reversed four-fold. SmallBoy is keen to get back out and climbing ~ I see this as a good thing ~ he sees it as an accident, that he probably should have waited for the wind before straddling the beams, and will have caution on his mind 'next time'. Believe me - there will be a next time *laughs* 

Am I wrong to think children are supposed to explore, be inquisitive, climb? Are they not supposed to fall, land and injure? Is this not a normal event - even if the particular break is not the norm, the activity of mucking about is - isn't it? Or have the 'rules' changed so much that kids shouldn't be out playing, climbing, skating, riding in case they get hurt? If this is the case, how do they learn to judge a situation or implement their own personal boundaries? Or aren't they supposed to?? I won't advocate for a party to be held on our roof or allow three 10-12yo boys to play games on the roof - that's asking for an event to occur. But one mighty explorer should be able to do as he wants (within reason - I don't include climbing the power pole as exploration) so long as he is not endangering himself and/or others.

The next 'odd' was about menu planning and shopping. My girlfriends have been telling me what they are planning to serve their family for dinner - yummy stuff but to me its being done back to front. Menu planning seems to mean planning the things you'd like to cook and then get all the ingredients required, and so many meals involve out of season fruits and vegetables. There's two problems here - the price and the taste. Strawberries being eaten at the moment are tasty but coming to the end of the season so the price is increasing - in a few months they will be tasteless and more expensive - but when I asked why one girlfriend "has to buy them every week for her breakfast". 

And the one that got me more: - 

"I always buy cauliflower each week"... 

But cauliflower isn't in season at the moment

"Then how come I can get it at the supermarket?"

Even when it's $7 a head, or $4 a half!!

"Oh I don't look at the price, I just buy it".

Well pick me up off the floor and call me weird. Not looking at the prices? I was absolutely gob-smacked. Fruit and vegetables are the number one food type where prices fluctuate the most in stores - store to store. Week to week, even sometimes day to day, those prices can sky rocket and plummet with the speed of the stock exchange. 

Imagine trying to do that with bananas at the moment ~ one day bananas are $2.95pkg, then $12.95pkg, then $9.95pkg - or 'on special' for $5.99. Sure, we know that there have been some amazing weather catastrophes causing banana prices to escalate - so bananas should be a 'sometimes' food and an opportunity to use or introduce other, in season, fruits to diets. Apples are in season so seek out those on special (or on your neighbours tree) and stew them up for use in the 'off' season. It's one way we save at the cash register.

Talking to others, I think menu planning is being done the 'wrong' way in most homes. Menu planning is said to be the "way to ensure you don't overspend on groceries" suggesting one must write a shopping list based on the menu and stick to it. This is a disastrous way to menu plan unless you can determine the prices being charged at every place you shop.

I don't plan my shopping list based on my menu - I base my menu on what I have available in the fridge, freezer and pantry, making a list of some of the particular items I might not have at hand. Perhaps I've only got a few carrots and will need to top up for later in the week/fortnight. Carrots go on the list and, price dependent, I'll buy a kilo or two. If I've planned to make a batch of bolognese because I've got mince, onions, tomatoes and garlic - but this will use up the last of the onions and we've planned a BBQ or casserole, I'll put onions on the list and check out the usual haunts for cheap onions - including my bartering network.

Menu planning is not simply organising what you want to eat for the week/fortnight ~ and I think this is why many say the weekly shop comes to $200 a week (or more) and can't be lowered in any way. When I go into get my required items - I will check what is marked down in the meat department, the bakery, the dairy as all of these can freezer and be included in the next menu planning session. And I'll swap a meal to take advantage of a good 'score' like salmon fillets for a few dollars if it needs to be eaten within a day or two.

Next time you shop, if it isn't your current practice, take a look at the prices of fruits and vegetables. Is there something on special or marked down you selected on a whim? Did you expect the prices to be as they are??

So what is your practice? What do you do first - stock take your food stores, menu plan, create a shopping list or work it out on a daily basis? Honestly, I am curious to see what most people's practices are and how decision are made ~ or am I actually a bit odd in my practices?

Do you base your menu and shopping on what is available seasonally, on special or just what is available at the store? If something is unavailable or expensive, can you substitute with something else or does it throw you into panic or do you just buy it regardless of price?

Where do you write your shopping list and your menu plan - at home or at the shop; or is it based on the specials you find in the supermarket as you wander through? 

Off to the hospital in the morning ~ fingers crossed we avoid surgery on SmallBoy's ankle otherwise there will be a very scared little boy (and mummy!) here tomorrow or the next day.

Chat then :D