Sydney mother of seven surprises with inexpensive grocery purchase to prepare school dinners and lunches for a fortnight
Mom of seven impresses by spending less than $250 on two weeks’ worth of dinners and school lunches for her large family: ‘You’re my idol’
- Sydney mother of seven buys $246 worth of groceries
- She shared her two week dinner plan.
A money-savvy mom wowed hundreds after sharing how she spent less than $250 on her biweekly grocery store for her family of nine.
The mother-of-seven’s $246 grocery purchase from Aldi and Woolworths will make for 12 dinner parties and a “lot of school snacks.”
She said she is doing everything she can to provide her family with “healthy” meals that will keep everyone’s “stomachies full longer” amid the rising cost of living.
The Sydney shopper shared her two-week meal plan that included dinners like a ‘super green’ spaghetti, homemade pizzas, crispy drumsticks and sausage rolls.
While she said a year ago the items would have cost just $175, many parents were impressed with her budgeting efforts, saying they would spend the same amount on food that would last their smallest families just one week.
A Sydney mom shared how she bought two weeks worth of school dinners and lunches for her family of nine for less than $300 from Aldi and Woolworths.
“We are a family of nine, two adults, two teenagers (19 and 13) four children (11, nine, six and four) and an almost four-month-old baby who will start eating puree next week,” she explained. in a mail to the Moms on a Budget Facebook group.
The mother spent $264 at Aldi and bought some Macro gang items, as well as Devondale Milk and a packet of Woolworths cake mix.
“Just a year ago this would have been around $175. This will make 12 dinners and a bunch of school snacks,” he said.
“I also usually buy about three or four packs of winter vegetables from Aldi, but they have sold out. I also usually go to Hunter and Gather to buy all our fresh fruits and vegetables. We buy milk when necessary.
The frugal mom added that money is “obviously tight” as she is currently on maternity leave.
“We try to look for foods that are healthy and keep our stomachs full longer. If I can hide vegetables in it, that’s a plus,” she said.
With the impressive tent, the mother will prepare a two-week dinner, including roast thighs with vegetables, hidden veggie sausage rolls, stuffed sausages, flaxseed chicken rolls and Irish stew.
She will also make two ‘super green spaghetti’ dinners which are full of hidden vegetables.
The mom said she got the vegan recipe from a food blogger. PlantYou and it is a ‘hit’ with the family.
She also shared her school lunch ideas, saying that she usually makes her kids a wrap with hummus, cheese, and ham.
On Sunday, mom makes a batch of ‘filling’ snacks including sweet potato brownies, oatmeal brownies, applesauce muffins, homemade gummies, vegemite and cheese rolls and lemon almond cake.
“One (child) will have a bag of cucumber and carrot, two with strawberries, blueberries and a sliced pear between them, another will carry a banana,” she said.
‘Sometimes I buy the popcorn and make a weekly batch for it. I’ve just made a little fruit jelly for them for school for a test.’
Dozens of group members applauded the mom’s “incredible” efforts to save money, with one calling her “the literal budget queen.”
‘$246 is still an incredible price for so many people, you should be proud,’ said one woman and a second added: ‘And for a fortnight! We’re only a family of five and we’ve gotten way over it in a week!!!’
‘Wow. I spend more than that for my family of five (plus two dogs and two guinea pigs) per week and you feed a family of nine for that price for a fortnight?… You are my idol,’ agreed another.
It is a well planned store. Nice for making it work at that price for so many people,” wrote a fourth.