Grocery shopping advice?

**skidMark** · 28th March 2009, 17:57

Okay well i have always been a useless shopper...

Oven doesnt work here and well i can't be arsed fixing it...have hotplates...microwave, toaster and a BBQ...

So instead of the usual takeaways today i thought i would save some money and go to the supermarket....

Spent 43 bucks and i'm not really any better off...

i can stretch this budget to 70 a week... so what have you found works, i pack food in like mad... i just can never seem to buy the components to make proper meals... i find myself spending 70 bucks and still feel im eating peasent food.

anybody got any advice...

here was what i got for my $43.37 today.

2 packs diamond macaroni cheese with sauce blah blah.... 2 big ben pies.... 2 pack of garlic bread.... kool fruits lollies... 6 pack pork alpine sausages. blue top milk 1 litre..... microwave watties beef soups (2) ..... 2 loaf's bread.... 4 powerades....

I would have bought more meats but they are frikking pricey... and with no oven i cant do roasts etc...

Any advice appreciated... starting to effect my health.

**R6_kid:Me** · 28th March 2009, 18:07

:slap:

It's not THAT hard Mark. You need to sit down and come up with a plan for what you want to have for dinner. Cooking for one can be a bit of a bitch, but it just means that you need to think forward a bit more as to use of meat etc.

You don't need the kool fruits or powerades for a start.

For that money you could buy a packet of pasta and some dolmio. That's probably four nights worth of dinners if you dont eat like a pig.

At the end of the day you're on the dole. If you don't want to eat crap food, get a job and earn some more money so that you can afford to eat better.

I know for a fact that $70 is enough to feed two people for a week, and that's nice eating too.

**skidMark** · 28th March 2009, 18:19

Originally Posted by R6_kid

:slap:

It's not THAT hard Mark. You need to sit down and come up with a plan for what you want to have for dinner. Cooking for one can be a bit of a bitch, but it just means that you need to think forward a bit more as to use of meat etc.

You don't need the kool fruits or powerades for a start.

For that money you could buy a packet of pasta and some dolmio. That's probably four nights worth of dinners if you dont eat like a pig.

At the end of the day you're on the dole. If you don't want to eat crap food, get a job and earn some more money so that you can afford to eat better.

I know for a fact that $70 is enough to feed two people for a week, and that's nice eating too.

I cant find anything in a supermarket to "eat nice" that i can get everything i need for 70 a week.

I don't know how to cook either, use powerades when i go cycling... the kool fruits well.... i had a moment of weakness lol

**Maha** · 28th March 2009, 18:20

0800 83 83 83...

Five large Pizzas for $45.. pickup, cant beat that!

**R6_kid:Me** · 28th March 2009, 18:28

One meal i've made before is enough to feed three or four people TWICE, so if you weren't being picky, you could feed yourself for 4-5 nights on it. Cost $25 for ingredients (most of which have lots leftover) and tastes bloody good. You just need to be creative.

**skidMark** · 28th March 2009, 18:33

Originally Posted by R6_kid

One meal i've made before is enough to feed three or four people TWICE, so if you weren't being picky, you could feed yourself for 4-5 nights on it. Cost $25 for ingredients (most of which have lots leftover) and tastes bloody good. You just need to be creative.

And these ingredients are.....

**NighthawkNZ:Me** · 28th March 2009, 18:33

Never go grocery shopping when you are hungry...

**Trudes** · 28th March 2009, 18:40

Try planning meals and make a list of the ingredients before you go to the supermarket.
Only buy what's on the list.
Try and make sure that you buy fresh fruit and veg or even frozen veg is ok, but fresh is usually cheaper (you're not paying for the packaging and someone pissing about preparing it for you).
Try and get to the supermarket at around 10am, they are normally (well at the one I go to) putting out the discounted meat then so buy the stuff on special.
If you're only cooking for yourself, make a full sized meal (ie. lasagna or shepherds pie etc) and cut the left-overs into Mark sized meals and freeze them to be defrosted and microwaved some other time.
You can eat well and on a budget, you just need to put a bit of effort and thought into it and not buy energy drinks/magazines/packet meals that are usually of little nutritional value and often bloody expensive.
Get inventive too, look up some recipes on the net and try and enjoy the making and cooking of a meal that is good for you.
Good luck.

**SARGE** · 28th March 2009, 18:47

How bout getting a job so you can afford to eat?

Just a thought

**piston broke** · 28th March 2009, 18:51

make your own macaroni,tis real easy.especially with cheese sause in packets.
use a big pot and add a whole caulli,a whole brocolli and a few handfulls of mixed frozen veg.there is 3 meals.
buy some flour and baking powder,you can make scones in a frypan,just cover the pan with a plate and turn over after about 5-7 mins

**piston broke** · 28th March 2009, 19:03

or you could always get 6 $10/doz beers,
and 6 litres of milk to suck up the hang over each morning.
then 1 day fasting

**skidMark** · 28th March 2009, 19:11

Originally Posted by SARGE

How bout getting a job so you can afford to eat?

Just a thought

How about you give me one.

**skidMark** · 28th March 2009, 19:12

Originally Posted by piston broke

or you could always get 6 $10/doz beers,
and 6 litres of milk to suck up the hang over each morning.
then 1 day fasting

You got your priorities right....

**Ixion** · 28th March 2009, 19:12

I'll feed anybody for $25 per week and show a handsome profit.

OK. First rule. Buy INGREDIENTS, not prepared food. Fundamental rule, if it comes in a can or packet, pass it by.

Rice is your firend. It's cheap (buy a sack from the Indian stores).
Buy a chicken (raw one). No stove, so joint it out, fry it for Maryland chicken, Oriental chicken, chicken chasseur. . Save the carcase. With $5 worth of split peas lentils and barley , and a few veges , that'll make a huge pot of nutricious chicken soup. Last you a month. Easy as to make . (Add a bacon bone and it's to die for)

Veges are CHEAP. You can get a huge amount for $10. Carrots, cabbage, broccali, onions.

Sausages are good , about the only sensible thing you bought. Bread's cheap if you buy the cheap loaves, but not as cheap as rice.

Invest $10 in spices and herbs. Not only are they good for you (don't stint the garlic!), but they turn ordinary food into a feast.

Look around the butcher (or supermarket , but butcher is better). Find a cheap cut of meat (mutton flaps work well). Cut up and trim. Fry in a little oil until brown. Put it into a casserole pot. Add carrots, potato cut up, lotsa onion, lotsa garlic (no, more garlic, that's not a lot . More , More , LOTSA garlic) . Add worchester sauce , soy sauce, spices and herbs, a sprinkle of brown sugar, a cup of vinegar. Top up with water. Put in the over - bugger you aint got one , OK, make it an Irish stew just simmer it VERY GENTLY AND SLOWLY on the hotplate. Should take about 6 hours to cook. My casserole feeds two of us for 6 meals. Costs about $6 . Dollar a meal. Easy as falling off y' bike.

Wots wornga with peasant food anyway. They eats bloody well does the peasants.