Family Food Budget: $250 a Week Challenge
Porirua parents share budgeting wins and weekly meal planning.
For many families, the weekly grocery shop is a careful balancing act. In Porirua, high school teacher Alice Stevens-Carlyon and IT professional John Meli navigate this challenge with their two young daughters, aged three and 15 months, adhering to a strict $250 weekly budget.
Strategic Shopping and Meal Planning
Alice shared that her partner, John, takes the lead in cooking, a task he genuinely enjoys and excels at. “My partner John cooks most nights because he enjoys it more than I do and is more inventive!” she explained. The couple ensures lunches are packed for everyone, with breakfast being a joint effort. Their Friday tradition includes fish and chips.
To stay on track, the family utilizes shop-and-go scanners at their local Pak’nSave, allowing them to monitor spending in real-time. Alice also employs a psychological budgeting tactic. “I always think in groups of $10 because that’s a decent part of my budget,” she said. Their budget saw them come in $8.40 under for the week depicted in their receipt.
A dedicated grocery bank account has been a revelation for Alice. “That’s been a game changer to actually see what I’m spending,” she commented. Any surplus funds are earmarked for savings, though currently, there are no leftovers.
Kid-Friendly Meals and Pantry Power
Meal choices often adapt to the seasons or the family’s current health focus. A recent favourite is a hearty roast vegetable salad featuring pumpkin, kumara, and feta. When planning meals, the parents are mindful of their daughters’ palates. “The girls don’t eat different meals (to us) so we need to be slightly mindful of that, we can’t cook super spicy curries for example,” Alice noted.
The pantry is well-stocked with staples like rice, pasta, canned tomatoes, various meats, cheese, milk, butter, and a diverse spice collection. They prioritize seasonal fruits and a consistent supply of onions, capsicums, and spring onions.
Meat selection is central to their meal planning, with regular purchases of beef mince and chicken breast. They also take advantage of steak specials. Chicken thighs are a recent addition, and a whole roast chicken is kept for occasions when they have more time to cook.
For extremely weary evenings, John prepares a comforting Samoan dish called Koko Alaisa – rice cooked with cocoa and coconut milk. While not the most balanced option, it offers a warm and familiar taste on colder nights or when energy is low.
Cutting Costs and Conscious Consumerism
Child-related expenses, particularly nappies and formula, represent a significant portion of their budget. To mitigate costs, they primarily use cloth nappies, reserving disposables for nighttime. The expense of formula, approximately $20 per tin, was a considerable outlay when their youngest required it.
As the children grow, the family is finding they can afford small treats, such as tzatziki. In keeping with an environmental ethos, Alice avoids single-use packets, preferring reusable containers. “It’s not hard to be environmentally conscious, you just need suitable containers,” she stated, noting that this approach is often more cost-effective.
For personal treats, Alice opts for Cadbury Blackforest chocolate over more expensive brands like Whittaker’s. The family also enjoys mini lemonade popsicles, often consumed by the children after kindergarten, providing a simple and refreshing treat.
According to Statistics New Zealand, the average weekly grocery spending for a couple with young children was projected to be around $300-$350 in 2023, highlighting the discipline required for families like the Stevens-Carlyons to manage on a tighter budget (Stats NZ).
