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Mum-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 mum-of-seven buy $246 worth of groceries
  • She shared her two-week dinner plan

A money-savvy mum has wowed hundreds after sharing how she spent less than $250 on her fortnightly grocery shop for her family of nine.

The mum-of-seven’s $246 grocery haul from Aldi and Woolworths will make 12 dinners and a ‘bunch of school snacks’. 

She said she is trying her best to provide her family with ‘healthy’ meals that will keep everyone’s ‘bellies fuller for longer’ amid the ever-rising cost of living.

The Sydney shopper shared her two-week meal plan which 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 and said they would spend the same amount on food that would last their smaller families only a week.

‘So we are a family of nine, two adults, two teenage girls (19 and 13) four boys ( 11, nine, six and four) and a nearly four month old who will be starting on puree food next week,’ she explained in a post to the Mums on a Budget Facebook group.

The mum spent $264 at Aldi and bought a few items from the Macro band as well as Devondale Milk and a cake-mix pack from Woolworths. 

‘Only a year ago this would of been around $175. This will make 12 dinners and a bunch of school snacks,’ she said.

‘Normally I also buy around three to four packs of winter vegetables from Aldi, but they have sold out. I also normally go to Hunter and Gather to buy all our fresh fruit and vegetables. We buy milk when needed.’

The frugal mum added money is ‘obviously tight’ as she is currently on maternity leave. 

‘We try to look keep to foods that are healthy and will keep our bellies fuller for longer. If I can hide veggies in it, its a bonus,’ she said. 

Mum-of-seven’s two-week dinner plan using $246 worth of groceries

Week one 

Monday: Supergreen spaghetti

Tuesday: Fish fingers – kids, Basa – adults

Wednesday: Roasted drumsticks with veg

Thursday: Vegful spaghetti with pork

Friday: Homemade pizza night

Saturday: Hidden vegetable sausage rolls

Sunday: Devilled sausages

Week two 

Monday: Supergreen spaghetti with pork

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Tuesday: Flaxseed chicken wraps

Wednesday: Crispy drumsticks with veg

Thursday: Vegful spaghetti

Friday: Homemade pizza night

Saturday: Devilled sausages

Sunday: Irish stew crock pot

With the impressive shop, the mum will make two week’s worth of dinner including roasted drumsticks with vegetables, hidden veggie sausage rolls, devilled sausages, flaxseed chicken wraps and Irish stew.

She will also make two dinner’s worth of ‘supergreen spaghetti’ which is packed with hidden vegetables.

The mum said she got the vegan recipe from food blogger PlantYou and it’s a ‘hit’ with the family.

She also shared her school lunch ideas saying she normally packs her kids a wrap with hummus, cheese and ham. 

On Sunday, the mum makes a batch of ‘filling’ snacks including sweet potato brownies, oat brownies, apple sauce muffins, homemade gummies, vegemite and cheese scrolls and lemon and almond meal cake. 

‘One (child) will have a cucumber and carrot bag, two with strawberries, blueberries and a cut-up pear between them, another will take a banana,’ she said. 

‘Sometimes I buy the popping corn and make a batch weekly for them. I’ve just made small snacking fruit jelly for them for school for a test run.’

Dozens of group members applauded the mum’s ‘amazing’ money-saving efforts with one calling her ‘the literal budget queen’. 

‘$246 is still an amazing price for that many people – you should be proud,’ one woman said and a second added: ‘And for a fortnight! We are only a family of five and we’re significantly over that for one week!!!’.  

‘Wow. I spend more than that for my family of five (plus two dogs and two guineas pigs) for week and you feed a family of nine for that price for a fortnight?…You are my idol,’ another agreed. 

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‘That’s a well planned shop. Good on you for making it work at that price for that many people,’ a fourth wrote.

RECIPE: Supergreen Spaghetti 

Ingredients

  • 53g whole wheat spaghetti
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 4 cups curly kale, de-stemmed
  • 150g frozen spinach, thawed slightly, or 4 cups fresh
  • 4 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 2 tsp salt 
  • 1/4 cup sunflower seeds, soaked overnight or boiled for 10 minutes
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 1 cup pasta water

Method

  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and add the kale, spinach and garlic. Allow to blanch until bright green, approximately 4 minutes.
  2. Using a slotted spoon or a colander, transfer the greens and garlic to a blender cup. Add the spaghetti to the remaining pot of boiling water, and cook according to package directions, reserving 1 1/2 cups of pasta water.
  3. Add the remaining ingredients including the salt, lemon juice, sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast and reserved pasta water to the blender. Combine until a smooth sauce is formed.
  4. Pour the sauce into a pan with the cooked pasta and more pasta water as needed to thin. Coat the spaghetti, and serve, with more crushed sunflower seeds, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper as desired.

Source: PlantYou 

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