AUSTRALIA MEET ONE MELBOURNE WOMAN WHO FEEDS HER FAMILY FOR JUST $ 40 A WEEK AND UNDERSTAND HOW SHE DOES IT
This money saving expert feeds her family for $40 a week. Here's how she does it
When Penina Petersen calculated that she could feed her family dinner for $1.02 a serve, she was not happy.
"I said to my husband, 'I am so upset about that two cents,'" she told ABC Radio Melbourne's Clare Bowditch.
The Melbourne-based blogger and author learned her extreme savings methods while living in regional Western Australia.
She and her husband lived there for a year in 2004, after finding themselves $50,000 in debt.
"We packed our whole flat that we were living in at the time into a van ... and drove across the Nullarbor," she said.
She said the move broke them away from the temptations of Melbourne living.
"In the city, we were spending, we were going out every weekend," she said.
Avoid the supermarket
Avoid the supermarket
Ms Petersen says her Savings Room blog contains thousands of tips for keeping the household budget under control.
But the main way she saves money is by avoiding the supermarket.
"I'm shopping once every five weeks at a supermarket," she said.
She said the "biggest killer" of household finances was trips to the shops for milk.
"Supermarkets make you walk through a million aisles to get to milk, and in that process they make you spend your money," she said.
"I am the guru of not spending. I have my blinkers on, and I still buy too much at the supermarket if I go."
In between her big supermarket shops Ms Petersen visits local shops for fresh fruit, vegetables and milk.
Bulk cooking saves money, stress
Bulk cooking saves money, stress
By spending one weekend a month cooking, Ms Petersen's family of four are able to feed themselves for $40 a week.
"We're cooking in bulk, so we're putting together freezer meals for the entire month," she said.
Her family eat the frozen meals five nights a week, with "cook fresh" nights on Friday and Saturday.
She makes meat dishes more economical by bulking them out with beans and blended vegetables.
Not only does she save money by pre-preparing meals, she also reduces the stress of the work week.
"On week nights when you're busy, coming home from business or work and stressed, you pull that little shepherd's pie straight out of the freezer into the oven," she said.
"We're saving an hour a night — no washing up dishes, no cooking."
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