Eating well with $130 per week - Week 1

$87 buys this at our house for a family of four - week 1 of 4

I'm often amazed at how much people can spend on food.  I struggle to part with cash on convenience, pre-packed and down right horrible food.  The price per kilo of food, compared to homemade, is extortionate, never tastes as good and is jam-packed full of artificial ingredients, salt and sugar.

Over the next month I will show you how we eat good food on a small budget by posting details of my purchases - and then recipes will follow from what I've brought.

My weekly purchases are supplemented by beans and lentils that I buy in bulk every 8 weeks or so.  An average spend is $30 on beans, lentils, spices and baking soda, so that's about $4 a week - which is included in my budget of $130/week.  I also make use of vegetables from the garden which just about grow themselves with compost that I make with garden/lawn cuttings, kitchen scraps, newspapers and chicken poop.  I also save $14 a week to purchase home kill, half a cow and a pig, once a year.  I used to spend about $20 a week on meat when I brought it from the supermarket.

This week I spent $87 between the green grocer and the supermarket (I go to Countdown, the only option in Huntly).  My eldest is turning 4 next month so I'm slowly getting a few things to prepare, food colouring and icing sugar are 2 extras for this week.  Here's the breakdown:

Green Grocer $16
Apples, Rose and Granny Smith
Mandarins
Grapes
Carrots
HUGE Crown Pumpkin $2!!
Swedes
Onions

Countdown $71
10kg Rice
Plain Flour
Icing Sugar
Diced Tomatoes (2x800g)
Baked Beans
White Vinegar
Sultanas
Frozen Peas
Butter (4x450g @ $3.50 each - a bargain for butter)
Ecostore Dish Liquid
Food Colouring

This week I was under budget, but I will keep the money aside till next week since I didn't need to buy nappies, cheese or milk powder this week.