One of my relatives can't manage his money and is close walk to Woolworths, IGA, Aldi and Coles. He can shop at one or walk to any and mix if necessary
Needs a food budget from today of $40-$50 in groceries if it can be done. For one week until next Friday or Saturday. Now he is a big lad goes to gym everyday early 20's, so I'm presuming proteins, veggies and meat.
Can it be done? I'm thinking those 89 cent tuna cans from Aldi?
Oh yeah has to include coffee as he drinks this before gym.
Agree with this to an extent. But if he sits down with him and works out a list or they go for a shop together it could help him learn. Sometimes people do actually need to be guided through these things with practical experience. You do have a good point, the help needs to be wanted by the person.
A fair point, I was more pointing out that-
One of my relatives can't manage his money
Being a reason he has only $40 left for food seems to be the issue, rather than being actually poor and only having $40 for food.
If $40 is literally all he has after carefully considering all other spending, then yes, helping him by suggesting meals, going to the shop etc would help. If, however, he is spending all his money on an Audi on finance, Gucci on credit card etc, the only way that will be fixed, is when they realise for themselves that it's not sustainable, and having more than $40 for food for a week would actually be preferable.
You mean the old adage?
”If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”
”If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he'll get nothing done for the rest of his life
Set a man a fire, he'll be warm for a night;
Set a man on fire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
If you give a man potatoes, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man how to plant potatoes, you feed him for a lifetime. If you teach a man how to plant and distill potatoes, he got a lifetime supply of vodka.
Give a man a poisoned fish and he'll eat for the rest of his life.
frozen fish fillets are very good value, I get 40 fish fingers Birds Eye and have with frozen chips and salad
Not bad but most are only 50% fish or less, the rest is just oily crumb. The best I’ve found are these with 65% hoki https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/840271/sea… which are good when half price or close to otherwise it’s better to just get local fish fresh or frozen fillets without a crumb.
Nice balanced diet, Pamela.
3 meals per day. 7 days 21 meals
21 cans of tuna, a big bag of rice and a can of crap coffee. Sorted
and maybe throw in a few bread rolls and frozen veggies
Good one!
For some fun trivia, 3 tins of tuna is 60ish grams of protein, plus some rice, so maybe won't be enough if he's a "big lad". (The consensus from peer-reviewed articles appears to be 1.6 g per kg of body weight is optimal.)
One way train to scurvy, all aboard!
Some oranges then :)
Not to mention mercury poisoning (albeit after a fair while)
Yes 21 meals of tuna per week should do it easily enough!
Tuna is incredibly nutritious and packed with protein, healthy fats and vitamins — but it should not be consumed every day.
The FDA recommends that adults eat 3–5 ounces (85–140 grams) of fish 2–3 times a week to get enough omega-3 fatty acids and other beneficial nutrients .
However, research indicates that regularly eating fish with a mercury concentration greater than 0.3 ppm may increase blood levels of mercury and spur health issues. Most species of tuna exceed this amount. Therefore, most adults should eat tuna in moderation and consider choosing other fish that is relatively low in mercury. EPA recommends consuming a daily maximum of 0.1 micrograms of mercury for each kilogram of your body weight. That would limit an adult to 8 micrograms of mercury each day.
When buying tuna, opt for skipjack or canned light varieties, which do not harbor as much mercury as albacore or bigeye.
You can consume skipjack and canned light tuna alongside other low-mercury species, such as cod, crab, salmon and scallops, as part of the recommended 2–3 servings of fish per week. Try to avoid eating albacore or yellowfin tuna more than once per week. Refrain from bigeye tuna as much as possible.
@tebbybabes: Should be clearer that this advice is for NA market.
Cod in Oz often comes from Asian fish farms. Salmon that comes from Oz fish farms. Both eat mostly fish-meal IIRC, depending on how much mercury and other heavy metals is in that… a big deal esp if this can somehow include fish from the Black Sea, as has been shown to be the case in products sold all over europe (and who knows elsewhere?), due to a lack of controls that noone is doing anything about.
Mercury is not the only problem, in some seas it is by-products from years of industrial pollution, nuclear waste, etc.
Add a bad of dried lentils / beans / whatever.
Goes a long way.
Risk of too much mercury intake eating that kind of fish that frequently I thought?
Tuna is good for protein, rolled oats for breakfast with a tin of international roast coffee
Spam and rice. If that's still too much, then soy sauce and rice.
If he has a history of blood pressure, this is useful!
where does it say that… or are you making a random assumption?
If he's got no teeth, half the other suggestions wouldn't be useful either!
Spam and sodium are high in sodium which is known to increase blood pressure
@orangetrain: That's actually an old fallacy…a rise in blood pressure due to excess sodium only occurs in 5% of the population. 👨⚕️
If it’s possible he only has one foot how would he go to the gym?
Get your Sodium Nitrites here!
Spam is quite expensive tbh
cheap pasta and sauce
thats a good one actually,especially for carbs ,maybe mix with a tuna tin
Cook pasta, drain, stir in olive oil and a can of tuna. If you can afford it, stir in some baby spinach and wither while the pasta is hot.
My go to meal when I'm feeling lazy is this - https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/lemony-tuna-tomato-caper…
Replace the marscapone with cheap, bulk ricotta (or make it), cheapest pasta/tuna/stock cubes/canned tomatoes possible, squirt of cheap lemon juice from a bottle, skip the capers and parsley (maybe dried parsley?) and this would be a decent cheap meal with a bit of flavour.
If you're a vegetarian (or if it's more cost effective since I don't know how much tuna costs) red lentils can help add some volume to pasta sauce.
frozen nixed veges, everything home brand
frozen nixed veges
He can aim for branded ones. Punishment is the same.
but the price isnt
Nixed
3 litres of milk $3.60
Loaf of bread $1.30
Tuna in brine 425 grams $3. (Better value than individual small cans)
Pasta $1
Passata Sauce $1.60 (or cheap on sale pasta sauce.)
Pork mince 500grams $5
Pork chops two for like $7 sometimes less.
Whole raw chicken $7
Pumpkin $3 for 1.5kg.
Aussie mixed veggies from freezer $3
Prices from major supermarket chain.
Total of about $35 for seven meals.
Use rest of the money to buy extra food for lunch and or breakfast if required.
Chicken can be divided into to make multiple meals. 2 marylands, 2 wings and 2 breasts on each chicken.
500g mince makes four serves of red pasta bolonaise.
For the tuna if you have flour and oil / butter already at home you can make a white sauce pasta using some of the purchased milk.
I'd drop the tuna and maybe the pork chops and substitute jam for $1.50 on my sandwich/toast and/or some $3.40 muesli for brekky.
Some other options to consider:
Chicken drumsticks are good value, often $3kg too, but already a lot of chicken.
I'd want an onion in there too for about 60c if I'm eating pasta several nights.
A kilo of oven chips is $2 and often cheaper than supermarket loose potatoes.
Coffee will be the hardest, as the small portions of coffee are expensive. 200g Robert Timms instant is $4 at Woolies, or Moccona at $6. If they are into lattes and stuff the 10 pack of sachets is $3.15. Poorer value per cup, but costs less for this week.
1kg of the oven chips is definitely a good buy and so is the onion.
Surely the OP's relative surely has some jam, peanut butter etc in pantry so the cheap bread can make a weeks work of breakfast toast and tuna toast. Could also add a small packet of weetbix $3.
And could reduce one serve of meat to buy more veg. Better health wise, and bulks up the quantity, so more filling.
Great list. I’d drop the pork chops for some rice and dozen of eggs, and definitely some onions and garlic like Mskeggs suggested.
Eggs are a great choice and can cook in a variety of ways.
@zombrex great post and breakdown.
It always bugs me when you hear people on TV whinging that they can't afford to eat etc. Yes you can, but it's not what you want.
Well said, and this is from the major supermarkets.
Truth is most people waste money on luxuries, junk food and soft drinks which are not necessary.
We can live ridiculously cheap food wise and still eat extremely well, we are lucky to be a food producing nation. And I did not even mention local fruit and veg shops which sell produce much cheaper than major supermarkets.
Mi goreng eggs and tuna
Ramen is what people usually say when it comes to cheap food but actually ramen/migoreng is expensive. Rice is cheap!
one of my relatives cant manage his money
Why's it your problem?
Some people care about their relatives
Old mate's not going to starve and based on other OP posts about "the grandson" it seems like him going hungry for a few days may be about the cheapest lesson in financial management he's going to get.
Chicken thighs can be had for ~$7/kg. Team with rice or pasta and as much greens as possible. Oats are a cheap breakfast. Won't be an exciting diet but should be able to get by and hopefully learn to budget better.
$7/kg?! Where?
Not at woolies Wes sydney that's for sure
Just checked to make sure I wasn't misremembering, my local Woolies is $7.50/kg for skinless thigh cutlets or $6/kg (currently on sale for $5.50/kg) for skin on cutlets.
MAybe bone-in? I've never purchased bone-in?
I was talking boneless sorry
@activ8newbs: Yeah the cutlets are bone in. If you buy the boneless fillets they're closer to $14/kg
@activ8newbs: Some advice:
Smoked paprika, olive oil, salt, pepper, rub onto both sides of bone-in + skin-on chicken theigh
Put into oven on a rack at 205c fan-force for 50 minutes
Comes out with crispy skin and succulent meat.
I prefer bone-in/skin-on for above reason.
Give it a try at least, my fiance says it's like KFC without the Fried part.
@Surtr: Pretty much what I do just with some garlic as well and 220c as I don't have a fan forced oven. You're paying for the weight of the bone obviously but I still think it's cheaper than the fillets and IMO you get a bit more flavour with the bone in.
@activ8newbs: Haha im really glad you liked it
A bonus tip I forgot was to pat dry with paper towel the chicken before seasoning/oiling, will help the skin crisp :)
All the best!
A whole chicken can be had for ~$7 for 2kgs. Which gives you 2x breast, 2x thighs, 2x wings, 2x legs, and a leftover carcass which is good for chicken stock.
Personally, I accumulate wings in the freezer until I have enough for a buffalo wings night. Breast is saved for stir-fry, home made laksa, and other things. I'm doing an Italian chicken recipe with the thighs and legs tonight:
https://www.goodfood.com.au/recipes/italian-chicken-with-cap…
Sure, buying a whole chicken means some extra work. But it takes me all of 5 mins of prep, and perhaps another 3 or 4 minutes of cleaning afterwards. I can cope with that.
If they can afford to go to the Gym every day and buy coffee they should be left to work out where their priorities lie.
Not your issue OP.
True that. Just need a local park and some imagination and exercise is free.
Seven times $5 preworkout coffees leaves $5 for food for the week.
I wonder if this $40 challenge is already with or without budgeting help in all the other areas. Whether that be the gym, phone/internet plan, insurance, and whatever else…
Indomie Mi Goreng
Breakfast lunch and dinner of champions
A.K.A cash strapped Uni students.
bulk chicken breast on sale 4kg. Potatoes 4kg.
Some coating for the chicken.
All done.
Check around the back. I hear they often throw out lots of good stuff.
Eggs are cheap protein. Include those.
go to a food bank/ soup kitchen
Sounds like the uni diet for them…. Mi goreng noodles it is!
you shouldn't eat can tuna everyday.
that would be about $5.70 a day, the whole day, 3+ more times a day.
it won't be anything healthy.
you are going to just hunt for clearance sales, buy in bulk, eat at friends and families house, etc…
you shouldn't eat can tuna everyday.
I reckon chicken is almost cheaper too.
Even a cooked BBQ chicken is >$10 and i reckon thats more meat than 10 tiny cans.
yeap, with tuna everyday his chance of mercury poisoning will be up.
Off the top of my head without thinking too much oats (house brand) and eggs are both good inclusions. Frozen veg can be a bargain and good for health reasons eg peas. Aldi has some pretty cheap cheese that can be combined with cheap bread for toasties. I’d say out of the options, Aldi is going to be the cheapest - as long as he’s not tempted by anything ‘off list’.
Realistically though, if he doesn’t enjoy the food he won’t be committed to it so it won’t be sustainable - this is where personal preferences come in. Something else to consider is how things can be stretched over time, eg stuff in the freezer (including bread). So the budget isn’t necessarily just for one week.
Definitely look at any charity options nearby for food banks and subsidised supermarkets etc. Likewise financial counselling can help, but it has to be the persons choice.
gym everyday
Stop paying $$$ for the gym
Exactly.
Why would anyone who is apparently struggling to feed themselves spend money on the gym???!!
Buy him a fishing rod to catch his protein (a little safer than a gun!).
Only 51% and the rest is crap additives. No thanks!
Same price. 100% fish. Far healthier. Close to the same amount of protein. Use spices to jazz it up.
https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/445352/woo…
One of my relatives is a lazy slob of an adult who can't do his own grocery budget
There, fixed that for you.
Seriously, this MAN has you posting on a forum for him? Show him this and if he's not immediately embarassed into fixing his routine then there's something wrong.
Going to the gym every day requires very high protein meals, $50 a week on food means he has to change his lifestyle also, there is no way he will be getting enough quantity and quality of food to keep that up every day.
He should cut down to 3-4 times a week, unless he starts meal prepping. something like these recipes
https://au.myprotein.com/blog/recipe/meal-prep-recipes-muscl…
Chickpeas/lentils/beans are a good choice - high protein, high fibre, cheap, convenient (if tinned). Can eat on their own or add to rice, salads, casseroles or mince-based dishes
I would add - soak your legumes. Dried chickpeas/beans that have been rehydrated overnight taste significantly better than canned ones.
If he is that broke and can barely afford to eat I think he should get rid of his gym membership for a start.
Next step would be only ever shopping at Aldi. Once the economy opens up he needs to get a job as barman/glassie/waiter quick smart. He barely living.
If he is that broke and can barely afford to eat I think he should get rid of his gym membership for a start.
but how’s he going to shred for stereo if he can’t get to the gym bro?
Why not just leave him be. When he is hungry and has spent all his money, he will realise that he must budget better. Doing the work for him is a very short term solution, with poor long term results.