How to Eat for $37.50 a Week! (and beat the cost of living crisis)

Join Cath and special guest Wendy Gower live as they share how they feed their families for just $75 a month per person!


⭐⭐⭐SPECIAL EVENT: BEAT THE COST OF LIVING CRISIS ALL-DAY WORKSHOP⭐⭐⭐

[patriciaa]

Missed you guys tonight. Caught up 3 hours later... I have carers helping me make meals as I was finding that when I was well enough to cook, I didn't have any fresh food ingredients. I would shop for the fresh food ingredients, then be too tired to cook. When I felt able to do the cooking, the fresh items had gone bad. So I stopped buying fresh food until my sister prompted me to go to My Aged Care and now I have carers to help me cook. They do all the chopping and cleaning up and a bit of the stirring of the pot.
Then when the food is cooled, I serve ii up into freezer containers, label them because mystery meals can be no fun at times.
I stretch my meals with lots of vegetables. A recipe that says 4 serves, I can get 7 meals out of it. And they are not tiny meals.
One carer commented one day after we had been working together over some months, that I make such a huge variety of meals from the same ingredients. WOW! She actually noticed.
I now have the carers chop up a lot of vegetables that I use in stir frys. Some go in the freezer while some keep well in the fridge. Very little food is wasted in this house now. When I have need of some onion and only need half, I chop up the whole onion and freeze the other half. My upright freezer (had to swap from a chest freezer to an upright when I was too sick to dig deep) and my large fridge freezer are full of food. The carers wonder why we are not cooking. No room in the freezers! When I make pikelets, scones, cakes, slices these are all frozen so that I can remove one piece (or more) at time.
I have steak on my menu as I enjoy it so much, but I cut the pieces of steak to the recommended size of my palm. I do a stir fry of a huge bowl of vegetable. I cut the steak into little squares and mix them in with the vegetables. Sometimes I use a sauce on the dish, sometimes I don't. Still always very yummy as I am a super fussy eater.
One of my regular carers has tried her curry on toast thanks to me and she loves it. Not the normal way to serve up curry in her home country.
I planted a lemon and a lime tree this year. Have two more large planters to fill when I can get around to finding a nice mandarin tree. At present they are enjoying the winter sun outside my bedroom window. Not sure where I will move them to come summer. Time will tell. Thanks ladies for the lively discussion.

[sandracook]

Thank you Cath and Wendy we are waiting for our visas to move to Australia from Windsor Uk to join our pommy aussie family who live there . I have in the past borrowed your book from the library in Sydney and have since dipped in and out of you're youtube channel 😊 i so appreciate everything you share it's so very inspirational and has taught me so much.❤

[Helen-readysteadyhome]

We have been living on $200 a fortnight but we are a family of 7 (adults and teenagers). We finally have a bit of financial relief and now I spend around $300 a fortnight and as part of that I can build up the stockpile again which was being depleted when things were very tight.

[leannetaylor]

Thank you Cath and Wendy for giving of your time, wisdom and honesty. I appreciate you both sharing your journeys. So much to learn and implement, but the results are worth it. Blessing to you both.

[wellergirl]

Caught up with this wonderful talk on a Saturday with cups of tea at my dining table. Was like sitting down with two old friends. Has given me loads of inspiration on top of the wonderful advice that you both share in cheapskates club and blogs. Thanks so much 🙂

[melissak]

Thanks Cath & Wendy i enjoyed this topic while in my car having lunch😊

[juiefletcher]

Thank you Wendy and Cath for a great Tuesday night😊

[zelmawills]

I enjoyed that talk
I’m on my own and my budget is $300 a month because of gluten free and bulk buying
I live in QLD Australia
I moved in June and about to move in about 4 weeks in a house
Living in a large shed since June
So no vege garden
I thought I would get rice brand oil and 2 containers of monfruit sugar that was over $30
My X has a vege garden but he went over board and gave a lot away now he sells veges
I had 5 kids
So always been careful with my spending
Sometimes I eat meat about 6 x year as I rather eat vegetarian food and it’s cheaper
I found a oat bar work very well as iv always looking for a recipe sounds like the one you made wendy
And I made a chocolate slice using stale almonds
Living 45 minutes from town I shop weekly but tried 2 weeks then shop now another 2 weeks
Once I moved to town I get a job doing a support worker
My dd 20 and her boyfriend move 2to 4 weeks while there stay at there dads for a bit and then help me with the cost of rent until she finds her own place
I have sone seeds to grow and brought some betroot seeds that a couple cm high so better transplant them tomorrow in a bigger container

[lorrainewilby]

Wow what a great show! Thankyou both very much. I love your honesty too and have always been frugal. It just seemed natural to me that you stretch your food budget when you don’t have a lot of money.
I was totally shocked when a friend of mine says she’s spends up to $500 a week for groceries for herself and her hubby! My mind can’t even understand that. I spend $200 a fortnight for hubby and I and I know I could cut that if we need to.
Love the friendship you two share and could listen to you talk with each other for hours.
Thankyou again Cath and Wendy for all your inspiration and motivation. All the very best to both of you and would love to see you do another joint chat in the future. Kind regards, Lorraine

[marygoldstiver]

I've got a trellis with 2 snow pea plants growing. Heaps to pick. $19.95/kilo in the supermarket. I'm happy!!!

[jordanarobinson]

I’d love a great pizza base recipie if you have one to share. I just found this channel, I’ve learnt so much already

[VashtiWood]

TVP Ratio: (from around 42min)

1/2C TVP for 500g mince
(measure TVP dry then add the same amount boiled water/stock and cover to rehydrate)

[yvonnej]

Wendy, Is it possible to subscribe to your blog so that I know when you post?

[theresebizabishaka]

Dont know if anyone will see this as its a bit late and off topic but I am looking to purchase a pressure canner mainly to preserve meat and ready to go meals. (Im a first time canner). I cant afford alot of money and have an induction cooktop. Does anyone have any suggestions on what make/model would suit and where I could find a second hand one cheaply. I live in rural nsw and have never seen one in our op shops. Also is a pressure cooker the same as a pressure canner? I dont think it is but am not sure.

[tannif]

Great to have Wendy on your show. Enjoyed it. Being debt free is truly wonderful. We became mortgage free this year after 8.5 years and are enjoying watching what we paid into our mortgage, which was well above the required amount, to now seeing it grow in savings. I work part time, my hubby full time, and me working part time save us alot of money by cooking and a little baking and not eating takeaways, instead have freezer meals I cooked from double batch cooking for days I don't have much time to cook or need a break. I too shop the sales and stock up. Family of 4 with 2 teens is about $600-$800 a month. Dont have a vegie garden. After listening to this will aim the grocery bill to getting it even lower. Going to try Wendy's muesli bars for kids lunch boxes.

[evelymnidis]

I was just wondering if you both have investments.