Right, so here’s me thinking “this won’t be so bad”.  I’m an analyst by nature and so I have spent the last couple of days comparing prices at Bin Inn, Pak n Save, the little corner Asian store… the works.  “Only 30c for 100g of oats.  Cheap!  A dozen eggs for under 3 bucks.  Nice!  I can go and get that cheap shaved ham from the deli.  How come no other person on this challenge thought of that?  I’ll be living like a princess!”

 

 

So then I start to break it down.  Each egg is 25c.  I can get a tin of corn for $1 and with a bit of flour 50c, and a little bit of chopped onion, hey presto I’ve got corn fritters!  That’s a meal.  Hmm.  Hang on.  I’ve spent about $2 on that recipe.  I’d have to eek it out for 3 meals.  Let me rethink this.

 

 

So I start to write out my shopping list.  I will spare you the painful details, but after a bin full of screwed up bits of paper I think I have the final list.  Thank goodness I can go to Bin Inn and get little bits of things, is all I have to say.

 

250g oats                             90c

250g flour                            70c

50g jam                                40c

150g dry lentils                  90c

150g rice                              45c

6 eggs                                   1.83

Noodles                               60c

A squiggle of oil                10c

A squiggle curry pwd      10c

A squiggle cinnamon      10c

5 tps brown sugar            10c

 

That’s around $6 so I’ll have a bit over $5 left over for fresh fruit and veges.  I’ve scoped out a place where there are several choices at the $2 a kilo mark, so I’ll try to get a bit of variety that way.  A little of this, a little of that!  Who am I kidding, it’ll be carrots and potatoes. 

 

So my meal plan, with several meals a day, little and often; breakfast is oats and warm water, cinnamon, brown sugar and some kind of fruit.  Lunch is some egg and vege concoction (like omelette, noodle frittata or hardboiled egg and salad).  Afternoon tea is homemade pan bread and jam.  Dinner is lentil and rice soup.  Supper if any, is fruit.  Yes, monotonous but relatively healthy and hopefully satisfying.

 

Watch this space for Monday’s exciting instalment which will show my post shopping trip pictures plus summing up day one.  Wish me luck!

 

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