Pig Tits and Parsley Sauce

Slash your grocery bill by living sustainably

$100 Budget 20/6

Instead of being frittered away on  unnecessary grocery items, my  hard-earned cash is staying in  my pocket. Here’s an example of how to trim your grocery bill  down without missing out on  much. Imagine it’s one of those  expensive weeks where  everything you need has run out  at once. Here are some actual  prices of middle-of-the-range  items randomly selected in my  local supermarket: Ordinary shopping list:

Loo paper 12 rolls, $7.99

Dishwashing liquid 1litre, $3.79

Laundry powder 1kg, $7.99

Spray cleaner, 1 litre $5.29

Toothpaste Max White, $5.59

Deodorant, $5.69

Mouthwash, $11.89

Shampoo, $7.99

Conditioner, $7.99

Moisturiser, $12.26

Bread – 10 @ $3.70, $37

Pet food rolls 3 @ $7 $21

Total: $134.47

Save money shopping list:

Loo paper 12 rolls Homebrand, $4.58

Dishwashing liquid 1 litre, home-made, $0.43

Laundry powder 1kg, home- made, $2.66

Spray cleaner 1 litre, home- made, $0.06

Toothpaste Yuk White, home- made, $0.68

Deodorant, home-made, $0.06

Mouthwash, home-made, $0.10

Shampoo, home-made, $0.45

Conditioner, home-made, $0.15

Moisturiser, home-made, $2.50

Bread – 10 Homebrand @ $1.49, $14.90

Pet food rolls at Matador Fresh (best deal in town) 5 for $10 $10

Total $36.57

I hear you shriek: I haven’t got time to make all those things myself. How gross, washing hair with baking soda. I haven’t got time to go to Matador Fresh to get cheap pet food and that Homebrand bread tastes terrible.

Well, it only took about five minutes to make all that stuff, my hair looks and feels better with baking soda than ever before, I get some great deals at Matador Fresh, not just on pet food, I like Homebrand bread and I’ve still got $60 left to spend on food.

Classes on making your own cleaning products at home are now running every Tuesday at 7pm or I will come demonstrate to groups of 10 or more people at your venue.

Just look at the money you can save.

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$100 Budget 16/5

There you have it: A fortnight’s worth of groceries for less than $200.

This can be achieved week in, week out, but some skill and a small amount of shopping around is required.

If you are affected by brand snobbery, this type of budget may prove beyond your reach. The products listed here are mostly Home Brand and sourced with much backstrain from the lowest, most unpopular shelves in the supermarket.

The products are not all from the one shop, either. Four local outlets, I have discovered, consistently deliver the lowest prices for certain things. The time taken to shop around between Countdown, Matador Meats, Spudz and The Kiwi Butcher is minimal and well worth the effort.

The astute home executive will have already noticed the absence of milk and cleaning products from the list. Up until now, I was lucky enough to meet the family milk requirements directly from the cow – one of the few perks of a sharemilking job. Now that I have dried my cows off, I will have to factor at least 6 litres of milk into the budget – more on that next week.

In my quest to save my money, I have found that for minimal outlay, an absolute fraction of what has been spent/wasted previously, I can make my own soap, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, deodorant, washing powder, dishwashing liquid, window cleaner and more. If you are interested in more detail on practical, environmentally friendly, everyday household products made quickly and easily at home, saving literally thousands of dollars, contact me via the Taranaki Daily News and I will share my secrets, or you can wait and read about them in upcoming columns.

Next week: The price of milk

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