Mum shares her cheap meals on the go and how she saves money on her weekly grocery shop

A thrifty mum who travels for work has shared how she feeds herself for a whole week for just under $80. 

The mum bought a range of fresh ingredients for $77 for the week to make lentil bolognese, noodles, salad, tofu and rice, fish and vegetables, as well as snacks and oats for breakfasts. 

She said despite eating ‘constantly’ and consuming seven meals a day, she can feed herself for the week she’s away on a shoestring budget. 

The money-wise mum didn’t spend more than $10 on any items during her week’s shop and came up with clever ways to add flavour to meals for cheap like using powdered soup mixes to flavour fish. 

She shared her budget hacks, meals and recipes online with other mums who were wowed by her efforts. 

‘I’m on tour (working away from home), and here’s how I’m eating for a week (and I eat constantly) for $80,’ she wrote.

In the cupboard at work, she found a bag of home brand pasta spirals and a jar of pasta sauce and used them to make a lentil bolognese. 

The savvy home cook said each item from the cupboard would normally only cost between $1-$1.50 at the shop and bought a carrot, celery, red lentils, and seasonings to make the meal. 

She said it was enough to make six bowls of pasta and combined one serving with a herby quinoa salad she found reduced to just $1.26.

The mum made a ‘huge’ bowl of noddles using one packet of Mi Goreng our of a five pack, a handful of frozen vegetables and some surimi which is a low-cost fish paste.

She whips up a big salad using a bag of leaves, a bag of slaw, a can of red beans, a can of white beans and celery and dresses it with a drizzle of coleslaw dressing. 

For another dinner, the mum fried up a block of tofu, chopped and coated with cornflour, and adds half a jar of Kan Tong honey and sesame stir fry sauce, some frozen vegetables and a portion of a pouch of microwave rice. 

She also used a French onion soup mix packet and corn flour to coats some frozen basa fillets which she bought in a 1kg pack before frying them.

The shopper served the fish with frozen veggies, cubed and steamed butternut squash, steam bok choi and some more microwave rice. 

‘For this one I totally would do a little fried rice. Microwave the rice and then fry it together with the frozen veg and some soy sauce,’ she explained. 

‘Honestly between the bok choi, pumpkin, zucchini, potato, and frozen veg, just mix it up. There’s a bunch of fish there, have it a few different ways on different nights.’ 

Many were impressed by the mum’s ‘varied and healthy menu’ she whipped up for the week on a dime. 

‘Even though I don’t eat tofu, you have given me some fresh ideas to help the budget!!! This was a straight-up wholesome post in everyway,’ one member wrote.

‘Well done!!! We buy all fresh vegetables – I think this probably ups our costs dramatically,’ a second added. 

However, some thought the $80 weekly grocery budget was high for just one person but the mum admitted she eats more than the average person thanks to her labour-heavy job. 

‘This seems very high…. my partner and I spend $80-90 a week for two adults (and I’m expecting),’ one woman said. 

‘I eat for two and a half just about. I work until 3-5am and my work is labour intensive, I probably eat six or seven meals a day some days,’ the mum replied. 

‘The night I got in I made the pasta, I had three bowls of it, plus the little quinoa salad, a big bowl of oats with fruit on top between 11pm-4am. If I ate like a normal person that pasta would have done three people two meals.’