Just kind of thinking out loud (?) here.
I guess the biggest challenge will be getting the food budget down to 6,000 yen every week. No surprises there!lol This figure doesn't include rice or S's lunch btw. Well it includes 弁当 but that's not something he takes every day.
What with wanting 4 kids and everything this is something I HAVE to do!!! Especially since I'm not working and S's salary is up and down like a yo-yo.
I just checked my 家計簿 from last year and it seems we averaged about 6,800 yen per week, so I'm thinking maybe 6,000 yen is doable. Despite there being 2 kids who eat like horses and milk and bread consumption increasing daily, that average is actually the lowest out of all the years I've had my 家計簿. Go figure. So I guess I'm up for the challenge.lol Might take a while for me to get there but I'll see how I go.
So how should I go about lowering it?
Thinking, thinking.....
Ok, buying a breadmaker could be a good option here.
And a cow!lol
And maybe weighing up if it's cheaper to buy something readymade than to make it myself. I haven't looked into this too much yet, but I have noticed this to be true for some things that I buy from the supermarket delivery people. Like they sell readymade ハンバーグ, 4 in a pack (400g) for 398 yen. This price hasn't changed in the year I've been using the service, it's kind of like their 目玉商品. The mince is good mince (how do I know? It's 70% Aussie beef, so of course it's good!lol and 30% pork) but the thing is they sell the same mince for between 140-170 yen per 100g, and the cheapest it ever gets is 100 yen per 100g, but it's not that price very often. So it works out cheaper to just buy the ハンバーグ readymade. And they taste good!
The same can be said for some of the 和風 salads they sell too. By the time you bought everything and actually made it it's quite possibly not worth the trouble!
On the other hand, a lot of other things work out way cheaper to make yourself.
Dressings and sauces especially. Maybe I should try looking for more sauce recipes. Anyone know how to make 焼き肉のたれ?
And making enough at dinner time so I have leftovers for lunch for the kids and I as well as S's 弁当. I do this occasionally but could do it a lot more often if I put my mind to it I guess. When there are leftovers there's usually enough for a 弁当 and that's it. Or when there's more leftover I skip the 弁当 and the kids and I eat whatever it is for lunch.
What else?
Buy things that are in season.
Freeze some meals for when I can't be bothered cooking.
Ok, I've run out of ideas!!
Any suggestions?
I don't have kids...so I can't help with that aspect of things. When I cook at night, I cook enough rice and main meal/salads for that nights meal, my lunch the next day and Yasu's bento. I make Yasu's bento at the same time as our dinner, so it's all done at the same time, no fussing around in the morning.
返信削除If you get into a habit of making enough to cover the next day's meals, then after awhile it just becomes second nature.
Even if you had cooked enough rice and so all you have to prepare is what goes on it when you have lunch, is alot easier because you don't have to prepare the rice and wait for it to cook.
I usually make everyhhing from scratch. I find it easier to buy in bulk, like a 1kg pack of mince then make tsukune and gyoza and everything out of it, then I can freeze it until I need it.
But I'm not sure if you can get that bulk amount in Japan... I guess that if some things are cheaper to buy premade then do that, and make other things from scratch that you can for cheaper. It's all abit of a compromise. :)
I'm really surprised that you stick to a budget of 6000 yen per week. I mentioned to my MIL that we have a $100 food budget per week and she was so surprised because she said it was so low! Now I'm thinking that of your budget and you have a husband AND two kids...
Wow. Well, good luck with that. :)
BTW I was surprised when you said the mince was 70% beef and 30% pork!!! no way would that happen in Aus...mixing minces...kind of a no-no. does it taste any different?
返信削除Actually I budget 10,000 yen a week for groceries, household things and eating out. Most weeks the groceries come to about 7,000 yen, household things vary from week to week , sometimes zero, sometimes 2,000 yen or so, so averaged out it comes to about 1,000 per week. We hardly ever eat out but if there's money left out of the 10,000 yen then we use that.
返信削除Rice is separate (usually about 5000 yen per month) and S's lunch usually isn't included. So anyway I'm trying to get the 7,000 yen for groceries down to 6,000 yen. Confused yet?lol
Btw, the mince is commonly sold mixed, usually pork/beef mix, but of course you can get plain too. I don't think it really tastes that much different, it would depend on the percentage mixed I suppose!
You're amazing girl truely amazing.
返信削除I love the buy a cow comment!!! Not sure whether buying a breadmaker will save you money or not unless you eat bakery bread! I have a breadmaker and I use it and I also buy bread as it is cheaper. If I could find a supplier of bulk flour then I think it would be possible, or somewhere that sells gluten. I checked the supermarket today and the regular flour is 120yen cheaper than the high gluten flour which means if I could add gluten to regular flour then it would be MUCH cheaper to make bread. Are you following!!
I also make everything as I try to limit chemicals in our diet. My kids have atopi (not so bad now) but we do lots of things to help them out and preservative Less (can't manage free) is my aim.
As for meat I only buy 100% Aussie beef. I don't like the mix mince it is too fatty, that's the reason the Japanese like it!!!!
Let us know what other ideas you come up with!
Yes, I'm abit confused there Kel. :)
返信削除At least YOU know what you are doing. We just bought bulk bags of rice a week ago because a 10kg bag was on special for $19 (it's usally $23/24), so we went ape and bought 4 bags to last us for a couple of months! It gets so expensive on the weeks I have to take rice out of our budget. Mind you, a 10kg bag really only lasts us 2 weeks. It's shocking the price of rice. I had expected it to be cheap in Japan but not so.