Is there anyone else out there struggling to feed the family without going in to debt?
OK so we do not exactly have a cow shitting money in our back yard but for a one income family I consider our wage should be good enough to eat well and have takeaways once a week and perhaps do something with the family in the weekend. We are finding it really hard.
I would understand it I had something new in my wardrobe every week or CH lagered up every weekend, but in reality I am lucky to get a new out fit twice a year.
Sure, if we ate only sausages and frozen mixed vege and fizz instead of milk we could indeed be living the life of Riley. You may as well garotte me now. I love whole foods, fresh vege and good meat, quality dairy products and fantastic bread. This week I bought the cheapest whitest bread money could buy and it is just disgusting.
What can I do?
I love what I heard today about a petition dropping the GST on food shopping, this is a fantastic idea as I had no idea NZ is one of only a few countries who tax food the same amount as everything else. If you see this sign it and see what you can do.
Also here is a great tip if you have two vegie bins,
Keep one for last weeks fruit and vege and one for the lates shopping so to ensure there is no wastage and to eat you lush fruit and vegies in their prime. It works!
2 comments:
Totally know what you mean! Food prices are just shocking... and getting worse!! The only way to get decent bread without paying almost $5 a loaf is to make your own. I've discovered Bin Inn (oh God it's horrible in there, but the prices are good and I know you love your baking too). Same with Funky Pumpkin, vile place, but cheap and OK if you don't mind buying bulk and bottling/jamming/freezing, etc - you know you love it! Also, found a couple of good websites recently, will mail them too you hon.
You all in one piece up there? sounds like you got a battering with the weather this weekend.
Have you tried Sophie Gray's Destitute Gourmet cookbooks? They're excellent and well suited for cooking well on a budget. She also has a website (I think www.destitutegourmet.com). I agree re baking your own bread. If you can persuade someone to give you a breadmaker as a pressie too they really save time and energy (though the kneading can be very theraputic). Russell Brown had some interesting comments re the 'drop GST' idea though - of the 'if GST is dropped on food items, the manufacturers will just increase their profit margins'. I'm inclined to agree with him on this - His approach was more along the line of - "increase benefits and tax credits for those on lower incomes so they are better able to afford food, then the benefit is targeted to those that need it the most (ie. rather than people that have loads of $$ and who spend the most on food anyway getting the most benefit)". check it out on www.publicaddress.net
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