It’s time to do another fortnight’s meal plan and right at this time for me, in the state of Victoria, we look like we could be heading in the direction of another lock down due to a rising number in COVID 19 cases. Whilst we are not living in the city the thoughts there that it could go statewide. It’s been on my mind since all this first started to get my emergency stockpile together. I did get something started before the last lock down went ahead, but I used most of it to avoid being in the shops more than I needed so it reduced right down quiet a lot. Since coming out of lock down I’ve been slowly building it up again. It’s nearly to where I feel comfortable (around 4 weeks worth of groceries to get us by in case of an emergency), but I’ve had to move my dry goods into my pantry from my laundry. I came to realise that the laundry was a bad idea with the dryer creating moisture in there and then thinking ahead to summer heat!
So as I’m meal planning this week I’m thinking about what I have there and what I’ll be looking at as far as my normal groceries go. I’m also going to give you a look at how I’m storing my dry stockpile goods in my pantry with my regular items. It’s still a work in progress, it’s not perfect, but it’s a start! Whilst I never before thought I needed an ‘emergency stockpile’ because honestly we do not live in any natural disaster area, I did come to realise EVERYONE should have an emergency back up. If we have learnt anything from the last few months it’s that anything can happen. So many people have lost jobs unexpectedly and were unable to get government payments for weeks, some people fell sick and had to isolate making it difficult to get supplies, some people (Melbourne towers for example) were in complete lockdown unable to leave their homes at all even for essentials. Although the government was trying to help some were pleading on social media as they were completely without food and vital items such as baby formula, nappies etc. Then think back to before COVID hit when the bush fires took over!.... you just never know what may happen and it’s important to be prepared.
My general budget rule is now $70 per adult (persons aged 14yrs+ because we all know that teenagers eat as much as adults at this point!) and $50 per child (under 14yrs) in the household is the main grocery shop budget for a fortnight. With then a flat $70 for the top up shop in the second week of the fortnight. So in total that is $310 for the fortnight for my family of 4.
Keeping all this mind my budget for my main shop is $240. I’m currently estimating that I will spend around $171, so be sure to watch the matching grocery haul to see if I stay under budget !
Some tools I used to do my meal planning were:
(VIP's use the shop code found on the private Facebook Group to download FREE)
- 4pk Monthly Meal Planner + Shop Your Pantry Meal Ideas + 40 Dinner Theme Night Idea's + Blank Family Favorite Meals Sheet - INSTANT DOWNLOAD
- A Easy Grocery Calculator - INSTANT DOWNLOAD
- 2pk Grocery List Budget + Grocery & Meal Planning Wish List - INSTANT DOWNLOAD
- Lunch Box Meal Planner - INSTANT DOWNLOAD PRINTABLE
- Daily Meal Planner For The Busy - INSTANT DOWNLOAD PRINTABLE
Print out these using the VIP shop code found on the Facebook Group!
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So that is where I'm at this week. Be sure to check out the matching grocery haul vlog if you want to see what I got and how I went with staying within my budget.