the truth about mince

OK, I have spent the week scanning catalogues, butchers windows and the places where I shop for meat and I have made a discovery. Mince is NOT the cheapest meat. Not at all.

The various grades alter the price, and the day you shop for it can affect markdowns. But the per kilo price puts mince up there with other meat cuts. We will not be eating as much mince as anticipated.

Which is just a relief for me, as I was not looking forward to a year of minced meat at all. In spite of my chirpy, upbeat tone, and optimistic outlook, my year of mince posed quite the spectre. The pasty, mushed up texture gets me very quickly, and however it's disguised, it's still mince to me. Now I have to perfect reason not to buy it so regularly.

So what have I bought?
Lamb neck ($3), lamb shank ($1.99), chicken necks (.67c, and which look like severed penises and attracted a crowd at my stockpot), BBQ sausages ($4.60). Odd sounding cuts, but much more interesting to cook with than mince.

I can try one of the gorgeous tagine recipes from my Claudia Roden cookbook with the lamb neck, and a soup with the shank. Make strachitella (eggy Italian soup) with stock from the chook necks and I can stretch a pack of sausages for many meals- two in a pasta with fresh garden tomatoes, top a homemade pizza with a couple, curried sausages, sausage stew with some eggplant and potatoes or barbequed with fresh 'slaw. That's budget meals for a week, without too much trouble and not a meatball or hamburger in sight.

To celebrate I made my favourite vegetarian meal, pilaf. It's a rice dish, of which there are many versions across the world. You may know it better as biriyani, kedgeree or pilau.

I make mine by sauteing some cubed vegies (onion, garlic, pumpkin, peas, zucchini) until they're sweet and slippery, then throw in 1/2 cup of red lentils, 1 cup basmati rice and 1 1/2 cups of water. Bring it to the boil, cover tightly and turn it onto the lowest flame. Cook for 12 minutes. Once your time is up, without lifting the lid, remove from the heat and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Then you are ready to season and fluff with a fork.

If you lift the lid early, precious steam escapes and the rice will fail. The standing part is crucial. If you don't take the time, your rice will be gritty and undercooked.

To make it truly gourmet, you can add some toasted almonds, toss in some shredded chicken or stir through chopped fresh herbs at the end. It's actually a great vehicle for leftovers, but it deserves pride of place as a meal in it's own right. I haven't worked out the cost, it's so cheap.

Don't get me wrong, I love meatballs, but gosh, they're expensive, aren't they?

where are the goalposts?

I am a little at sea. I have embraced my task, but I'm puddling along, minding the pennies, but not feeling like we're really getting anywhere. I know why- the budget, and the goalposts. Or lack thereof. I need a chart and a graph.

It's exciting to start something new, with lofty aspirations, your heart bursting with optimism. I made a plan, and have a map of what I need to do to get there. As new issues arise, they are listed and will be duly addressed. Banking, bills, tax, interest, shopping, gifts. Plenty to investigate and keep me busy and focused. So what's with the slump?

Saving by scrimping is a slow and cumulative process. Money I haven't spent this week will eventually appear in our account. But previously when I have set a saving goal, I was a contributing earner and it was much easier to just stop spending that income and save it for a while. Now I am trying to magically accumulate more money, and every little overspend wears me down.

Like this week, for example. I got an unexpected overdrawn fee from my bank ($30), did a bulk shop at the supermarket ($60 more spent than usual) and the baker received a notice to renew his licence ($112). So the .80c that I accumulated in the Jar seems a bit ridiculous. The goal was missed by a considerable margin. From that point I start to juggle money in my mind, trying to carry over credits from one week to cover debits of the other and it gets me into a complete mess.

I can budget. How else have we managed two overseas trips in the past four years, on modest incomes? Great budgeting. Since becoming a single income household I have checked and reviewed our budget several times, seeking ways to minimise our expenses. Now I'm doing this. Like I said, it's time to get creative. Is it working yet?

I've set the bar- the weekly saving of $192. This is my third week of blogging. Do we have $600 more in the bank? Well, no. We have $200. Quite short of the mark. But I'm working up to it. Watching the pennies so the (pounds) dollars take care of themselves....There will be a chart and a graph shortly.

bargain alert

'Huggies' bulk boxes of nappies are on sale at Safeway. $29.99. Get them now.

In my experience this sale cycle repeats only once every three months, so buy two or three boxes. And consider that your baby may grow and get the next size up too. You will use them and will curse when the price goes back to $42.

Has anyone tried the Aldi nappies? They're supposed to be cheap and good. I was given a copy of the Choice article about disposable nappies, but they failed to mention Aldi. Huggies win, and I actually agree. Nothing worse than being woken from a night time (read:longer) sleep by an unhappy baby in a leaky nappy, who then needs feeding, rocking and patting before you all can go back to bed. Just because of a crappy nappy. Save yourself the pain and spend the 8c.

Note: I have posted the link to Choice, which is a brilliant consumer tool. But the article I mentioned is available to subscribers only. However, do have a look at what's available for free. You'll find an archived article discussing nappies from 2003. There's very useful information there, if you're looking to make a big purchase (like a cot or car seat) but have no idea about what to look for. And it's not just for babies. Many aspects of consumer interest are covered- whitegoods, blackgoods, banking and finance products are rated and tested. Your thinking done for you. Love it! And for the better part, it's free.

The Jar

I know when we are not skint, because I find money everywhere. Pockets, bedside tables, window sills, the car ashtray, the back of the couch, forgotten purses, the bottom of the washing machine. When things get tight, these areas are looted and the cash disappears. When I wasn't working, prior to the birth of MB, there was no loose change to be had. Not a cent.

Presently, there's tidbits of money floating all about our house. I notice more now since our young baby can reach up to flat surfaces and sweep off articles to then chew and explore. I am sure he'll get a five cent piece, any day now. And we'll be off to Emergency. Our habits have to change.

So I've made a jar. Not for 'goldies' or big money, just the shrapnel that we don't use. It's the 5c jar and all the floating money is going in there. To prevent a choking baby, to prevent disappearing money. I'm not saving it under pressure, it's not for fun, or a special occasion. Just a little bit more money saved. Let's see how much.....

the food issue

I realise that I have not previously mentioned I am a chef.

Of course, those who know me already know that. You all already know that food and eating matters to me. Our conversations will be turned onto food at any point, at any reference. It is a life of immersion. Cook for work, cook to relax. I have a good understanding of farming and growing, production, cooking, food politics, restaurants, markets, reviewers and writers, of those who contribute to our daily food life.

I won't buy cheap food, just because it's cheap. I can smell the rotting stink as I pass by cut price fruit and vegetable shops. I seethe with rage when I find items bought there deteriorating less than a day after purchasing. Even green bananas. I won't by cheap meat if it's water pumped, preservative drenched, bulk buy, compromised quality. I think that's false economy. I don't want to support bad farming practices by buying cheap cage eggs. I want to encourage good farming and small producers by using their produce, but small scale farming foods are generally more expensive.

Undertaking this experiment, I have found that food is a large expense in our household. Eating is a ritual, a joy, a hobby, our daily obsession. If you look at a budget planner, then buying, preparing, eating and sharing food fills more than the 'food expenses' column. We also cover off 'gifts' and 'entertainment'. Reducing what we spend in this area is imperative, but very difficult. See my challenge? It makes me wince. I'll be thinking about this a lot.

the great loaf

Quick off the mark, our first meal of meatloaf. Such an evocative symbol of economical home cooking. Good for a meal and three lunches at least. Delicious, really. Sadly we devoured most of it before I gained the presence of mind to take a photo. I'll get the hang of this blogging thing soon. More importantly, what of the math of the meal?

I used
500gm regular mince, $6.48 from Safeway. (Having scanned the catalogues this morning, this is not cheap mince. At current prices, I could have paid $2.20p/kg less.)

Boosted with one large onion (.12c),
one wilting carrot from the bottom of the vege bin (written off a week ago),
one zucchini from Dad's garden (free, with love),
one egg (.50c, free range),
1/2 cup breadcrumbs from the back of the cupboard (.05c)
and some secret herbs, spices and seasoning.
Grate veges, mix everything gently but thoroughly, 'enloaf' in a lined tin and bake at 180C for about an hour.
Total cost: $7.15

In a salute to the Country Women's Association and their gem of a leaflet 'Mince Matters', from where I drew inspiration, I served a baked potato and lightly boiled pumpkin and peas. Splodge of sour cream and some great relish on the table and a grander meal was never had.

Feeding two people for four meals, the cost per person, per meal is .89c. That is pretty good, I'd think. But you have to watch the add ons. Potato, pumpkin, peas, sour cream and relish all add about another $2 each to the meal, pushing the cost to $5.80 for the two of us. And I ran the oven for and hour and the stove for 20 mins. So we are in the realm of $6 for dinner for two. For dessert we broke into the chocolates that we received for Christmas, so the cost was not increased further. Phew!

Since I promised the baker I'd cook my way through 'Mince Matters' this year, you can look forward to some mystifying dinners. There's a dish called Stroganoff requiring mince, a can of tomato soup, a cup of rice and a pot big enough to boil it in. For CWA recipe lovers, yes, there's a dish requiring a tin of apricots. I'll have to work up to it. Bon Appetite

experienced thrift-ers needed.

This is a shout out to those of you who are good savers and non- spenders. I want your tips.

I know you're out there, I have long admired your abilities. AM, who can live so well on $12000p/a. Emzeegee who was devastated by her last years income statement- you lived somehow, didn't you? Well, how? Al, who always has a full bank account, somewhere in the world, and used bank interest to finance many of her escapades over the years. HELP.

Daily living, long term strategies, all of it. Because, actually, I'm really bad at thinking about this. I'm not really financially minded. No training in it, and I never allowed myself the time to learn to think about money. I always had enough to cover for my failings. I've paid the over-drawn fees, the late payment fees, the higher phone bills. I worked to pay for holidays and then worked to pay off the cards. I shop for brands and pay little attention to catalog specials. It's symptomatic of a spender. These habits have got to go.

A little help, please!

and so we begin..

It is a resolution of mine to 'blog' this year. Now it's mid January. A slow start, but I feared putting my crap out there and then not being able to take it back. So I spent the better part of the month thinking of a purpose for my blog.

The other resolution this year is to save money. Yeah, right, who doesn't have that resolution every payday? Well, of course, but this year there is going to be a big push for cash. We want to buy a house. Actually, we want to set up our own business, but having tried to do this recently and been denied, we discovered we need a big, equity building asset to realise our dream. We are well short of the cash needed to do this.

Adding to the saving challenge, our household recently went from being DINK (ol' super indulged double-incomers) to BBNE (baby bonus not enough!). We knew it was coming, it wasn't really shocking until about six months on. Then the gaps in our life opened up. I became one of those people who has trouble getting from one pay to the next, and I have not ever been like that. I have always had a paying job, income was always due me and I have never worried about paying for anything. I was always on that hamster wheel, running full tilt from adventure to adventure.

So, I reviewed our life. Scanned the bills, considered the expenses, the necessities. We trimmed up the edges, decided what we would live without, cobbled together a budget and we are afloat. But saving has become quite the challenge. Time to get creative. That's what this is all about.

Being a new Mum, I can't just get a job and get on with the savings plan. Well, I can but I don't want to. Working outside the home has far reaching consequences for me, my husband, the baker, the new littleone (MB) and our lifestyle. Is it necessary from me to work for us to move forward? Surely there are some good housekeeping principles, masterful home economic practices, thrifty, natty ways to save a buck that I can master? If I'm not out there bringing it in, I can sure concentrate more on keeping what does come in.

Time to get the real deal on super-cheap living. Is meatloaf so economical? Can you eat it 5/7 days? What about our health, if we do that? In fact with modern food manufacturing, is home-made the cheapest option anymore? And again, what of our health if we eat cheap? Which supermarket is the cheapest? Is it good economics to 'shop around'? Birthday presents, Easter, Christmas, dinner parties, baby expenses, medical expenses,- there's some serious, unavoidable expenditure to be planned for. It might be a cheap year, but you can't cheap out on gifts, can you? Who can help me? Where's the free advice, the price comparisons, the calculators and spreadsheets to really make this work? And I'm going to hunt up some fun challenges- feed a family on $30, five meals from one chicken, 10 ways to reduce your electricity bill and such, just to shake things up. I'll be reading and reviewing the literature as well, as expert advice is not going to hurt. I think I'll begin by re-visiting to that old savers classic 'How to Pay off your Mortgage in Five Years' by Anita Bell. Just gotta dig it off the back of the shelf.

So what's the goal? How much can we save? Is it possible to save $10,000 this year? That's not spending $192 dollars a week. That's bringing in more than a few belt notches.. But it's very important to do this. And I don't yet know what's really possible, do I? $10, 000. More? Wow. Just imagine!