HOW TO MAKE A $450 GROCERY SHOP LAST A MONTH | SUPERMUM AND HER MONSTERS

Want to know how to make $450 grocery shop last a whole month? Keep reading for my tips on how you can do this too!

 

My shop also consists of nappies, wipes, toiletries and other miscellaneous items.

How do you meal plan???

1. Firstly look in your freezer, fridge and pantry. Write down what you have. Now with that list what meals could you make? Do you have your "go to meals" that you must have to have weekly? Like spag bol? Write these down on one piece of paper to commence your "meal plan".

2. On another piece of paper write your "shopping list".

3. Then write on your "shopping list" what ingredients you will need for the meals already written on your meal plan.

4. Hop on websites for your local supermarkets and browse the meat categories. Write down on a seperate piece of paper what meat is the cheapest, base this off per kilo. You will find that the cheaper meats are Mince, chicken breast, chicken Legs, whole chook, Sausages and chuck/gravy steak. Check what the price is of the meat at the competition. Which ever has the cheapest meat is where I shop. I do this because really the most expensive part of grocery shopping is the meat.

6. Now that you have all the cheap meat written down on a piece of paper start brainstorming what meals you can make of it. You can also type in what meat and ingredients you already have in google and it will come up with suggested meals.

7. Once you have all your meals written on the "meal plan" ensure you have written down all other ingredients needed on your shopping list.

8. Go shopping!!! Or if you feel that some times you often impulse buy or you get worried about keeping it under your budgeted amount how about you do online order, for delivery or click and collect.

9. With online orders you can bring the specials up within seconds rather than walking around searching the store. You can also see your total as items are added so this makes it a lot easier to stick to a budget.

10. If you have a local market how about checking their prices up against the supermarket, this may be cheaper for some.

11. Repeat all above steps for a meal plan for lunches and snacks.

Watch these videos for an example of the meals and snacks in my meal plan in my $450 shop.

With the fruit salad, any time you get some out for lunch boxes or snacks be sure to drain any liquid out.

Carrots and Celery sticks stored in water to keep fresh for longer. Having it cut up makes doing lunches so much easier.

For the watermelon, rockmelon, grapes and strawberries ensure there is a layer of paper towel to bottom and top. This way the paper towel absorbs any moister, preventing the fruit from fermenting and keeping it fresher for longer. Change paper towel when it is moist.

Let's face it, we all know how awesome Tupperware containers are and how they do help food last a lot longer, but not everyone can afford them!!!!!With the tips I have given you can basically use any containers you already have.

Don't waste your vegetable scraps. Watch the video for how to make the most out of them.

I find the kids are more likely to "willingly" have fruit as a snack if it's packed like this, because well, kids are lazy!

I freeze a couple of loaf of sandwiches. This makes packing lunches so much easier and saves on wastage. Check the below video of what fillings can be put in sandwiches that you are freezing.

I also buy milk and bread in bulk and freeze. Take out as needed. See our video below on what additional items you freeze.

Don't be afraid to ask me any questions 🤗

THE POST THAT STARTED IT ALL | SUPERMUM AND HER MONSTERS

This is the post that started it all.....

Little did I know that posting this to Simple Savers group would result in over 1000 Likes, 460 comments and 60 shares.

I buy in bulk, I bake in bulk and I freeze in bulk.

All items baked are easy and cost effective. By having all this on hand it prevents purchasing food for lunches or snacks. I individually package portions so even when we have to pop out there are snacks at hand without wasting money.

I didn't realise that what I did on a regular basis could help so many others.

Many people wanted to know what else I freeze, what my recipes where and how I go about doing all this.

I do this for my family for many reasons; for the love of it, to give them lovely homemade food, to know what is in the food they are eating rather than all those different numbers on the back of a packet, to save money, having snacks on the go.

I think one of my biggest reasons is to try and make up for my kids having a Mum with Chronic Pain. There are days that I can't do much at all, but at least on those days I can feel a little less guilty knowing that my family has some home made goodness.

Although my guilt may be chronic pain and feeling like I'm not "there" enough for my children, I'm sure all of us harbour our own mothers guilt about something....and for that, for worrying, that's what makes us all supermum's to our own monsters.

LETTING KIDS BE KIDS - NOT ANOTHER MEDIA BASH | SUPERMUM AND HER MONSTERS

We question why kids now days appear and behave so much older than what they did when we were children. This really could be an endless blog if I continued to go into it. You see all over the internet different articles on this subject. There are comparisons of  the differences such as this meme circulating Facebook. Now I completely agree with it and I'm sure you do too!

Via onesizzle.com

But do we really need another article or blog telling us that social media, fashion, TV and the endless list are what cause this? Nope!!!! We know what's causes it, as a society as a whole. So I'm not going to bore you, telling you what you already know. We, meaning us as singular beings can not change the world (that's seriously some heavy weight on your shoulders) no matter how much other bloggers, groups or "followings" tell you. All we can do is lead by example to our little people.

Let kids be kids for Christ sake!!! You may need to lead by example and bring your inner kid out. Teach them how to be kids. Show them how to climb a tree and look for bugs.

It's a common occurrence in this household that when it rains it's play time outside. So dance, jump in those puddle, make some mud pies and get damn right messy. It's hell of a lot of fun and I guarantee it will be a fond memory when your children grow as adults. All we can hope for is that they too also dance in the rain with their children. Now that's how we change the future!

Jumping in puddles

Making mud pies

Mud fight!!!

Mud fight!!!

lots of mess and smiles all around

This is what fun looks like to kids

BIG AGE GAP AND THE INTERNAL BATTLE | SUPERMUM AND HER MONSTERS

As a mother I'm sure you feel like you're always being pulled in a thousand different directions. That's kind of what we do isn't it? Metaphorically we juggle balls all day long.

A constant internal battle for me is questioning if my children receive enough attention off me? We would all ask ourselves at some point "Do I work too much?", "Am I too consumed by life stresses?", "Am I too tired all the time?" or "Do I worry about housework too much?".

I have a cheeky 2 year old son and 10 year old daughter that I swear was a 2 years old just yesterday. Huge gap right? Hell, not for the lack of trying. You see, I have a great deal of medical conditions that has caused infertility (that's for another article). Due to this I've had immense difficulties falling pregnant, maintaining a pregnancy and having healthy pregnancies. During the "gap" I had 6 miscarriages and was only blessed with my son due to IVF.

Whenever anyone asks how old my children are, and I respond with their ages, it's greeted with "your daughter must be a huge help?". Yes it helps that my daughter is of an age where she is independent but I vowed that she wouldn't take on the burden of being "responsible" for her baby brother, I am after all his mother. I am the one that decided to have another child, not her. What 10 year old wants to have to be a mini mummy and be elbows deep in dirty nappies and vomit? I think she has maybe changed his nappy 2 times in over 2 years and I plan, for the sake of her and allowing kids to be kids it will stay this way.

The other popular statement made is; "That's a huge age gap, that must make things easier for you". Well no, no it doesn't. Yes, I didn't have 2 under 3 years of age. I didn't have 2 in nappies at the same time. But I have 2 children that are vastly different. Not only difference in gender but due to their ages they have huge differences in interests, needs and wants. What one will want to watch on the TV will be completely different to what is appropriate for the other. What one will want to play, is completely different to what the other one wants to play. What one wants to make for craft time is completely different to what the other one is capable of doing. What one wants to do for entertainment is completely different to what the other one wants to do. We basically can never go to the movies all together, or read the same books or play "pretend", the list goes on because of this "blessed gap". Then there are needs; my son obviously relies on me to pretty much do everything for him. I have to ensure that I'm also teaching him how to do things independently and age appropriate. He hasn't yet grasped the concept of not interrupting and waiting for his turn and that's ok, it all comes with time. But for my 10 year old, she has different needs. She needs one on one time, this age is so impressionable. She needs me to do the motherly things one does when she is maturing. Her brother is always needing mums attention and time, just the same as she did at that age. But how do you explain that to a 10 year old? And as he becomes more needy I hear her more and more "mum watch this? Or mum can you come here? I know she is longing for my attention, I know she needs it and whilst I'm battling with him on the toilet (isn't toilet training boys fun!) my heart breaks that at that moment I can't just split myself in two. That I can't equally give them attention right now. So please before you make the statement that a huge age gap must make parenting easier in some way, please think about my struggle.

So what's the answer to my never ending internal battle? I honestly don't know, I may never know. But tonight I'll squeeze them both a little tighter, hold them a little longer and tell them over and over again just how much I love and adore them and they will look at me like I'm once again their Supermum, that's all that matters right?

MOTHERS INTUITION | SUPERMUM AND HER MONSTERS

Psychologist Dr Judith Orloff says "it is a 6th sense that mothers have that a child may be in danger or need".

I recently had a situation where as a mother I was questioning things; behaviours and reactions that didn't seem to be consistent with my child's personality. We tend to look for answers that aren't in our back yard like "oh it's just the end of year, everyone goes silly at Christmas time" or "hmm maybe it's hormones? The body changing". I tried to shake it off, I really did. But my stomach and mind would not calm, no matter what rationalities I came up with inside my head.

The saying "a mother does better research than the FBI" is so accurate.

So I put my cap on and channeled into my inner Sherlock Holmes. I didn't have to look to far or deep to find the cause. It heartbreakingly became evident, with what I found, as to the whole reason for the change of behaviour. It all clicked and made sense. The "evidence" I found was "stored" on that very day that I went on my investigation. Was it uncanny or mothers intuition that the very day my heart felt so heavy was the same day that my child's heart was breaking? My mothers intuition had served me and my family well once yet again.

It was a bitter sweet moment of knowing that I was right, that there was something more going on....then sudden realisation hit me. I felt like I had failed my child. Why had they not come to me? Was I not approachable? Were they scared? Was I too consumed by my own health and worries? Was I too busy? Here I was sitting there questioning myself when I wasn't even asking the right questions. This wasn't about me, about my pride about me as a mother. The real question was "What does my child now need me to do?". With this in mind I researched, I contacted people and was able to get the help that my child and I needed.

So please never question that gut feeling that something is off. You never know when you may need to wear your cape and become the Supermum that your child needs.

An interesting read;
6 things to know about mothers intuition" https://www.pgeveryday.com/family/parenting/article/6-things-to-know-about-mothers-intuition

WHY WE PUSH THROUGH IT ALL | SUPERMUM AND HER MONSTERS

Yesterday was the first day going solo since my surgery last Friday. I'm drained, sore, split an incision and so tired. I well and truly agree that I've pushed myself too much.

But isn't that what us as mothers do? We push past the pain, fatigue and our needs. We put those little monsters needs first and ourselves as a last thought. Giving them the last of the food before we have even eaten. Buying them nice clothes whilst we haven't updated our wardrobe in years. Driving them to their singing, dance or soccer practices after we haven't stopped all day to eat, let alone go to the toilet. Staying up all night by their side, squeezed into a toddler bed trying to comfort them when they're unwell.

Today I felt like I couldn't stand any longer. The pain was consuming me. As I laid myself on the couch and curled into the fetal position, with voices in my head begging for the pain to stop. Just at that very moment Master Jaxon climbs up onto the couch next to me and says "you ok?". Bends over the top of me and kisses me ever so sweetly on the cheek. The immense focus I had on the pain suddenly seemed to be a quiet distant echo because just then that little voice of concern and gentle kiss made it all worth it. To that little 2 year old I am his lifeline, I am his everything and for that, I will continue to push myself when everyone else tells me to rest.

I am a Supermum in the eyes of my monsters and that's all that matters.

NAP TIME...THE STRUGGLE IS REAL | SUPERMUM AND HER MONSTERS

How crucial are naps in your household? Today's nap felt more important than ever, for me...not so much for Jax!

Last night I headed to be at around 9.00pm, this is just about as common as a blue moon. I'm usually somewhat of  a night owl and fall asleep between 2-4am, trust me not for the lack of trying! I have a mired of medical conditions and its either pain, discomfort or side effects from my medication that keep me up to all hours of the night. I'm then up again at 7am to get my daughter Lilli ready for school.

One would think that me going to bed that time of the night that I would wake up peachy, far far from it today. You see, I normally take my medications around 9pm every night. Last night in my pure excitement of going to bed so early I forgot to take  my meds. Now these aren't simple medications that by taking it at your next dosage time (being first thing in the morning for me) you will feel better. The most important one out of the lot was one called Lyrica of which is basically a nerve blocker to help block the pain signals from damaged nerves. By missing this tablet I woke in excruciating pain. Feeling confined to my bed, as if I was a strapped down patient unable to communicate. It took some time but I managed to roll myself out of bed whilst walking like the Hunch Back of Notre Dame straight to the medication cabinet. I took my tablets and laid down. Whilst laying there consumed by the pain I could hear the kids playing around, it was like sunshine in a storm to hear their giggles at that very moment. Then the dreaded screaming commenced, from both! I hear Lilli yelling at Jaxon for spilling salt all over the floor and in response to this him screaming because she took it off him. Sudden realisation that today was not going to be a good day hit me...then mummy guilt wasn't far behind.

I felt my tablets kicking in and I mustered up all my energy to walk out and take control of the situation when at that very moment "control" was the furthest thing I was feeling. With a chronic illness its hard to ever feel in control often. I suppose because of this there are times I overcompensate and am way to pedantic and over the top, but that is a topic for another blog!

Once the salt was cleaned up I made and beeline for a ever so needed coffee. That too was one battle after another. As the drug Lyrica works on nerve cells and chemicals to your brain, I'm sure you could imagine it can then effect your concentration and motor skills. I notice that I had not turned the kettle on at the wall and I had been standing there in a complete daze for at least 5 minutes waiting for it to boil. So I switched it on at the wall and placed my coffee in my mug and poured the boiling water in. I then noticed the sugar in the container was basically non existent. People in this house obviously think is filled by the same fairy that replaces the empty toilet rolls!!! I start pouring the sugar...in my coffee cup!!! Ugh, today was shaping up to be a write off and  I was already longing for Jax 's nap time so I could just tune out from the world. But I already had reservations of the success of this mammoth task. For some reason this 2.5 year old has been fairly defiant at nap time.

This video is the outcome of this mission today. Whilst still defiant he is bloody hilarious and certainly uplifted my mood. It is a complication of videos taken today and sure put a smile on your face.

NAP TIME - THE STRUGGLE IS REAL!