The Meals That Saved Me

Whilst in Melbourne, the first 4 months was quite a tight budget, my budget was tighter than a(I'll let you finish that off), anyway, it was tight. If it wasn't for the following meal, I wouldn't of survived the first few months. The meal was delicious, easy to cook and the main thing, CHEAP! Anyway, I'm sure you are all curious to know what it was, so here is the recipe.

Pasta for the Poor Man


Ingredients

Homebrand Pasta, 500g, 59c (I know the pic says 63c, but in-store it was around 59c, from memory)

Can of Chopped Tomatoes from Aldi, 79c

Can of Tomato Soup from Aldi, 79c

Beef Mince, $5-6 (even better if you got it from Safeway at a "reduced to clear" super cheap)

1 Onion, 70c-90c

This makes 3 full meals

Total Cost - $9.07 (highest possible cost)

Now divide that by 3, it works out to be $3.02 per meal. That is quite effective when your weekly income is $0.

Now when you earn a little bit more money, the more glamorous the pasta can get, such as garlic and, yeah, other stuff.

Another great budget meal, which was a staple while I was working because it was cheap and easy to cook. I would eat 3 or 4 of these meals a week, which was handy during dinner break at work, or when I could not be bothered cooking.

Frozen Homebrand Lasagne

Total cost, $2.52 (or buy it one at a time in cash, so its $2.50, by doing this I saved 8c a week). Just whip it in the microwave for 10minutes, go off and do other stuff such as toiletry actions, come back, let it cool for a couple minutes and you are sweet to go. (The pic says $2.71, but that must be for online services, trust me, it's $2.52 in-store)

Probably my most favourite dinner plus other meals, which only occurred once, but I will be looking to repeat soon, was the pavlova I bought. Priced around $9 or something, and the box said served 12, but I dropped the 2. This allowed me to have 3-4 "meals", which totalled 3 odd bucks per serve. In case you are wondering, I did not add anything to the pav, no fruit salad, no cream, nothing. Just straight, raw pav!

Best dinner I ever had! I can not begin to explain how much I am looking forward to re-doing this, I just want to go out and buy one now. But I know it has to be for a special occasion. Perhaps when I eventually move back out, this can be my first night's dinner... Here's hoping....

From The One They Call Anthony, This Is The Life And Times