Author under budget in $20 grocery test
Could you survive on less than $20 a week?
That’s the challenge Northland dairy farmer Lyn Webster set herself by limiting her grocery bill to just $1000 a year.
And with six weeks to go until the end of 2018 she’s well within her budget.
Webster gets her milk from the 86 friesian cows she milks on the Kaitaia farm she leases. She also makes her own butter and cheese, grows her own vegetables and makes her own cleaning and beauty products.
She doesn’t even turn her nose up when a neighbour gives her some lamb’s tongues to cook.
‘‘There’s nothing wrong with them, they are very nutritional.
‘‘I’ve learnt to value all food and I don’t turn down anything or throw anything away,’’ Webster said.
Webster wrote the best-selling book
Pigs Tits and Parsley Sauce five years ago. The name was inspired by her mother’s response to the question every kid asks – what’s for dinner?
Webster was forced to slash her grocery bill when she got herself into a financial pickle a few years ago.
‘‘I used to spend heaps of money at the supermarket.
‘‘I was busy on the farm and I overcompensated with my kids and I would be putting biscuits and other things in the trolley.
‘‘Modern society has trained us to act a certain way,’’ she said.
Webster, then a mother of two teenage girls, lived on a budget of $100 a week for groceries and scrupulously watched her spending.
‘‘It’s not hard to see where it goes. ‘‘Every cup of coffee or drink at the garage adds up – the world is set up to take money out of your pocket,’’ she said.
This year she decided to trim her budget even further by limiting her annual grocery spend to $1000.
Webster barters with fruit and vegetables of which she has a plentiful supply in her Northland garden.
She believes people should be doing more of this particularly if they have a surplus.
‘‘It’s good to share them around.’’ Webster started the year with eight chickens in her freezer which she bought from a wholesaler for $40.
While not particularly fond of duck she also gladly accepts it when given to her by a duck shooter friend.
The same goes with pukeko.
As meat is expensive she often makes meals with cheaper proteins such as chickpeas and beans.
She also makes her own noodles which often form the base of her meals.
‘‘I don’t always eat meat. ‘‘Sometimes I will make vegetarian meals.’’
The milk she collects from her cows has several uses.
Firstly, she skims off the cream to make butter and then she makes cheese with the remaining skim milk.
‘‘If butter was more than $3 at the supermarket I would refuse to buy it.’’
Webster also makes her own bread which costs her about 60 cents a loaf and she doesn’t just stick to white or brown. ‘‘Sometimes I’ll make ciabatta.’’
She no longer throws expensive shampoos and body washes in her trolley, preferring to make her own using the common household ingredient baking soda.
‘‘When I started using baking soda for my hair and body my psoriasis disappeared.
‘‘It (baking soda) is all I use on my body now or coconut oil.’’
Webster buys baking soda in bulk which is much cheaper than buying it in the small supermarket packs.
She makes flowing soap by blitzing left over soap in a food processor and adding water and pink food colouring.
Webster likes to share her saving tips with the public and been writing columns in newspapers for many years.
She currently has a fortnightly column in the Waikato Times.
Webster said her book Pig Tits and
Parsley Sauce would soon be relaunched in book shops under the new name Save. Make. Do.