Couple spends just $50 a week on groceries

An Aussie couple who made a name for themselves finding cheap places to eat have revealed how they spend just $50 a week on food.

An Australian couple claims to make 40 items to eat for the week for just $50.

Kathryn Ling and Alex Moses, who run social media platform Food Inbox, always loved to seek out good food deals so they started Cheap Eats Sydney to find budget friendly dining spots in Sydney.

“However, over the last couple of months, we began eating out less and instead started cooking a lot more at home – between paying our mortgage, saving for holidays and focusing on our health, meal prepping made sense for our lifestyle,” Ms Ling told news.com.au.

“One week I decided to give myself a challenge of only spending $50 for the groceries, just to see if it was possible. I was able to make 20 full meals and 18 snacks coming in under the $50 budget, which I posted online – and it just took off!”

In one clip, she made a creamy tomato pasta with kimchi, chicken fajita bowls, sausage and rice, mini pork sausage rolls and onigiri rice balls.

In another week, Ms Ling made mini quiche Lorraines, Japanese curry, Hawaiian pizza rolls, spaghetti bolognese and Moroccan meatball tajine.

It’s an impressive undertaking in the current climate of the rising cost of living — and Ms Ling said many refuse to believe what they are doing is possible.

“How in God’s name did you get a kilo of pork mince for under $10? It’s at least $12 for 500g in Wollongong,” one social media user commented.

Kathryn Ling and Alex Moses, who run social media platform Food Inbox, always loved to seek out good food deals. Picture: Food Inbox/Instagram

Another said: “This is soo good hahaha meanwhile me spending $50 by myself for one meal.”

“Gosh that’s amazing, I really need to get on board with this I have debts I need to get rid of,” one added.

One said: “I still don’t understand how this is possible lol.”

“I question the cost of the meat. $8 is what 500g pork mince at Woolies. Same for the sausages,” one claimed.

Research produced by Finder in April revealed that 40 per cent of Australians found their grocery bill was now one of their biggest financial stress factors compared to only 19 per cent in 2020.

Finder’s head of consumer research, Graham Cooke, said at the time the average Aussie household is on average spending $191 per week on groceries in April.

“Rising costs are putting pressure on household budgets, which are being stretched thin,” Mr Cooke said.

In one clip, she made a creamy tomato pasta with kimchi, chicken fajita bowls, sausage and rice, mini pork sausage rolls and onigiri rice balls. Picture: Food Inbox/TikTok

“We’ve seen grocery stress more than double over the last two years, driven by these large price hikes.”

Finder calculated the cost of a basket of 23 goods, with average prices from 2022 and 2024, using data from Woolworths and Coles.

“In terms of the reaction online, we’ve had both extremes. Many people refuse to believe that what we’re doing is possible, but there are lots of others who say they’re inspired to try better budgeting in their own household which is awesome,” Ms Ling said.

The couple are currently feeding themselves for $50 a week. Picture: Food Inbox/TikTok

“At the end of the day, we just hope our $50 budget meal prepping inspires people to get clever with their cooking and make delicious meals with what they can afford.”

It hasn’t been easy and it takes the couple a lot of time before they head into the supermarket. Ms Ling has always been an avid cook and has a list of family recipes she goes through to decide what to cook.

“We make a list of all the ingredients needed, then research online or go into the supermarket to double check prices before finalising the menu for the week,” she said.

“Where possible, we tend to go for the cheapest item based on the best unit price. We also sub out expensive items for things on sale, even if it means tweaking the recipe a little bit!”

They said meat and dairy is the hardest to incorporate. Picture: Food Inbox/TikTok

Currently, the $50 solely covers food, not items such as toilet paper and cleaning supplies. But, even then, it can still be a struggle to get everything they need.

“I’d say the biggest obstacle to meal prepping in this way is incorporating meat and dairy into the budget, as the cost of these is pretty high right now. We try to stick to recipes with low cost items like mince, and bulk things out with beans, rice and pasta as much as we can,” she said.

“We try to get a decent variety of things with our $50 budget – vegetables, mince, dried pasta, thickened cream or cheese, canned vegetables or beans and frozen pastry as usually on the list. The key is to try and buy things in bulk – like onions, carrots and potatoes – and use them throughout several different recipes to stretch your dollar further.”