The $21 Challenge

New Year, new resolutions, right? Like me, you’re probably feeling a bit jaded by now. Christmas is a dim memory, holidays are fading around the edges and you feel like another holiday. And an unwelcome legacy of the festive season is bills – credit card bills in particular. This year I’m making a real effort to reduce debt, and the key is clear goals and a budget. Westpac has some useful online calculators to help work out a budget or life goals like what mortgage you can afford, how much you need to save and how long it will take to reach your goal.

I’ve also found a fantastic book that helps with the domestic stuff – the $21 Challenge by Fiona Lippey and Jackie Gower, and it’s a wee gem. It’s had huge media attention because it’s such a wacky idea, and sounds impossible, but it works!

So what is it? Basically it’s a challenge to feed your family on $21 a week. Impossible? Not if you take a good look at your pantry, freezer and fridge. That’s the idea; saving money by using what you’ve got, rather than letting all the stored food go past its expiry date by shopping for more. They’re not suggesting you can feasibly do this every week, but just when funds are low, or when you’re on a savings kick, or even as an exercise once a month.

It’s all about planning, and the authors suggest you write down all the food you have available, obviously throwing out everything that’s past its use-by date. Then work out how you can use that food for the week’s menu.

Surprisingly, you can actually create more interesting meals this way. You find yourself using some of the more exotic ingredients that have been languishing in the pantry or the fridge – those olives, capers, sundried tomatoes, relishes, sauces and cheeses that haven’t been pulling their weight. Those dry goods: couscous, pastas, rices, noodles. Packets of half-full ingredients that need using up. Tinned food – sauces, salsas, coconut cream, beans, lentils, baked beans. And of course the luxury items that you might have been saving for a rainy day but have never got around to using: the cherries in brandy (Black Forest gateau for dessert?), the figs in syrup, gourmet jams and sauces. That rainy day has arrived. Use them up!

The icy depths of the freezer yield up all sorts of treasures: frozen home made pesto – excellent with pasta. Bread rolls that can be freshened up in the oven. Frozen bacon, a great base for a meal. Even some ready made meals that will only need reheating. How easy (and cheap) is that?

And don’t forget the garden, even it only has a few herbs and some silverbeet – it all helps for sustainable living.

If you’ve got a large family, or children who need milk, you may have to adapt the $21 a bit. Even if you double or triple the $21, you’ll still save heaps of money.

The challenge is really all about planning – planning your meals rather than deciding in the supermarket what you’re going to have for dinner that night. And it’s little steps like this that will help you deal to that pile of debt.

Now, if you really want to feel better about your situation, check out Liz Jones, on the Daily Mail. She spends to fill a hole in her soul….or that’s what she says!