With seven children under her wing, Kerri-Anne Manly knows how expensive food can been when she’s feeding her brood.
Taking financial matters into her own hands, the 40-year-old started looking at ways to cut down on her family’s monthly spending.
The mother, from Queensland’s Toowoomba, said she found her biggest money saver was preparing healthy meals one whole week in advance.
Every Sunday, she would spend her morning cooking up large batches of food and snacks from scratch and individually portioning them into sealable bags.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, the thrifty mother revealed how meal prepping has hugely helped feed the family for under $2 a serve.
Here, the neonatal nurse shares her ingenious money-saving tips and savviest cooking secrets – and how she slashed $2,500 off her monthly budget.
Kerri-Anne Manly (pictured) said meal prepping has helped feed the family for $2 a serve
The busy mother separates out her fridge into the days of the week by having perfectly organised baskets – so she knows what to prepare for her family
The mother of seven has a two-week menu (picture) she pins up on the fridge so the family know what they’re having – and it helps her organise all the meals for the week
Her shopping list has helped slashed her weekly $250 grocery bill to just $75
The super-organised mother has four daughters from her first marriage – aged 21, 22 and 19-year-old twins. Her 22-year-old daughter has two children – making Ms Manly a grandmother. She also shares three step children with her now-husband.
‘Each week, I prep for all morning teas, lunches, afternoon teas and dinners for the seven days between five to 11 people,’ she said.
‘So I can make anywhere between 140 to 308 meals per week. But roughly, it would be around 180 serves of food per week with all the comings and goings.’
So how does she decide on what to cook for her family ahead of the week?
‘We have family meetings,’ she said as she laughed.
‘The menu goes on the dinner table, everyone takes responsibility for a meal, they all get to decide what they eat. We try and put a lot of thought into it.
‘We make sure there are certain amount of meat with vegetables in each meal. We also have expensive meals verses cheaper meals.
‘So our cheaper meals can be chicken with rice or pasta while our expensive meals can be steaks with vegetables or roast children breast with vegetables.
‘Another cheap meal we have are hot dogs. The kids don’t know I buy the vegetarian hot dogs,’ she said, laughing. ‘I always try to find ways to make their meals healthy.’
The super-organised mother has four daughters from her first marriage – aged 21, 22 and 19-year-old twins. Her 22-year-old daughter has two children – making Ms Manly a grandmother. She also shares three step children with her now-husband
The family gather around the kitchen every Sunday to help the mother prepare for the week
All the meals are prepared one week in advance – and sometimes there are leftovers to roll into new weeks
Ms Manly said meal prepping has helped her save a lot of money, time and even stress
Since mastering the art of meal prepping, Ms Manly said she has been able to serve her family from just $2 a serve.
She revealed her go-to recipe was the ‘master-sauce’ – a bolognese sauce packed with vegetables – which sees her meals costing under $2 a serve.
‘We turn it into so many things like lasagna, chili con carne, pasta and burritos. I make one huge batch and it saves me a lot of time and money – and it’s healthy.’
Her ‘expensive meals’ costs between $5 to $10 a serve.
She often buys all her meat in bulk once a week as well as fresh produce.
The busy mother separates out her fridge and cupboard into the days of the week by having perfectly organised baskets.
‘This helps me plan meals for the week. So I would place all the items specifically for the meal in each basket, along with the recipe cards,’ she explained.
‘So the children can pull out the basket and see what needs to be prepped or they don’t accidentally use up the ingredients.
‘The basket has helped me a lot actually. When I’m stuck out somewhere, I can just flick a message home, and the kids can grab those baskets, and start preparing.’
Since mastering the art of meal prepping, Ms Manly said she has been able to serve her family from just $2 a serve
Her strict budget has seen the family save an impressive $2,500 a month without sacrificing a single necessity
The busy mother separates out her cupboard into the days of the week by having perfectly organised baskets – so she knows what to prepare for her family
And while she’s meal prepped habitually for the past few years, she said her family has made cooking time in the kitchen extra special.
‘Sundays our day – our big family day. The children all step around in the kitchen to help me out,’ she said.
‘Everyone has something to do, down to our 10-year-old cutting up carrot sticks. Our little boy loves cutting vegetables up in the food processor.
‘It’s a very social time for our family. It’s pretty much a time where we can chat and hangout with music in the background.’
She also keeps a two-week ‘menu’ on the fridge so the children know what they are looking forward to at the table.
‘I hate having to think everyday of what we’re going to eat so following a menu has really saved me a lot of time, stress and anxiety,’ she said.
‘The menu really helps me know what to cook for my family – and it has made my days so much more smoothly.’
She prepares all her family meals from scratch – and it has seen her grocery bill slashed
Cooking made easy, fast and cheap: The mother said she has saved a lot by meal prepping
When Ms Manly noticed her family’s spending was spiralling out of control, she started eliminating the ‘little charges’ from their budget.
‘I had no idea I was spending so much money on drinks. When I would grab fuel, the kids want a drink so I tell them to grab one, and then it all adds up.
‘We only had takeaway once a week but it’s usually for seven people – and this all adds up too. Our monthly food spend was $1000, it was ridiculous.’
From there, she was able to slash their weekly $250 grocery bill to just $75.
‘We just cut down on the convenience foods. We didn’t realise how much we relied on pre-packaged and already prepared meals,’ she said.
‘Even down to the little packets of chips. I started buying big packets of chips so the children can split them up.
‘We saved so much money just by pre-packing the chips ourselves – and it keeps the kids busy for 20 minutes,’ she added, laughing.
While she’s meal prepped habitually for the past few years, the mother-of-seven said her family has made cooking time in the kitchen extra special by helping out
Her granddaughter lending a hand in the kitchen as Ms Manly whips up a storm in the kitchen
The 40-year-old mother cooks up large batches of food and snacks from scratch on Sundays
And her strict budget has seen the family save an impressive $2,500 a month without sacrificing a single necessity.
‘I was completely shocked when I looked over our spending,’ she said.
‘I used to make a lot of food from scratch but I didn’t realise how far I’d gotten away from being a stay-at-home mother on a budget.
‘Life just got really busy from there and then the little things just started adding up. But we have brought it right back to basics.
‘We started saving consistently. Our initial goal was $1,000 but we ended up saving $2,500, which was amazing.
‘When we’re not on a strict budget, we spend around $130 a week on our weekly grocery bill but we have found this way better that what it was.
‘Now, we can probably save $1,000-$1,500. We come from a low/middle income family so to be able to save this kind of money… we’re pretty happy with that.’
By sharing her story, she wanted other families to draw inspiration from her thrifty living
The strict budget has seen her save $2,500 a month after making some simple changes
By sharing her story, she wanted other families to draw inspiration from her thrifty way of living.
‘I think the biggest tip is – everyone in your family needs to be on board,’ she said.
‘There are ways to save on your family spends, like showing your children how you can save on energy or not be wasteful with food.
‘We used to end up with ridiculous amounts of bad food so meal prepping and shopping really cuts away wastage. Our bins are so much emptier every week now.
‘It’s great if you can get your family on board, and be more conscious with everything. You’d be surprised how children get enthusiastic about it.’