Plan, cook, store so as to pay less expensive

Photo Antoine Lacroix
Valerie Martin, the mother of Leïa, 6 months, Mikaël, 6 years, Angélia, 12 and Zachary, 9 years old, is sometimes difficult to feed his family with only $ 150 per week.

Marie-Eve Dumont and
Dominique Scali

Tuesday, 13 march 2018, 01:00

UPDATE
Tuesday, 13 march 2018, 01:00

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Plan meals, browse through the circulars, cook a lot and store it is the key to getting to feed her family on less than $ 210 per week, according to parents surveyed by The Journal.

“Plan all the meals for the week and grocery shopping once a week, it avoids spending too much “, believes Jessica Jean, administrative assistant, mother of a newborn baby and a toddler of 2 and a half years.

Stay at home mother, a nurse, a patient care attendant or responsible for the quality assurance in a pharmaceutical company, more than a dozen people throughout the province have given their stuff to the Newspaper to arrive to feed for less than $ 210 per week.

Cook and freeze

They have been challenged by a report published this weekend, in which a wealthy family of two adults and two children was faced with the same food as if they were earning the minimum wage. So they had $ 210 per week (an amount of money calculated by the Institute of research and socioeconomic information) to spend on food, including groceries, household products, restaurant and alcohol. If they spent a penny more, they endettaient.

The objective was to encourage the family and the readers to question the amount they spend at the grocery store and on their consumption choices.

These families say, for the most part, out for $ 150 to $ 175 per week, and sometimes less. They are not buying the products at a discount multiple quantities or large formats and use all the coupons they can. They also visit more than one supermarket, or shop at Maxi, where competitors ‘ prices are equalized, according to the policy, just like at Walmart.

Store for later

“We eat very well, fish, meat, fruit and vegetables. It never pays anything at full price. The trick is very simple, we buy and store when the price is advantageous “, explains Maxime Gravel, a father of three children, soon four, which brings the unique salary of the family to $ 80,000 per year.

To meet their budget, the Sundays are, for most of these families, devoted to cooking, freeze the meals, and make reservations for the weeks busiest. Little or no alcohol, or eating at a restaurant.

“I was doing several bases of quiche, and the children were the vegetables they wanted. I laid 12 tortillas on the table with the chicken and they added what they wanted to make fajitas. We congelait with their name on it, ” recalls Anick Labonte, who works as an administrative assistant at Center integrated health and social services Chaudière-Appalaches, mother of three boys, now young adults.

This last store also cleaning products when they are on sale or even canned.

“The tomato soup was not expensive recently and it’s been so long that I didn’t bought it so I took eight crates “, she says.

Most are comfortable in this rhythm of life. For others, the fear of not being able to complete their budget is very real.

“It is sure that one is deprived,” says Valerie Martin, a mother of four children aged 6 months to 12 years, living in L’île-Perrot, in Montérégie. It happens, not to miss anything, but sometimes we will put a little more on the plate of children [in ours]. “

What moms have said

“My salary 13.05 $/hour is used entirely to pay for food. And I’m not the only one in this situation. I kitchen to the chaudronnée [for 1: 30 p.m. per day] “

– Denise Jones, mother of blended family of four children who are between the ages of 13 to 17 years of age and a roommate

“I buy a lot of fruits and vegetables in the summer in the gardening because it is really less expensive. I freeze everything or I make soups, jams, for the winter “

– Christine Gendron, a single mother of three boys

“It is stressful. Especially if you want to make sure we have all the right food groups in the meal. Avoid the junk. “

– Valerie Martin, stay at home mother of four children aged 6 months to 12 years