Smart Food Savings: Queenie Tan's Top Tips For Budgeting
Let's face it, between the $8 flat whites and rising cost of petrol, cost cutting measures are an absolute necessity. So with that in mind, we tapped new mum and licensed financial advisor, Queenie Tan on her top tips for saving money on food each week.
What’s your top tip for busy Kiwis to save money while still providing quick, easy meals?
Since getting a Thermomix, we’ve saved around $200 per month on groceries and it makes cooking a lot more enjoyable and easier. It has brought back the joy of cooking! I’m a lot more open to trying new recipes because I know that with a Thermomix, it will turn out perfectly and I won’t waste any ingredients. The Thermomix can make pretty much anything you can think of - including yogurt, ice cream, bread, baby food, pizza dough and heaps more. There are over 90,000 recipes on Cookidoo, so I just search for what I’d like to make and away I go!
Where do you find recipe inspiration for your Thermomix?
Planning my meals and thinking ahead when it comes to grocery shopping has also helped me save a ton of money! I plan my meals ahead of time, by browsing the Cookidoo app for inspiration and I’ll add the recipes I’d like to make for the week to my weekly calendar.
As a new mum, what’s your favourite Thermomix recipe for a nutritious kid-friendly meal?
My baby is only four months old, and we haven’t started solids yet! But there are heaps of baby-friendly recipes on the Thermomix which I can make for a fraction of the cost of store-bought when she’s ready.
What’s your best budgeting tip for families looking to save money each week?
Most people look at cutting out their $5 coffee or $16.99 Netflix subscription, but the biggest expenses we generally have are housing, transport and food, so if we can find a way to reduce those expenses even a little bit, we can spend more on the fun expenses (like entertainment and eating out)! Have a look at your expenses from the past three months and see if there are any areas you could cut back on. Once you have an idea of how much you roughly spend each month, you can look into automating your savings by setting up automatic transfers to a savings account. I also set up automated investments so that every month, 20% of my pay gets invested.
Even with a Thermomix, there must be times when takeaways win - what’s your go-to takeaway meal?
I love changing it up from time to time! I love Japanese food, Lebanese food, and Chinese food, so I'll usually get something from there when I'm not cooking!
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