Feeding two in Geneva for 150CHF/week – day one

I wanted to go back to an idea I had at the beginning of my time in Geneva: living on the cheap. So here I am going to record my efforts over a month to keep our food bill down to 150CHF a week: 20CHF a day and 10 for the unexpected.

Some of the prices are based on best available at the market and cheaper is possible. It is important to buy in season for best value and taste. It is important to recognise the things you can skimp on and the ones you can’t: one onion is much the same as another when it is chopped finely and fried to begin a curry. One tomato is most certainly not the same as another when preparing the side salad that will go with your curry. Yes it is worth spending 18CHF/kg for them.

I have assumed that you had a well-stocked larder, that is, although I have included an amount in each dish for oil, vinegar, spices and so on, in practice you will be buying these in bulk. Some of them you will buy up because they are on sale. So, have an amount of capital which is for this purpose.

I do not want this exercise to be punishment park. The idea is to maintain a good diet that’s enjoyable. I’m going to record the results for a month.

Day one

I wasn’t expecting dinner and lunch to be so similar, but we suddenly decided to eat dinner early and I’d made the beans with a view to another day. They got an early outing along with the left over rice from lunch. We love our greens so this was no great hardship.

Breakfast
Scrambled eggs on toast

4 bio eggs 3.20
4 slices bio toast 2.00
milk .20
butter .30
chives .30
Total: 6CHF

Lunch
Broccoli in blackbean sauce with steamed jasmine rice

Broccoli 400g 3
salted black beans 1
garlic .20
rice .50
oil .20

Total: 4.90CHF

Dinner
Spicy green beans with steamed jasmine rice

500g Beans 4
half lemon .50
garlic 1
ginger .50
tomatoes 1.10
various spices .50
rice .50

Total: 7.60CHF / 2 as it is at least 2 meals = 3.80

During the day:
Orange juice: 1.50
Apples: 1
Clementines: 1

Day one total cost: 18.20 CHF

Advertisements