A budgeting blogger has shared how she managed to buy her weekly shop for just €10.
Nicola, who runs a guidance platform, The Frugal Cottage, told her readers how she buys to suit her budget without sacrificing healthy choices.
The award-winning personal finance blogger manages to "live the good life" on a budget whilst running her home with her husband and two sons.
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She undertook a €10 a week food budget challenge shopping only at Aldi.
Nicola decided to undertake the challenge after her followers requested her to do the video.
The mum had previously done the same €10 challenge at Morrisons in the UK and was keen to give it a go, but said she felt she did better at the Morrisons challenge as she was able to check the prices online beforehand.
Nicola picked up lots for just €10 at Aldi, getting enough supplies to last the week by choosing her items carefully and thinking about her meal plan.
€10 Aldi shopping list
- Harvest Morn Instant Oats - 94c
- Six eggs - 89c
- Skimmed milk (two pints) - 95p
- White bread - 43c
- Eight baking potatoes - 93c
- Leaf beef mince - (30 percent off) €1.25
- Chilli sauce - 70c
- Mixed frozen vegetables - 82c
- Spaghetti hoops - 15c
- Jar of peanut butter - €1.37
- Seven mini bananas - 89c
- Two yoghurts - 64c
- 12 Jaffa Cakes - 32c
Total: €10.28
After picking up all the essentials, Nicola was still left with money to spare.
She also created a €10 weekly meal plan with the shop.
€10 Aldi weekly meal plan
Breakfast
Instant oats
Lunch
Peanut butter on toast
or
Poached egg on toast and a banana
Dinner
Jacket potato with spaghetti hoops (two nights)
Chilli with homemade potato wedges (four nights)
Omelette with mixed veg (one night)
At the end of the week, Nicola spent €10.28 in total. She shared her thoughts on the experiments.
She said: "I don't think I've ever eaten so much potato in one week.
"But in terms of budget-friendly things, jacket potato is the easiest thing to do for that."
She said the instant oats were her biggest regret as she should have just bought porridge oats instead.
By the end of the week, Nicola still had food to spare with one egg, almost the whole jar of peanut butter, two bananas and a third of a loaf of bread all left.
You can follow Nicola's money-saving journey on her Instagram and her Youtube.
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