She's On The Money - How to Feed Your Family for $10... Yes, Really! (With Chelsea Goodwin from $10 Meals)

Episode Date: March 4, 2025

If you’ve ever left the supermarket wondering how did I just spend $100 on basically nothing?! you’re not alone. Groceries are out of control, and meal planning can feel like a full-time job. But today, budget meal queen Chelsea Goodwin from $10 Meals is here to prove that you can feed your family delicious, filling meals for just $10. From sneaky supermarket traps to the one food waste habit costing you hundreds every year, Chelsea is spilling all her best hacks to stretch your dollar further, without resorting to sad, boring meals. If you're sick of checkout shock and want to make real savings without sacrificing good food, this episode is a must-listen!This episode covers:🛒Chelsea’s secret to spending just $150 a week on groceries🛒The BIGGEST supermarket mistakes costing you extra $$🛒Budget-friendly swaps that keep meals tasty AND cheap🛒The #1 food waste mistake draining your wallet🛒Takeout cravings? How to meal plan like a pro and actually stick to itFREEBIE: Chelsea’s free 3-meal budget plan – Grab it here! Follow Chelsea for more genius budget meals:Instagram: @dollardollarmeal | Facebook: 10 Dollar MealsGet Chelsea's book: $10 Meals with Chelsea here. Acknowledgement of Country By Natarsha Bamblett aka Queen Acknowledgements. The advice shared on She's On The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's On The Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs.  Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN - 321649 27708,  AFSL - 451289.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello, my name is Natasha Nabanunga-Bamblett. I'm a proud Yorta Yorta, Kernai, Wolperi and Awadjeri woman. And before we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of which this podcast is recorded on Awadjeri country, acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming through. As this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing and the storytelling of you to make a difference for today and lasting impact for tomorrow. Let's get into it. She's on the money. She's on the money.

hello and welcome to she's on the money the podcast that's here to help you save money without feeling like you have to give up everything you love if you've ever walked into the supermarket for just a few things and walked out wondering if you've accidentally financed a small car or if you've found yourself arguing with a self-serve checkout because surely that total cannot be right. Well, my friend, you are not alone. Recent research shows that grocery costs were up 11% in 2024. And look, there's actually no signs that that is going to be slowing down. I'm Victoria Devine. And today I am on a mission to tackle the grocery bill madness that is making us all question if food is now considered a luxury item

or not. With the cost of living absolutely soaring, we're all looking for ways to eat well without spending a fortune. And lucky us, we have the absolute queen of budget-friendly meals joining us today. Chelsea Goodwin from $10 Meals is here to spill her best secrets on slashing your grocery bills, making food stretch further and proving that cheap eats doesn't have to be sad eats. Chelsea, I am so excited to have you on the show. This is like a fangirl moment from me. Oh my gosh, right back at you, Victoria. I am so excited to be here. I absolutely love your community and everything that you're doing in the finance space. It's the best. My community are obsessed with you. So they introduced me to you. And then I was like,

this woman is a queen. Your recipes are like not only cheap, but like good. And that is a hard thing to manage, especially when we're trying to buy $10 meal. Like it's just, it's exorbitant nowadays. Chelsea, your community is booming. Like your community $10 meals has completely taken off. People are obsessed with all of the recipes you have, including me and all of your budget meal hacks. But can we rewind just slightly? How did this all start? Who were you before you were $10 meals? Well, it actually wasn't that long ago. We'll have to go sort of all the way back to 2022. It does feel like a lifetime ago though. It does. I feel like a lot has happened in that time, but I was, was and still am a single mom with three kids. I'd previously

been working in marketing. And at that point I'd gone from full-time work to part-time work. my income had halved I was homeschooling one of my children and just really really struggling to pay the bills I was living week to week and that was at a time where I'm sure you remember everything had just started to go up food electricity rent it was like that post-covid not post-covid not sure what's going on but why is everything more expensive this feels rude yeah yeah it was so tough it was tough for everybody so I think I got to a point where I'd already cut out all of the really frivolous expenses, you know, streaming subscriptions, stopped buying clothes for a year. And I realized that the only part of my budget that had any give

and where I was still, I guess, potentially overspending was food. So I just started tracking my spending. I realized that dinners were my problem area. And I thought, you know what, I'm going to sit down. I'm going to put my problem solving hat on and figure out a strategy to get this under control. And that's what I did. And I stuck to it and it worked. I kept my budget at about $150 a week for food. That's crazy in this economy. Like that is crazy talk. I know. I know. So yeah, it was a ride, but I got there. It made a huge difference, like stress, finances, everything. So talk to me about your Facebook community. She's on the money also started with a Facebook community blowing up and then we became a podcast.

and I feel like we have such a beautiful, engaged audience. And I feel like you are probably one of the other people that might be able to resonate with me going like, it's just, it's so much more than a Facebook group. It's a whole community. Like, and I run into people, you know, you probably run into people at the supermarket who are like, oh my goodness, you're Chelsea. So talk to me about your Facebook community. What do you think it is about $10 meals that resonates so much with so many people I think it's just that people are looking for solutions you know it's a combination of factors I think it's the times that we live in so many households are dealing with financial crisis and they're just struggling the same way that I was and I think they're sick

of being told oh stop buying junk or but I'm not yeah I know and that's what they're saying as well and I kept at the point I started my group it was because I kept seeing people posting in groups like yours in other groups on Facebook saying, I don't know what to do. I'm spending $500 a week. I've got two kids. We don't eat junk. We've cut out takeaways. What more can I do? And I thought, hang on, I've been here. I found a solution. I can share this with you. Yeah. Maybe this will help people. So that's how my group started. And I think it's just the fact that I'm sort of showing people exactly what I'm doing. I'm like living it. It's not sort of, I'm not cosplaying being poor. I'm not, you know, I'm genuinely in this situation and I found a

solution that works for me. And it's also a solution I think that is working for a lot of other people that they can sort of copy and paste. I love it. And I think I also love it because they're just easy. Like we're not talking about, you know, having 60 million different ingredients and collecting pine cones and, you know, steeping them in water to get stock, like all of this stuff. You know what I mean? Like sometimes you think that to be super budget, you've got to really cut back. Like I find them so easy because I'm like, okay, cool. A mom has made these. They are tried. They are true. I can put them in the fridge and like, I'm not worried. I just feel like they resonate with so many people. And I want to know like $10 meals. Are we saying that

we are actually cooking meals for $10? Because like, let's be real. You and I have both seen the Curtis Stone memes where nowadays, like, you know, maybe back in the day, and when I say back in the day, I mean 2019, back in the day, you could have done a $10 meal. And now Curtis Stone is probably like, oh, you can buy maybe a packet of grated cheese for $10. In fact, the other week I was at the supermarket, why was a bunch of like four broccolinis $5? Are you joking? Like that should be illegal. I know. And I think this is what people are seeing and they're getting so frustrated because they're thinking it's impossible, right, to put together a budget meal because they're looking at all of these ingredients that have doubled. Some of them have tripled in price

over the last five years. Not only that, but they've reduced in size. So we're getting less for more. Again, illegal. It's not fair. And yeah, it is very difficult to go into the supermarket it and put together a meal for $10 if you have to buy every single ingredient. And it was even difficult back in 2022 when I first started doing this. But I think, and I'm very transparent about this, I'm not giving people individual $10 meals. They're meal plans. And I think that's the secret there. Well, I mean, I think it's something that people have been doing for generations, right? But I think somewhere along the lines, it's gotten lost that sort of art of meal planning and making things stretch and making sure there's no waste. And what I do is I will make sure that ingredients

are shared across all of the meals. So therefore the cost is shared across all of those meals in the week. So, you know, and if you have to buy that $10 bag of cheese, maybe you're using it in three or four different meals. And that way it's only, you know, $2 or $3 per meal worth of cheese. And I think that that's a really good point as well. I feel like over time we have lost, I don't know if we call it the art, but like having a well-stocked pantry and that actually being really valuable. And that's where all of your herbs and your spices and your flour and all of those things live that actually make up the bulk of some of these meals. And yeah, like that bag of cheese I was talking about, I'm the same. Yes, it's $10, but like,

I don't know if you're like me, but I always keep my cheese in the freezer because I don't want it to go moldy in the fridge and I need it to last longer. Like all of these things that I've grown up with, I feel like slowly over time people are forgetting. And I mean, I keep my bread in the freezer. I think that's an old habit that is never going to die hard because I'm like, I don't feel like I can get through a loaf of bread before it starts to go moldy and there's no way I'm throwing that out. So now I just have frozen bread and I put it straight in the toaster and it is fine, guys. It works out really well. I'm with you there. Do you know what? Some of my friends are like, I'll have someone sleep over and I'll be like, oh yeah, yeah, toast is, it's in the freezer

and they're like, sorry, what? And I'm like, what? Sourdough? Come on. Exactly. I'm not spending $7 on a loaf of bread to have to, you know, throw away the last four slices because I didn't eat it quick enough. Absolutely not my friend. So I need to know, are you an Audi queen? Is that the secret to keeping meals at $10 a serve or can you make it work shopping at all the major supermarkets as well? Like what are the secrets? I love Aldi, but I've recently moved from Brisbane to Tasmania. Welcome. There is no Aldi here. No, no, there's not. I don't have a choice right now. And that's fine because something I decided when I first started my group, because I used to shop initially before I started sharing recipes, I would shop between supermarkets. So I would sometimes shop

specials. I'd do part of my shop, maybe at Aldi and part at Woolworths or Coles. But when I started my group, I realized pretty quickly that not everybody has access to Aldi, but most people do have access to one of the major supermarkets to do their major grocery shops. So I committed to only shopping at those supermarkets because I do share my receipts. You are an angel. Like you are just so kind. You could have been saving more money and you're like, I know I could but that's not as accessible. And I just want to make sure that everyone gets the benefit here. Like you're an icon. No, honestly, it's just like, it's transparency as well, because I think it's unfair if I'm like, I've got this great little, you know, budget supermarket

down the road from me. I'm going to do all my shopping there. And you know, 90% of Australia is like, well, we can't shop there. Must be nice, Chelsea. Yeah, exactly. And then they start to think, well, it can't be done where I live. So. And you're like, no, I actually came here to prove a point and I will provide receipts thank you and literally providing receipts I think has been a really big thing because people love seeing the behind the scenes stuff and like exactly what you're spending money on and then they start comparing to their receipts and girl that's me like I'm screenshotting your stuff I'm zooming in I'm looking at what you got I'm like oh what a win that was on special this week like why am I so perfect yeah we all do that don't worry it's like

when people post like, you know, a photo of them at work or something, and there's a whiteboard behind them. And I'm like, do you really think I'm not going to try and zoom in on that? Like, come on. We all do it. And then you're trying to decipher what's written on there. What's your plan? I love that. I feel like that is super kind. And I've got so many questions, but so now we know how Chelsea does keep meals more affordable. We need to know what actually makes your groceries go further. Cause it's not just about making them affordable and putting together quote a $10 meal is about making your groceries stretch. So after the break, we're going to chat about the biggest mistakes people make at the supermarket. Then we're going to talk about

simple swaps to save money and then how to cut down on food wastage. And it's not just my tip of keeping bread in the freezer. So guys don't go anywhere. All right, my friends, we are back. And before the break, we were talking about keeping meals affordable, but now let's actually dive into it because we haven't told you any of the ways to keep meals affordable. And I'm assuming that's why you have come here. So let's talk about some easy ways that you can save even more at the checkout, make your groceries go further and cut back on food waste. Chelsea, when you're putting together the meal plans that you have, where are you starting? Because honestly, if you said start from scratch, I'd be like, I do not have a scratch. I do not know where to begin. And like, that just

feels like half the task, right? Like that feels like the hardest bit. Yeah. And that's exactly how I felt when I first started meal planning. So I know myself and I know how much I love variety and my family love variety. So I will generally start with whatever I'm craving or whatever my kids have requested. So it might be like, oh my gosh, I really, really need to have Mexican this week. So I'll start with that and I'll think, okay, let's go red meat. Let's get a cheap cut of red meat and let's use that for multiple meals in the week. So I'll just build out from the first meal. So it might be okay. Let's do burrito bowls on the first night. And then I'll think about what I need for that. Like I'll need limes. Okay, great. Well, what else can I use those limes for?

If I can get away with using half a lime for this, can I use half a lime for Thai food later in the week? A hundred percent. We don't need the whole lime. We do not need the whole lime. That is a privilege that you currently do not have. Exactly. So we're just trying to stretch these ingredients. And obviously, I guess I have an advantage in that I can develop the recipes to sort of fit in with each other, which is great. And starting with the Mexican, then we'll go to, okay, what else could I use that beef for? Because I'm getting a big piece of beef. Yeah. We're not just buying, you know, some steaks to chop up. Yeah, exactly. We can't go by eye fillet or anything like that. It'll be like a chuck roast

or a blade roast that we can slow cook. But you can also use cuts like that for stir fries, which I think a lot of people don't realize if you tenderize them properly, they're beautiful and stir fry. So I then have a beef stir fry that week. I think, okay, then we'll do some chicken. We'll do one vegetarian meal and I'll just build these meal plans out until I've used up all of those ingredients and just, yeah, making sure it stays under the budget. So using affordable cuts of meat, using vegetables that are in season, also looking at what I have at the time in the pantry or anything that I need to use up or herbs that I'm growing. But for the purpose of sharing my meal plans,

I generally don't include any of that stuff. I'm like, no, we have to go buy everything and we have to do it properly so people can replicate it. You care so much about your community that you're like, I don't care that we have basil at home. We're buying basil. I don't even care. You guys are going to tell me that I'm privileged

because I've got my basil at home. Absolutely not. If people see you taking shortcuts, they start to think that it's not something they can do. So I have to make sure that it's something like that people can literally copy and paste for themselves. Yeah. And I think that that is one really beautiful, but also it just really keeps it relatable. It's like, nope, this is exactly what it costs. Chelsea, a really big part about making meals budget friendly is really about knowing where to spend and where to save. And so many of us are overwhelmed with that. Like,

what are we spending on? Where are we saving? You just mentioned big cuts of chuck roast. I've never bought that. That honestly feels a little bit overwhelming. So if someone is really struggling to lower their grocery bill, where should they start? Yeah, I think meat is a big one, especially if you have somebody in your family. A lot of people will say to me, oh, my partner just cannot give up meat, so we can't do any vegetarian meals. Or I have teenage boys or teenage girls that do a lot of sport and they need lots of protein. So like we don't want to go without, we've just got to make substitutions. So instead of like getting a porterhouse steak or I feel it, you're going to go for the chuck or the blade roast or the brisket, all of which you can buy. I'm pretty

sure even still at the moment, most of them are $15 a kilo and under. So you're going to just make those last and get those bigger cuts. But I think a lot of that is also about education and just like people understanding that it's not overwhelming and knowing how to prepare them because it can feel a lot. I used to be so scared of like roasting, even roasting a chicken used to scare me. So I get it. But it's relatable, right? Like I know that so many people listening to this are going to go, yeah, I wouldn't have a clue. Like, so I've got my chuck roast. No worries. I went down to Coles. I picked one up. Thank you so much, Chelsea. What do I do? Slam it on the bench and know where to cut? Literally as easy as just throwing it in the slow cooker, throwing it

in a pot in the oven with some spices I can have that on in five minutes see this is not how in my brain it went in my brain I was like sorry what and I would say I'm a relatively okay cook I'm just not someone who has been as good as they could be with being good at those bigger cuts of meat and you know reusing them for stuff because honestly I'm a creature of convenience and I feel like that's really relatable because we're like well if we're having chicken I'm going to get either chicken breast or I'm going to get some chicken thighs. In my head, that's the only options that exist when that's not the reality of the situation. And I'm actually wasting hard earned dollars on things that I don't need to waste money on. It's true, but I was in the same

boat as you. So I understand that. I actually didn't learn to cook. I should say that until I was 30. So I went a long time, like my kids suffered for a really long time with my terrible cooking. They're fine. They're now going to remember mum's slow cooked meals and be like, oh, my mum set the bar. Yeah. I still haven't erased some of the trauma of my early cooking, but I'm trying to make up for it every night. I like it. I do hear a lot of people saying the same thing as you, where they're like, no, but we just eat chicken breast and I've never eaten chicken with bone in it and things like that. But they're just as easy to cook with. You just have to know what to do. They're better. Like even the difference between breast and thigh,

thigh tastes better than breast. You can't convince me otherwise. Like every day of the week. Agreed. Yeah. But I think that's another thing where people don't understand where they can substitute things. So they see something in a recipe and they think, oh, I have to use breast because it says breast, or I have to use thigh because it says thigh, or I have to use this vegetable when there might be a cheaper alternative that is almost as good or just as It's because we're not as confident. And I'm so worried that if I pick a different ingredient that's outside of the norm, I'm going to mess up the recipe and then waste dinner. And I don't want to do that. But I think that one of my favorite things about what you do is like that

education piece as well, because you start to learn what you can substitute and how things work and not just talk about like, oh, you need X for Y. You're kind of teaching people how to substitute them, which I think teaches you just subliminally as well. Like, oh, if I'm making this other meal, I could actually use this instead. Or, you know, you've got your family favorite bolognese. You can probably do something really similar again, but make some small substitutions that put you in the right direction when it comes to saving more money. And I mentioned pantry staples before and how I don't think that people have as well stocked pantries as, you know, our parents or our grandparents did. Do you think people tend to overcomplicate pantries and how can we be

smarter with what we're choosing to keep on hand? Yeah, I think a lot of people, like they'll see a recipe on TikTok or on Instagram or in a cookbook and they'll think, oh, I want to make that and they'll go out and buy everything for it. But then they might be ingredients that they'll never use again. So then we end up with food waste and a whole lot of sauces and spices and that sort of thing that you don't use. And then it becomes overwhelming and then they think, oh, well, I'll just take shortcuts next time. I'm not going to cook from scratch. And I think I try to simplify it by keeping my spices and my sauces to a minimum, like the minimum amount possible to get as many flavor combinations as I can with those. That's actually smarter than I've ever been

because I'm not going to lie this morning when I was opening the fridge to get some milk out, I saw that there were in preparation for this episode, I was just like looking at my fridge a little bit different than I usually would. And I was like, wow, Victoria Devine, that is three half-eaten jars of capers. I can't be trusted. I really like capers, but I can't even keep track of what's in my fridge. I mean, as long as you eat them, it's okay. I will at some point, maybe, or maybe I'll buy a new jar. You never know. Yeah. Just don't buy any next time you go shopping, okay? Honestly, it's one of those things. I feel like we've all got that one thing though, that we convince ourselves we don't have in stock. Like my partner, it's toilet paper. He's always

like, every time I go to supermarket, need to buy toilet paper. What if we run out? Like me, capers. I think with me, it honestly used to be so many things that my fridge used to be a nightmare, my pant, everything. It used to actually stress me out so much. Just the amount of food waste, the sheer volume of like spices that I had that I didn't even really know what to do with for a long time as well. Yeah. I'm not going to lie. I don't know one recipe that cardamom goes in. Not one. Do I own cardamom though? Yes, of course I do. Oh, it's not good, is it? And I feel like that's the sneaky budget killer, right? Like food waste is the budget killer that none of us signed up for. Like, I don't think any of us go to the

supermarket, buy a loaf of bread or buy a packet of pasta and go, can't wait to throw half of this away. Like none of us do that. We're all guilty. 100%. And we all justify it as well, right? Like we all go, oh, that packet, it's a little bit more expensive because it's bigger, but I'll like reuse it. And like we never do. And according to research, it's apparently costing Aussie households up to $2,500 a year, which you probably already knew. That is literally money in the bin. we're clearly getting it wrong so talk to me how can we cut down on waste and also save money at the same time like what do we need to be doing meal planning helps so much with that I think it's knowing exactly what you need for the meals that you're going to cook and if you're meal

planning with a view to minimize waste so like I do with sharing ingredients and making sure that there's nothing left over the thing is there is always often going to be something left over so I think it's then having a plan for what you're going to do with that so if you know there's going to be you've got half a bunch of chives or something at the end of the week instead of them you know turning into mush and a brown mess at the bottom of your crisper you're going to go okay you know what I'm going to make scrambled eggs twice this week I will use the chives on top of those it's just planning ahead for those leftovers but also I always tell people like don't just plan for your leftover ingredients, but plan for your leftover servings as well. Because if you're

cooking meals and you have extra and you know, you put that bolognese in the container at the back of your fridge and you forget about it and that's heartbreaking. So I think you've got to know, either put it in the freezer, take it to work the next day, eat it for dinner the next night, like know what you're going to do with that as well. Yeah. And I think that that is really smart, but one thing that is coming to mind, and I feel like you'll know a lot about this because you're a mum of three and a single mum of three at that. And that is mental load. And I feel like there is probably for you a lot of mental load going on, but a lot of us are turned off this idea of meal prepping because meal prepping, grocery shopping, it just adds to the load.

And sometimes figuring out what to cook in itself is harder than what we actually cook and how long it takes. But do you think that mental fatigue is also leading towards us just overspending to combat the fact that maybe instead of thinking about it, this is just the easy way out. A hundred percent. I can still remember, you know, being in a corporate job and, you know, to come to about an hour before I had to go home and I'd start thinking about the fact that I hadn't organized anything for dinner and the stress would kick in then. And then you're driving home and you're thinking about ideas and you're in Woolworths and I'd like walk laps around the supermarket googling recipe ideas you know recipes in under 30 minutes using chicken you know and

had no idea what I was doing and then before I know it I've got to go pick the kids up and get home and it was just it was like this repetitive sort of cycle that would happen you know multiple times a week because I hadn't planned my meals and I know so many people do that and it's just so stressful. I think that's why we resort then to much more expensive convenience options. Yeah, a hundred percent. And I'm guilty of it as well. And I mean, one of the best changes I've made, and I'm very lucky that this fits into my budget and I talk publicly about it all the time because I'm obsessed with it, but we have Marley spoon and some people are like, Victoria, you could cook that for so much cheaper. And I'm like, yes, Chelsea would tell you that you absolutely

can. Like she could literally recreate all of these for 10 bucks. And you know what? She's a genius for that, but I don't have the capacity to do that supermarket walk around all the time. In fact, I will spend more because I don't have that capacity. So for three nights every week, we do Marley Spoon and then you and Nagi from Recipe Teen Eats, you carry the rest of my week. And between the two of you with your superpowers combined, like I feel like you are carrying most of the budget conscious mums in Australia. Yeah. I actually do encourage people to look for that in-between option. Like, you know, that option that's not takeaway, but it's offering you convenience if you need that. And like you said, it's not a seven night

a week thing. It's something that you do once a week, but it's always going to be cheaper than getting takeaway. It's probably going to be a lot healthier as well, but you're also learning something while you're making these recipes and you have the satisfaction of actually creating it yourself. But something I like to do as well, which is my sort of in-between option is I've got a list in the notes app on my phone. I've got a pinned note with a list of what I call convenience meals. Okay. I didn't even know you could pin notes. That is game changing. Adore. of pin notes I've got one of convenience meals where I can go into the supermarket and they're meals that will take me about 15 minutes to put together where I'm not really

cooking much from scratch so sometimes it's you know getting those pre-made koftas those you know mince kebabs that you can get at Coles or Woolies I will get those I'll get some couscous if I don't have it at home because you don't have to cook couscous on the stove you just pour boiling water over it and I'll either get you can get a pre-made salad or you could just grab I'll grab a cucumber and some tomato I'll dice that while the koftas are in the pan it's so quick okay I have to ask do you have that note screenshot on your Instagram so that we can go screenshot it and add it to our I should do it you know what that's a great idea are you telling me that you have a resource that could literally help mums who are turning up to the supermarket

I have said I actually did a series of them once in my Facebook group a while back where I just did a week of these sort of meals just showing people icon and I think it's like it's not rocket science okay but it feels like rocket science when I'm staring blankly at the chicken section yeah and that's the thing and I'm like a lot of the stuff I share are the things that I wish I had 10 years ago so you know yeah well we want the screenshot and then we will screenshot it and then copy and paste it into our notes and then every single time that we're feeling overwhelmed and actually haven't done our meal plan prep, we're going to be like, Chelsea's still got us. I adore this. And before you mentioned Uber Eats, and I feel like we all know that feeling

after a long day, like you really don't want to do the supermarket dance. You just want to get home and then you open the fridge and it's uninspiring and it's honestly overwhelming. And Uber Eats is honestly, I feel like they call my name. Like I can just hear the app on my phone singing, Victoria, it's me. And then I pick up my phone and I've ordered $50 of takeaway. But takeaway is so expensive. So what are your tips on me, this has now become personal, and the rest of my community being able to avoid that? Okay. So one of them would be having some convenience meals that you can grab. And it may not even be something at the supermarket. For instance, I have a bakery near me that does a $10 family pie. Oh, that's a good deal.

$10. So I could get that. I could get a bag of chips from the supermarket and maybe some broccoli or something if I felt like being healthy. Yeah. But not broccolini. Broccolini is out of the tax bracket for everybody nowadays. Unless it's that like two months that it's in season. No. So just having those options for not Uber eats, not drive through, but it's just very quick requires little or no cooking. Another thing I always try to do is to have meals in the freezer. So just cook a little bit extra in the meal plans in my cookbook and the ones that I share in my group. I'll often have one night while you'll make a double batch of something. So that gives you the opportunity to either put those meals in the freezer or you get a night off cooking one week where you might

be tempted to get takeaway. But I think that's me. That's literally me. And you will be happy to know that I have got a convenience meal now in the fridge and we are now freezing our leftovers because my husband and I had to come to the realization that even all of our best intentions mean that our leftovers get left in the fridge because we forget to take them in the morning. So now they're being frozen. And I just feel like even if you're not struggling financially with your budget, I just feel like it is such a smart idea to start caring about the little things because the little things become the big things and then the big things become issues. And this is honestly, even beyond the fact that they are very budget friendly, they are yummy, they work

and they take away that mental load. And I think that that is so important. And the fact that I can, if I'm not unlikely, let's be honest, everyone who knows me knows that my husband does most of the cooking in this house. But the reason he does is because there's a plan. If there is no plan, it is my responsibility this plan my husband's across and that to me is amazing I can be like okay here's the meal plan or here's you know the recipe and whoever gets home first starts and I think that that is really helpful in a relationship as well I agree yeah and I think also like sharing the load with your family is really important I get a lot of feedback from people that cook my recipes because I separate my recipes into prep steps and cook steps so they'll

get their partner to do like the prep or they'll get their teenage children to do the prep before they get home from school and then they'll walk through the door everything's done and they just need to do like all the stove top cooking literally Chelsea said sit down guys we have Marley Spoon at home I honestly like I have described my book as a meal kit alternative because you get the grocery list and people have shown me screenshots of their Woolworths or their Kohl's shopping lists and they'll have Chelsea week one, Chelsea week two of all the grocery lists for my meal plan. So now they just have to like, they can just order the whole list and it's like a meal kit. They are so smart. You could definitely put that into Woolies online. I know.

I was like, you guys are way ahead of me. That's awesome. I mean, that's why it's a community. It's a give and take. Like you thought it was just you giving. You are wrong, my friend. I learn so much from my community literally every day. Having pored over your book, one of my favorite features, it's not going to come as a surprise, was the swap and save sections. And I thought that was just really smart because that's what I was alluding to earlier when I said that you give really great alternatives. You can even do swaps and saves of things that are more traditional recipes in your, I don't know, vocabulary. But I want to know, what do you think are three of your favorite like swaps that you can make that help you save money? I think again like we were

talking about before a lot of them are making swaps for seasonal veggies and I'll usually give people options so I write them in the recipe notes of my recipes but I also put that in the swap and save section of each meal plan where I'll say okay if capsicum is really expensive instead you can buy this this or this or if for instance sometimes it's actually cheaper to buy a bag of coleslaw than to buy cabbage things like that that people don't think of they think oh god surely cabbage would always be cheaper and then you can shred it yourself but no sometimes the cabbage that's already pre-shredded in a bag is going to be cheaper if it's not in season so it's just giving people those options and just making them aware of the fact that these items might be cheaper at

different times of the year. Also, a lot of the time, just reminding people that home brand is usually just as good. It's usually the same thing repackaged. Yeah, I'll say to them. I will say, though, the only item I do encourage people not to buy the cheapest home brand item is with pasta. I agree. Yeah. Just because I found, especially over the last few years, that the quality of that $1 pasta is just, it's, it's going down. Yeah. It's not it. So I think if you're going to splurge a little bit, that's a swap and save where you maybe spend a dollar extra. No. And I like that for keeping it real. Cause it means that we're just not having bad tasting meals. And I mean, if you still love the dollar pasta, go for it. You're saving even more money

queen. But I do think it's quite funny because we have a series on She's On The Money called name brand versus generic, where our team puts on a blindfold and then tries the name brand versus generic. I didn't appreciate the time they made me try flour raw and try and tell the difference, but I'm telling you right now, even raw can't tell the difference. But do you know what? We could tell the difference between dry pasta. We absolutely could, even when it wasn't cooked. Dry pasta, the dollar stuff was not as good. It's the texture. It just falls apart a lot easier. And then I think people get disappointed when they cook something and they're like, Oh, my rigatoni is in tiny pieces and it's become spaghetti. Yeah, exactly. That

is one of the only items. Yeah. That I would say spend that little bit more, but no, I think meat is one of the big ones as far as swaps, just knowing which cuts you can swap, even with mints. Like a lot of people don't realize if it's a, say a pork mints recipe, you can probably use chicken mints. You can probably use turkey mints and it's not going to make a difference or that lamb and beef mince can often be interchangeable or even beef and pork so I think just pointing those things out to people so they know they have options and I love that but I need to know I know that you said you'd spend a dollar more on pasta but when it comes to convenience like pre-made foods are there anything that you've absolutely cancelled that you absolutely refuse to buy

anymore because it's I don't know so much cheaper and or better to just make it yourself yeah well I should start by saying like no judgment to anybody that does purchase these items because I know a lot of people do for convenience, but for me, I would say recipe bases. So, you know, there's sachets that you can get. There's huge section in the supermarket. Simmer sauces are a no-go for me. Are we allowed to keep them while we gain some confidence while reading your cookbook and then get rid of them later once we have a stocked pantry? Absolutely. Okay. Well, let them have them for the interim but once you've read Chelsea's book like you'll be on her team we'll wean people off them slowly but that's funnily enough that's something I hear people say like

I haven't bought a simmer sauce in six months I feel like honestly it's the gateway it's the gateway drug yeah and I get it because I used to buy them as well but I think it's once you start sort of seasoning your food from scratch you realize how much cheaper it is and you realize how much better it tastes. So it's very difficult to go back after that. I agree. Chelsea, I mentioned before that people's lives are going to change when they read your book and they're going to no longer buy Simmer Sources, which honestly is really big. Like you too, we can go to the meeting, we can all sit around in a circle and say that I haven't bought a Simmer Source in six months, but you actually have a brand new book coming out. I want to know. Tell us. That is so exciting. That

means that the first book did really well Chelsea but what's the difference about this one and how is it going to help us level up our budget and our meal game even more? Okay so my second book is called Money Saving Meal Plans with Chelsea and it does what it says it's going to do on the box. Yeah exactly so I think I would have been crucified if I'd changed the format from my first book because people really loved the grocery lists, the meal plans, the budget recipes so I wasn't going to change anything in that way but great thing about having a community you get so much feedback so I was having people saying oh I'd love it if you do a vegetarian book or I'd love it if you do a slow cooker book and I thought you know what I'm getting all these requests I'm

going to be 80 before I can write all these books feels but also you can be like me and you can pump out like I don't know five in three years like I believe in you it's a lot the mental load we were talking about before books are on another level I have full respect to anybody that has written a book honestly but yeah I thought I can try and incorporate all these things that people have requested into one book so what I've done in this book that's different is that each meal plan is categorized so I have a 30-minute plan I have a meat-free plan to cater for the vegetarians I have a slow cooker plan an air fryer plan but also have provided instructions for stove top and oven cooking for people that don't have those appliances. Oh, you're an icon. I was like,

I don't actually own an air fryer and I feel like I'm one of the only people in the entire country that doesn't own an air fryer, nor do I feel the need to own one, which I think is the most concerning part. Honestly, I don't use mine very often, but I know that people love them and I know that people are looking for recipes to cook in their air fryers. So giving the people what they want and yeah so it's just eight meal plans and then a chapter of budget sides and a lot of the meals work in together so you can swap different things around a lot of the meals also complement the meals in the first book really well because I know sometimes people say to me oh I've got guests coming over what can I make so I can say okay why don't you make this in the first book

and then use these sides from the second book and oh that's genius because I never know what to do when people are coming over. And that I would say is one of the, I would say the biggest money sucks because I definitely don't entertain enough, but it's a really big money suck because then I'm like, okay, you know what I'm going to do? I'm just going to do a roast because crowd pleaser. Yes, it's more expensive, but I know how to do that. And I know how to do that well, but like that ends up becoming a very expensive dinner for four people. It can, it can. So I think having also those like options for entertaining is really important for people because most people at some point we'll have guests over for dinner or even things that they can cook for Easter or for

Christmas or when they have to bring a plate. Just thought of everything. Exactly. So try to cover all my bases so that there's something for everybody, but also really just working within that. Still a budget for this second book. It's $3 per serve is the figure I gave myself. I feel like that is still very impressive. $3 a serve is more than reasonable. I think so. It's still like very budget friendly. And in 2025, that's, I would say, still unheard of. Like, that is incredible. Still difficult. Put it that way. It's not an easy task. No, but you've done the work for us. So for me, it is very easy. And I appreciate that. Now, Chelsea, you have been insanely kind and you've actually put together a three

recipe meal plan just for people in the She's On The Money community. Like that was so nice of you. Can you actually give me a little bit of insight? And guys, don't worry, I'm going to put the link to that in the show notes so that you can get that in your inbox ASAP and give it a crack. But Chelsea, why did you pick those three recipes and how I guess they fit into a budget-friendly meal plan? Okay. Well, I've been in your community, in your Facebook group for a long time now. So I get a feel for like who they are and what their sort of lifestyle is and that sort of thing so I know you've got a mix of like people who have families and people who are single people in couples so what I've chosen is it's from my week two meal plan from my first book $10 meals with

Chelsea and it's a trio of recipes where and this is the case with a lot of my meal plans where you batch cook something and then you use that same base for multiple recipes during the week so that you're saving time and money. So this one is a Vietnamese meatball sort of trio of meals. I actually made these a few weeks ago and they're a huge hit with my kids. They're still good. Yeah. You start the week by making a rice bowl with an Asian slaw with just cooking the Vietnamese meatballs in the pan, or you can do them in the air fryer. And then you use the same meatballs for banh mi, which you could take to work for lunch, or you could just have that as a light meal. And then you're using the rest of that meatball mixture in a stir fry. So that becomes

the base of a noodle stir fry with veggies. You've got a lot of shared ingredients within those meals, but also like a lot of variety. So you're not getting sick of like those same flavors all the time. Yeah. You're not just having a rice bowl every day. Yeah. And I actually had leftover meatball mixture the last time I made it because I'm cooking for three now because my adult son of smoothed out. Oh, that's so, you do not look old enough to have an adult son, Chelsea. What is that? I do. So we had leftover maple mixture and I used it as spring roll filling and it was so yummy. So, so many different uses. You could use it in dumplings as well. So depending on what you wanted, but yeah, your listeners will have those recipes. They can give it a try and

just try out that sort of cook once, eat three times format as well. They're going to love it. I'm obsessed. I just know that that's going to hit really well. And I mean, you're telling me three meals, $10 meals, like it can't get better than that. Chelsea, this has been so fun. Like you are very fun to talk to, but it's also been very insightful. I'm so grateful that you wanted to share your genius budget friendly tips and tricks with us because I just, I have seen you pop up time and time again in my shoes on the money community. Like not only are, you know, my community recommending you, but you are supporting them in the comments, like you are getting in and being like, well, what about this? And like, I swear there are often whole threads

about it. I'm just always like, this woman comes in clutch. I live on Facebook, Victoria. I'm in my Facebook group like 24 seven. Yeah. Like what people don't realize about Facebook group management. We live there. I live there. I'm in there all the time. I'm deleting comments. I'm liking comments. People often like, oh my God, I saw your name pop up in that group. I'm like, yeah, babe, that's because I live there. I live there. Thank you so much for putting together that meal plan for our community. It's going to be in the show notes, guys, because obviously not only do my community want budget meals, we love a freebie. And if you want more of Chelsea's energy, which is unmatched, but also her incredible meal ideas, please check out $10 Meals on Facebook

and Instagram and grab a copy of her new book. Chelsea, thank you so much for joining me. It has been a delight. And I just know this isn't the last episode that we have you on. Like I'm going to be planning to get you back as soon as possible. Oh my gosh. I hope we get to do this again, Victoria. This is like honestly been so much fun for me as well. I love it. I feel like we are on the same wavelength when it comes to energy, which works really well. And I mean, you've just moved to Tasmania and I grew up there. I didn't know that. No, I did, which is why I was like, oh, Tasmania, really? My nana actually makes me bring back this salmon thing from Audi and also the Audi chocolates when I come home because you can't get them in Tasmania. So I knew you didn't

have Audi. I knew what I was doing there. Anyway, thank you so much, Chelsea. And guys, I hope you have enjoyed this and we'll see you next episode. Bye. the advice shared on she's on the money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances she's on the money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision if you do choose to buy a financial product read the pds tmd and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs victoria divine and she's on the money are authorized representatives of money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN 321 649 27708 AFSL 451 289.