Kiwi mum shows how to make a week's worth of family meals for $140

Kathrine Lynch's $140 shopping haul included plenty of fresh produce. Photo / Kathrine Lynch

Kiwi mum-of-two Kathrine Lynch has shared how she's feeding her family of four with a grocery budget of $140 a week.

The Hamilton mum is feeding her family for about $5 per person per day, and that's including breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.

Lynch, who runs the website target="_blank">Busy Happy Kids, launched the $140 Weekly Budget Challenge and has shared a shopping list, food menu and recipes to go with it.

She had the idea after asking her Facebook followers how much they spent each week feeding a family the same size as hers. The answers varied between $200 and $250 so she wants to show how to bring that number down.

The shopping list posted to her website included Weet-Bix, meat, fish, cheese, veges, fruit and bread, among other items. She shopped at her local Pak'nSave.

Photo / Kathryn Lynch

She also shared the menu that matched the shopping list, ensuring no items go to waste.

The menu for the week includes roast chicken, chicken casserole, cottage pie and even homemade burgers.

"My main goal is to get people to the point where they can do that. There are a lot of people out there struggling with their budgets," she told Fairfax.

While Lynch knows she has a knack for figuring out how to bring her expenses down by playing around with what's on special at any given time, she knows that's not something anyone can do easily.

If $140 feels too low, she is encouraging her followers to start by slashing $20 of their weekly grocery shop. "That's $1000 a year, that's your Christmas sorted."