If you shop weekly, what would be the minimum amount spent on groceries that covers your nutrition requirements?
Could it be just $15 per week? Archan Raj says, yes.
Archan Raj, an entrepreneur who arrived in Australia as a student, says he has a formula for weekly grocery shopping that limits his bill to $15.
"Trust me, it works!" he told SBS Hindi.
"$15 is all I used to spend on my food, not compromising anywhere with proteins, quality, and efficient calories that I take."
Here is Archan's formula:
$2.69 - Eggs (Cost of a dozen eggs. One can have 1 or 2 eggs daily, according to his or her diet.)
$2.00 - Milk (Approximately 150ml per day)
$4.00 - Chicken (1kg whole chicken for $4 or 2kgs for $6)
$3.00 - Bread or Rice (5kgs of rice bought at once will suffice for three weeks or so.)
$1.20 - 1kg of frozen vegetables
$0.60 - Can of tinned tomatoes
$1.50 - Fruit (Apples or Banana or watermelon)
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TOTAL = $14.99
Archan says that many students go through a tough time in Australia - they pay their fees and work hard to earn enough money. Like many international students, paying bills while studying was a major concern for Archan.
A shopping trolley is seen alongside available perishable goods in a supermarket in Sydney. Source: AAP
"I used to work and study almost every day," he says. "There were even those kind of days and times where I just used to sleep 3 or 4 hours a day working, studying and writing research reports together."
And during those tough times, Archan says he discovered this $15 formula.
"I hope people don't make fun of me after reading this," adds Archan who is now into the food business, having developed an app for online homecooked food to be delivered to one's home.
