“How You Save Money”: Woman Shows How She Makes 15 Meals From R1000 Groceries for Family of 5

• A TikTok user shared a video showing how she spent R1000 on meat and fish to make 15 dinners for her family of five
• She portions chicken pieces, hake, and mince into separate bags, with each bag representing one day's dinner
• South Africans had mixed reactions, with some questioning whether the portions were enough
• Briefly News spoke to financial expert Farook Mohammed on how people can adapt to rising food prices with inflation

A woman who shares content about food, grocery hauls, and meal planning, posted a video on 21 November 2025 showing how she spends R1000 on groceries to feed her family. The video showed her mid-month restock, where she bought meat and fish that would last 15 days for her household of five, which includes two adults and three children.

She bought four trays of chicken pieces, including wings, legs, thighs, and breast pieces, along with hake and two portions of mince packed in one tray. Using small plastic bags she bought from Clicks for R20, she portioned out all the meat into separate bags, with each bag representing one dinner.

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In the video, she went on to say, while showing off all of the food items she was able to buy, along with how she portioned the items:

"Mid-month restock, let's see how many meals we can get from this R1000 spend as a family of five, which is two adults and three kids. I buy these plastic bags of 20 for R30 at Clicks..." She went on to count how many portions of chicken pieces she put in the plastic bags.

After putting the 10 bags of chicken that had been portioned, the fish and the 4 parcels of mince, she went on to say:

"So this is 15 days of dinner. For lunch, you can add your eggs, you can add some ingomasi, add bread and butter... Whatever rocks your boat. But this is how you save money. Half a month, R1000 of just meat. You can add pap, rice, whatever, but this is your staple."

The way she organised everything showed her system for keeping track of meals and making sure nothing goes to waste.

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Mixed reactions to the budgeting method

Social media users had different opinions about the woman's grocery strategy:

@sufficient_love said:

"I buy a box of wings or drumsticks for R339 at Spar, worse, mince, magulu, cabbage, spinach, just that I don't have the video I'll do next time, and I get more. I got meat for 25 days if I'm not mistaken."

@NtombiSR wrote:

"I am glad I am not the only one who counts isishebo, this system works."

@mpilwenhle_nngida asked:

"Hi, mommy, where did you buy the chicken from?"

@enicca makoma Modiba questioned:

"How many pieces of chicken does each get on a plate?"

@Simphiwe_Home replied:

"My kids are 5, 10 and 1 year old. Dad eats a drumstick and a wing, I eat a thigh, then a drumstick for the kids. I grew up eating meat on special days lol 😂😂😂, the kids are perfectly fine and happy."

@Ntsoak asked:

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"How many pieces per packet?"

@Annelene Lukas shared:

"I buy my meat at the butchery works better for me, but here in the Northern Cape we buy whole lamb, so I just buy mince, Russians and fish."

Food prices force families to budget

According to BusinessTech, food prices in South Africa have risen sharply over the past five years. In December 2024, the average household food basket cost R5 383.38, compared to R3 199.86 in December 2019. That is an increase of more than 68%, far higher than the general inflation rate of just over 26% for the same period.

The Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group noted that this rise in food costs, combined with wages that have barely grown, is putting heavy pressure on families who are already facing financial difficulties.

Prices of staple foods such as maize meal, rice and cooking oil have gone up by almost 60% between 2019 and 2024. Frozen chicken pieces increased by 19.69%, which helps explain why many households are trying new ways to make their groceries last longer, like the method shown in TikTok user @simphiwe_home's video.

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Speaking to Briefly News writer, Nerissa Naidoo, financial advisor Farook Mohammed discussed how people can adapt to rising food prices with inflation. He stated:

"Saving during inflation starts with being smart about food spending. Stick to a list, compare prices across stores and prioritise essentials over convenience items. Buying in bulk, choosing store brands and planning meals around specials can make a real difference."

Watch the TikTok clip below:

More SA families finding ways to save

• Briefly News recently reported on a woman who did a price check on bananas ahead of Black Friday and found minimal savings.
• A Mzansi woman shared practical grocery-saving strategies that included weekly shopping and meal planning to help families manage rising food costs.
• A university student showed what she managed to buy with just R50 sent by her mom.

Source: Briefly News