With a wooden spoon in one hand, mother -of-nine Claire Hooker empties three bags of pasta into a large pot of boiling water with the other. As her bolognese sauce bubbles away in another pan, the Canberra mum is preparing to proudly serve dinner to her big brood — at just $1.66 a serve.
The low cost is an absolute necessity for the Hookers, whose growing children range in age from six to 16. Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Every week, the family goes through a whopping nine litres of milk, two kilos of cheese and 24 rolls of toilet paper. And that is just the bottom of their shopping trolley.
Feeling the pinch of rising grocery costs, Claire is on a mission to cut expenditure without sacrificing on taste and time with her family. “While we don’t buy any luxuries any more, we do still have treats likes popcorn for movie nights, and ice cream,” Claire tells 7Life of how she manages the household budget. “We are a hard-working family, we are a team and everyone helps each other out — no one ever goes without.
” The 37-year-old says she starts slashing her fortnightly grocery bill before she even steps foot inside any shops. This, too, is a necessity — with the family living 45km from the nearest shopping hub. Before embarking on the trip, Claire takes an inventory of what she has already, gathering the troops to check what items need re-stocking for the following fortnight.
The older children scatter throughout the house, checking the bathrooms f.