Recipes for Spending Wisely

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Last Saturday I visited the Farmers Market at Ta Qali. A long awaited initiative which should help farmers and encourage them to keep up with their hard work. It is thanks to local agriculture that we can have  the freshest of produce  which is so essential to healthy eating. However  agriculture also  helps in  keeping our countryside pristine by having our agricultural land worked and  the rubble walls maintained.  It was a pleasure meeting directly with the  farmers who  were extremely friendly and forthcoming with advice on how best to cook the vegetables.

 Getting to know the farmer helps you to get to know the produce better.  There was also other produce such as gbejniet, rabbits, honey.  It was exactly what I expected, particularly the prices.  The products were of the best qualities and prices an extremely good  bargain.    In the vicinity there also were a number of vegetable hawkers who unfortunately I did not have the time to stop at.  I would assume that the vegetable prices from these would also be competitive, even though it is not their place there.   The only shortcoming last Saturday was the lack of a variety of fruit.  I only found oranges (which I grow myself and so did not need to buy) and strawberries.  This could be a reflection of our winter fruit season, where besides oranges very few fruit are grown at this time of the year.

The good prices of theFarmers’ Market bring me to the subject of budgeting which  I have been tackling  on a particular radio programme on RTK with Christine Delicata  for some months now. It is surprising how many people are finding budgeting a challenging chore.  It is not just an issue that we cannot control our inclination to keep up with the Jones’.  Our expenses have increased dramatically whilst our incomes have only increased minmially if at all.

It is very difficult to offer a budgeting recipe which fits all families.  This is because familiy needs, sizes, income and circumstances vary.   Our problems with budgeting can be eased in two manners, either by reflecting on our our habits/ lifestyles and priorities and see what we can address or by improving our spending habits.

My promotion of seasonal cooking was inspired by issues of affordability as much as by the fact that nutrients in food and the taste are  at their best when fruit and vegetable are in season.  Cooking what is in season should result in more satisfaction in the kitchen, as whoever would be cooking would feel  that the  ingredientshave been sourced properly, that  cooking is sustainable and probably  more affordable.

 Another lifestlye  issue which we could improve is waste.  Buying from supermarkets  especially if in large groups usually results in buying in excess of what is actually needed.  We also have lost the knack of our grandparents to resuse left overs, the bread pudding, the different pies, soups, milkshakes (for fruit), sauces, cakes and stews.

Buying seasonal, controlling waste, being thrifty might not always suffice.  So I end up with a quick recipe for better budgeting.

Ingredients:

• Pen (or pencil)
• Paper
• Time when you can reflect

Method:

Write down all the weekly expenditure for the past four weeks

If you are sure that these are typical, multiply by 13 (if you receive a pay every 4 weeks)

Add the monthly expenses (mobiles, higher purchase fees, etc) and multiply by 12

Add the  annual expenses (insurances, school fees, etc)

This should result for the gross annual expendure

Divide by 13 to get the expenditure picture between different pay days

Reflect on this picture and distinguish between the essential  and non essential.

Contrast to your income and establish if your lifestyle is affordable.

Ideally you should allow for some savings and also to put aside something for a rainy day

If the lifestyle results in an unsustainable picture, you should start trimming on the non essential

Consider every expenditure item as an expenditure which can be controlled, eg smoking, playing in a lottery, children’s birthday parties

Monitor for as much as you can.

Constantly refine as you start appreciating what is really essential to our lives