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HomeOFW + FamilyWhen Domestic Helpers Receive Low Budget for Weekly Food Expenses

When Domestic Helpers Receive Low Budget for Weekly Food Expenses

As stated in their employment contracts, domestic workers fulfill household tasks such as cleaning, looking after young children or elderly members of their employers, or any other relevant tasks. But their skills are not only tested in physical capacity to do a dawn till dusk job; they are also tested in their budgeting skills.

For example, they’ll be given money to spend for the family’s food for the whole week. Many employers trust their helpers to decide, but others less so. They ask for receipts to be sure that the money they gave was well spent. Honest domestic helpers have no problem with this. But if the amount barely covers the food expense for the whole family, all helpers tasked to visit the market may have a hard time stretching the budget.

In times of inflation, the value of grocery items dwindle per dollar spent. So if an employer insist on the usual amount, extra creativity is necessary.

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Filipinos are masters at stretching the budget so if the amount is intended for the helper’s family, it would have been much easier to get by. Rice and plenty of veggies for dinner should not be costly and can be spread throughout the week. But for employer’s family, many of whom require the standard fare of vegetables, soup and meat in every meal, it might be a nightmare to come up with such arrangement. So what should Filipino helpers, performing as cooks should do?

Tell employers the cost.

This is by far the most practical way to tackle the problem. Let the employers understand how much it costs to prepare a meal. You can also support this by comparing prices in supermarkets (often more expensive), wet markets (less quality control) and discount items (health risk) by showing receipts for each item bought. Unless your employers are fine with oversimplified meals (veggies and rice or oatmeal) or decide they’ll eat at fastfood, they should have no problem increasing the market allowance.

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Buy in bulk

Purchase staple foods like rice, pasta, and beans in large quantities as they have long shelf life and are often sold cheaper per unit when bought in large quantity. This might mean switching from your usual retailer to one that has wholesaler price. Of course, look out for discounts and special offers at supermarkets.

Only buy seasonal produce

Choose seasonal fruits and vegetables as they are freshers and often cheaper. A visit to local farmers market might be worthwhile for a more affordable fresh produce.

Show employers a detailed breakdown of a recent market trip.

Upon finding out which shop sells the cheapest veggies, fruits and meat, you gather all the receipts and present to employers a detailed breakdown of the price. Put further justification that the cost may be the cheapest, but it may also compromise your other tasks. If the market with cheapest commodities is far from home, you may need to spend more time or spend extra on transportation. So saving money on the market could turn out to be even be more costly.

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Limit meat consumption

Meat can easily be one of the most expensive items in the shopping cart, so consider substituting it with more plant-based protein commodities such as tofu and lentil in the cooking ingredients.

Serve smaller portions.

This approach may sound stupid but it also addresses their needs: you give the food they’d like to eat consistently only that their serving needs to be curtailed so you can spread the ingredients until your next trip to the market. Reduce the frequency of serving more expensive dish.

Find cheaper ingredients.

Find menu items that use less meat, a known expensive commodity, and use meat extenders instead. Substitute original ingredients with cheaper but worthy replacements. In that way, you’ll still be able to cook the food as they requested, but only with cheaper ingredients. The key is to be creative.

Choose frozen over fresh.

It’s always a given that fresh meat and poultry tastes better than frozen ones. But at the end of the day, it’s still the same meat and poultry. The same holds true on buying vegetables. Organic produce are more expensive so it’s easy to rule them out. Buying from wet market may be cheaper but products may also be more exposed to pesticides and unwanted chemicals that they need to be washed more thoroughly.

Utilize leftovers

Even if the smaller portions still yield leftovers, be by transforming them into new meals. For example, leftover roast chicken can be used in sandwiches, salads, or soups. Just make sure to store them properly to extend their shelf life and reduce food waste.

Amid the rising cost of food, there are still ways to manage a low weekly shopping budget a domestic helper must manage.

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