Lesmé and Tino Lindis live in the West Auckland suburb of West Harbour with their nine-year-old son Coen and their puppy, Ratchet. Lesmé, 45, works as an account manager, while Tino, 51, has a background in sales account management. Tino does most of the cooking at present because he’s between jobs, and Lesmé is the main shopper. She shops at PAK'nSAVE, Woolworths, New World and sometimes Costco, and at Animates for Ratchet. This week, the total grocery spend was $393.89.
Lesmé was interviewed by Lauren Marrion.
Food waste is one of my biggest pet peeves. I always buy amounts I know we’ll use, for example, just 400 to 500 grams of mince for the three of us. That helps prevent leftovers going to waste, and if there are any, I’ll take it for lunch the next day.
I try to meal-plan as much as possible. Shopping online lets me add or remove items right up until a day before pickup, which I usually schedule for Wednesday because it’s payday and gives me time to adjust my cart throughout the week.
Burgers are our quickest weeknight dinner. I buy patties (beef or chicken), bread rolls, and oven chips which I just pop into the air fryer. If I’m feeling fancy, I add lettuce and tomato too. I’ll usually grab the bread rolls or missing ingredients en route home from work.
Sometimes dinner is just cheese toasties or eggs. Takeaways are rare lately. We had salmon last night which is one of our favourites, but we don’t have it often as it’s so expensive, so it was a real treat.
PAK’nSAVE is my main supermarket because of price and convenience. They hold my click-and-collect slot after checkout, and you only pay on pickup day. For emergencies during the week, I pop into Woolworths or New World – whichever is cheaper, determined via the Grocer app which compares prices across my local supermarkets.
Our puppy is a Staffy with a very sensitive stomach. Now over six months old, he eats twice a day, after school drop-off and again at around 5:30pm. He gets Royal Canin from Animates (usually around $70 for a 4kg bag, but as a member with current promos, I’ve paid as little as $58). His meals also include dog roll, boiled pumpkin for fibre (two teaspoons per meal), and plain Greek yoghurt for probiotics.
Potato chips and chocolate are our must-haves. We usually buy them for movie nights, but my husband who is currently between jobs snacks more often. If I forget his or my son’s snacks, there’s a good chance I’ll go back to the store and get them. Another non-negotiable for me is Nescafé coffee. I always make sure we have that stocked.
For my own snacks, I grab whatever’s cheapest. Usually nut bars, oat bars, or muesli bars. I also take a banana daily and sometimes grab some of my son’s mini popcorn or Burger Rings packs.
Coen can be quite particular when it comes to his school lunch. He prefers thin rice crackers over the thicker ones, he likes thai-sweet-chilli Doritos and prefers toasted english muffins or croissants instead of sandwiches.
I’ve had to cut back on non-essentials. My favourite fabric softener (Downy) had to go for the time-being. I do sometimes buy the large bottle at Costco as it works out cheaper. Being on one income at the moment means I focus on essentials though.
We love boerewors on the weekend. It’s a type of South African sausage. It can be quite expensive, so if PAK’nSAVE have it for under $10 per pack, I buy it.
I used to bake weekly, now it’s every two or three weeks. Depending on pantry stock, I make cakes, cupcakes, biscuits, and slices.
If I had an extra $50 a week, I’d spend it on toiletries for myself. Fancy shampoo, moisturiser, or something for self-care that I sometimes overlook.
If I were more disciplined, I’d spend more time meal-planning. I know better planning could save me even more money.
My husband and I occasionally cook together. Recently, we made mac and cheese – he boiled pasta and fried the bacon, and I made the white sauce. But most weekdays, he cooks and I handle shopping and cleaning.
We are comfort-food people. We love traditional South African dishes like Cape Malay chicken curry and brown stew with lamb, onions, brown gravy, potatoes, and sweet yellow rice.
I’m a bargain hunter with a weakness for chocolate. One Sunday, I went to Countdown “just” for fruit and my son’s lunchbox snacks, and came back with chocolate biscuits, a chocolate for each of us, and Mentos, and of course the fruit. Shopping on an empty stomach gets me every time.
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