Just recently, Neri’s Facebook post about her sample weekly meal plan became the talk of the town, and mostly not for good reasons.
In the now-deleted post, Neri Miranda shared how she tried to budget 1,000 pesos for a week. She also indicated that if ever there’s a change, the remaining money can be allocated either for “merienda” or the kids’ pocket money.
In the photo, the weekly menu featured an ensemble of traditional, such as lugaw and champorado, and non-traditional, such as the tuna sandwich and oatmeal, Filipino meals. On the right is the list of grocery store or “palengke” items which are the ingredients to be used for the meals, though the ingredient list did not come with a breakdown of prices. It is also worth noting that for dinners, there’s no specific meal to be prepared as leftovers should be eaten.
In the original post, it is not indicated how many people this weekly plan is for, and there is no serving size. However, in the comments, she shared that the P1,000 weekly food budget is sufficient for 2-3 people with moderate appetites.
Neri Miranda has been called “Wais na Misis” due to her tips for being a housewife and a mom, all the while being an entrepreneur. She has been posting and sharing her journey through social media. Neri had published a book about being a wise homemaker as well, to be released next month.
Netizens rushed into the comments, giving out remarks that her budget is “unrealistic” in this economy. Some also pointed out that the ingredients she listed on the right are incomplete, they lack some of the components of the meal and did not include cooking oil, seasonings, and most importantly, rice – to which she answered that some of the ingredients are supposed to be harvested from the home garden. She also shared that in their household, they get their eggs for free because they have chickens.
Some netizens who attempted to remake the budget, adding the missing ingredients costings, shared in the comments their take on the weekly meal, but it exceeded the proposed budget. Neri responded to these by suggesting making an edible garden. In a separate post, Neri is intending to give away vegetable seeds, stating that “Kahit walang bakuran, pwede magtanim sa paso”.
Netizens believed that the proposed meal plan could not be achieved by a common Filipino family, simply because they would not have the resources and privileges Neri had access to, such as having land for the garden. Some also stated that proportions do matter, and they vary from person to person so the budget must have a range.
Due to the negative reactions elicited, Neri deleted her post. Chito Miranda, Neri’s husband, came to her defense through a post on Instagram. Chito had said that they follow a different meal plan in their household and that Neri, with good intentions, had just attempted to make the weekly meal plan for her followers. He also explained that Neri deleted her post as she will be making a new detailed plan that is aimed at people who “do not fully understand what she was doing”.
What do you think of her post? Do you think that it is possible to implement in this economy?
