lifestyle@abc.net.au<\/a><\/p>\nAs a child, Penny felt dinner with her family was always “a really special time to come together and talk about your day”.<\/p>\n
The dinner roster cultivates that feeling of belonging and community, which also means you’re less likely to be out during the week, Penny says.<\/p>\n
“You’re also saving money in that way.”<\/p>\n
Saving on money \u2014 and time<\/p>\n
As a result of their communal dinners, Penny says her once-weekly food shop is very minimal.<\/p>\n
Breakfast and lunch are variations of toast, salad and tuna with rice, she says.<\/p>\n
“If you can get lunch under four bucks it’s so good. It’s a little game I play with myself but it’s getting harder these days.”<\/p>\n
But everyone is generous when cooking for each other, she says. Dinners are all vegetarian, which can help with costs.<\/p>\n
“Everyone puts heaps of effort into their night of cooking. You might be in the kitchen for one and a half hours but that could be it for the week.”<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/977be5bed916a98c98ace53885ecadd4.jpeg\")
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Penny Bradley’s busy share house includes tradies, a graphic designer and someone who works in advertising. (Supplied: Penny Bradley)<\/p>\n
From share house to solo living<\/p>\n
Food writer and content strategist Gemma Plunkett rents an apartment in Potts Point on Gadigal land in Sydney.<\/p>\n
She enjoys where she lives, but it’s expensive.<\/p>\n
The 30-year-old grew up in the country and has loved living in an area where she can easily walk to everything she needs.<\/p>\n
She spent her first six years “down the road” in a share house, but then moved into in her own apartment two years ago.<\/p>\n
![\"Gemma](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/6c47642d75f06a0b2a96eb62f9aa25dd.jpeg\")
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Gemma Plunkett says she enjoys the process of cooking at the end of the day. (Supplied: Nikki To)<\/p>\n
Living alone has made her more aware of the leftovers she generates, and she’s found neighbours, the butcher and others to be “happy recipients”.<\/p>\n
“I also have a lot of friends that live in the area that I end up feeding a lot. People will just pop by for lunch or pop by for dinner and we’ll eat here.”<\/p>\n
Gemma says she loves inviting people over for a meal and if you keep things simple, hosting can be less costly than eating out.<\/p>\n
“If you’ve got lovely friends, then they might return the favour”.<\/p>\n
Among the most common thing Gemma cooks for herself is roast chicken.<\/p>\n
“You have the chicken, and then you can make a stock, and you can make a soup, or you can make a curry \u2026 so I’m not sick of it.”<\/p>\n
Gemma also freezes individual portions of food such as taco mince to avoid waste and keep things varied during busy weeks.<\/p>\n
‘A really stocked pantry’<\/p>\n
There’s not a lot of space in Gemma’s compact kitchen, so the linen cupboard has been transformed into the pantry.<\/p>\n
“I’m always kind of thinking about keeping that pantry stocked. If tinned tomatoes, chickpeas, pasta or whatever are on sale I’ll buy it.”<\/p>\n
Having ingredients such as Dijon mustard, sherry vinegar, Tabasco, parmesan and olive oil are the non-negotiable (and pricier) items she relies on.<\/p>\n
“A good sherry vinegar, Dijon mustard with some olive oil can make the saddest salad a bit more interesting.”<\/p>\n
Gemma says she’s lucky to be confident enough to experiment with recipes, and as a result her focus is what’s seasonal and on sale when grocery shopping.<\/p>\n
“The more I’ve learnt about cooking, the more cookbooks I read, the more new recipes I try, the easier it is for me to be flexible with the way that I cook.”<\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/73173106ea8238cb80b0d9e7f17f7f0c.jpeg\")
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Gemma Plunkett says her approach to cooking relies on her pantry, which was a linen cupboard in a previous life. (Supplied: Gemma Plunkett)<\/p>\n
An ad hoc share-house approach<\/p>\n
Tully Rigioni lives in a five-person share house in Naarm\/Melbourne where housemates typically cook for themselves.<\/p>\n
The 24-year-old is studying and moved into the house in December 2024, but she had stayed before and was already friends with her housemates.<\/p>\n
![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/d538809f8aead2fc1c29d313ce83f1d5.jpeg\")
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Tully Rigoni (right) says her share house is one of the most important things in her life.\u00a0 (Supplied: Tully Rigoni)<\/p>\n
They tend to share staples between them such as onions, stock cubes and sauces, she says.<\/p>\n
Despite there being no formal routine, Tully says she does sometimes pair up with another housemate to share the cooking.<\/p>\n
There is a give and take that happens naturally in the house, whether it’s to avoid something going bad or because it looks like someone may have had a bad day, she says.<\/p>\n
“You wouldn’t eat someone’s pre-made meal in a meal prep container, but then often we’ll just say ‘oh, I’ve got this, it needs to be eaten’.”<\/p>\n
“It is a nice system, and it does seem to work. I don’t know if it’ll be as simple in future houses.”<\/p>\n
“Because I’ve started studying again, it’s become a lot more challenging [to afford food],” Tully says.<\/p>\n
“I’ve had to think about what I’m eating a lot more.”<\/p>\n
In her current routine, Tully says she usually cooks two big dishes a week to cover her dinners. Curry is a regular feature.<\/p>\n
It’s then yoghurt or eggs for breakfast and a packed lunch, such as a ham roll, she says.<\/p>\n
Her aim is to “spend as little on food as possible” and consequently, she’s become a fresh market shopper.<\/p>\n
“I love going to the market and \u2026 It is so awesome to walk away and have spent like $15 on vegetables.”<\/p>\n
But what didn’t work?<\/p>\n
Tully says shopping at the market without a plan has been a mistake for her.<\/p>\n
“I will just buy heaps because I get excited and then I just have more food waste.”<\/p>\n
She’s learnt to be more realistic about what she has the time to cook \u2014 even if there are some very cheap veggies.<\/p>\n
“I’m not going make an Ottolenghi salad on a Tuesday night,” Tully says.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/dfc2041fa2c72e0a138c86fbc91e3f28.jpeg\")
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Tully Rigoni says housemates often share fruit and vegetables to avoid them going bad. (Supplied: Tully Rigoni\u00a0)<\/p>\n
Gemma tried a stricter approach to meal planning and prepping for herself, but it was “just a bit of a disaster”.<\/p>\n
She enjoys the flexibility of saying yes to an impromptu dinner offer elsewhere.<\/p>\n
“If you’ve got five chicken breasts prepared in the fridge, it’s just going to go to waste.”<\/p>\n
Having lived in several share houses, Penny says she prefers the communal approach to dinner rather than waiting for your turn in the kitchen.<\/p>\n
In previous homes, cooking separately also meant more cooking, cleaning and food waste, she says.<\/p>\n
Her current home functions quite seamlessly \u2014 apart from an occasional sink strainer offence \u2014 but at other houses the kitchen experiences were not as frictionless.<\/p>\n
From food going off in the fridge, a gecko in a cereal box, to mistakenly throwing out suspicious looking (and smelling) smoked quail eggs, she’s very grateful for the current harmony.<\/p>\n
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![\"Penny](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/93c0ce5b622220336693164a22af1479.jpeg\")
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