That P1,000 Meal Plan, Chito & Neri + All the Memes: A Recap

(SPOT.ph) If there are meal plans—with varying levels of, uh, believability—all over your feed lately, we're here to explain why. It all stems from a weekly meal plan Neri Naig posted to Facebook on September 10, a post that went so viral it has now become the subject of the latest meme craze to hit local social media. Confused by it all? We recap the events below.

Also read: Looks Like the Memes Are Turning "Confidential" Online

Why did Neri Naig's meal plan go viral?

The former actress is now known for sharing tips and tricks for keeping house online, gaining an Internet following for it over the lockdown, so her posting a meal plan wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Except that the week's meals were based on "a budget of P1,000." Yup, food for seven days ringing up to a P1,000. 

"Para sa mga nanay na mamamalengke bukas pagkatapos ihatid ang mga bata sa school, eto na, pakiprint na po eto, kumpleto pati palengke list," read the caption, quoted as is. "Nagtry akong magbudget ng P1,000 for a week. Kung may sukli pa yan, pwede pangdagdag merienda o baon ng mga bata."

Needless to say, there were a lot of raised eyebrows in the comments section, with a lot of people calling it a "1k challenge." It is impossible to follow the meal plan on a P1,000 budget, people pointed out. With mixed reactions following the post, Miranda eventually deleted it. 

On September 15, Naig's husband and Parokya ni Edgar frontman Chito Miranda made a Facebook post of his own defending and explaining what happened with his wife's meal plan. Naig had initially made a meal plan with a budget of P2,000 and with the positive reception, had decided to make one for P1,000. "It was mostly for fun, but she also thought that it can be useful for those who might want to use it as a guide," he said of the first one. 

"Soon enough, she was able to come up with one, and kahit madaling araw na, she eagerly shared it with her followers (and again, madaming natuwa at nagpasalamat)." Miranda explained that, unlike the first one that had a lot of disclaimers, Naig was operating on the idea that people who'll see the P1,000-budget plan had also seen the former. "...and since it was intended for those who already knew what she was doing, she made the crucial mistake of not filling in the details."

"Naisip lang naman ng asawa ko na baka sakaling makatulong 'yung meal plan nya sa mga tao that might find it useful, na-bash pa sya ng mga taong hindi naman nakasubaybay kung bakit ginagawa nya 'yung meal plan." 

Miranda added that Naig was working on a more detailed version of the plan in the meantime. He added a "cruel, cruel world" commenting that "For those who got angry and threw stones without knowing the details of what she was doing, good job sa inyo...your comments say more about your character than the person you are commenting on."

Naig replied in the comments, saying that she was okay. "Sa dinami rami ba naman na naibash sa akin, maapektuhan pa ba ako sa meal plan?". She also thanked Chito "at palagi mo akong pinagtatanggol. Buti na lang ikaw talaga napangasawa ko ang saya ng buhay ko lalo [because] of you. Love you!".

On her own page, Naig announced a giveaway of seeds to 50 commenters on September 14. The actress is known for the backyard garden she cultivated during the lockdowns. "Dali, mamimigay ako ng mga seeds! Para mabawasan ang stress ng mga nagba-budget sa bahay," she wrote.

There's been no posting of the edited weekly plan as of writing, but with Naig seeming to be not so bothered by the memes, it looks like there's no reason for us not to have a bit of a laugh. After all, with food prices as they are, we could use some cheering up. 

Check out some of the funniest weekly meal plan memes: