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How much to feed a family of three?...

5 replies

WhoDidIMarry · 08/08/2011 14:27

...me and two DC (3 and 1).

Am about to join the ranks of singlemotherhood and I'm trying to work out a rough budget. I've allowed £300 per month to include food, toiletries, household consumables etc. Oh and two dogs.

How does that sound? Am I deluded?!

OP posts:

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HarrietJones · 08/08/2011 15:33

I think that's plenty. I can feed 5 of us on £50 a week but it's tight and can't stick to it for more than a couple of months!

You'll now get people on here now feeding a family of 12 for 60p a year so don't feel inadequate

There is someone with a v good spreadsheet on feeding a family of 4 (I think!) look out for her.

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HarrietJones · 08/08/2011 15:42

The poster is bitterandtwisted who has the £30 a week for 4.

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pollyteapot · 08/08/2011 21:03

We're trying for £50 a week for the 3 of us. Only been a couple of weeks and we've managed it in under £40. I get most things now from Iceland. Menu plan, go in with my list, and I just get what is on the list. things like frozen veg is great, and we've discovered frozen rice too - my boiled rice was always crap, so now in 4 minutes we have nice non sticky rice :)

So I used to get 500g mince which did 2 dishes (so 2 meals). Iceland do nice mince 400g, and it still does 2 dishes - a £1 saved. We eat fairly plainly though, and always have done so it;s not a great hardship for us. make your own cakes, freeze them and take them out as needed - another saving.

it has only been a couple of weeks though and I'm sure the time will come when we need lots of toiletries and cleaning products all in the one week

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scabbysnake · 09/08/2011 18:39

hi, i too am a lone parent with 2x ds, one 3.5yrs & the other 5yr & i can do it easily for £30 a week. a year ago it would have been £20 but everything is going up! can do it for under £30 if i'm really careful. i just do a couple of cheap meals a week like beans on toast/egg on toast/homemade soup. i also hardly ever eat meat as that really bumps up the cost so just eat veggie meals which we are all happy with. let me know if you need any tips

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WhoDidIMarry · 15/08/2011 11:43

Thank you ladies, I really appreciate your comments. I think I'm going to try and do it on £250 a month. I think I've got Aldi sussed now so I'm sure it can be done and still eat well. Although I love a challenge so I will definitely be trying to get it down as low as possible! :)