How much does your evening meal cost?

[SandysMam]

After a few years of VERY frugal living, we have finally brought our flat which means we can relax a tiny bit and start to actually eat what I would consider to be normal meals.

However...I just called into the shop to grab some dinner and four fish fillets (lightly dusted basa type things), some new potato’s and green beans and it set me back £9!! This is to feed a family of four.
After years of pasta dinners and cheap cuts I struggle to believe a normal, regular family on a public sector type wage can afford to eat like this!! How much does your evening meal usually cost?

People who claim to spend anything less than £2 a head are not eating enough fresh veg.

Not true. I can make a family ( two adults three kids under ten) roast for a fiver. Chicken £2.50, brocolli 50p, carrots 25p (half a bag) peas (half a bag) 50p, potatoes about 60p (one medium sized per head usually). That's £4.35, enough left to make gravy and Yorkshire's if you consider making your own. Aldi prices

It varies. We have steak (good quality) once a week and one other night decent roast chicken but then we have a pasta pesto night or soup and sandwiches or breaded cod fillets. So it balances out.

Chicken drumsticks 1.80 per kg.
Rice 49p per kilo
Spices
Jar of peppers 80p
Onion

£3.09

There's 3 of us and this will do 2 meals.

So about 51p per person.

Between £5-£10 excluding wine for 2 of us. But we spend a lot-partly convenience in the week, partly high welfare meat etc.

Tonight was a lazy one as home at 20:30, cheddar mash ready made £1.99, 6 sausages £3.29, Broccoli 58p plus an onion gravy pot.
But also a bottle of wine, £7

Out tomorrow night. Sat night is an Ocado £15 meal deal (starter, main and side, pudding and fizz) plus extra veg for about £1. That was a bargain.

Out this Sunday too unsually but normally Roast on a Sunday costs £20-£25 ish depending what meat, but it will contain leftovers for Monday with a bit of ready made puff pastry £1.50 and veg £2 if I make a pie.

Fish & veg is a frequent weeknight dinner for us for speed-I’d expect it to be a good £5-6 for 2 so £9 seems fair.

We eat a mix of vegetarian, which would come in it at less than £2.50 a head, especially if the veg comes from the market, and meat days with high welfare organic meat costing more than £2.50 a head for the meat alone. I would rather eat veggie than eat a £2.50 chicken any day but I appreciate that that is a view from a position of affluence where I can have the luxury of choice.

Just calculated my pumpkin curry earlier this week.
£1 for 2 pumpkins
Tinned tomato's: 80p
Cream: 50p
Spinach/other veg: 50p worth
Rice: 10p worth
Herbs and spices: 10p worth

£3 and it made 8 portions so 38p per meal I'm actually impressed with myself

nutella if you can add in a bit of coconut and send that round, I'm ready with a spork! Sounds like something I'll be now cooking this weekend!!!

Momo for a start you've rounded down your prices. A bag of carrots does not cost 50p in aldi, nor does broccoli. If you think half a pack of broccoli is enough to feed a family of five then it's game over.

We had chicken and vegetable stew - 4 chicken legs (approx £2), chopped carrots and celery, a handful of barley, a handful of red lentils/split peas, stock made with stock cubes to cover (around 1 L), cooked for an hour and a bit (until it looked cooked) and then served with rice and peas.

Whole lot wouldn't cost more than about £1 a head, and even my very picky youngest will eat this.

I think it’s all about mixing it up.

Fish and good quality meat is expensive but it has to be expensive if it comes from a reputable source.

So have fish one night and then some cheap veggie meals for the next couple of nights.

Even if it's not on super 6 for 50p, Aldi frozen broccoli is 85p for a kilo bag. That is more than enough to feed a family for 1 meal with other veg.

No way could we afford £2.50 per head with 5 of us.

We try £1 each. At the very most £6 for everyone but try £5.

Example, roast chicken £3, potatoes, carrots, stuffing, peas, gravy approx £2 so total is £5.

Last couple of days
Butternut squash risotto with spinach was £3.50 or thereabouts
Pork casserole with lots veg and mashed potato £7
I’m making chilli tomorrow £5

I’m cooking a few Chinese dishes on Sunday as DS girlfriend is coming for dinner. Will be doing roast duck with pancakes, tofu with chilli pork, chicken porridge, hot and sour soup, Pak Choi in oyster sauce, a prawn noodle dish, char siu buns and some mixed veg. Last time she came I did a roast dinner which was much cheaper.

Red wonky carrots are 35p a bag in morrisons.

We spend £2-4 per head but do have organic meat and dairy and GF which all bump up the price.
Last night was goats cheese pasta bake with peppers, spinach and chestnut mushrooms.

Food is very expensive.

People who claim to spend anything less than £2 a head are not eating enough fresh veg

That's obviously nonsense, isn't it? It depends what else you're eating.

Katherina if to eat enough veg you have to spend £1 a head on veg, how do you have a protein and a carb for £1?

There are lower priced protein foods like eggs, pulses and other veg too. Basic cheap veg now is onions, carrots, parsnips, cabbage. Plus frozen vegetables can be as healthy as fresh.

£1 per head on veg for one meal? There could be a lot of vegetables for that.

Currently averaging about £2 per person per day (not per meal) on food. Not fun.

You do not need to spend £1 a head on vegetables to get enough veg though.

500g of reduced fat beef mince is £2.19 at Asda. That's about 4 servings. Protein for 55p per head.

Anyway, enjoy. Good luck to those that have to budget, I'm sure you do the best you can for your families. I'll count myself lucky I am in a fortunate position that I don't have to share a broccoli head between 7

Oh come on, you’re just being nasty now rededucator. Yes, some people have to budget. Yes, some people have to stretch food out. No, you don’t need to spend £1 per head on veg per meal to have a healthy diet.

The maths on the broccoli head is way out though. Not sure if this has been posted already but :

Google tells me a portion is considered to be 75g of broccoli for 5 a day purposes. Normal supermarket head of broccoli comes in at 350g!