Can you really feed your family for £1 a day?

[wishthiswasreallife]

I'm on a social media page where they advise people how to feed their families for £1 per day with handy tips,pictures,recipes etc and people add their advice.It just came to me when I was going through the page is that really possible?I meant it's just me and DD but she is so so fussy I really doubt I could feed us both for £1 a day!can you do it?im always looking for ways to save money as it's very tight at the minute and genuinely would try if it was possible!Very boring topic but I'm really interested to find out if it's possible.

Yes you could but it wouldn’t be nutritionally complete.

Do they mean £1 a day per head?

Yes, on leftovers :)

Yeah I never thought about that,my daughter eats so much fruit and really it is expensive for fruit compared to like a 30p pizza!

I guess it would be a short term solution

Yeah I think it's probably £1 per head?

I read the menu for one of those £1 a day a head families and it was cheap sugary cereal or toast for breakfast and then chocolate spread sandwiches for lunch. Not something I'd want to feed my children really.

It would take a huge effort and wear you down to the bone after a week, even then you'd have to start off with some basics in the larder.

No I couldn’t. Maybe for one week. But not sustainable long term for variety, nutrition etc.

Definitely £1 a head not £1 a family!

So family of 4 -

Breakfast - porridge made with half milk half water and chopped banana = £1 for 4

Lunch - cheap ham sandwich using cheapest bread, cheapest ham, plus carrot sticks = £1

Dinner - spag Bol made with cheapest pasta - 20p, cheap mince (half pack) £1 bulked out with lentils and an onion 30p portion from larger pack and cheapest tinned tomatoes - 35p, sprinkle of herbs. Total about £2

Cheap pack of custard creams for snack

Not great but not terrible in times of need!

You would have to have the money to buy the bigger packs of oats, herbs, lentils etc to portion up!

I could feed us as in enough food to not feel hungry, but it would not be a diet that met nutritional needs or was enjoyable.

Yes it's possible. I've had to do it which is very different from trying it as an experiment.
I'm very good at making something decent from nothing but never ever want to go back to that place.

I don't think so.

When it was a bit tight, for one adult, one tween, I could manage on about £5 a day including basic toiletries. That included fresh veg and fruit every day, and meat\fish maybe 5 days out of 7. In the summer I could get that down to £4.50 a day as I have a veg patch.

Minimum DS eats would be,

Breakfast: toast & home made jam + satsuma
Lunch: Little 50p pizza with cherry tomatoes and cucumbers, and a banana
Supper: Spaghetti, meatballs and tomato sauce, and a couple of Jaffa cakes.

Which would be about £1.75

Years' ago a MNer said she could get several family meals out of one cooked chicken, wish I could remember how.

£1 a head? Yes for a time until we all got tickets but its doable short term.

There are six of us and I can feed us all for £10 but that involves a lot of one pot dishes like pasta, katsu curry etc.

I cook like that because it's easy to feed everyone and have seconds and left overs for my teen. I dont try to feed them for cheaper reasons, it just works out cheaper

Sounds soul destroying. I don’t understand why people “bulk things out” with lentils. I mean when was Spag Bol ever made with lentils! Just feel like it’s tight.

Fruit and veg and be bought cheap enough in ALDI it LIDL. You can also try the app “too good to go”.

I realise that sometimes you have to cut your cloth to suit, but I’d prefer to eat well than get a new pair of trainers or fancy make up.

@Malachite234 sometimes it’s not a choice between eating well and a new pair of trainers! It’s a choice between eating and paying a bill or putting electricity in the meter!

My food bill was £15 a week when I was a single mum including food for three cats and I shopped from £ shops and made lots of flap jacks from porridge oats as they are super cheap and filling. Baked beans and eggs featured a lot. I only ever bought frozen veg as there is no waste and it's just as good as fresh. Same with fruit.
Lots of soup and bread also.
My son was very slim and needed a lot of food and he never went hungry.

Iceland is good too. Bulk buy frozen food and it lasts for ages.

I don’t understand why people “bulk things out” with lentils. I mean when was Spag Bol ever made with lentils! Just feel like it’s tight.

You really don’t understand why some people might do that? Really?

I love lentils in spag bol!

Hahaha eat well or have new trainers

Hilarious.

Absolutely couldn't be done here. DD has several allergies and the alternative foods she eats are bloody expensive

It was heat or eat in this house when Dd was little, no thougb to trainers!

I use red lentils in boogenese. about 2/3 meat and thr rest red lentils. Then blend so the fussiest in the home do not notice.

I am intrigued by the £1 challenge. To be honest, DH is a food hoarder so we could survive on nothing for some time.