Budget meal ideas

[Brooklyn99999]

Hello,

I’ve found myself in a situation where our food costs appear to have gotten out of control! We previously didn’t need to budget and so bought whatever we wanted.. however the situation has changed and I need to drastically reduce our food costs. Currently we spend about 120 on a weekly shop (including wine, cat litter, cleaning stuff etc) plus 10 on Aldi nappies (twins), but then we seem to end up going wild on top up shops which can easily end up being an extra 100 of totally unnecessary things. E.g pop in for a loaf and end up buying M&S dine ins etc etc.

ive put my big girl pants on after a change in situation and started to budget properly, I’ve budgeted 500 a month for all food, nappies, wipes, cat stuff etc, although I’d like to get it even less.

we are a family of two adults and two 16m olds.

can you hit me with your favourite budget meals? Preferably not pasta based as I just don’t like it very much unfortunately! Any other money saving tips also much appreciated!

also any recommendations for a budget nice dry white wine? I do like to have some wine on a Friday and my £15 bottle of Chablis days are well and truly over.

Lidj wine usually quite good, so worth a look
I could live off nearly any Indian style veg curry you could make breads to go with or darl ( so many spellings)
Homemade breads nice and easy
Bags of rice are cheap
Anything that is convenient is expensive think microwave rice over a bag of rice
We eat loads of lentil based meals and can make wraps for pence
Do you have a heron / freezer shop they can be amazing!

Chilli
Dahl
Chickpea curry
Stir-fry
Soup

Veg curries are an excellent idea, we do eat meat but I could easily switch to veg and bulk out chillis with more beans/chick peas. Thanks!
we don’t have a heron but we do have an Iceland food warehouse, I’ll get myself there and have a look.

Egg chips and homemade coleslaw

Veggie curries, chillis with tinned tomatoes as the base

You can use a cheese or creamy mushroom sauce on rice or potatoes if you don't like pasta

Things to watch are the snacks - find cheaper fruit, or veggie sticks

Tind of mixed beans are also good to make bean salad, chili bulk out other meals
Ethnic shops (or aisle) are also great for bargains bigger packs of spices, pulses are often cheaper there too, I buy glass jars of chickpeas (around a pound) but in Waitrose /M&S nearly identical ( I genuinely can't tell any difference) are £4 a jar.
Shop loyalty doesn't pay, I'm lucky to have a mix of supermarkets, B+M home bargains , ethnic shops that are all easily accessible
Polish shops are great for dairy , spirits and cordial ( a lot of the cordials are sugar based not nasty fake sugars)
Also shop with a plan but don't be super rigid, yellow sticker bargains are great esp if you're able to freeze things

If you eat meat i highly recommend roasting a larger pork shoulder (£8 from Lidl) and then using it for a roast, a stir fry with rice, "chops" and mash, with black beans, Mexican spices and tomatoes as a wrap filling. Then have a veggie curry night, baked potatoes one night, then fish and new potatoes perhaps. The other week I do chicken which doesn't go quite as far but costs a bit less.

Stocking up once a month for cat supplies, nappies, canned goods etc. perhaps have pasta once a week?

I'm on a tight budget (disability benefits and single parent).
There's me and 3dc 20, 15,15. 2 have afrid and asd. I spend £70 every 10 days (by stretching to 10 days i can push the meals to havingan extra night of extra cheap). I bulk buy herbs, spices, toilet rolls, rice, pasta etc so buy one item with every shop to spread cost.
Due to disability I have delivery (£3.99 a month). This helps with only buying what we need.
I meal plan every meal and snack.
I batch cook chilli's, spag bol, curry, pasta sauce etc and freeze. A big pot of Jambalaya bulked out with extra vegetables and rice can do two evening meals.
I have a few cheap meals every week eg Jacket potato with cheese and beans etc.
Egg and tomato on toast.
Beans with potato Waffles.
A toastie, pitta pizza or omelette with basic salad.
A homemade tomatoe pasta sauce which I add chicken or ham to if we have any leftovers with pasta and homemade garlic bread.
Portion control so we don't waste anything.
Snacks I buy when on offer or cheap biscuits, cream crackers, breadsticks, cheap yoghurts, seasonal fruit (we've had a large punnet of strawberries this week for a £1 which was 6 portions).
Dd likes pineapple it's 99pence that will last 4 days and so good value. Kiwis are actually cheaper than a bag of apples so look for what's cheapest. Tinned peaches are 39p does 3 portions with a bit of ice cream it's a great weekend treat for the kids. Keep checking prices as they continually change.

Also look at what you are buying in the top up shops... If it is lots of snacks stuff then pick up multi packs of the same / similar.

Make dressings, spice mixes, pasta sauces in bulk. Then you can buy the meat / vegetable / carb and add flavour instead of buying ready meals / ready made sauces.

Cheap eat meals
Carbonara
Mushroom risotto (any risotto really)
Tuna caper lime & chilli pasta.
Home made pizza

Sometimes it can be cheaper to shop at Waitrose than Asda! Check for offers
Don't be a brand snob! Branston beans are way better than Heinz (there was a thread recently)
You don't need fabric conditioner (white vinegar) Elbow grease spray is a great product, cleans so many things and is good on food strains on clothes (,+ sun cream)

Tray bake using chicken thighs and with plenty of veg seasoned how you like it.
A pork fillet cooked in a creamy mustard sauce with mash.
Batch cooking bolognese/stroganoff/cottage pie/lasagne/shepherd's pie/curries
Stuffed peppers or stuffed aubergines

Also, join Too Good To Go - loads of supermarkets and restaurants have some great deals on there nowadays. It's hit and miss but there are loads of good deals to be found. Olio is also a good shout.

Do a roast chicken with lots of veg.
Strip as much meat as you can then boil up the carcass and strip off remaining meat. Save stock.

Use meat to make a bbq chicken or a cous cous based dish, or a caesar salad.

Use the stock and a little remaining meat with asian veg and coconut milk to make a thai style broth or.other veg to make a cock a leekie broth.

Pork shoulder roast can then be turned into bbq pork rolls
Similarly brisket.

Use chicken thighs instead of breast.

Stir fry with a bag of king prawns frozen from Aldi.

Savoury pancakes with mushrooms in a white wine sauce - with chicken if you like.

Sausage egg and chips

Tagine with chicken and preserved lemons/ olives

Chilli one day then turn into enchiladas.

Home made cheese and onion quiche.

Grow your own salad.

Jacket potatoes with beans, cheese and salad

Baked sweet potato with refried beans and chopped salsa (tomatoes, peppers, avocado, chilli, lime and salt). We also have fruit salsa with this sometimes made from tinned pineapple or mango.

Cheese and mushroom omelette (or any variation) with some sourdough and roasted tomatoes

Soup, bread and cheese

Things like the oft-mentioned veggie BBC burnt aubergine chilli are pretty cheap to make if you have all the spices in already (and it is delicious!)

Satay noodles with stir-fry veg (the cheap ones like shredded carrot, cabbage etc)

Black bean tacos

Baked rice dishes

We don’t eat meat but chicken thighs are pretty cheap for a traybake

For wine, check out the reviews of Aldi’s bottles – some of them are great 🍷

Thanks so much everyone, you’ve all made some amazing suggestions!

I find the pinch of nom books good as well as the bored of lunch range.

I spend 70 per week on 2 adults and two kids (6 and 3). This week we've had prawn salad, Chinese chicken curry, roast chicken with salad and new potatoes and I've made mediterranean chicken orzo tonight. I cooked a whole chicken a few days ago and have used it for different things. Used chicken thighs tonight. The curry and orzo dishes I have two portions left over of each which will do another two nights of meals. I'll make the kids crackers with salad and some cheeses and ham, or jacket potatoes.

I also have a freezer full of one off mealswhere I've had a left over portion. So when I'm low or due to shop i'll often defrost these- they're good if the kids.are being fussy as they can choose a meal each without me having to cook multiple things.

I'm often guilty of a top up shop particularly fresh fruit which we all enjoy snacking on normally about 30 quid for a top up if i do one.

I also have all the shopping apps and use the offers. So I shopped with ocado for 4 weeks as I had 15 quid off per week. Then sainsburys did a similar offer. Often when you don't use them for a while they offer something so I flit between supermarkets.

Olio can be good it's to save things from going to waste , food can be given away by individuals or food heroes. Then there another section where you can also give away or collect all sorts bikes cushions toys sofas etc it's free to download you can pay to be a member but it's not required

Not cheap meals but cheap meal planning...
Shop around...
I've found if I do an online shop at Sainsbury's for the month it's about £120
Top ups on bread milk etc at Tesco
Fruit, veg and cat litter from farm shop £25
Meat from butchers every other month £30
Cat food, washing detergent and toiletries every four months on subscribe and save £70

Frozen food can be economical as there’s no waste and max freshness. I buy frozen salmon fillets as the fresh ones are out of my price range! Iceland club card gives you £2 for every £20 loaded so that’s 10% off. Peas, soup mix, spinach, berries are freezer staples and they have some good multi buy offers. IME Iceland delivery is prompt and the drivers are kind if you’re not able to bring the bags indoors.

Anything made of flour is far cheaper made at home IF you can factor in the resting and rising times.

Have a serious look at your receipts and everything you are buying. Work out if you can skip or do something cheaper.

it's far cheaper to buy a piece of gammon and cook it than packs of sliced ham - same with a chicken.

Add tins of beans or lentils to curies etc - it really bulks it out.

Shop from your cupboards, use leftovers, freeze even little bits of stuff. I freeze chopped up celery and put in soups.

Make soup - it's easy healthy and cheap.

Have ready meal rather than go out or takeaway for days when you just can't be arsed.

Have an omelette for tea.