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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

...to doubt posters who say they feed a family of four on £50/week

550 replies

twofingerstoGideon · 20/08/2012 14:36

I'm really broke myself, so I'd love to believe this is true, but that works out at £1.78 per person per day (£50 divided by 7 days divided by 4 people).

Some people go even further and say they 'run their household' on this amount, implying that they manage all bills, buy loo rolls, cleaning products, sometimes even nappies, etc., for fifty quid.

I'm really good at budgetting, freecycling, buying second hand etc., but I can't help feeling a bit Hmm about some of these claims. It's just a kind of one-downmanship, isn't it?

(Awaits flaming...)

OP posts:
PooPooOnMars · 21/08/2012 16:39

I've been trying quite hard the last few days because i am suddenly very very skint but i agree that it must make a huge difference where you live. I have a local co-op and no car, an empty oyster card and no pound stretcher type shops.

I just went to the only shop which is available to me, the co-op and I got

washing powder
cereal
bread
cheese
yogurt
spaghetti
tomatoes
Lettuce
apples
onions

just that came to 15! Can make some salad for me and sandwiches for my husband. Healthy snacks although there are only 5 apples so they won't last more then 2 days. Still need

shampoo
conditioner
soap
Bleach
toothbrushes
Kids toothpaste
tampons
bananas
milk
Oil
herbs
garlic
tin tomatoes
Loo roll
More fruit
some vegetables!
7 dinners!

Have the spaghetti and usually make my own sauce using cheap tin tomatoes, garlic and herbs which i have run out of. Have the onions for it but not the oil to cook them in. Can't eat that every day though.

Plus there is a lack of protein. I only eat fish, my husband has to be careful about what he eats due to a health thing. 2dcs but youngest has some eating issues so going on hospital advice i need to make sure there is a least one thing on his plate he will eat each meal time.

I also agree saying that its easy to do but actually if your kids/husband etc get lunch elsewhere its cheating.

I would count every bit of food expenditure so would your husband for eg KeithRichards buy some crisps or a chocolate bar, coffee etc as well as the bacon roll? Because that's all saving money out of the food budget.

PooPooOnMars · 21/08/2012 16:42

Keith I'll be interested to see that plan as well, will have to remember to come back and look at it.

Mrbojangles1 · 21/08/2012 16:44

First of all you dont need the following

Kids tooth paste children can use normal toothpaste

Soap,conditioner and shampoo

By a shampoo/conditioner combined cheaper

Aslo the veg you can get from a fruit and veg stall every one has one of these even on the shetland they have a fruit and veg man

MrsKeithRichards · 21/08/2012 16:45

I make an all purpose spray with a quater of a spray bottle of vinegar, the rest water and a squirt if washing up liquid.

Does kitchen, bathroom needs. I've never used polish, use a steam mop for all the floors. The only thing I do buy is bleach.

PooPooOnMars · 21/08/2012 16:49

Oh and also it would be nice to have some crisps for kids and dh and chocolate for me.

Also running out of

potatoes
tea
coffee
Washing up liquid

PooPooOnMars · 21/08/2012 16:54

Mrbo.

I thought the adult toothpastes had too much of something or other in for children? Anyway it makes my children cry as its too strong.

Wouldn't get shampoo and conditioner in one because in my experience it leaves the hair coated and i start to get a flakey head after a couple of washes! Plus my dh doesn't use conditioner because it makes his hair enormous!

Why don't i need soap?

No not everyone does have a fruit and veg man! That's what i just said, all that is available to me is the co-op.

rockinhippy · 21/08/2012 16:54

Crisps can be made in seconds in the microwave think YABU to doubt people can do it, but YANBU to think it is to some extent dependent on the facilities you have and where you live A RECIPE THAT LOOKS OK HERE

DD loves to do these herself - we had no choice when younger, though now do buy a weekly the Aldi snackright ones, which are about 65p

CouthyMow · 21/08/2012 16:57

I do also think the ages of your DC's is relevant - two under 5yo will eat FAR less than two teenagers who eat adult portion sizes or more because they are active and growing.

I have just got back from doing a week's shopping for me, 14yo DD, 10yo DS1, 8yo DS2 and 18mo DS3.

Bearing in mind one is coeliac and another is allergic to dairy, soy and nuts, and I also bought nappies, wipes, and cleaning stuff, hamster food and bedding, and washing powder, I spent £171 for a week.

That is about average for me. I can't do a full week when they are at home for lunch too (they get FSM's during term time) on anything less than that, really.

It sucks. My income this week? £217 CTC. My food bill? £171+£6 taxi home. After putting £20 on my electric meter (only a week's worth due to having to run HEPA air filters), £15 on my rent top up, and £5 phone credit (important phone call to make that will eat all £5), I am left with just £20 to last the week. I hate it.

CouthyMow · 21/08/2012 16:59

My DS1 can't use supermarket toothpaste. He has to use a special one from the periodontist that costs £5 a flipping tube. It's to do with weak tooth enamel from the coeliac before he was diagnosed. So I wish toothpaste was simple!!

rockinhippy · 21/08/2012 17:00

Confused no idea what the hell happened thereConfused

but here ? Quick, Cheap & Easy Microwave Crisp Recipe

& to who ever asked about cleaning - I also make my own - big bottles of cheap vinegar, aprox 13p - lemon juice, I get a litre in poundland & mix up half vinegar & half lemon in an old household cleaner spray bottle, add a tiny bit of washing up liquid & you have a good, eco & allergy friendly cleaner that will tackle almost anything - for more stubborn stuff such as cooker tops, spray & then sprinkle on a bit of bicarbonate of soda - I have this in an old pepper pot type thing - this lifts almost anything - vinegar is also a good stain remover & fabric softener too & no smell[winl]

MrsKeithRichards · 21/08/2012 17:01

couthy that does suck.

Are you able to get anything on prescribed? I have a friend who has been diagnosed coeliac and can get bread and pasta for free.

PooPooOnMars · 21/08/2012 17:05

Couthy. How did you know he had weak teeth enamel? One of mine had a problem which meant that they vomited a lot for years. Its now been sorted but I've noticed two of their teeth look a bit strange.

PooPooOnMars · 21/08/2012 17:07

Rockinhippy. Do they keep? I make thicker versions of that for chips.

PooPooOnMars · 21/08/2012 17:08

(wonders where and for how much i could get a spray bottle)

DoubleLifeIsALifeHalved · 21/08/2012 17:15

Ooh may I have a copy of the meal plan please stressed?

ValiumQueen · 21/08/2012 17:36

couthy I also know of people who get loads of food on prescription due to allergies, and I would ask about the toothpaste too.

Socknickingpixie · 21/08/2012 17:38

mrbo are you a dentist? i ask because every dentist i have ever seen has told me that if you live in an area that adds flouride to the water you should use kids toothpastes for youngesters as they have lower levels of flouride in them to much flouride and younger kids teeth combined make for a few teeth related issues quite bad discolouration being one of them.

couthy can your dentist not do a protecting coating for your dc? i cant remember what its called but i have it done due to enamal errosion it really works. nhs dentists also do it and lots of kids have it.

check out cheekywipes (expensive but you can get the idea then look on amazon for cheaper versions) you will save a fortune on baby wipes and despite what they say you do not need to use any thing other than water with them

Socknickingpixie · 21/08/2012 17:41

poopoo if you dont have one ask a friend or neighbour if they have any empty cleaning spray bottles i doubt anybody would mind giving you something they were going to chuck away. just clean it out well

MrsKeithRichards · 21/08/2012 17:47

Fleece wipes are a good alternative and because fleece doesn't fray all you have to do is get a cheep or old fleece blanket a.d cut it up.

stressedHEmum · 21/08/2012 17:55

Double, have sent it to you.

I don't have a fruit and veg stall anywhere near here, either. The closest thing is a farmer's market that comes to the next but one town once every 3 months for 2 hours on a Saturday morning.

I do most of the shopping online with Asda, usually it comes to about £200. Then, once a week, the older boys get the bus into town and go to Aldi for me. They spend between £20 and £30 getting bread, milk, butter, veg for the guinea pigs and any other bits and pieces that we need.

Can't find my meal planner at the moment, Shiny, and I don't have any shopping receipts to hand but a typical week's meals would be something like

breakfasts - cereal and milk, toast and peanut butter or jam, pancakes
lunches - scrambled egg rice with peas and onions, pasta salad, hm soup (usually left over from the night before) with bread, wraps with peanut butter and apple, wraps with hummus, carrot and craisins, toast with cretons (a french canadian pork spread)
dinners - pasta with chick peas, chick pea and pasta soup, potato, lentil and spinach curry, taco spiced cheese and tomato rice with wraps, creamed tuna and peas with rice, ham and veg pie, ham and egg pasta

Dh won't eat half of that so for dinners he would have, as an example, -

pasta with arrabiata sauce x 2
chips/toast with cheese and beans
Linda McCartney sausages, chips and beans x 2

Lunch at the weekend he would have something like more cheesy toast and beans, or cheese and pickled beetroot sandwiches or something similar. He has a very restricted diet and hardly eats any meals that the rest of us have. The only veg he will really eat are baked beans, pickled beetroot or brussel sprouts. Salad is weeds, he doesn't want his food spoiled by my disgusting vegetables. He won't eat eggs, mince, beef except fillet, pork except fillet, chicken except breast fillet in a v. hot sauce, fish, except the odd tuna sandwich. He prefers frozen burgers to hm, won't eat sausages except Linda McCartney......

Fact is he would eat Asda chicken vindaloo with rice and oven chips every single day if we could afford it, but we can't. I find it much harder to accommodate him in the budget than any of the 5 children.

talkingnonsense · 21/08/2012 17:58

Can anyone who is managing for £50, manage from one supermarket ( not aldi or lidl). I couldn't do it from asda, not and make it healthy, even if I discounted not being able to eat wheat myself. Could probably do £70, but I know the dc would moan- everyone else has pepperami/ pancakes/ etc!
It seems to me you need to either be able to shop around, or get to the really well reduced stuff, which is v hard if you live in a rural area.

TeWiDoesTheHulaInHawaii · 21/08/2012 18:06

I was thinking earlier that if you are rural it is much more difficult (though the OP doubted that anyone at all could do it, not that certain people may but others might not)

One thing is to hunt around to see what free food you can get - if you have neighbours with fruit trees - apples, plums, cherries all found all over the place, blackberries, sloe, walnuts... normally people are very happy to give away surplus, or if trees/bushes are on common ground you can just help yourself.

Growing your own in the garden is a good option longterm as well, though you'd have to research to make sure you weren't spending more on seeds than you would on the end product.

ValiumQueen · 21/08/2012 18:11

talkingnonsence I have done that over the last five weeks, from Asda and Tesco as I have a broken leg so no option. There are 4 of us, and I am pg. granted the kids are 6 and 2, but I have still had things left over, so have been able to stock up on things like milk and frozen veg. I have lived on value or half price stuff.

ValiumQueen · 21/08/2012 18:22

That is awesome fluffy thank you!