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

[twofingerstoGideon]

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 about some of these claims. It's just a kind of one-downmanship, isn't it?

(Awaits flaming...)

I probably could.

We do 2 adults a toddler and a baby for that. Plus cleaning stuff. We spent £30 this week as we already had nappies and some of the meat, pasta etc we needed in the freezer.

It works by:
meal planning within a inch of your life.
Always buy the cheapest version of everything. If the cheapest version is disgusting don't eat that food at all.
Cook everything from scratch, but with cheap ingrediets.
Go round before closing time to buy reduced meat etc as cheaply as possible and then put it in the freezer to get the next meal.

It's not fun and exciting though.

Occasionally you will find me standing in the meat aisle, eyeing up a lamb joint wistfully.

It's do-able for food only - once you factor in everything else (shampoo, washing powder, loo rolls etc) that massively hikes up any shopping bill.

We a lot of fruit and veg - but I'm the Queen-of-Lidl and Master-of-Yellow-Lable!!

How can a weeks shopping budget be blown over a toothbrush? How much are you spending on them?!

Lisianthus: Baking your own bread is a bastard for the electricity bill, though. As is cooking dried puleses, etc...

A lot of money-saving ideas seem to involve extra expense elsewhere: travel costs to 'shop around', 'fuel costs' to make your own bread etc.

I thought you couldn't be bothered to get involved MrsKeithRichards.

Definately do-able.

If you only have £50 available to spend on food then you have no choice but the feed the family on £50. Back in the late 80's a relly of mine was feeding 3 including a ravenous 4 yr old and a boozing OH (hence the tight budget) on £15 per week. I know most young children don't eat vast amounts, but this kid is not most children and could pack away huge amounts without gaining weight.

So, YAB at bit U. You may not think it's possible, but some people know it is because they have to do it.

two You seem very adamant that it can't be done but there are people that do it.

Why can you not accept this?

If you are on a budget of £1.78 per person per day, of course new toothbrushes could blow your budget. They would cost approx. a day's food budget (but waits for MrsKeith to advise otherwise...)

You're right.

Why ask if you're clearly adamant it's not possible.

MrsKeith I used to do it when we lived in the city, there's nothing here except one big supermarket and a farm shop. I can get quite misty-eyed remembering Lidl's wine... I used to could fit 6 bottles in the bottom of DS buggy, get some bits and and still get change from £20.

*disclaimer. Not every day, of course

We are a family of four, 1 in nappies, I keep £200 for shopping for 4 weeks. That's for everything.
We eat pretty well, pound shop for toiletries etc.
Some people don't have a choice.

Pack of 2, 85p in Aldi. Comes out of the previously stated allowance for household stuff, all within my £50 weekly budget.

But I'm obviously lying.

You can buy toothbrushes for a lot less than £1.78 each.

BonkeyMollocks - I am not 'adamant'; I am 'doubtful'. There is a world of difference. As I said above, I live on a very tight budget,, shop around (without going ridiculously out of my way and using gallons of petrol), use freecycle, etc., so it's not for want of trying.

Aldi do an amazing red wine, Toro loco, 3.49 and it's lovely. I sometimes squeeze that in my trolley!

Goodness, how defensive people are. No-one has accused you of lying MrsKeith.

I seem to spend £50 a week - well, this week was £35 in Aldi and £10 in Tesco because I had to get more calpol/calprofen and baby toothbrushes and Aldi doesn't do them. That is including nappies, loo roll and cleaning products but not milk.

I don't budget hard and could probably spend more but don't need to.

That is for 3 adults and a toddler by the way, but 2 adults get free lunches in the week.

I cook meat 3-4 times a week, have a (cheap) bottle of wine once a week or two (I'm the only drinker), I meal plan and only buy exactly what we need, and bake all our own bread.

Your expectations will fit your budget.

If you had less you would work out what else you could sacrifice, just like everyone does.

If you were prepared to eat beans on toast every single day you could do it for even less.

My nearest Aldi is four train stops away, so would cost around £4 return to go there to buy cheap toothbrushes. My local pound shop sells them, but they are massive and last time I bought them the bristles fell out in my DD's mouth while she was brushing.

I don't shop around, way to lazy for that!!

And you're right, I did say I wouldn't get involved I just get so annoyed at the implications that I (and those that do this) are either lying, eating shit or too thick to factor in soap powder and toothbrushes.

Rubirosa - thanks for your post. Two adults getting free lunches in the week would save a lot of money. £50 quid would seem doable to me if two adults were getting 10 free meals a week between them!

I walk to the poundshop in my lunch-hour = no extra expense. I get 3 tubes of colgate toothpaste for £2, any other bits and pieces I need (rare).
Aldi is 5 minutes away by car = same cost to go there as anywhere else.
I can make bread, but rarely have time = not a lot of extra expense.
Most lentils - bring to boil and boil for 10 mins then cook in slow cooker = not a lot of extra expense. But electricity comes out of a separate budget anyway.

My average shop at Aldi's is about £37 including fresh fruit/veg and meats. I then spend about another £15 for milk and fresh bread or rolls.

We have to as we're skint with dh being unemployed.

We live near an Aldi, and spend about £40/week for 2 adults and a small child.

We eat a lot of pasta and tomatoes, which are cheap, along with some mince (big packet, portion into 3, freeze) In fact our main carbohydrates are pasta and rice, both of which are cheap. I did buy a 15kg(? -was huge, anyway) sack of spuds from Sainsburys for 25p a while ago, but perhaps not coincidentally the kid has now gone off mash :) Lunches are generally fruit and one of fish fingers, tin of something (beans, spaghetti, ravioli are the current holy trinity. Previous favourites are soup and macaroni cheese), breadsticks and dips or pasta salad. Evening meals of spag bol, Ps Pasta (pasta, pesto, peas, pancetta), curried chicken, chilli, kiev and chips or similar once a week. Breakfast is Aldi own cereals and/or yoghurt/toast.

It can be done, but we definitely spent more when we used to go to a bigger supermarket.