...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...)

Pretty smug there Margery.
For a meat eater.

margery i dont need to be a time traveller concidering nmw changes in oct, last time i checked we hadnt even hit sept yet
so from oct 11-oct 12 its 6.08. unless you are a time traveller ofcourse

kate how much wine? Just curious. I love wine

Good one sock

Your choice Margery. Personally I don't care that much.

And if I did care I'd be vegan.

I do not have the luxuary (sic) of time to spend. I have 6 children and a business that is often all day and then out of hours too. I have to prepare and cook a good meal for everyone every day, and that can easily take an hour. If you are preparing meals that take much less than that, day in day out, then I fail to see how you can be cooking ethical meals, as most pre-prepared food/ready meals are as far from ethical as you can get.

Your attitude is quite snotty tbh

I haven't read the whole thread so I'm not sure if it has been mentioned previously, but this website could be useful: Feed a family of 4 for £100 a month

Margery, do you, by chance, eat a lot of almonds?

I am with my children rather than farm animals as well, Val.

On all our grocery shopping, including all top ups we spend £600 a month. About £140 a week.

We are two adults and a toddler. We don't bin food, ever. I'm still not clear how we manage this!

And I'm quite comfortable with eating value meat. It is much cheaper than the lentil fed chicken.

fwiw the eu and uk rules regarding free range eggs poultry and meat are so basic that the only reason for having them is to stop having chickens/pigs/cows standing on top of each other 20 high,in some circumstances all it means is a door gets opened for a short time each day

To be entirely fair to Kate2mum I spend between £160-£200 pw for two adults and two teenagers (and three cats). That amount includes all toiletries and cleaning stuff. Teenagers consume huge quantities of food - and so do their friends. I shop at Sainsburys or Waitrose because I work full time and both shops are convenient and save time. I cook from scratch at least five times a week and our meals include things like macaroni cheese and mince too.

We have plenty of fruit and veg and I don't buy organic. We have a roast at weekends with good meat and usually another very nice meal too because I have more time then.

I don't shop around because I don't have time and I buy what the children and DH like and want which I know is extravagant and they are lucky but it gives me huge pleasure. We rarely have a take away or go to a pub but that amount probably includes 8 beers, 2/3 bottles of wine and the odd bottle of gin or tonic.

If I had to I know I could reduce the weekly bill to about £100 relatively easily and if I really, really had to I could do it for £50 (and have as a challenge but it did take a lot of time spent on shopping). Because I am not here when the dc get home I also feel that they should be able to help themselves to nice stuff from the fridge or cupboard because I'm not here to make them a sandwich and slice up some fruit.

and the odd bottle of gin or tonic. Treat yourself one week and buy both, tastes much nicer that way :o

You can if it's only food and nothing else. You have to have a menu for te week. Cook stuff that will last 2 days such as stew, pasta, rice dishes. Wen you make a spag Bol for example, half a packet of 500g mince, pad it out with canned tomatoes, water, I use half a jar of pasta sauce on top of that to add flavour, and season as normal

I have family members who work in agriculture and poultry industries and, according to them buying organic meat is pretty much a waste of time. Most beef and lamb in this country is reared outdoors, anyway, so the animals have a decent life until they are slaughtered. Pork is a bit different but even then, organic is pretty much a con. They also say (and one of them inspects poultry farms for a living) that free range/organic chicken or eggs are definitely a bit of a con. All that it means is that a door of the barn is open so that the chickens can go outside if they want. The fact is that very few ever do because the "alpha chickens" defend the exits and decide who gets out and who doesn't, so in a normal sized flock on a farm, perhaps only 200 of the chickens ever actually see the light of day.

I think that it is really easy to moralise when you can afford to. I used to buy all organic but I can't afford that at all now. I would rather my children had something to eat, thank you. That said, I don't buy much meat or fish and we eat mainly veggie/vegan anyway (I am a veggie, but the only one).

Margery, I don't think that you are in much of a position to moralise and patronise, after all, an animal doesn't really care how nice a life it had when it's being taken to the slaughter house.

Piglet You are using tinned tomatoes and jarred sauce? Ditch the sauce, buy a 29p carton on passatta and chuck in a bit of garlic and organo/basil/mixed herbs. Tastes much nicer and saves money :)

Piglet, better still use green lentils to make bolognese. That's what I make and the kids love it. Green lentils, onions, tomatoes, garlic, herbs, tom puree, water (to cook the lentils), chopped pepper - bob's your uncle. Cheap, filling and nutritious.

Forgot onions! YY, they do add flavour!

The wine isn't terribly exciting Val. I wait until Tesco does 25% off and buy enough to save £200 at one go. Bottles between £4-7.

DH thinks I am quite tight with money.

He could happily go to a restaurant and pay £150 for a meal for two, but I'd be grimacing and thinking, that's two terms dance/swimming fees in ONE meal. You can imagine I am a joy to dine with.

kate I would be thinking that is three weeks food budget

Kate2mum lucky you. My DH says he hates spending that sort of money in a restaurant when my cooking is far superior to what he gets there. I was very well taught though

I do my main shop in Aldi (where my oldest son works!) for about £65.This is a huge trolley -load.
I do a top-up in Tesco at the weekend (where my husband works, and has a 10% discount) I only buy a few items, mostly treats, and it often comes to £40!! We are a family of 5, children 12, 15 and 20. If I did my entire week's shop in Tesco, I would spend at least £170 a week, even with the discount!

I love that website. Thank you.

Thanks for the tips