...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 could do it. But I am list and budget mad and can be scarily organised if needs must.

I am amazed at how much u all manage to feed the families for - I'm so lazy

Does this mean your whole shopping budget though or just food?

Toiletries, cleaning products, nappies etc?

DS is now 4 so no nappies & my £130 a week for the 3 of us seems like a lot. I don't mind as I don't really watch how much I spend on food but I can't believe the difference!

I think there is a lot of misconception about the way people shop and buy things. There are so many variables - what shops are available, what time of day you shop, how old the children are, if they eat meals elsewhere, how much they eat.

There are very few rapidly growing teenage boys who would get by on toast for breakfast, sarnie and fruit for lunch and a one course dinner! My 13 year old is almost 6ft, my 10 year old rapidly approaching 5ft5 and my dh is 6ft7 - all are extremely active and sporty and forever ravenous! Even if I fed them nothing but fruit as snacks it would still cost me 40+ a week! (just for the fruit). With 4 adults taking packed lunches to work and school a loaf of bread barely lasts a day - regardless of whether its shop bought or homemade.

I buy all my household stuff (soap/shampoo/toothpaste etc) in Home Bargains and a weeks supply costs around £25. We are almost totally veggie these days but even without meat on the menu I spend upwards of £75 a week. I shop around and buy bargains wherever I can and on pay week I bulk buy rice and cous cous and pulses.

I make everything from scratch daily and make the most of daily bargain in most of the shops (we have them all here) and I still couldn;t feed the 4 of us for under £50 a week! Course its a doddle when you have little ones and food goes further - but as they grow the costs get greater - and not just for food.

I'm just too embarrassed to say how much I spend for a family of 6 and a selection of pets per week. Ir's a huge amount of money, I buy some value stuff, and no booze. All toiletries come from the supermarket same with cleaning & laundry stuff. But I still spend more than most of you here. If there is not enough food in the fridge I get constant moaning from the 4 kids. Teens eat masses! I only go out once every month or 2 & haven't had a takeaway for 10 years! All my money goes on food
Drives me nuts, as I don't eat all that much myself.

I think it could be done ut it wouldn't be easy. I feed 2.5 (that means me, ds and a boyfriend who eats my food some of the time) of us on £30-£60 a week depending and yes that includes cleaning products and basic toiletries shower gel/shampoo and toothpaste. I don't scrimp and I have what I would consider luxuries, I also waste a lot. I also shop in Sainsburys/Tescos when I could go to Aldi and probably save a fair bit.

I reckon I could do it.

Oh god I don't even spend over 130 on my Christmas shop!

That's the point though chickydoo, it'll cost me less feeding just me and dh and the cat than it will you feeding ravenous teens.

I doubt any of us with £35 shopping bills have hungry teens unless they have allotments.

The point is though, that if that's your budget, you just do it, whatever way you can. If you can, whipping around the supermarket at the end of every day to check what is reduced you can save a small fortune. I leave the kids with DH and do it. If you've got older kids you can leave them home alone.

If there's no fruit left by the end of the week and your teenagers are hungry between meals it's tough luck, you don't buy more. If you can only afford an exact 100g portion of meat per person, per dinner, that's all you buy and cook.

All cleaning products and toiletries from the pound shop.
We can't afford to spend more so that is why we don't. Before DS, I could spend £100 per week for just me and DP, the food I ate was more interesting and varied but I doubt much healthier. That also included a few bottles of wine.

Gutted no Aldi anywhere near me, nearest on 13 miles away.
Bananas are really really cheap, sainsburys basic range is all quite nice too. My DDs are also bottomless pits waiting to be fed.

"I buy all my household stuff (soap/shampoo/toothpaste etc) in Home Bargains and a weeks supply costs around £25."

25 quid a week on household items!

I dont know why everyone thinks cleaning stuff is so pricey.

Bottle of smartprice multisurface cleaner 30p.
Bottle of sp disinfectant 30p
Bottle of sp bleach 30p.
aldi good housekeeping approved bio powder 2.99
Bottle of sp vinegar for descaling kettle 13p, lasts all year you just put in cold and pour it back into the bottle the next morning.
Smartprice fab soft 80p.
Aldi which approved wul, 59p

So £5.30ish for about a months supply. I used to decant into spray bottles to make it last longer

I use astonish cleaner now for a £1 but really I could cut back to sp if I needed to but I like the BUAV approved astonish products.

I don't spend much on cleaning. Bicarb and vinegar for general things, cloths that get washed not thrown out, special offers/99p shop for other bits.

Toilet rolls, toothpaste, shower gel etc 99p shop again, savers, or good deals elsewhere.

All in with the weekly budget. I have a separate account for this so can't go over, if I did we'd go over the household budget.

Interesting thread. No doubt it can be done if you have time to shop around, have little children with
little appetites and have time to make your own bread and cook from scratch etc.I have reduced our bills considerably by shopping at aldi and home bargains, home baking and slow cooking at weekends and taking packed lunches to work but there is no way I can feed a family of five adult eaters for 40 quid and get all the toiletries and household stuff. Not long term anyway.

With us recently our favourite fruit is a luxury. We always have whatever fruit - bananas, apples, oranges etc is on offer but gone are the days of punnets of cherries etc. Must do is a great master

I feed a family of 3 (2 adults, 1 child) plus a dog and a cat on £200 a month. Nappies are not included nor is alcohol, sweets, chocolate or other treats. The extras add up to about £80 per month but if things are tight I cut them out. Simple.

My youngest is 11 and I have 3 others of 20, 15 and 13, plus a hungry bf who seems to like coming to see me at dinner time, so they all have massive appetites. I concede I have the time to make things from scratch, but I shop at Sainsburys, as it the cheapest local supermarket . Driving further would negate the benefit of cheaper deals in another store I think.

lou33, try it.

If you halve your bill you would have to drive quite far to spend equal in petrol.

I don't buy any of the stuff you listed fluffy!!

My weekly household shop consists of toilet rolls, soap powder, fabric conditioner, kitchen rolls, hand wash, shower gel, toothpaste, deodrants, spot creams, shaving foam, baby wipes, washing up liquid, mouthwash, dental floss, tampax, hair gel, shampoo/conditioner etc etc....

and ok it might not be "every" week but certainly every 10 days or so!

I already have quite a low shopping bill per week, I was just replying to the poster who mentioned about low shopping bills must have young children and small appetites :)

To shop at a cheap store like asda, aldi, morrisons, it is at least a 30 minute drive for me.

I worked out we spend on average £46 a week. We have a budget of £200 per month and have to stick to it.

I include food for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 7 days a week, toiletries, cleaning products, nappies and formula milk.

I'm not sure exactly how much I spend a week. I worked it out, and because I buy in bulk, it tends to work out between £55-£65 a week for everything including nappies, washing powder, dog food etc. I even buy booze in bulk.

And that is for a family of 4.

Fruit and veg, milk etc I buy fresh, so this is where I get a bit confused about how much is exactly spent. But at most, I would say £70. So not that far off from £50. And we always eat home made dinners, too. DS doesn't have school dinners either. But we do go out twice a month to eat out, so that adds to the total amount.

Suppose it depends on your local shops/greengrocers, butchers etc also.

I never buy fabric conditioner or kitchen rolls.dcs who are old enough to need spot cream,Tampax,hair gel etc buy their own.

You'd expect an 11-12 year old girl to buy her own sanitary products, dementedma? And spot cream (if they need it) is hardly a luxury either.

Have to say, though, I also don't buy kitchen rolls or fabric conditioner.

I LOVE my Lenor Summer Breeze fabric conditioner, I class it as one of my luxuries. I just bought a shit load in as it is on offer for £1.68 in Tesco for a 40 wash I merrily skipped to the till.