AIBU to be confused when people say it's cheaper to cook from scratch?

[Blueskiesandcherrypies]

(Sorry another 'weekly food shop post'....)

I just don't think it is! I struggle to get our weekly food shop below £140pw. That's for me, DH, ds9, dd7 and dd1 (and soon to be newborn ds). We all love our food, though I tear my hair out every week planning meals everyone will enjoy rather than refuse and sulk about tolerate, and cook from scratch (just things like spag Bol, curry, carbonara, puff pastry 'pizza', roasts...) but I often think blimey if I could just chuck a few ready meals in the trolley and loads of bits from the frozen section (burgers, nuggets, kievs!!) we'd be quids in! But then we wouldn't be eating so healthily and I wouldn't know exactly what we're all putting in our mouths.

Weekly food shop includes packed lunches, loads of fruit for snacks, cat food, household bits, nappies.... but not alcohol, that comes out of DH's 'own' pocket rather than our joint account even if it's wine for me. We never have leftovers so can't stretch a meal over 2 days (DCs have growing appetites).

I am green with envy when I see people saying they can feed a family of four for £50 a week! Just....how?!

And ok, before you ask, I have been shopping at ocado lately but I haven't seen a huge price diff than when I used sainsburys.

Please help me see where I'm going wrong!

I'm suspicious of people who claim to be able to feed a family on less than £50 a week. Our current average grocery bill for a week (for everything, food and toiletries, is about £80) and that's just for me, DH and baby-to-be! I suspect people who make these claims either:

1. Have absolutely hours to spend searching for bargains, rather than do what I have to do (I.E, drag in after work + overtime and buy food in a rush because I just want to get home)!
2. Have Lidl / Aldi nearby (we have neither sadly, so shop in Tesco).
3. Discount all their 'top up shops' each week.
4. Eat out of the home a lot. Someone I once knew who used to boast about her impressively cheap weekly shopping bill neglected to mention that her, DH and all her DCs all bought lunch out each day, at a cost of probably £5 a day per person (I.E, about £20 a day)!

Having said that, I do try and do the following to keep the bills down:

1. Try to remember to take my Tesco clubcard vouchers etc (sometimes gets me £10 off a shop so I tend to save them to the end of each month when money is tight).
2. Browse the 'reduced to clear' section, especially for expensive things like meat (I'm veggie but DH is not). When I get home I just shove them in freezer and defrost when needed.
3. Try not to be too 'brand loyal'. E.G, for things like washing powder I just buy whatever happens to be on offer in the supermarket each week.
4. Investigate the supermarket own brand ranges, as some of them are fine, and quite a bit cheaper than the branded stuff (I do draw the line at Tesco value food though, as generally it tastes rough).
5. Try to bulk meals up where possible with reasonably cheap ingredients like onions and mushrooms in curries / bolognaises.
6. Take advantage of special offers, etc.

Overall though it's definitely getting more and more expensive each week. Sigh.

I haven't found Tesco any more expensive than Asda, Sainsbury etc...

What is on sale one week in one supermarket will be in a week or so.

What I have found though, is shopping on -line saves me money.

I break it down in to two shops also. £50 -ish twice a week.

For Myself, DH a 15 yr old, 10 yr old and a 5 yr old ...oh and a cat!

That includes all bits (household etc..) I couldn't do it for less than £100.

It also includes all lunches, all week.

Does anyone know how much meat is enough?

I mean, the main problem for many of us to avoid in our kids won't be malnutrition, it will be obesity. We probably all eat too much, certainly too much meat. When I was skint we went largely vegetarian, it was just so much cheaper and easier.

As I understand it, its how much protein is enough, meat being a good source as are various pulses etc.

Beast, they say a portion of meat should be about the size of the palm of your hand. Obviously will vary between people. I think 100-150 g is a good approximation for teenagers/adults.

You are correct to say that most people eat too much meat. However, it is also perfectly possible to be malnurished and obese, if you have a consistently poor diet, with insufficient nutrients.

But protein can be gained from other sources. I do eat meat but my whole family love chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils, haricot beans, tofu too. If I make an apple crumble I use half flour/half crushed hazelnuts, which adds protein and flavour.

I make a lot of cassoulet type dishes where typically I serve 75g of meat in a serving, but as much again of haricot or butter beans. The beans soften and thicken the stew, my kids love to mop this up with crusty bread- in fact they will often aske for second helping "but without the meat".

Ive just done my meal plan for next week for myself and 3 sons age 15, 5 and 2. DS1 takes a packed lunch to school every day as does DS2.

It should come to around £35ish. I shop at Aldi and Tesco. Add top ups of milk and fruit and that's maybe another £10

I spend about £50 pw on food and once a month I so a bigger shop between £100-£150 with big size washing powder/shampoo/toilet rolls.

thats for me two dc with hollow legs dp who eats here about twice a week and 15 yr old dss about once a week.

I also bake loads and never use lentils or beans and I don't make a roast chicken last loads of meals and I buy a cheap bottle of wine every week to. What do you spend your money on having huge shops every week?

B2B, We spend money on all food types. It's not hard to spend £100. Maybe 3 nice loaves of bread, hot cross buns for breakfast, 3for£10 meats, prawns, bacon, eggs, ham, milk and cheese. Salad, peppers, toms, fruit - bananas, grapes, apples, citrus. Add in snacks for lunch boxes, crisps, yogurts plus vegetables, broccoli, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms most weeks. Jam, mayo, ketchup, herbs, oil, butter not all every week but we usually need at least one of these. We feed four, 2 teenage DSs plus me and DH and include packed lunches for 3 on most workdays. I include all household stuff plus wine so can easily reach £120 with a smallish top up mid week. Apart from some of the snack food, I can't see what I wouldn't buy. Most cooking is done from scratch and I think we eat well but not extravagantly.
Mostly from Ocado for convenience and I suspect that's the nub. I recently went to Aldi and saw a real difference in the prices of almost everything.

I find, on these threads, that people seem to eat colossal quantities of meat. A sainsbury's 3 for a tenner roast chicken does 5 in our house with enough left over for a second meal - we eat half a breast each and DD gets a leg (because she likes them). I "pad" with yorkshires, plenty of veggies and roast potatoes. I use the thighs and the other drumstick the next day for a pie (made with gravy and frozen veg, topped with homemade shortcrust) and I clean the carcass of meat to within an inch of it's life - I take it apart so when I've finished with it there's just a pile of bones. They then get boiled for my "special" chicken broth which has stuff in it like pearl barley, carrots, split peas and is padded out with dumplings. We follow this with something like an apple or rhubarb crumble. So the meat for 3 days of meals for 5 pretty greedy people out of £3.33.

My manager cuts the breasts off a roast chicken and throws the rest in the bin. I almost fainted when she told me. She is not alone in my office - people think I am extremely frugal but to me it's just good housekeeping. One of my colleagues moans that she spends £600-700 per month on food for 2 adults and 2 primary school children yet says she "can't be bothered" to economise. It just amazes me. I genuinely believe that lots of people seem to believe that they "have" to have a decent cut of meat every day. The simple pleasure of cheap food like rice pudding seem to be forgotten.

And to answer the "I can't possibly do it, I have to work" - I work between 45 and 50 hours per week. Most nights I'm not home until 6.30pm. I still manage to find time to cook, shop and meal plan. We have a daughter and DH also works full time.

oh and we don't buy snacks very much. If I see something that we like in poundland or there is something on offer I'll buy it as a payday treat but once it's gone, it's gone. My Mum never had snacks in the house so it's just not something I think about buying. I never go down the cake/biscuit/crisp/cereal aisle. If I buy biscuits it's the large packs of fairly boring stuff unless something interesting is really cheap on offer. If we have ice cream I'll buy lollies as it's easy to get carried away with scoops and suddenly you've eaten 2-3 portions in one. I don't buy stuff like individual yoghurts - I buy the lidl large pots and sainsbury's basics fromage frais for DD. We also don't buy fizzy drinks every day - we have squash or water with dinner and DBil/Sil (who live with us) have sodastream so we have nice fizzy water for next to nothing.

We buy cheap fruit only - at the moment we have melon, bananas, apples, pears and clementines in the fruit bowl. I also buy fresh pineapples and mangoes as we all enjoy those and they are cheap at Lidl (79p for a mango, thankyou very much) We have rhubarb from the allotment so I use that. We also eat tinned fruit (peaches, pineapple etc). Anything more exotic has to come from the 7.30pm counter. I buy a lot of fruit and veg this way

We don't buy cereal which saves a lot of money and we all have access to kitchen facilities at work which makes lunchtime cheaper. I often have spaghetti or beans on toast for lunch, leftovers or oddments from the reduced counter (today's lunch was a 30p caeser salad)

We don't really do top up shops other than maybe to buy a loaf of Lidl tiger bread to have with dinner and milk.

How old are your DC truffle ours are older teenagers. A chicken serves 4 in our house. I would never serve yorkies with chicken and usually only serve a roast with two vegetables. Chicken with stuffing does one meal here, with possibly enough left over for a couple of sandwiches. Serve with carrots, green beans, roasties and a home-made gravy. Mine don't regard soup as a meal; rather a light lunch.

You budget well but what do your DC do when they get home from school? 4.45 - 7 when they get home starving and I don't get dinner ready until 8 because I do cook from scratch. We eat well but certainly not luxuriously and the lowest I can get a bill is about 130. That's sainsburys and includes some beers, wine, juice, cereal, toiletries, cleaning stuff, etc - oh and a few treats too.

I can't speak for truffle but my children need to eat soon after getting back from school. I serve them the eveing meal around 5pm. If I left it any longer they would be piling into snacks rather than a good meal. I too cook from scratch. I spend £80 a week on food. ( Including two teenagers) Windy you take a long time getting a meal ready.

I think dinner is fine at 5pm if you are home early enough to do it for that time, also if your children are young and go to bed early, fine.

When you have teens who will be up later, dinner at 5pm isn't ideal.

I think age of children is a big factor in the variations here.

It's ideal for us as my teens need a meal at 5pm. They are hungry and need they need the calories.

I cook at random times to overcome the 'home from work/school, need food now' problem.

If I am up early in the morning, I might cook then, or at least make a start, or I will cook the following day's evening meal late on the night before (things like bolognaise sauce or chilli).

Then there is weekend batch cooking and freezing. I try to cook 2/3 meals twice a week and then use them over the following few days. If we have a roast, I will make enough veg etc for 3 meals for 2, and then don't have to cook again. Luckily both DP and I like roast dinners and don't mind 'leftovers'.

There are many ways of reusing leftovers into quite different meals. Eg turn leftover chilli and rice into burrittos or enchiladas.

Or there are quick meals that take 10/20 mins like thai curry or other stir fries.

I don't think I've seen slow cookers mentioned on this thread, surprisingly. Just throw everything in in the morning, and come home to stew/chilli/curry etc.

I work full time and eat home cooked food 80% of the time. No DCs though. I also eat mostly hot meals and rarely have cold cereal/sandwiches.

Some of our best meals happen when we have 'nothing left' in the fridge. I hate meal planning for this reason.

Whizzed up a couple of tubs of breadcrumbs yesterday for the freezer, got some fillets called 'pouting' for about £1.50. Looks OK to me, DP will sniff at it because it's not cod.

A typical menu in my house for my £50 a week for three weeks and one £100/150 shop

Mon curry chicken and rice
Tues freezer food like wedges and birds eye chicken breast things
Wed toad in the hole with mash and veg/ sometimes a roast/along those lines
Thursday is usually mackerel and rice/maybe prawns or oven baked salmon
Friday we might eat out if not it'll be something like BBQ chicken and rice
Saturday beef soup and its not a light lunch sort or soup it's a stick to your bones full of yam and dumplings keep you full for hours soup
Sunday it's usually pork, rice, homemade coleslaw, or salmon and jackets as we love that and a big salad.

Dc have a lunch box everyday consisting of sandwiches, fruit, carrot sticks, crisps, yoghurt and a piece of homemade cake, they also have a snack bar for break.

I buy myself my little treats like wine, bagels and cream cheese and take lunch into work sometimes.

I buy tea bags and laundry stuff ect whatever j can buy in bulk on my big shop and a couple of three for tenner deals on chicken and belly pork to stick in the freezer for the month.

We eat porridge/toast/shreddies for breakfast and there's always cake around. I would say we eat good I don't feel deprived. It comes nowhere near over the hundred every week.

Horse

pouting is lovely, we tried it a couple of weeks ago.
Nice texture but can be a bit tasteless, I'd advise a few herbs with it and plenty of seasoning.

This week I/we, have/ will have fed a household of four/ sometimes 5 people on £45.
One of the main reasons it is so cheap is because we buy offers and freeze a lot.
Our butcher is great and only gives us what we need/want rather than a huge expensive pack.
I don't count toiletries and household stuff in my food bill as we don't eat these.
We have been to several supermarkets to get this weeks lost leaders, bought fruit and veg from the market, far cheaper.
Have shopped everyday, and used the pound shop.

I work full time and mostly cook from scratch.
If teens need a snack at 4 before I'm home they can poach an egg. Consensus seems to be that if they have a sandwich (2 slices) then they can't finish tea (at about 6.30). Alternatively because I tend to batch cook and box up portions there's always soup in the freezer.
There was a post up-thread that said a chicken only fed 4 people and was never served with a full complement of trimmings: just a couple of veg, one type of spuds and stuffing. I think that the lack of trimmings may be the cause of the lack of portions tbh.
Roast and mash and greens and roots and (sausagey) stuffing makes a roast go a very long way. A big crumble made with windfall/free fruit is worth leaving room for and costs pennies to make.

I've enjoyed the weekly plans above so hope mine for this week helps someone. I should explain that I went to a supermarket this week so some more unusual whoops items:
Sunday: porridge for breakfast, quick lunch of home made pasty/slice and salad, dinner of barbecue spare ribs and chicken, corn on the cob, onion rings, coleslaw, bread There was some bread to carryover to next day.
Monday: cereal for breakfast, packed lunches, dinner was steamed tenderstem broccolli and pak choi with garlic, steamed pollack with white pepper, prawns in tomato and szechuan pepper sauce, boiled rice.
Tuesday: cereal, packed. I used the leftover tomato sauce I'd made to mix into stir fried onions, courgettes, pepper, garlic and then poached some egges in it. Served with soda bread.
Wed: cereal packed, OH out so kids had stew and carrotty mash from the freezer, I finished the pak choi and broccoli with garlic and ham.
Thurs: cereal, packed, soup night: I have at least 5 varieties in the freezer so everyone can choose. Will make bread.
Fri: the ham will need eating so it's either be a carbonara or if there's enough left I might serve with egg and chips and some braised red cabbage.
Saturday: toast for breakfast, something quick for lunch; past with tomato and cheese or similar. Saturday night we are all out at a part so will eat sandwiches (cheese, sardine, salad) before we go just in case there's no food supplied.
Sunday is Mothers day: Wishlist: poached goose egg on toast. Pasta with seafood arrabiata. scones with jam and cream for tea. The wishlist stuff will all need to be GF for me so is really treat food: not normal for me to eat this stuff although everyone else can eat wheat.

Hi,

The only reason I can do two adults for under £40 a week is by bulk buying, shopping around, crisps only for hubbies pack up, no chocolate or biscuits and alcohol only on special occasions. We have one treat item, like ice-cream or fizzy drinks, a week but once its gone its gone. This stemmed from some very tight times, but still works.

Lidl is cheap for veg but not for other items and some of their own brands are not fantastic. We also have a whole food wholesalers which means we get lots of stuff very cheap, including nappies, sanitary items and cleaning products as well as food, if we are willing to buy on bulk. I have to admit I do shop the off sales and thats the only way we eat chicken which is rather expensive as meat goes (I only buy free range). Pork and beef are cheaper especially if you are willing to do the cheap cuts which cost more to cook, but our one day a week mass cook can put 6 portions in the freezer to come out at a later date when we are tired. We do also eat veggie twice a week more for variety, though it helps the bills. Lidl does great veg and I always buy what is cheap. I then sort out meal plan with what I have, though I have yet to contend with picky children (my sympathy, I do know its tough). We are lucky that we have a few different super markets either within walking distance or that we pass on a regular basis or I could see that it might be harder to do what we do.

On the subject of roasts, I found that we got much more off a roast by not having the traditional roast dinner. We moved to roast meat sandwiches or stuffed yorkshires which had all the componants but less meat. That is the only way I can spread a bird over 3 meals. If we have the normal family roast meal we can't make it stretch either, seconds (and thirds) are too tempting. I also wonder sometimes if the more than one meal mantras actually contain much of the original item or if its just a sniff with more other ingredients making up the bulk, so the original is not truly the main item in the meal anymore. I also find the portion sizes on those kind of things (and ready meals for that matter) rather disappointing. Maybe I should eat less!

Sorry, rambling post.

I've read the full thread.

I think that's it's always going to be an individual thing, depending on whether you care about the quality of what you eat, what it contains, chemicals etc.

Then it depends on your storage, you have to have the income to buy storage containers etc.

Cooking utensils and size of freezer etc. where you live etc.

I am Vegan, it costs me very little to eat, but I enjoy expensive fruit and fancy rolls.

I find that because I don't put my heating on, my children are older teens, it isn't worth me trying to activate yeast and bake my own rolls, cost wise.

If I was batch cooking for a young family and had a large freezer, the cost would be less, obviously.

In my house through everything in a slow cooker, go to work, come home to find it in the dog....

Have to admit my mum loves hers, no thieving dog though