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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To feed my family on £1 per person per day

353 replies

Dramatic · 02/05/2014 21:57

I've heard about celebs doing this and finding it almost impossible but really it's not that hard, I spend £25 a week (or less) on me and 3 kids. Am I a cheapskate or do other people spend this much? I shop at Aldi if that makes a difference. Maybe I'm depriving my kids by spending £1 a day on them. How much do you spend per person per day? Surely it's not that unreasonable to think £1 a day is plenty to feed yourself, why are people making such a fuss about it?

OP posts:
candycoatedwaterdrops · 04/05/2014 20:15

Can you give us a menu for a few days with rough portion sizes? I genuinely cannot see how you can be eating anything other than tiny portions. Do you buy any snacks? Do you ever go out for a coffee?

Kissmequick123 · 04/05/2014 20:16

Other protein - nuts, lentils, beans (butter beans etc), humus, chickpeas, fish (fish pie, fish cakes etc).

Kissmequick123 · 04/05/2014 20:16

Greek yogurt

Kissmequick123 · 04/05/2014 20:17

Eggs

Yoruba · 04/05/2014 20:20

As others have said try lentils etc. red lentils are really cheap, a 1kg bag will do 4 meals for my family comfortably (2 adults, 2 kids, big appetites). Also try here for some really excellent cheap and often reasonably healthy meal ideas of you are looking for more variety.
www.agirlcalledjack.com/tag/recipes

HarveySchlumpfenburger · 04/05/2014 20:27

As far as I can tell the recommended meat/protein portion size for children aged 1-3 is 1oz (approz 30g) or about 2tbsp of cooked mince or 1/2 an egg and they need about 2 portions a day. I don't think stretching 750g of mince out over 3 meals is that bad. Nor is the rest of the OP's shopping list. They definitely could do with more milk and a greater range of meat or veg would be nice but it isn't that bad. And I agree that it is healthier than some of the lists posted on here.

OP in terms of dairy/calcium intake the NHS and US guidelines recommend 1/2 pint (300ml) and the Scottish ones seem to be recommending 1 pint (600ml). If they are drinking the school milk, they will be getting about 200ml + what they have on cereal. Cheese and yoghurt count towards that as well. Thinks cooked in a cheese or milk sauce will count if they really won't drink it.

MrsKoala · 04/05/2014 20:35

I may have missed it but I don't remember seeing eggs in your list - apologies if I missed it. On the beans on toast day I would also do omelette/scrambled egg. But then also they would have not had fruit or veg for breakfast or lunch and just some with dinner. Would they have fruit/veg to snack on between meals?

I do dried fruit and banana porridge, which gets cheaper fruit in at breakfast time. 1 mug Value porridge oats, 2 mugs milk, 1 mashed banana, half a mug sultanas/raisins, half a mug of dried apricots/dried prunes etc in a saucepan and heat slowly till thickened and all milk absorbed. It can be left to cold too and served with grated apple and Greek yogurt.

I also soak cheap nutty muesli with some value orange juice, chopped dried fruit and grated apple overnight, and have it for breakfast with sliced banana and lidl cheap greek yogurt.

Maisie0 · 04/05/2014 20:39

www.telegraph.co.uk/health/dietandfitness/10677529/Recommended-healthy-protein-consumption-in-middle-age.html

As the body slows down on growth, an adult do not have as much energy to digest as much.

NewShoesTwoShoes · 04/05/2014 20:50

The blog "A Girl Called Jack" (linked to above) has some great recipes. My two children (age 3 and 5) love her banana pancakes for a weekend breakfast. She also has good shopping and budgeting suggestions eg buying a bag of dried milk powder to use in certain recipes - adds calcium, doesn't go off.

candycoatedwaterdrops · 04/05/2014 21:08

So, you can feed a single woman and 3 small children (one of whom doesn't eat 5 meals a week at home) on £1 a day. I wonder if it would feed a woman and man who both work labour intensive jobs and 2 teenage boys. YABU to say it can be done for everyone because it works for some family set ups.

TequilaMockingbirdy · 04/05/2014 21:11

I could probably feed myself for a quid a day but it'd be miserable.

2 egg omelette in the morning.

noodles with chilli and onion mixed in for lunch (20p noodles from asda)

beans on toast for tea.

WeAreTheOthers · 04/05/2014 21:16

I don't think you're unreasonable I think you're amazing, do you mind sending me your shopping list?

drinkingtea · 05/05/2014 06:25

Tequila guess "rip off Britian" is a myth then - can't get meat that cheap anywhere in Germany - under 2 pounds for 500g of mince? really?

MrsJackReacher · 05/05/2014 06:51

I'm with you candy, a lot of posts on here (not that I've read them all) seem to be based on one adult plus kids - no hulking great man who does manual labour involved. We spend around £60-70 a week on me, DH, DD (5) + 2 cats, and DH and I still end up buying at least one lunch per week (usually I make sandwiches for both of us). And I think that is not too bad.

Kissmequick123 · 05/05/2014 07:25

Any curry/stew/Dahl type meal is very very cheap if made with dried lentils or dried chickpeas or other beans/pulses. One packet of dried pulses/lentils can make a main family meal lasting separate evenings (includes one hulking man size portion mrs jack)

MrsJackReacher · 05/05/2014 08:08

I do appreciate that. But not everyone likes lentils/chickpeas. My point is that, if it's just you + kids then you can influence what they eat and eat more cheaply, but having to take DH into consideration does make it more expensive.

LoveBeingCantThinkOfAName · 05/05/2014 08:18

Unless I've missed it, no meal plan from the op as yet

Chunderella · 05/05/2014 08:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
Dramatic · 05/05/2014 09:37

I've posted my shopping list and the meals I cook more than once now...

I should get £6.20 per week then chundrella as I have two under 4's. That should buy all the fruit/milk/veg I buy now plus maybe a little more.

OP posts:
fatlazymummy · 05/05/2014 10:28

Here's another blog some people may find helpful .
www.ThriftyLesley.com
I am going to try out one of her recipes later (well, adapt it slightly).

TequilaMockingbirdy · 05/05/2014 12:33

drinking Yeah I get the £2, but there's also the cheaper version mixed with pork here:

To feed my family on £1 per person per day
To feed my family on £1 per person per day
zobey · 05/05/2014 16:05

I've h just done my weekly food shop. Fresh food cooked each day for two adults and a 2 year old for £30.00 that's a fridge full of fruit and veg and loads of meat. Chicken, Turkey, gammon joint. Sausages,

Sparrowlegs248 · 05/05/2014 17:13

I think my trays of mince must be 750g looking at that one.

TequilaMockingbirdy · 05/05/2014 17:35

I must say the look a lot smaller on the photo than real life

nomorequotes · 05/05/2014 17:44

Surely child tax credits and child benefit are for the children rather than for the parents debts?

I don't understand why anyone needs to spend so little on food. I agree with spending CTC and CB on rent top-ups, fuel or water bills but not on reducing a parents debts and I believe that the debt companies have to discount that income when deciding how much to pay back because it doesn't actually belong to the debt payer.

We spend as much as we can on feeding our kids, not as little.