to asked for a break down of what you eat if only spending £40/£50 a week on shopping

[littlemissbossyshoes]

when on other posts I often see poster claim to feed a family of 4 or 5 sometimes with pets for less than £50 a week. I have often asked for a bit of a break down or what they have for their evening meals this has never ever been answered.
is it all lentil stews and make a chicken last five meals or can it really be done still having healthy tasty meals and not cutting back on fresh fruit?.

I do my main monthly shop at Aldi.

Breakfasts are usually cereals, porridge or toasted bagels with honey/jam.
Lunches Monday - Friday are generally sandwiches or leftovers, 2 pieces of fruit each and a yoghurt for the children.

Evening meals - a typical week would be:
Monday - pasta with the sauce made from passata, onions, garlic, peppers, olives. I will usually add quorn pieces (maybe half a bag so about 1 worth).

Tuesday - side of salmon from Tesco at 10 per kilo (on offer). so might spend 12. Will cut into 9 good sized pieces, cook four, freeze four and put one in the fridge to have with pasta another night. Will serve the four cooke dpieces with new potatoes (half a bag so around 50-60p), brocoli and carrots.

Wednesday - use up salmon from fridge and make a philadelphia (or aldi own version) based sauce and stir the poached & flaked salmon in with some green beans (from a large bag of frozen at around 1).

Thursday - jacket potatoes (cost about 2 for potatoes) and have with vegetarian bolognese (made same way as pasta sauce on Monday but with quorn mince instead of quorn pieces) with cheese sprinkled on top.

Friday - haddock fritata with 2 fillets of frozen haddock, green beans or peas, 8 eggs, spring or red onion, cheese on top served wioth other half of bag of new potatoes, some carrots and whatever veg I've picked up on offer - baby corn, mangetout etc.

Saturday lunch - brie & mushrooms on toast
Saturday - pizza night! Seved with home made wedges (cost about 1).

Sunday lunch - stir fry (pre packed one from Tesco or somewhere, bulked out with rest of quorn pieces, and whatever else is in the fridge - pepper, mushrooms etc.

Sunday tea - cook the rest of the salmon. Serve with rice and veg.

My top tips would be to have a supply of frozen veg - sweetcorn, green beans, peas, even chopped onions - then you can only use what you need and they are only 1 a bag.

We don't eat much meat so quorn is ideal for bulking out or adding texture and is relatively cheap when compared to good quality miced beef or similar.

Make your own pasta sauces and double up/freeze.

Make use of the offers. 12 for a side of salmon seems loads when you're watching your money but I can easily get 3 meals out of it and we have good appetities.

I think I spend roughly 5 on an evening meal for 4 - sometimes more, sometimes less, but this is my rough guide.

We don't go in for puddings much except for fruit, but if we do, we might have jelly and ice cream, rice pudding etc.

I think I spend about 100 on my main monthly shop and about 30 pw on top of that so about 53 pw.

There are 4 of us - two gangly kids with adult sized appetities and myhus.band and me

Family of five with two teens.

Market for fruit and veg: about £7 plus grow our own potatoes, tomatoes, courgettes, marrows, beans and salad.

Lidl: about £45 for meat, fish, cheese, milk, drinks, coleslaw, tinned tomatoes, pasta, rice, bread, and household stuff.

Tesco: for top ups (because I can walk there in 5 mins) about £8-10

So about £60 a week in all

Breakfast: toast, cereal, eggs, fruit juice, tea, coffee

Lunch: salad, with coleslaw, houmous, tomatoes, ham or chicken, oatcakes etc

Dinner: spag Bol, shepherds pie, curry, roast chicken, steak, sausages etc (not all in the same week, depends what's on offer at Lidl). Veg and salad, with potatoes or rice. Aim for meat 3/4 times per week, fish once or twice and rest veggie eg pasta or ice with veg curry or ratatouille. Wine/beer on Fridays!

If I spend £50 in food it normally means DH is working away so our week looks line this;
Mon- come home from swim lessons to Fish fingers, whole meal bread, small amount of peas and a handful of oven chips (omega 3 fish fingers £1, asda French fry oven chip £1 and last for at least 2 weeks)
Tues - roast chicken dinner
Weds - roasted vegetables with cold shredded chicken on ciabatta bread
Thurs - chicken pie with carrots and broccoli. Pie normally in the oven as it's a swim practice night.
Fri - pizza for dc. Adult dinner for us if dh gets home early enough (before 9:30pm).
Sat - roast dinner or BBQ
Sunday - either DH cooks or we just sit down to an afternoon tea after a family day (sometimes climbing, sometimes swimming, sometimes a trip to the coast...) with cereals for supper.
I eat child sized portions so that helps. In this weather dessert is usually frozen yoghurt, ice cream or jelly.

Or, if the chicken runs out we might have sausages or a risotto. Some weeks I do a shepherds pit bulked out with lentils and a sweet potato, carrot and swede mash on the top and serve with broccoli.

Then there's breakfast, lunch and snacks.

I have 3 adults, 2 very large teens and a pre-teen at home at the moment. Typical meals might be

breakfast - cereal, porridge, toast and peanut butter or similar - fruit juice to drink

lunches - sandwiches, leftovers, pasta salad, scrambled egg rice with peas, hm soup with bread, bean burger rolls, fish finger sandwiches or similar, piece of fruit, biscuit

dinners - pasta with tomato and basil sauce and cheese, lentil bake with potatoes and veg, spag bol, bean chilli, beans and rice, hm soup with bread, chicken curry, shepherd's pie, tuna pasta bake, spanish rice, kedgeree, fish curry.... the list goes on and on.

This week's meal plan is -
lentil Wellington, roast salad potatoes, broccoli and carrots
bean chilli and corn bread
Spanish rice with salad leaves
Caribbean rice and peas
lentil bake, wedges, salad
chicken pie, chips and peas
pasta with caramelised onions and cheese

usually followed by a piece of cake/biscuit/ice lolly.

Snacks tend to be fruit, yoghurt, toast, crisps or cheap chicken noodles. Fruit is the cheap stuff like bananas, apples, citrus or whatever is on special offer at Aldi. Just now I have a load of snacking peppers as well because they are 45p a pack at Aldi. Also cucumber for the youngest.

it's been more vegetarian than normal this week, but that was just by accident. Usually, I make perhaps 3 meat meals a week using whatever meat I buy that week. Maybe shepherd's pie, spag bol and chilli or roast chicken, chicken curry and chicken pasta bake or, if I buy ham, pasta with eggs, ham and leeks, pea and ham soup, creamed ham with veg and potatoes.

I rarely spend more than £60 a week, because I almost never have more than that to spend, but that doesn't include washing powder or loo roll. Dh buys big packs of these when he gets paid. Other toiletries and cleaners are either from Aldi or Asda Smartprice and bought with the food shop. We don't drink.

Next week we will be eating -
lentil dahl, rice
carrot and onion pie, potatoes, broccoli
toad in the hole, chips, peas
lentil loaf, salad, potatoes
pasta with tomato sauce, cheese, salad leaves
sausage risotto
bean burger rolls, salad and wedges

Oh and this time of year, never ever pay for blackberries!!

in the past we've had plum trees which take next to no looking after and you have an abunadnace of plums from late July to Sept. I think we might plant some aagin.

I'm not green fingered at all, but I've grown tomatoes and peppers in the past - costs peanuts. We used to get cherries from our tree but they're too high up now.

Sorry- I would love a cherry tree . We had a fruit orchard where I grew up.

We are attempting to grow veg but I'm not very green fingered. Sprouts, potatoes, onions and tomatoes doing ok but no sign of peas or broccoli.

Feeding me, dh and dd(2.9) for about 2, sometimes 3 weeks

Bulking meals out
We buy 2large packs of Maris piper potatoes (1.80 each, aldi) 1 bag of sweet potatoes (69p, aldi) about 3 cartons of passata (29p each aldi) 1fajita dinner kit (1.99, aldi) 2 tins of chick peas (40p each, aldi) 4 micro rice pouches (49p each, aldi) 4pack of beans (1.50 aldi) 2 packs dry speghetti ( 39p each, Asda) pack of dry penne pasta (50p, Asda)

vegetables/fruit (fresh stuff once every week)
2 packs bananas (69p each, aldi) about 12 small gala apples (local market, about 1) 3 pack of peppers (69p, aldi) plums (about 10, local market 1.20) mushrooms (69p, aldi) large aubagene (40p aldi) large bag of carrots (49p) punnet of red grapes (1.50, Asda) carrot and swede mix (49p, Asda) large bag petit pois frozen (99p Iceland own brand) large bag sprouts (99p Iceland own brand) 3pack tin sweetcorn (about 1.20, aldi)

Meat (every 2 weeks)
2 small chickens(2.99 each, aldi) 2 twin packs of fresh beef mince (4 each, Iceland) fresh chicken thighs (1.99 each, aldi or Iceland) fresh stewing beef (3, Iceland) twin 10 pack of smoked Bacon (2.70, aldi) 12 thin quality sausages (1.80, aldi) large packet of frozen chicken breasts (between 8 and 10 peices 4 Iceland)

Ready made bits (all aldi)
Jar of curry sauce 69p, jar of sweet and sour sauce 69p 2 jars white sauce 39p each, 2 jars of basic pasta sauce 39p each) 2 large pepparoni pizzas 89p each
Large bag of frozen French fries 69p

condiments (about once a month, all aldi)
Squeezy bbq sauce 69p, squeezy tomato sauce 69p, rock sea salt in disposable grinder 1, black pepper in disposable grinder 1

household stuff (every month, all aldi)
Sensitive laundry gel 1.80 21washes, fabric conditioner 99p 20 washes, newborn nappies about 4 for about 60 nappies ( much MUCH better than huggies BTW) toddler pullups 2.99 for 18, 8 packs of newborn baby wipes 69p each, pack of green scrubbing sponges 69p, fairy platinum washing up liquid 97p (pound shop) and flash with bleach or dettol spray 97p (pound shop)

Hth

I'm writing from Australia, so it's around the fifty dollar mark what I spend mostly, but the tips should be the same. I buy my veg from markets, if you go as they are closing, midday or one o'clock for my favorite two, they practically throw the food at you. one stall sells all their veg for $1 a bag so $20 gets you a huge box of fresh fruit and veg. I also shop at ethnic supermarkets. for example, at the local Greek supermarket, a kilo of frozen blue berries is $12.50, at coles blueberries cost about 40bucks a kilo. They also have fruit juices, not the reconstituted kind either, for about $2, where you would pay up to three times that down the road. Ethnic supermarkets also have heaps cheaper herbs and spices, you get a huge bag for a couple dollars, as opposed to a pinch at the major supermarkets. The local Asian grocer often has coconut cream for 50cents etc. So much good bulk stock. you can tell from the stream of nanna's doing their shopping there!
Avoid the major chains! They are just a rip off through and through. They deliberately manipulate prices to disorientate you, not to mention tactics like putting eggs bread and milk in the further-est corners of the building so you have to walk past everything to get your basics.

Oh, and we probobly spend about 5 or 6 quid a week on naughty non essentials such as cake, chocolate, biscuits etc

On the rare occasion we have fruit left at the end of the week I will use it up for a dessert. An upside down torte is really simple and easy and uses almost any fruit that can stand cooking (you basically slice fruit after Remington the core or the stone, roll out some ready made puff pastry to size, lay the fruit on top, place baking paper over and flip it over so it cooks pastry side up, flip back over to cut and serve).

We have lots of raw veg here too, it eeks out lunch along with crisps and cheese chunks.

Removing not Remington. Autocorrect!

londonrach I saw the cherries and commented to DH they looked nice but I didn't buy, they are the only fruit I don't like, they set my teeth on edge.

We did get the nectarines and melon which were lovely.

Well im not as good as some but we have meat with most meals and ds is still in nappies. So for all shopping, not just food, we spend 40-60pw averaging out at 50 for me, dh and ds. Id say we have large appetites.

Breakfast is aldis weetabix or toast

lunches are sandwiches, with a piece of fruit (apple, pear, banana or orange)

Dinners we have, chilli, spag bol, tomato pasta bake with chicken, burritos, chicken enchaladas or fajitas, Roast beef dinner, roast pork dinner, red pesto chicken tagliatelle, white fish with new potatoes, peas, sweetcorn, etc. All these are made from scratch.

I use smart price tinned toms as the base for most sauces (we experiment with different brands and found once cooked in a sauce the smart price ones were as good as any other). We also use frozen onion, mushroom, peppers, sweetcorn, peas, etc. Also the fish fillets and chicken breasts are frozen ones that come in a big pack, which is cheaper. I get the pork joint from the market butcher precooked (same price as the raw there and cheaper than the supermarkets) and beef i buy a massive joint, cook carve and freeze in portions, so lasts weeks.

Oh and our ds usually has at least two different types of berries in each week.

Marking place for later

We saved an absolute FORTUNE by cutting out the twise a week Starbucks/Nero/Costa habit and shopping at aldi.

Also if you have a pound world (the blue one, not poundland, green one) near you they sell freshly ground Douwe and Egberts coffee for filter or cafetier(sp?) Again saves a substantial amount if your a coffee drinker :)

We eat fairly normally but don't drink alcohol.
Breakfast is cereal with milk or granola with yoghurt and fruit

Lunch is a bread roll with meat, egg or cheese filling, sliced salad veg and a yoghurt

Dinner is normally a curry, spag bol etc. We eat lots of rice (the cheap 40p a kg one) and pasta.
I buy the three for 10 pound packs of meat and some sausages each week and base dinners around those.

We buy lots of whatever fruit is on deal/cheap.

Our weekly shop is usually 35-40 pounds. We are a family of four but our children are under five. My four year old eats loads but my two year old doesn't eat a great deal. I expect the shopping bill to go up considerably when they are teens!

Marking my place for later, I would also love to know what size chicken is being used and how much is served per person to make it last days on end.

Oh and I mentioned we had sandwiches most weekdays for lunch - I don't buy anything sepcil in for these except the bread or rolls - I'llusually have a few cheapo jars of salmon paste in (B&M usually have a 3 pack of Princes for 1), tins of tuna, use some cheese/philadelhia - basically whatever is in the cupboard or fridge.

I do it with a lot of very reduced food

Sorry for being dim, but Wtf is a marrow?

I've noticed, and it is true on this thread, that people feeding their children on £40/50 a week are mainly families with only one or two adult and one or two small children, not everyone always having a packed lunch.

I don't mean this as an accusation, more just to point out that it's only really worth comparing like with like- how many adult or nearly adult meals do you need (so in this house that'd be four a day and toddlers eat less than half an adult) and how often (so is everyone having breakfast, lunch and dinner at home every day?) You also have to consider whether toiletries are included.

That's not to take away from the achievement of cooking good food cheaply and there's often great advice, but I sometimes think people get alarmed that they are spending far too much and whilst you can cut down a bit, you can't really compare one adult with two toddlers with a family of four or five over 9/10's in terms of the spend.

Oh I don't have time to read this now, but place marking so I can get tips later.
skint on maternity pay

I agree, how many adults, what age/size are the children are they children that wear age 5 clothes even though they are aged 10 are you eating all meals at home, has anyone got any medical needs, are you buying food only, where/when do you buy loo paper, shampoo if you are not buying them in your weekly shop, do you have pets or visitors you cater for?

8magicMojito* a giant courgette