British families that go on these BBC save money shows can't be real

[Rufusgy]

Eat well for less.

A mum sends three children to school with shop bought microwaved pancakes laced with nuttela everyday

They spend 5 mins explaining how to use a bit of left over chicken in a stir fry, basically just chop up eveything and stir fry it. As if stir fry and woks are some newfangled invention

They can't afford a house deposit and have zero savings, but won't even consider not buying a brand

Slicing chease is 'too much work"

Seriously is any British family actually like this? Who the fuck is stupid enough that they need a prime time BBC show to tell them proccessed food is expensive and its cheaper to make it yourself.

"How do people get their 5/day ( or more as that's better) without having something in the evening often that's a one pot meal majoring on veg?"

Seriously? Why would you need a one pot meal to get loads of veg?

It's very unlikely you're getting full portions to count as 1 a day from the qualities you've posted btw

I don't understand what's wrong with pre grated cheese? It's just cheese grated for you. It's often cheaper because it's a smaller portion than a block

But most people have pans, dont have to catch a bus to a decnt shop and don't have to worry about the 10p to put the oven on for an hour.

I love that programme - especially the 'reveal' at the end when the family discover that the 'cheap, horrible-tasting' item (this week it was coffee) is actually their favourite ('posh') brand, the one they always use... Brand snobbery in all its glory

Also meant to say the people on this programme are obviously extreme examples and not poor- I never understand why these threads become about poor people being too uneducated to cook

It can be cheaper to cook from scratch but not everything. I like to make homemade pizza as a treat but it doesn't work out particularly cheap and it is time consuming. I don't have time to prove dough most evenings. It's obviously cheaper than the pizza express ones but much more expensive than everyday value ones. Cake is another perfect example- it costs more to make a cake than to buy one in most cases. Some years I make a Christmas cake... It costs me a fortune.
Like a PP I was also a bit about the show promoting quorn and margarine. I'd love to see Greg's reaction if someone on masterchef cooked a quorn dish or made pastry with "spread" instead of butter... and while I'm at it can you imagine the reaction if someone microwaved some rice and onions with some passata and no seasoning and then served it up as a risotto?!

We use 500g for 2 adults, meat is not actually a bad thing to eat - I would much rather eat more meat and less pasta in spag Bol as it's much healthier ( I know this will be contrary to others opinions but there's a lot of recent research about how we should eat more meat and fat and less carbs )

To those saying how expensive re cooking utensils and pots and pans - go to a car boot, they can be had for less than a 10 for whole kitchen generally. Microwave cooking is cheaper but it doesn't preclude cooking from scratch - its main issue is colour. I lived using a MW with grill for around 12 mths when we moved into a wreck house, we also used a camping gaz stove, I used to start off casserole style meals on stove - ie brown meat and onions then in the MW cooker it would go, I also had a rice cooker I got for 50p at a car boot so rice took 7 mins . Asking friends and rellies if they have any spare cooking stuff is always an option - I mean how much crap do people have in their cupboards! As to slow cookers you can get one for a fam of 4 for less than £15 new, take one with you as a gift for the family.

I do understand the money flow issue with cooking from scratch - but there is free internet access at most libraries and you can use wifi on smart phones from local cafes for the price of a cuppa, you might even get a pay it forward cuppa.

This is one of the reasons why the Rowntree Foundation reports show that to people living at or below the poverty line phones are so important and what people who say "oh they can't be poor they have a phone" don't get - it can provide a life line to family and jobs if they are sofa surfing, it provides access to information (jobs, food, housing, benefits etc) its not just a luxury. Their research showed that people were going without food to pay for phones. Puts a whole new structure/light on Maslow's hierarchy of needs

oh and yes the programmes are hysterical

But 500g of meat on one meal for two people is expensive. Pasta is dirt cheap and extremely filling. Not everyone can afford to spend that much to make one dish.

I eat from scracth and it's not expensive. Also most people eat too much which is one reason 60% of people are fat in the UK so if they ate less and better they'd do better.

If you live in one room with only a microwave you can stll eat from scratch fairly well and cheaply. If you just have a job it's fine too as plenty of us often eat only raw food for a day or two. That doesn't kill you either and it's fairly natural. I don't even have hot drinks just tap water which is pretty cheap.

I think this thread is mixing two things. Those programmes aren't about the very poor. They are about the fairly well off.

I get that, if you can afford only a small portion, grated cheddar may be cheaper. If you can afford the larger block, the everyday value cheddar is cheaper than all the examples given by the pp. And the type of people on this programme are not balking at paying £5 for some.cheese.

Income support - £57.90 per week

Slow cooker - £15, or a quarter of a week's income.

I'm taking arguments to extremes. On the whole, by and large, with decent quality, it is cheaper to cook from scratch.

It's really tough if you have no money.

DP and I are both greedy meat lovers and eat generous portions of meat sauce with spag bol. 500g of mince would make 4 portions in our house.

x post with libraries.

I agree. The programme is showing all that is wrong with the cooking habits of people with money to shift around.

What libraries said. This isn't about poor people. It's just an extreme. Like obsessive compulsive cleaners or something. Not everyone with an untidy House is at TV worthy levels.

In fact why are people so obsessed with what others eat? You don't see the same passion on threads about the dirty mingers in obsessive compulsive cleaners who are undoubtedly damaging their health and wellbeing far more than ore grated cheese family

I have thrown away loads of slow cooker food because it tastes like crap slow cookers don't seem to work for me

I think we are all nosy. That programme about Britain's Spending Habits by Ann Robinson was fascinating for the same reason. What do others eat and spend money on is interesting. We are all different.

The basic point though for many middle earners is those of us who are what I call "jam tomorrow" people who don't spend now because we save for later tend to be the ones who can save up a deposit for a flat and be reasonably financially secure and the spend spend spenders have less money and then stupidly feel resentful of those who had 10 years of huge sacrifice to save without remembering the things those of us who sacrificed things put up with.

I've tried batch cooking and I've always ended up throwing away the frozen portion.

I can make a chicken or joint of stretch, though.

Yes. That's a good way of putting it Slightly. Money to shift around.

"both parents juggle looking after two kids with working full time - life's pretty hectic so thinking about what's for dinner for the family is a daily challenge for mum" Anything with Greg Wallace in was going to be crap though!

and dad says their diet is boring because mum buys the wrong foods

You LAZY fucks. Thanks to MN for opening my eyes. Just because I have to work two jobs to stay afloat doesnt mean I cant spend 2 hours cooking instead of prioritising sleep and shit. Just because I could feed myself actual food with my last five pounds doesnt mean I shouldnt piss it away on spices and organic ingredients that quickly spoil. I mean yeah, I live in shared accommodation and only have one tiny freezer shelf but i can definitely freeze infinite batches of food. That clearly works out cheaper and easier than buying a tin of beans for 25p and adding grated cheese for like 75p a bag. Thank fuck being. SAHM in a leafy suburb with a spice rack is exactly the same as actually going to work and living in a shared room desperately trying to make rent and shaming people because they dont cook from scratch is universally true and great. ITS SO MUCH CHEAPER AND NUTRITIOUS!!

bad morning?

It is not about you Smarprice

it is just a TV programme

Never undersand people syaing it takes long to eat well. I fyou eat raw food all you do is open the bag of nuts or the carrots and eat - takes 30 secs. If you want something hotter you stick on your omlet - why does that take any length of time at all? My typical lunch would be a piece of salmon - how long does that take to cook? or opening a tin of sardines. And yes I work full time and am a single mother of 5 and indeed today have been working from home since about 6am on a Sunday.