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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

How can you do a comfortable shop for £30, two adults and a baby?

135 replies

DeanaPiana · 12/04/2017 18:58

DF is adamant she does her Aldi food shop for £30 or under, for two adults and two teen boys.

This includes lunches for two adults but not baby essential etc, which she calculated separately and buys elsewhere.

Could I do it and eat comfortably from Aldi? My shop must include:

Vegetables
Fruit
NO meat
Limited dairy
Some decent snacks
Lunches for two adults
Yoghurt
Soft drinks

Other half is a vegetarian who doesn't eat much dairy. I don't eat meat within the home. Baby will be veggie too (I'm pregnant). I'll probably have to buy Quorn products elsewhere, which is a pain in the arse so a lot of meals from Aldi may well be cheaper because of me calculating the Quorn shop differently.

I use to shop at Lidl and spent around the £45 mark at least for two adults.

OP posts:
Original poster
DeanaPiana · 12/04/2017 18:59

Sorry, that should read DF calculated for me (baby essentials) to buy elsewhere

OP posts:
Gallavich · 12/04/2017 19:00

No way. I can do that when ds is away just for me but not for several people. How could it even be possible?

limon · 12/04/2017 19:03

It's entirely possible with very careful meal planning.

dingit · 12/04/2017 19:03

Nope. She's lying. Or only eats baked beansGrin

Riderontheswarm · 12/04/2017 19:07

I don't think it is possible if you are all going to eat enough.

Original poster
DeanaPiana · 12/04/2017 19:07

She often has soup for lunch and says Aldi tomato soup is just as nice as Heinze (my favourite).

However she often brings Homemade sandwiches and says she prepares everyone's lunch the evening before.

Her food always looks yummy.

I think my food bill is so pricey because I love things like avocado, raspberries, as well as the bog standard apples, bananas etc etc

OP posts:
madcapcat · 12/04/2017 19:09

Look at thrifty lesley's website. She shows how it can be done by planning meals and has a range of mealplans all of which are calorie counted, costed at £1 day per person and include plenty of fruit and vegetables. You would have to be prepared to eat only what is in season and to make several different meals out of similar ingredients but it is doable. The recipes I've tried from her site have all tasted really nice, but I lack the discipline to stick to it for a whole week.

Camomila · 12/04/2017 19:11

I think it's possible but probably boring and repetitive (As a postgrad on a bursary I used to do a Sainsbury's shop for 15£ per week, I ate pretty healthily but it was the same mostly veggie things every week and I sometimes had lunch on placement or campus)

user1840873076 · 12/04/2017 19:13

My partner and I do a weekly shop of £25 which includes snacks and that's from Tesco and b&m together

Cocklodger · 12/04/2017 19:16

I'm a vegetarian and STBXH and I used to do our monthly shop for under £110 (normally 100 but sometimes would go to 110 if we needed seasonings/cleaning stuff or other extras) so I'd say it's perfectly possible.
We don't eat much fruit though - mostly veggies. They do fab cheap fruits and veg but it's normally a case of planning around availability than the opposite.
Aldi also do sell some veggie stuff however it's quite limited. From memory you can get the Linda McCartney sausages, quorn mince and quorn chicken pieces. I can't remember anything else, I do remember it being a tiny section though!

BikeRunSki · 12/04/2017 19:18

You can get Quorn in Aldi.

Wando1986 · 12/04/2017 19:19

If your main meals are basic or even really nice things but cheap like the Jack Monroe recipes you can deffo do that for £30. We did it for £16 once and ate really nice meals every night and great lunches for work. You can definitely do it too if you just bought basic veg (spuds, carrots, courgettes, onions, salad leaves, tomatos) and veggie meals from Morrisons - they are bloody fit!!!! And very cheap for very high quality!

MummyBearToTeddy · 12/04/2017 19:21

It's entirely possible. I have a monthly budget of £60 and that's for everything. My DC, DH and I eat well and I sometimes have spare at the end of the month that I put into the pot for extra treats. It includes everything we need too. DC is only 2 so he doesn't cost anything yet anyway.

HeyCat · 12/04/2017 19:24

It's definitely possible, but can be boring and hard work. Cook from scratch, eat the same things for a few days in a row, eat whatever's in season or on offer, etc. Personally I don't have the discipline to stick to it.

NabobsFromNobHill · 12/04/2017 19:28

2 teen boys? Not a chance. They can eat a trolley load of few days.
30 quid wouldn't cover my weekly cereal/milk/bread bill.

NabobsFromNobHill · 12/04/2017 19:29

60 pounds a month, for 3 people? All food, nappies, cleaning supplies? Sorry, don't believe that for a minute. You can't feed 3 people for 15 pounds a week.

Original poster
DeanaPiana · 12/04/2017 19:31

Meal planning and sticking to lists works for me, not sure about repetitive and boring foods though.

Big thanks to those who commented Aldi do Quorn, and since he only eats the mince and chicken bits anyway, I won't need to go further afield apart from maybe his Quorn slices for sandwiches Grin

Poster up top recommended a great site which has a link to heavily discounted brands that are going out of their best before. Amazing stuff!

OP posts:
sealines · 12/04/2017 19:33

I think you could do it if you didn't eat much meat and only chose the cheapest fruit/veg, ate stuff like porridge with water for breakfast. We spend £50 a week on two adults and one teenage boy, but we eat meat at every meal and we like expensive fruit and some convenience stuff. And that includes top ups from our local Co-op which is expensive.

unweavedrainbow · 12/04/2017 19:34

We spend £130 a month for 2 adults. We could do it for much much less but that includes at minimum 8 types of cheese(!). We don't eat meat but eat fish twice a week. I spend £50 in lidl once a month, £50 in sainsburys online, £15 veg box and £15 milk man. It also includes cleaning stuff (brand name washing powder/dishwasher tablets but always what's on offer). It really can be done.

Original poster
DeanaPiana · 12/04/2017 19:34

Nabobs, No, not a month, £30 every week and as mentioned, excluded nappies etc.

I don't have an Aldi within a stones throw so need to get my license sharpish Blush We live in East London so the variety of supermarket are often poo. Oh how I miss Essex sometimes

OP posts:
NabobsFromNobHill · 12/04/2017 19:36

No, I'm responding to the pp who said 60 pounds a month.

Mrsknackered · 12/04/2017 19:36

Do you have a heron foods near by? They don't sell any fruit or veg but they do have lots of quorn products and Stella mccartney stuff there.
I gave up for lent shopping in supermarkets (bar the odd bit) and do my veg and fruit in our local market. It's much cheaper and much nicer. However I don't spend £30 a week.
I spend £60.

MatildaTheCat · 12/04/2017 19:37

Why don't you ask her really nicely if you could see her receipt so you can see what she buys and she might be kind enough to give you a rough meal plan, too.

Having said that the other items like cleaning products, shampoo, and all that stuff can add loads to bills.

Original poster
DeanaPiana · 12/04/2017 19:37

Nabos Oh sorry! Ignore me

OP posts:
Gallavich · 12/04/2017 19:39

£60 a month?
The only way people can possibly eat on these budgets is if they only eat the cheapest food, every meal bulked up with cheap protein like lentils, no alcohol, no desserts, basically nothing enjoyable! Plus nobody in the house can have more than a bird like appetite.
£60 a month is just...nah I don't believe that