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

[DeanaPiana]

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.

It to be smug but we have a combined income of over £70k a year given we both work good jobs! Sorry I don't believe In Spending money on things we do t need. I'd rather pay for my son to go to university and but a deposit on a house.

It to be smug but we have a combined income of over £70k a year given we both work good jobs!

Then pony up for some decent food for your child and stop feeding yourselves on pennies a day. It takes a certain kind of miser to earn that much money and begrudge their families a basic level of food standards.

I could do that fairly easily, and have done in the past (back then it would have been more like £15). Wouldn't want to because I like all my expensive extra's like fresh berries and nice bread and chocolate and oil and so on. But if I went back to basics it'd be fine.

If you can avoid things like Quorn and other meat replacements and just make vegetable/carb meals from scratch that will help. Some tofu and legumes for protein.

I'd do something like eggs and veggies for breakfast, yoghurt and cheap fruit for snacks, soup and bread or salad sandwiches for lunch and a veggie heavy pasta/stir fry/curry for dinner. Cook in bulk and make the soup and dinners last a few days/weeks if frozen.

You don't need to be smug

@nabobs but we DO eat nice food. And we eat out too! Today we went to a lovely vegan yoga cafe and had a gorgeous dinner. I'm a teacher and so when I finish school on Friday for the holidays I'll have a week off and that's plenty to catch up.

Then pony up for some decent food for your child and stop feeding yourselves on pennies a day.

One of the daftest things I have read on here. MummyBear isn't feeding her 2 year old on Bernard Matthews nuggets and cola bottles, Nabob. She grows fruit and veg and buys the misshapen veg that tastes exactly the same but costs a lot less. He is breastfed. What's the issue?

Back in the real world where most people buy cleaning products and don't live the good life....

It is possible to live on that sort of budget but usually by month 2 you're well sorted. Buy larger packs of stuff and freeze the stuff that can spoil. Plenty of stews and batch cooked stuff gives you variety over time. (We eat a lot of stew, not for financial reasons, we just love proper stews)

Bake your own bread. It tastes fabulous and is so cheap. Home made pizzas are phenomenal.

The key is organisation.

MummyBear you're a !
Yes you can do it. I had to do this recently (on less actually). We ate things like lentil bolognaise, homemade wedges with beans and eggs, pasta with cheese and veg, root veg and lentil stew, just really simple basic food. Carrots,cabbage, onion and broccoli for veg. We did go a bit short on fruit though, which I missed.
Someone mentioned not being able to afford treats, my advice is to try and budget for a couple of treats . You will really appreciate them so much more. As an example, I used to buy the Tesco value gingernuts for 25p - so nice.

Can the people doing v cheap shops give us an overview of the meals they make please? Would be interested to get some ideas. Not bothered about meat, eggs or dairy.

Ah thanks noeffingidea I see you've listed some meals.

In reality, I think the organisation and prep thing is going to be an issue heavily pregnancy/with a newborn

Instasista, what planet are you living on, love?

Making your own baby wipes takes less than an hour after an initial outlay. They are washable just like washable nappies.

Also if you think Aldi food is bad then you haven't got a clue what decent food is really and probably haven't the foggiest how to cook a decent meal.

Cooking fresh stews, curries, sauces, soups from scratch is not expensive at all when you know how to plan for a week. We had chicken, mushroom and red pepper kebabs lastnight with greek salad and garlic new potatos. It cost less than £5 for the ingredients and they will all go in to 3 other different meals throughout the week.

gottalove can come up with a couple more
Pan haggerty (sliced pots, cheese and onions, layered and cooked in a frying pan with lid on) and tinned toms
Or cheese pie which is mashed pots, fried onions and cheese
Nut roast (stuffing mix with chopped mixed nuts), roast pots, veg and gravy
For breakfast either porridge or wholemeal toast with value marmalade.
Lunches - cheese on toast, fried egg on toast or fish finger sandwich (yummy) can recommend Sainsburys basic fish fingers here.
This is obviously high in carbs but I lost quite a lot of weight eating this way over 3 months or so.

I can comfortably feed my family of 4 for £30 for 5 days at Aldi. Although nobody has lunch at home.
I am very frifty though

Wando- where did I say Aldi food was bad?

Gottaloveascamhun, I do thinks like

• Greek Plaki with rice/new potatos or on toast (spread with feta).
• Bolognaise (batch cook in the instant pot passata, tin of chopped tomatos, onion, garlic, basil, beef stock cube or veggie, courgettes, maybe a few other veg if I have any)
• Lasagne (made with the extra from the above bolognaise)
• Chilli and rice (instant pot again)
• loads of soups
• Stews & crusty bread (meat, potato, carrot, onion, stock)
• Chicken casserole (just chicken stew really but with whole new potato and leeks cooked in it too, with cream added if I have any in)
• Stuffed peppers
• Chicken & Mushroom Kebabs
• Pork chops in mushroom sauce with baked potato/salad
• Pasta salads
• Baked Gnocchi
• Mushroom Stroganoff

The list goes on really. It changes every week but I plan the menu around a few main meals and make other meals out of the spare ingredients when buying bigger bags of veg.

I assume this is probably possible, but you may not get everything you fancy
You could definitely eat healthily though and Aldi do sell quorn products
Their vegetables and fruit deals of 29p are fab!

deana I noticed your friend likes Aldi soup. We had the tomato soup which was really nice. Also their own brand of baked beans are nice.

gottalove

Tonight we had sausage casserole (veggie) - leeks, onions, garlic, carrots, chopped tomatoes, half tin beans, veg stock cube, veggie sausages, with sweet potato mash.

Tomorrow mushroom risotto - onions garlic mushrooms, arborio rice, veg stock, parsley, stir in soft cheese at end for creaminess.

Friday veg spag bol with quorn mince

Sat fajitas using quorn chicken pieces
Sun pasta bake.
Tomorrow I'm making leek and potato soup for lunch but also have 3 left over portions of casserole for lunch.

I really don't feel like we deprive ourselves...

Jeez by the time we buys bananas, apples, oranges, pears, melon, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries that's £10 a week on fruit ! For me, DH and two kids (age 7 and 2). I would say we would spend £50/60 a week to have a good range of meat, fish, fruit & veg but then I buy sirloin steak when making a stroganoff.

Aldi tomato soup is nicer than Heinz IMO. DH bought it without telling me and served it one day. I honestly didn't know any difference until he confessed later and showed me the tin. A co-worker had told him to try it.

*for lunches

I'm not proposing eating soup and 3x casserole for lunch!

You could probably meal plan carefully for that amount, but teen boys don't just eat 3 meals a day - they never stop eating!

I think it's very possible to do it for less, depending on what you prioritise and spend money on.
We buy things like 2 blocks of cheese every week because OH demolishes them; yogurts every week as both DS and I have them for lunch; bread and wraps, again as lunches; 2x boxes of grapes and most other berry type fruit; fruit juices for mornings/smoothies.

That in itself can become quite expensive and you're looking at almost £20 on just cheese, yogurt and fruit. Add in things like vegetables, cold meat, normal meat, milk, toiletries, diluting juice and small treats it adds up.

However, doing a shop in ASDA once and I was almost £40 dearer for the exact same amount/products.

Impossible, if you want to have a wholesome diet for yourself and your family. Even if a vegetarian. I say that as someone who watches portion sizes and only buys absolute essential food items.

I'm not sure what nappies, wipes and other baby hits these days cost; but, they must still cost a fair whack!

For two adults, two teenagers and a baby, you're looking at £70 minimum on a strict budget. Sorry