Poor budgeting this month

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It’s been a costly month already and so we are left with £400 till payday (22nd) . Still need to buy food out of this. I’m crap at meal planning but need some pocket friendly meal ideals please. 2 adults and one teen. Usually need enough left overs for adults to take lunches the next day.

Yes to cooking bacon.
I go to lidles and get their 1kg packs of cooking bacon for something like £1.20.
If you look for the ones with big bits/chunks in, they're like big chunks of ham really (once cooked) or huge slices of gammon. You have to look for the right ones though.
I tend to cook mine in the slow cooker then take out, let cool and slice into slices for sandwiches or use for breakfasts, soups etc.. £1.20 for a kg of ham!
Here's one I bought a while back but it was more like gammon, I think this one was cooked down for a bacon and lentil soup. A vat of it 😋

We spend on average £400 per month on food for a family of 4 and 4 pets, we shop at sainsbury's and get all fresh fruit and veg etc and cook meals freshly. We go once a month to our local butchers who do great bulk deals so we dont need to buy meat from the supermarket and that comes out of our £400 budget. Seems a decent amount to live off for food. We get a take away once a month, buying prepackaged food i.e sandwiches and coffes can be costly it all mounts up so we take packed lunches for work

Iltavilli

No gravy type sauces - they are ok with pasta in sauce so I think it’s going to feature highly in their diet for the next couple of weeks! H doesn’t get in until at least 7.30 so he and I eat later than the child does. Easy enough to do something different for them.

Going to head to Aldi tomorrow and I think there is Iceland too so will check it out. Thanks for the ideas!

Cheaper cuts of meat, look for offers, possibly pork or chicken...

£400 isn’t too bad, I’m on a similar budget most months (me, 2 teens, a dog and a cat). My food bill is around £60-£70 a week but slightly more when the dc’s are off school. I meal plan and do my shopping online so I don’t buy any extras.

It is ample for food , but only if you stick to a shopping list amd meal plan ( something I am rubbish at so I know how easy it is to spend loads yet have nothing in ( we fancy ) to eat )

Before you go shopping , make a list of what you already have , then do a meal plan , using it all up and only buying what you need .
I have friends who meal plan to the extreme even buying the exact number of potatoes they have planned to eat for the week

Do not shop with out a plan

I'm boring but would be doing lots of variations on mince but bulk it out with carrots, tomatoes, beans etc depending on the dish.

Mince with potatoes has extra carrots, cauliflower, broccoli in so it goes further.

Bolognaise with pasta bulked out with tomatoes, peas and making a kind of gravy too.

Chilli with rice with kidney beans, chick peas, cannelloni beans to eke it out.

Jacket potatoes with cheese and/or baked beans a good go to.

Spanish omelette.

If you H insists on meat, cheap(er) braising steak done in a slow cooker but bulked out with root veg and served with potatoes will fill him up without using too much meat.

The fussy one who doesn't eat anything in a sauce can be dished up those disgusting really cheap sausages for every other meal (not frankfurters - frankfurters are nice!).

Omelettes are pretty cheap and nutritious, jacket potatoes with cheese and/or beans ditto, and the magic Aldi chicken is cheap as chips (well, not literally). Rummage through the larder and see what you can use up and not replace till after pay day, eg tuna can be used in a pasta bake, corned beef for corned beef hash (one of DP's favourite meals - he's easily pleased), risotto etc.

Buy cheaper versions of things like bog roll, washing-up liquid etc and ditch the spray cleaners and wipes. Eke out the detergent & conditioner by never, ever doing less than a full load of laundry. Plain (or no!) biscuits, no sweets or treats definitely no alcohol, and you should be fine.

We have "pauper's month" every now and again where we live on as little as possible. It always surprises me how much less we spend and some of the paupers' meals have become regulars, because we like them.

If you don't already have a Ocado/Waitrose/Sainsburys online account-you could set up a first shop with them and they all offer around £16/£20 off first couple shops with them. Just google to find these offers/voucher codes online.
Also the pricings are similar to other supermarkets if you shop looking out for offers or go own brand. www.mysupermarket.co.uk is a great comparison site for all the supermarkets.
Also sometimes local butchers/asian butchers do bundle meat deals and frozen veggies are fine too. Best of luck with it all.

H is a food snob so will probably moan but needs must!!

H can't afford to be a food snob this month! In fact make H do the meal planning...

You will see a huge difference in your food bills moving from tesco to aldi.
I.made the switch for all my fresh meat and veg. I still do tesco for things I can't get there
But honestly I halved my food bill.

First work out how much other unavoidable payments are to come out of the £400 and then work out what is left.

No ready meals or takeaways, batch cooking, veggie meals, shopping at Aldi or Lidl. Plan seven dinners and make a list from that. I spend usually

Swapping branded goods for own brand or supermarket value lines will cut costs for you.

Maybe see if you have any clubcard vouchers that you've not used?

The best thing to do is write a menu on a weekly basis. Agree it so that everyone is on board with the choice of food. Then make a shopping list for all the stuff you need to make the items. This cuts out buying on a whim. I like Lidl but I find I cant get everything I want so try asda, its so much cheaper than tescos.

Easy enough to do something different for them.

Also, this isn't economical.

Couple of my go to cheapy meals

Pasta bake- pasta, tinned tomatoes, sweetcorn, tuna (which you can sub in bacon or chorizo for non fish eaters), herbs, grated cheese on top

Jacket potatoes and let people pick their topping of choice

Omelette - onions, sliced potatoes, peas, bacon, herbs, eggs

Sausage and mash and onion gravy

Liver, bacon and friedonions with mash

Oh and when you make a list I usually put a price on each roughly so I know how much I will spend. For things like fruit, I usually say £5 and pick and choose within that budget. Same goes for any snack things.

Just not buying (much) fish or meat makes a huge difference.

Our household income is probably in the top 10 - 20%, but I shop at Aldi/Lidl because they are good, and a faster, more pleasant and efficient shopping experience and I feel like I'm being ripped off just because of huge overheads at other supermarkets. I don't want to pay a third to 50% more on my shopping in order to have a choice of five types of baked bean.

Morrisons have their pork shoulder on offer, saw a huge piece for a fiver or so, if it's cooked very slowly you'll get three or four meals off it.

• if your DH is a food snob look at vegan meals with lots of pulses
• omelettes
• gammon. egg and veg
• roast chicken and veg
• frozen fish in a home made parsley sauce with veg
• spaghetti bolognaise with lots of mushrooms and carrots added to it. I use the frozen steak mince from Iceland to make it
• cajun chicken
• halloumi and edamame bean salad - halloumi is cheap in ALDI and you can buy frozen edamame beans in the supermarket
• avoid ready made meals or take aways. You have to spend a lot on ready made meals for them to be taste ok.

Buy free range chicken from ALDI, buy cheap in season vegetables and fruit. As soon as you buy out of season the cost soars. Don't buy lots of snacks, just apples and bananas.

We don’t have meat every night, probably 2 or 3 times a week. Last night we made pizza with pitta breads and ate with salad, cost hardly anything. I roast a chicken which lasts for 2 meals (roast dinner and a curry), jacket potatoes are filling and cost hardly anything, serve with salad and what ever fillings you want. I often go to the supermarkets later in the day on a Sunday and pick up cheap meat that’s close to its use by date, it freezes well, I have picked up lamb shanks and steak before for hardly anything.

If I needed to save money on food I'd eat a lot of veggie food.

A large potato, a sweet potato and an onion makes a nice soup for three people (you just need some Marigold or a stock cube and a few herbs). Any sort of veggie soup really, you can always add a can of beans for more protein and interest.

Beans on toast is always an option. I don't like beans but would have cheese.

Jacket potatoes.

Chili either with mince or a veggie mince.

Cook a whole chicken you can get 2 meals out of it and some sandwiches.

Vegetables are cheap(ish).

I'd say meal plan and then online shop so there's no unnecessary stuff added.

shop at iceland - you can do the lot each week for £50 - if they want to be picky let them starve. Also every so often I go on a shopping strike and make us eat all the stuff in the cupboards & freezers - I only buy fresh fruit & veg - it's amazing how many meals you actually have without realising it!

Shop your kitchen. What do you have already?

Don’t buy an ingredient for just one mea. It needs to go into 2-5 meals if possible so there’s no waste.

Can you make any more money? eBay clearly, etc