to think £18 a week for food isn't that much of a "tiny" budget?

[Oakmaiden]

I just downloaded a free recipe book. It is actually a very good recipe book, and I am dead impressed by the author making a budgeting recipe book and then providing it free to people who need it. But.

It is subtitled "Eat well for £18 per week", and all the recipes are costed, and they have recently redone the costings etc, so I am quite impressed with the idea. But, as I say, there is a but. It is £18 a week per person. AIBU to think that is not actually a very tiny budget? For a family of 5 that is £90 a week. Sure, it is not a luxury budget by any stretch of the imagination, but it is not tiny, is it?

Also - I need to get through this month with a family of 5 on a genuinely tiny budget. I am aiming for around £50 a week if I possibly can (though I am not completely certain where I will find £50 a week, but I am sure something will come up. It generally does.) Anyone got any genuinely cheap recipe ideas please? I have a feeling we may be in for a lot of scrambled eggs and vegetable soup...

Buy a bag of mixed beans (whole foods section) soak and cook as we instructions then use In curries, chillies, in pasta etc, 1 bag (approximately £1.80) will make approx 4-5 family sized meals when added to chopped tomatoes (currently 12 for £3) onion, and whatever veg you can afford, carrots are cheap of course, then grab cheap dried herbs if you don't have any.

Eating on a budget isn't fun and can lack variety but it is doable in the short term relatively easily, especially if you have a decent store cupboard

@cricketmum84

Yes I did.

If you cannot be bothered to read other posts then don’t bother posting.

Did it not occur to you that we might have thought of your ideas 100+ posts ago?

I’m not in a bad mood but people who don’t read the thread drive me crackers. Watch TV instead.

🙄🙄🙄🙄

@Bumbags well aren't you a delight.

@cricketmum84 usually yes

But you are annoying

the1940sexperiment.com/100-wartime-recipes/

This website was written by a lady trying to lose weight and save money using WWII ration book recipes.
Because they rely on non-imported ingredients, they do work out lots cheaper, and there are plenty of tips for making things more flavourful, for example, a tiny bit of mustard mixed with a little cheese makes the cheese flavour much stronger.

I think the big problem with tying to fill up on cheap carbs like pasta is that they don’t actually stop you feeling hungry: it’s protein that does that. So you end up eating more and more.

You need some cheap protein like beans or eggs in the mix.

If I tried to feed my teen ds on £18p/w then I think he would be tempted to eat me. It is a small food budget definitely.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/budget-meals-large-families - might be useful! We spend about £80 a week for family of four when not budgeting. We have baked potatoes with tuna, cheese and salad, fajitas, chilli and curry etc.

I buy huge amounts of the best cheapest fresh veg and that way I an just add small amounts of protein and carbs. I tend not to menu plan but have no wastage I just buy whatever is cheap and looks good at the butchers to go with the veg.

If you have a market near you and go as they're closing up, they will probably be doing bargain bags of fruit and veg. Ours does mixed bags for £2 eg yesterday we got carrots, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli in one bag.

I feed 2 adults and 2 teens, cook from scratch but don't particularly look to "manage" the budget and I spend between £80 and £90 per week.

I think, if you don't buy pre packaged stuff and stick to the traditional fruit and veg, apples/carrots/broccolli in season, rather than the more fragile imported stuff, £90 per week for a family is quite comfortable.

Following with interest, reminds me of a book my Mum had when I was younger - Feed your family for £4 a day. I'm in my 40s now but seem to remember eating a lot of lentils...!

Our weekly shop for a family of 3 is about £40 and we live in the south... What is everyone eating and drinking?

Helps we don’t buy anything other than milk, squash and long life juice for drinks, that keeps the cost down hugely.

Go to Indian shops for rice/beans/lentils/chickpeas, you can get bigger bags for much cheaper than a regular supermarket.

Eating more vegetables and less meat is cheaper too. Though many people don't want to/can't give up meat of course. But cutting down can help.

If you have the space in your garden you can grow some veg to save money - obvs this is more of a long-term money-saving thing. My parents always grew spinach, runner beans, radishes, carrots etc. We weren't rich but we ate well. I wish I had a garden right now, I'd do it.

£18.00 per week is approx £2.57 a day, so approx 85p per meal.

@Oakmaiden

My meat eater OH absolutely loves my lentil ragu , I batch make it and freeze for shifts that I can't be bothered cooking on. Great with pasta and great as a snack with garlic bread.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1139652/lentil-rag

I love buying chicken sausages,usually Aldi ones, adding in mushrooms and a jar o Lloyd Grossmans when I can pick it up on offer .

I love buying chicken sausages,usually Aldi ones, adding in mushrooms and a jar o Lloyd Grossmans when I can pick it up on offer . (different meal from the lentil, realised it was a bit unclear )

The cheapest pasta shape by weight is spaghetti, you can get a pack for 20p at lidl. So that's an excellent super cheap carb, just work around that as a base for half your meals.

A jar of pesto and pack of spaghetti for one meal is about £1.20 and will feed 4 .

Cheats spaghetti carbonara using a tub of cheap cream cheese and diced streaky bacon ..... delicious and about £2.40 for 4 people.

Spaghetti Pasta bake packed out with tinned tomatoes and sliced hot dogs less than £2 for 4

A cheese toasty with tomato soup for dipping. You can get cheddar and bread cheap enough to do several meals and a toasty is proper comfort food. Bread 50p cheese £2 and three tins soup for £1 ish so £3.50 for two meals for 3-4 people.

We usually spend about £70 a week. Family of 4. That's when we're comfortable. I've done it for £40 bit also using things in stock - pasta, rice, tinned tomatoes, herbs etc. Without a stock it's extremely hard.

Red pesto pasta:
Own brand jar red pesto x 2
Cheapest 500g pasta of choice
Small bag of baby plum tomatoes
A handful of frozen spinach

Heat pasta as usual, heat pesto and add the tomatoes and spinach. Quick, cheap and stores in the fridge in airtight container for a day or two. Easily feed 4 people if 500g bags usually feed you all.

Paneer tikka masala:

Small pack of paneer or substitute it with cheap chicken
Jar of tikka masala sauce
Handful frozen spinach
Bag of baby plum tomatoes
Basmati rice

Make rice as usual, fry paneer, heat sauce and add paneer, tomatoes and spinach.

Eggy bread and beans

Cheddar cheese oven omelette with beans

Baked potatoes with cheese and beans or tuna, sweetcorn & mayo

Pasta & sauce

Vegetable & egg fried rice

potato bake:

bacon
onions
leek and mushrooms if you've got them
potatoes
grated cheese

fry bacon, onions mushrooms and leeks
slice potatoes

put a layer of poatoes in baking dish, add bacon mix, top with potatoes and cover with cheese, bake til potatoes soft

quantities depend on no of people

same mix can be used for stuffed jacket spuds

bake potatoes
scoop out insides, mix with bacon mix+grated cheese, fill skins with mix, top with more cheese. bake til golden and bubbling

cheap and filling

This is a good video for a flexible, no-recipe style of cooking, I think it could be done really cheaply, according to whatever budget you have and whatever's in your store cupboard already. (The guy is kinda cute too )

I'm probably £120 a week groceries at least.thats an adult an child. My son eats a lot.