AIBU to think £200 is enough?

[Pauuuuuuline]

AIBU to think that £200 a month on groceries is enough?

As of next month, as a family, we'll have £200 a month left over after essential outgoings to spend on our shop.

This £200 will need to accommodate two adults, a toddler, two cats. Will also include four teens EOW.

Can currently spend (and often do) roughly £400-500 a month, so for us, £200 seems quite small but it's doable right?

Any thoughts and tips on how to do it would be much appreciated.

FWIW I always make porridge with water even though I don't need to now. It's fine, especially with a little bit of golden syrup which lasts ages if you use it sparingly.

It sounds very tough OP. Re you finding a job, if your last one was office based, have you thought about doing temporary work through an agency while you look for a permanent job? Quite often a temp job can lead to a permanent one.

Whatever you do, I wish you the best of luck.

i think also its tought becasue if you look at waht you are spending now you are cutting it in half.look at the food you have now and half it.so people saying it doable i think is lovely.give them a boost and strength to do so etc.but you also need to be realalistic.it will be bloody tough and if their is anything else you cna do right now for more money or to save in other areas i would love into that.

This should more than enough. We spend about £50 a week with two children and we eat a lot of nice food (expensive cheese and what have you) and also gave some ready meals. The only reason I can think for it not being sufficient is if you have olderchildren living with you, have some kind of special diet, eat too much meat or drink, otherwise you should be able to get by just fine by cooking from scratch.

Could you not work PT? Even 1 shift a week @ NMW would pay almost £250 a month?

Pauuuuuuline Someone may have suggested this already - I have read the thread but didn't see it, so apologies if I'm repeating something - do you have any Nectar points or Tesco points or similar on a loyalty card? If so, you can use those for money off your shopping. Obviously not a long-term solution but it could cut your food bill one week.

I hope this all works out for you, and good luck with your job hunting.

Hi OP,

I'm in a similar situation, belt tightened due to lack of cash until May next year. Only 2 adults and 2 cats and I'm on a budget of about £100-£130 a month for everything.

Sorry for such a long post but want to try and help if I can.

I only shop at Tesco so anything I say only refers to there I'm afraid. Other shops may be cheaper!

Mr BC must have meat otherwise he sulks.

You need to channel your inner cook, price checking and list guru! :) If you shop online check and remove things constantly from your basket until you are happy!

Now is NOT the time to worry about where your meat came from as you can't afford free range/ organic (unless it's on special offer) but anyone here who pulls you up on this can sod off IMO.

Cat food is a MAIN problem as my 2 will only eat certain brands and will turn their noses up at "shop own". However, I did find in the past that they loved Lldl and Aldi own brand cat food so if yours are fussy buggers try them on theirs to see if they like it as it may save you some cash.

Fresh veg - get it cheap and freeze if possible if you don't use right away or starts to look a bit sad. (like cheap carrots and greens, clean and slice and freeze in portions to then put in recipes or boil just to eat) I also get the biggest box of mushrooms and have been known to get 2 if they are on special, thinly slice them and dry them in the oven on low and then store in a tight jar for adding to things!

Get a HUGE brown bag of spuds!! Also a 5kg bag of onions! Will last and so many meals you can do! So much cheaper in the long run.

Fresh fruit - In an ideal world yes get it but if you can't afford it don't. I only get cheap bananas and small apples once and then don't get anymore if they are gone until the next month.

Chilled meat - DON'T spend your money on cut up stuff. We use a lot of chicken

if you use turkey buy cheap turkey legs/ thighs and take meat off it to use.

Tesco also do chicken legs/ thighs fresh for £1.25 for 750g. I use these ALL the time in cooking. (if you don't like the skin, take them off and fry these dry and use the fat from the skins to cook other stuff in!)

Cheap chicken wings (they do cheap fresh or big bag of frozen) are great to nibble on with huge pile of home made potato wedges when you have the teens round!

Their mince is £1.49 for 500g - very nice and I save the fat for cooking! (do not buy frozen mince as costs more (for some reason!))

They do cheap large whole chickens as well for under £3. (good for teens to rip apart for sarnies etc)

Also if you like bacon get their cooking bacon (about 75p for 500g I think), can be added to pasta dishes (I do a chicken and bacon pasta bake with a whizzed up tin of tinned toms, with some grated cheese in it and spices with a topping of grated breadcrumbs more cheese) and and pies etc!!

Pork - If you use pork get a cheap cut and cut it up. (we rarely get it as can be pricey unless its cheap chops)

Frozen stuff-

Frozen legs/ thighs of chicken (about £3 for 2kg) use in stews, defrost and roast or use meat in pies etc etc! Don't bother with breast meat as too pricey.

Frozen sausages - tesco do 20 normal sized for 90p. They aren't the best but good for filling up tums and make a decent sausage casserole and also can be used cold in sarnies when the thought of more cheese makes you want to weep.

Frozen peas/ veg/ fruit - get the cheapest, again can flesh out meals. frozen cheap fruit nice in porridge and as a pud. (we only get it every now and then)

Other fridge stuff:
Yogurt - if you like it and NEED it tesco do HUGE tubs of natural yogurt for about £1 - £1.50. Flavour with jam or frozen fruit if need be

Cheese - tesco do seriously cheap mature cheddar, huge block of it. Also get some strong mustard and sandwich pickle, salad cream etc for sarnies, helps with cheese sarnie overload.

Sliced meat - get the wafer thin cheap own brand - I got 400g for about £1.50, really nice in sarnies. So far one pack has lasted 7 days for sarnies for MrBC (plus a few slices for the cats cos they look at me sadly)

Butter/ spreads - one thing I get is 2 packs of butter (nicer on toast) but use cheap spread for sarnies/ cooking etc. (make sure you can use the spread for cooking if you want it for that)

For store cupboards:

EGGS! - 15 for about £1.50 - So useful! Omelettes (I bung mine under a heated grill in the pan and they puff up and go HUGE!), eggy bread, eggs for sarnies, cooking, snacks etc etc! (MrBC loves a fried egg and cheese sarnie at the weekend, cheap breakie option!)

breakfast cereal - Own brands and porridge! Cornflakes seem to be the cheapest.

Own brand cheap cup a soups, fills a hole and might help as it gets colder with a couple of slices of cheap bread (35p from Tesco) . Ditto own brand cheap soups (add a tiny bit of sugar to cheap tomato soup, helps with the flavour)

Plus make your own soups. Cheap stock cubes and bung anything in!

Sauces - red and brown own sauces and all the other cheap ones taste the same and you get used to them!

Powdered milk - I got Nido (was £3) for emergency milk and cheaper stuff to add straight into tea/ coffee. Nido is more pricey than others but it's whole milk and is a god send when we run out of milk as can be used to make up a pint or two of fresh and actually tastes like fresh milk when we run out of cash!

Cheap baked beans/ kidney beans etc - can be added to bulk out stuff and baked beans can go with most meals! I have dried kidney beans as well but keep forgetting to soak them

Also cheap tinned EVERYTHING! tinned tomatoes can be used to make loads of things from spag bol, curries to salsa. l drain a tin to make salsa then use it with cheap jarred jalapeno slices to go over 49p tortilla chips with melted cheese to make nachos, might fill up the teens as a treat!) , tinned sweetcorn is normally very nice on it's own or in things. get what you know they will eat plus you can get decent tinned fruit (in juice) on special sometimes!

PASTA PASTA PASTA RICE RICE RICE - Cheap as ruddy chips and they won't go off, can be added to soups/ stews ets as well.

If you can get bulk rice get it but check prices per kg to make sure it is a saving.

Coffee/ tea - Cheapest own brands, your taste buds will adjust :)

Get plain and self raising flour (45p each for 1.5kg from tesco)/ bicarb of soda/ lemon juice and baking powder - These will be a godsend if you run out of bread as you can make soda bread from them. I have them in the cupboard all the time! really nice with soups/ stews and own it's own with spread.

Make your own biccies/ cakes - Cheap self raising flour, eggs, spread, and sugar. Basic recipe, add in jams/ broken cheap choc chunks/ lemon juice (adds a zing if making lemon drizzle cake) etc to flavour!

Spices etc - seriously, you will need these to help, check out "world foods" as you can get cheaper products (we use jarred sliced jalapenos from "world foods" to spice things up an in place of fresh chilli peppers) - check out Indian shops if you can to get large packs for half the price of the stupid little ones in most supermarkets.

Butter/ spreads - one thing I get is 2 packs of butter a month (nicer on toast) but we use cheap spread for sarnies/ cooking etc and for when we run out. (make sure you can use the spread for cooking if you want it for that)

Treats! One they are gone, they are gone. We get Tesco own 30pack crisps (£3) (they do normal crisps and maize snacks) and they do bars of choc for about 40p. I do get MrBc more snacks than I like but he takes these to work as well. We also get a couple of packs 49p tortilla chips to make super cheap nachos or as scoops for chilli con carne.

Also get a bag of popping corn (we get it for 99p). a little makes a LOT of popcorn!!

Cheap biccies!!! If you can, get a box of broken bicces! You can get some really naice ones in there, we have had them mainly full of posh choc ones a few times (plus its fun not knowing what you get!)

Squash - Get the cheap stuff and if they don't like it you can add in lemon juice and dissolved sugar syrup to make cheap orange squash taste nicer and mix them up to make new flavours :)

For household stuff - You don't need as much as you think you do!!!

Cheap loo roll - it's just to wipe your bum and bits, no one really needs 14 layers infused with coconut oil.

29p loo rim stuff - thats all I use now, once a week or when needed and a scrub with the loo brush

Cheap multi cleaner - about 70p - £1, lasts ages. Also if you are in a bind, lemon juice and vinegar will cut through grease.

Put washing up liquid on your scrubby thing, not in the water (my bottle lasts about 2 months doing that!) and then top the washing up liquid with water as you go.

Bars of soap instead of shower gel, use a cheap body thing to help lather it up. cheap and lasts for ages.

Toothpaste - You only need a pea size for adults!!! Do not squeeze a huge amount out, its just a waste! (ours now lasts ages since we stopped doing that)

Don't scrimp on underarm stuff, use what you need to use. I find the cheaper ones don't cut it for us. (get them on special when your can)

Just use cheap and mild shampoo and conditioner, nothing fancy.

You don't need to clean your carpets and if you have hard floors u can use cheap multi cleaner to wash them . Ditto a bit of multi cleaner on a damp cloth can be used to clean up most things and just use a damp cloth to wipe down surfaces if they are dusty

Washing gel/ powder - again, get the cheapest! it all does the same thing.

Beauty things - I use sweet almond oil for cleansing, moisturizing face and body and on hair etc. I got 250ml from Amazon (was under a fiver I think) and I haven't even made a dent in it over 3 months. I massage in a few drops then remove with cloth in hot water (cut up old soft towel) then massage in a couple of drops. I also use it when I shower on my dry skin on legs arms arms.

Foundation - mix with cheap moisturizer to extend how far it goes on :)

For Christmas -

Look at cheap and cheerful cuts! Maybe a couple of turkey thighs/ legs instead of a whole turkey? Small cut of beef (around £8) and oh oh!! Tesco do cheap gammon! maybe a couple of those if you like them (we freeze them coming up to Xmas)? (last Xmas I did honey and mustard glaze on a couple of the cheap gammon's and was lush and lots left over for sarnies and to add into pies!)

Make your own mince pies if you like them! same with xmas biccies. Don't make your own xmas cake, it costs so much money for all the ingredients.

Hope this helps and sorry it is so long!!

I've only read half the thread so may be repeating what has already been said / asked

• Is toddler still in nappies?
• Have you anything you can sell?
• Any money on reward cards? (Nectar? Boots?)
• Do you have much freezer space? Anyone who lives close by who can loan you some freezer space?
• do you know anyone with a Costco card / are you close to a Poundland? {for cleaning and laundry products}
• anyone you can do paid babysitting for? Maybe offer locally to babysit for family / friends for a set fee. £30 for a weekday evening / £40 for a Friday or Saturday.
• apply to all your local pubs and shops for seasonal work (they won't be recruiting yet) but be prepared to work all over the Xmas period.

I would write a list of everything you already have in, write a shopping list of what you need to buy with the last pay packet and then make a meal plan for a month. You can tweak and rejig this plan but essentially you have just meal planned for the whole time you are cutting back.

Finally and I know this might not be ideal, but is taking out a 0% interest purchase credit card an option? With strict use it could really help over the next few months.
You could use this to bulk buy all non perishables or to top up the weekly shop? As long as you are disciplined it could be useful. Agree what you can afford to pay back before the interest kicks in (IE £30 per week or £500 upfront or whatever) and don't go over that limit.

If you need meat for Christmas, get some ham hocks from a butcher. About 1kg each with the bone in. You simmer them in water with some spices (or in a slow cooker if you have one big enough). Then cut off the skin / fat, add a glaze (honey and mustard), then chuck in the oven.

The meat is so good, falls apart and it’s such a cheap cut. You can prep it all the day before and just glaze it on the day. Leftovers will do you for the best ever sandwiches afterwards.

About £4-£5 each depending on your local butchers price

www.farmison.com/our-meat/gammon/other-cuts/dry-cured-gammon-shank/dry-cured-gammon-shank?gclid=CjwKCAjwtO7qBRBQEiwAl5WC29zc3Af2HO12N9kxQkICUpcar5GmNTPxTIs3kDvRA0p2sVfoFYpNGxoCL3wQAvD_BwE#1

If you really want meat, ask your butcher about the cheapest cuts - some cuts for slow cooking are really cheap compared to what you buy in the supermarket.

If you’re cooking a chicken, make sure you strip every last bit off - the scraps make an awesome stir fry / fried rice.

Disagree that meat is inherently expensive or off the table- bulk chicken thighs / wings are good value as is mince (especially when bulked our).

Steer clear of fruit - not filling and an expensive luxury

@Badcat666 your post was fab, thank you .

Possible but tight and will require careful planning and effort to produce nutritious and tasty food.

And noodles!!! Cheap instant ramon style noodles.

Bulk out with thinly sliced veg and some leftover meats and spices and tada! An extra main meal! (everything cooks or heats through in about 4 mins so helpful for teens who are dying of starvation) :)

(You can grate a bit of cheap stock cube for added flavour as well)

p.s don't drain the noodles, serve in the flavoured water as a ramen soup!

OP,

If you are using just dried cat food I also recommend Harringtons. One has a higher protein content than the other one so check. (also get a small bag to start with so you know they will eat it!)

Also there is nowt wrong with a raw chicken wing being chucked to the kitties every now and then if they like them. My vet suggested this years ago and they get one about once a week and helps stretch the food out.

Can you not get contributions based JSA? I think time on mat leave still counts as qualifying period for it.

I'd agree with a lot of posters that much meat will be a stretch on that budget, as even the cheapest options are still usually dearer than lentils and beans. That being said, do any of you like offal? Liver can be got very cheaply.

Another cheaper meat option I don't think I've seen mentioned is pork shoulder. Aldi do a big joint of it for about £3, dice it fine and pack it with root veg, lentils too to stretch it and it makes a lot of very filling casserole/stew. Would easily cover all of you with a portion or two left to spare, for under a fiver if you have There are cheaper meals that can be made, but if you want meat, it's one of the more budget options.

OP you have to do something to earn some money in the short term. Lots of people have suggested babysitting, ironing, cleaning, eBaying anything you can, etc but you seem to be ignoring them. Even doing online surveys might net you a few £s a week, which could be the difference between having enough to eat and not. What are you going to do?

So, three of you normally, plus four extras for 2 weekends/month.

That's (3x30) plus (4x8x2) = 90 + 64 = 154 meals to provide. Plus catfood. Plus, does this budget also have to include toiletries/household/loo roll etc? You really are looking at not much more than £1/person/meal. Which is doable but hard, hard work, especially longer term. If you know this is only for a few months, I would really think it's worth seeing if there's a way of expanding the budget a bit, even just by £100/month.

@Badcat666 you deserve your own thrifty cooking programme on the telly! Brilliant posts thank you x

@jgjgjgjgjg OP is applying for jobs,and is trying to plan for worst case scenario. That's what she's doing

I might have missed it OP but have a look for things to sell. I go through stuff like dc clothes for anything outgrown, quite often there's 4 - 5 t-shirts & 2 - 3 jeans etc & they sell pretty well as small bundles on ebay. If you put a buy it now price on of £4-5 plus postage you don't lose them for 99p & it can be surprising how much it all adds up. Things like dvds, books, clothes, duvet cover sets, jigsaw puzzles, shoes, bags etc.

I can make £200 in a month without very much effort (but my house is very full & cluttered & I started putting stuff on ebay as a way of decluttering!)

I disagree that you should cut out treats entirely. E.g. at Tesco packets of biscuits from 30p, lemonade 35p and 100g chocolate bars 30p (probably find cheaper if look around) - treats can help to keep your spirits up and make it all bearable.

Also heron/B&M microwave popcorn, aunt Bessie brownie or Apple pie (family size) £1, tubs ice cream £1.

If the men in your family get "man flu" and normally have lemsip then you can make your own.

Basically soluble pain killer of choice (cheapest one). Dissolve in a bit of cold water, top up with hot water and add honey (99p a jar) and lemon juice (about £1 for 500ml) to taste (if you want to be all fancy use real lemons!)

Works a bloody treat.

Totally impossible imo, but I've never worked out where to get those magic chickens from.

@SunniDay

Totally agree, that's what we get! Ice cream is really nice for 99p as well.