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.

I would suggest meals made up of either rice,cous cous, pasta, lentils,chick peas, butter beans and barley as a base or to add bulk to your meals. Shop in either Aldi or Lidl. Also. Check out or ask a store assistant what time roughly they mark down items that are due to go out of date. Aldi mark fresh items down to half price over a day before they are due to go out of date and if you get in there quick you can fill up your freezer and save yourself a fortune. We do this all the time and enjoy plenty fish and meat as well as veg. White wine vinegar mixed with water will clean just about anything and cheap shampoos and other cheap toiletries are mostly just as good as branded ones. I can recommend Aldis face cream and shampoo. You can sign up for free trials for various things, cat food,coffee and detergent for example. Herbs, garlic,stock cubes, cheap tinned tomatoes brilliant for flavouring. Make chunky soups and lentil stews with homemade style bread or baguette to fill everyone up. Supermarkets with an instore bakery mark down their bread and rolls towards tea time. If we didnt buy wine I reckon we could easily stick to this budget. If you are prepared to cook everything from scratch and go with what you've got, you'll be amazed how little a good healthy substantial meal for your family can cost. Good luck!

@Singlenotsingle it's not really very helpful to say you spend around £400 a month when the OP only has £200 a month.

I think £400 is a lot for 2 adults and a dog. We are 2 adults and 2 dogs and don't spend anything near that although, admittedly me and DH are vegetarian.

I am sure you will, but make sure you try the cheaper brands before stocking up on any. Everyone's taste is different and what one person likes another may well not. Someone mentioned Branston baked beans being nicer than Heinz. Obviously to them they are but both me and DH think they are really horrible. Heinz are much nicer. As I said though, we think the M&S ones and the Waitrose ones are really nice and cheaper than Heinz

As someone who is currently battling pantry moths, I'd advise being v careful about how you store your carb stash - especially if you intend to load up on rice, oats, etc.!

Regarding "baked beans".... Heinz are bloody pricey when you are on a tight budget!!

An example, Tesco cheap baked beans - 23p. Heinz for same sized tin - 70p.

So I can nearly get 3 tins of beans for the price on a tin of Heinz. No bloody brainer when you are broke as to what to buy.

If you don't like the taste of cheaper ones then jazz them up with a squirt of red or brown sauce! (BBQ sauce in cheap beans makes them lush)

This is how I coped on a similar budget:
Ate loads of rice (bought in huge bag and added leftover bits of chicken and eggs for protein or simply whatever veg was to hand)
Corned beef hash - 1 tin to make very large dish full.
Non branded food items, used herbs and sauces (e.g. Worcestershire) for flavour on beans and other tinned stuff.
Bought meats when reduced only - Asda often has stuff for 10p. Cooked when got home or froze.
Lots of pasta, with cheaper or homemade sauces, added herbs and spice for flavour.
Home made garlic bread using reduced price baguettes.
Bought sacks of onions and potatoes and large bags of garlic.
Large tubs of yogurt - for sweet and savoury treats. E.g. add onions, salt and garlic for lovely dip, reduced fruit for sweet treat (often frozen when purchased).
Made use of every voucher I could get my hand on.
Mystery dining for free meals (i paid on credit card and paid bill when expenses came in. I ate out with family almost every day/evening for a whole month once).
Loads of eggs
Homemade cakes, biscuits also Yorkie puds and pancakes (sweet and savoury).
Learn how to make curry from scratch, can put almost anything in it.
Lentils, pulses, beans (I love a bean stew savoury and spicy).
Turkey mince (when reduced), I prefer breast but thigh ok. Cool with onions, peas, sweet corn and add gravy. Goes great with rice or mash.
Cheesy mash - I bought hard cheeses when reduced.
I joined every group going and volunteered for activities. Usually lots of food involved and volunteers took home left overs.
Told friends and neighbours about situation and they were great in giving stuff from garden, leftovers etc. I have always returned or passed on favours, so give away all baby items etc.
Went in freecycle and other local give away groups. Sometimes has food items but was given Reusable nappies, clothes, furniture etc.
Bought large bags of frozen sausages, fish fingers etc.
Ate porridge and non branded cereal. I always checked the ‘batteries and bruises items’ in Tesco as often have reduced boxes of cereal and other items where package is damaged (I check internal packaging still intact).
I did surveys and market research for money and freebies.
I shopped at fairs and markets where often found bargains. Particularly towards end of business.
Get friendly with staff in local supermarkets so they tell you when items are reduced or special offers coming etc.
Find local friends in similar circumstances. That way you can look out for each other by picking up reduced items and swapping. We used to take it in turns to cook sometimes, so one person would bake loads of stuff and share with others. All took their turn. This helped us try new stuff.
Bake your own bread, you can start with flat style breads which are fab for pizza bases also.
Get the teenagers involved with baking, it is fun and each person can take it in turns to choose the style and flavour of cakes etc.
Make pies (sweet and savoury) pasties and freeze. Minced meat, onion, gravy, veg and potato can make several pies.
I used to have beef, turkey or lamb as Sunday treat (all bought and froze when reduced), served with roasted veg and homemade yorkies. Also boiled some potatoes for mash and boiled carrots and cabbage. Always enough for bubble and squeak with cold meat the following day.
I am currently signed up to ‘too good to go’ app and often pick up Wenzels bag for £3. Usually has sandwich (e.g. chicken) baguette (e.g. prawn), cupcake, donuts and another type of cake. It’s pot luck what you get, but fab weekend treat especially for teenagers. It’s basically stuff left at end of the day that they cannot sell the following day. Check out who is signed up in your area. As I am London based there are warehouses selling off high bags of nuts, fish, meat etc for about a 1/4 of normal price.

I also reused tea bags as it all adds up. 😀 Coffee bought when 2 for 1 offer or heavily discounted. I had squash always available. Picked blackberries, damsons, apples and pairs free from local area. Made my own jam. Also picked hazel nuts. Neighbour had lots of mint in Garden they would give me. Stale bread made into breadcrumbs or croutons. Fruit made into smoothies if over ripe. Veg put into soups of past it’s best. Washing powder instead of tablets. Walked or cycled whenever possible to save money. Charity shopped for clothes, shoes etc. Used library for books and toys.
I need to get back into these good habits as want to start saving.

Soup makes a filling and nutritious lunch. I make soup from any veg past it's best but also use cauliflower leaves, stems of cauliflower and broccoli (these can also be used in stir fries)

It wont be,as joyless and/or miserable as some predict as there is an end in sight!! Its only for a few months till the new job starts to bring in earnings!! Do check with your local benefits office to see if you are entitled to even a little extra as this can unlock other things such as reduced price activities. I agree though that the teens need to be on board from the start. They're old enough to understand whats going on. Buy a lock for the fridge maybe!! Good luck and let us know how it goes 🤹‍♀️😘

You can also sell stuff you don't use on Ebay. It all adds up but is hassle.

Making pancakes etc is fun, and cheapig you need it to be.

Give the cats up for adoption?

2 adults and 2 dogs we spend £185 a month and do throw away some food...enough for me to be considering cutting our food budget by around £5 per week.

Some cheap meals we do:

Tuna pasta salad.
Spaghetti bolognaise.
Coconut & Lentil curry.
Potato and leek soup.
Cornbeef hash.
Chicken stir fry.
Salad, jacket & coleslaw.
Egg, chips and beans.
Pork with brocoli, green beans and rice.

Lunches are almost always tuna, egg or ham and cheese sandwiches.

Get own brand coke, crisps, yoghurt etc. Instead of branded.

Breakfast we buy own brand weetabix and have them with blueberries and bananas.

Milk the UHT stuff works out cheaper if you can stomach it.

We get our meat from the butchers. Ours does 4kg of chicken for £5 and lots of mix and match deals 3 for £10. He also does monthly "family packs" for £40-50.

Check the supermarkets around an hour before closing as they usually has lots of reduced price breads and meats you can freeze.