Need to reduce my food bill

[HarleyQuinnRocks]

Posting here for traffic.

I need to feed myself and 2 children.

What's the least amount you could spend in 1 month to feed all and what would you buy?

I'm struggling other than noodles and the really unhealthy basic cheap stuff.

For the pp asking abut alternatives to pulses for bulking out, finely chopped mushrooms, grated carrots, courgette, celery, sweetcorn all good. Or finely diced potato if veg is the problem.

Porridge oats disappear in mince dishes, dh never notices.

Cheap food -

Pasta bake

You can buy a kilo of dry pasta from Morrison’s for £2 or smaller bags from places like Home Bargains for £0.40p and jars of pasta bake are £0.80p from Home Bargains.

Jacket potato with beans

(microwaved so not using too much energy in the oven)

Baked beans on toast

I thoroughly recommend trying Home Bargains and B&M for store cupboard foods which are really cheap and won’t go off.

Moneysavingexpert has some great threads on this

Porridge for breakfast - can use half water and half milk then add some raisins. One packet last week for 5 if us and it's like 80p from supermarket for oats.

Eggs - omelette with bit of cheese and some carrot sticks. Eady and cheap

Soup pasta like orzo or vermicelli can bulk out stews. Orzo is 65p for 500g in Asda.

I use a lot of leeks too as they are versatile.

Pack lunches for kids - keep it simple. I do one full ham sandwich with tangerine and apple for break. I buy supermarket basic pure orange or apple juice large cartons and pour into reusable drink containers for their lunches.

I used to bulk shop for month but leave myself £10 a week for fresh fruit, veg and milk etc

I batch cook the following

Bolognaise
Lasagna
mince and onion
chilli
chicken chasseur
beef bourginon
chicken provencal
macaroni cheese
Pork goulash (my fav)

Most of the meat I buy is reduced, I get really annoyed at paying full price. Then all I need to do is just add mash, boiled potatoes, home made chips, rice, noodles or cous cous.

If you look at the supermarket 3 for £10 deals you could get a chicken, joint of pork and gammon. You could do that every other week, but you'd get a lot of meals from that:
Roast chicken, roast pork, hot gammon, gammon, egg& chips, fajitas, curry stir fries, casseroles, meat for sandwiches. My elderly cat loves left over meat. These deals are there every week as well.

We pay roughly £130 every 2 weeks for a family
Of 4, the freezer is your fried we buy lots of frozen chicken sausages, fish cakes and veg, but fresh minced beef, bulk buy pasta rice washing powder and store cupboard staples. Chopped tomatoes, beans etc and then we just add or subtract what we need or don’t need every fortnight, dinners are always mixed: Bolognese, chilli, meatballs, homemade burgers, sausage casserole, sausage pasta bake, sausage and mashed potato etc just experiment in the kitchen with different dinners.

As for household we get a big £10 box of washing powder, big bottle of fabric conditioner etc which usually lasts 3-4weeks so doesn’t need topping
Up as much. Lunches we normally have salads consisting of chicken, ham and egg etc.

lentils. I do this more for convenience than cost but a big bowl of lentil dhal with different bits every nice is great. Bacon bits one night, then add rice. then pasta etc or alongside a couple of sausages etc.. not great perhaps long term but short term and ease it gives all the needed nutrients and tastes good

Buy a thermos for your lunches, or even the dcs if possible. If we have left overs from dinner, dh takes it in his thermos for lunch at work the next day or even two or three days in a row

How much do you cook from scratch? I think that's where the savings can really be made. Stews, casseroles, curries etc with loads of veg chucked in to bulk it out and frozen leftovers if you are able to cook in bulk.

I don't think Aldi/Lidl is all that cheaper, really, especially if you can bag good BOGOF/reductions in Tesco or Asda. If you are willing to go daily or every other day, you can rake through the reduced section for almost expired foods you can cook that night.

Own brand weetabix as an alternative breakfast- I don’t find porridge very filling. Add chopped banana if you can - fills the kids up!
Spicy red lentil & tomato soup- tinned tomato, lentils, chilli powder, add frozen veg if you have some- really filling & cheap with a sarnie/ toast etc and good for you! I make this a lot!
You can also use the lentil & tomato base for cottage pie/ spag bol if you cook it down enough.
I make my own flat breads too- self raising flour, water, salt- make into a dough & fry them- feels like a treat with stuff!

I spent about £50-60 a week on food for a family of 4 in Lidl/ Aldi!

My kids have tuna pasta veg & Mayo for tea too & it’s very cheap & easy!

As people have said- wonky veg & frozen veg always great! Lentils are the best thing for cheap & versatile! I eat lentil dhal with sweet potato & my flat breads!

Follow A girl called Jack too- her recipes are really good!

OP Asda are doing 5 freezer fillers for £5 at the moment. Today for a fiver I got
2 x Goodfellas pizza
A box of potato waffles
Box of 6 cornettos
Box of 10 Birds Eye fish fingers

There's loads to choose from as well. I've stocked up.

Not the healthiest I know but paired with vegetables it'll be fine

Sorry should’ve said we buy pretty much all own brands apart from washing powder and fabric conditioner, and shop with Tesco, shopping also I’m led packed lunches for 2 DD’s.

Rather than buy cans of chickpeas, pulses, beans etc you can buy them dried (you can get in big bags too in some specialist/whole foods type places), soak overnight and cook.

You can do a big batch and portion up and freeze the cooked ones, then stick into whatever you're cooking to bulk it out. You can also batch cook and freeze lentils.

Cheaper than buying individual cans.

Use cookingonabootstrap.com/ and meal plan. I'm vegan and dd is veggie so we only use the vegan recipes but we meal plan from this every week and it's saved me a fortune and we both feel healthier to as no processed foods/fake meats. Each meal costs less than £2 sometimes less than £1 makes at least 4 huge portions so we freeze the extras for nights when we need something quick after her dance rehearsals or I take some to work for lunch.

Lots of potatoes . Can you buy a half hundred weight bag from a local farmer or grocery shop ? Keep them somewhere dark and they’ll last for weeks .
Baked potatoes , mash, homemade wedges , roast potatoes. One of the cheapest and most nutritious foods available.

A couple of easy and cheap meal ideas:

Pepperoni pasta: pack of pepperoni, a couple of tins of tomatoes and some oregano. Simmer u til thickened. Mix with pasta chuck some cheese on and brown under the grill.

Tonight I made onion soup with some stock that I had made earlier in the week from some bones I got from the butcher (he didn’t charge, I put a donation into the charity box). 1kg of onions sliced and fried with lid on then off until brown (Chuck a bit of sugar on to help), stir in some garlic once they are brown and gooey, then some flour, add 1.3lts of stock, simmer until desired consistency.

Also look on a website called Approved Foods. They do store cupboards essentially but it's all close to/past its best before. Of discontinued ranges. Usually save 50% of RRP. Sometimes more. Great for bulk buying snacks etc in plus cheaper wraps and all sorts! We use it every couple of months to stock up.

My monthly budget is currently £250 (as we need to save) for two adults, one child (6) but I could get it down further if required. So understand your position.

We also do yellow ticket reduced stuff for a lot of our fruit and vegetables. I often think that is bigger saving than even getting meat/fish reduced. Next big one is bread, often 28p a loaf so 4 loaves instead of one. Rest frozen.

We got potatoes off local town market - £8.50 for 25kg. Yes they're muddier than store bought and a bit lumpier (clearly not supermarket grade perfection) but still lovely disiree. Some are sprouting eyes so they'll get put in the garden to grow some 'free' potatoes later in the year.

Long life milk is more expensive though then regular milk. Do you mean UHT? Last time I could get 1 litre for around £1 but fresh milk is £1.10 for 2.2litres. Can understand if you just shop once though to save fuel etc,.

I spend about £150 a month for same size family.
Buy veg in season. Less than perfect veg, make into minestrone and freeze..

Bulk out mince dishes with lentils. Buy whole chicken rather than portions, and get a roast, a chicken & leek pie, then soup.
Buy frozen fish not fresh.
Buy loo roll, cleaning stuff and coffee in larger quantities for better value. Use washing powder rather than tabs - much cheaper. Bars of soap rather than shower gel.

Grow your own tomatoes in pots against a sunny wall. Buy 5 plants in April, £5, and pick tomatoes for six months with a bit of TLC.

Do the kids eat soup? if yes, buy the wonky veg in the supermarket/go to a greengrocers at the end of the day, and you get tons for not much money. Loads of potatoes in as well to make it filling. if you like meaty tasty, roast some lardons to go in for a minimal price.

Check out free or low cost food in your area. Things like Olio where people give away ay food. There are some 'pay what you can' markets popping up around the country.

I've just checked Olio near me and within a Km is someone with excess bread and bagels, and also about 100 eggs. Don't worry people will split amounts.

Allotments often have a 'shop' that is actually a shed but with cheap veg.

Meal plan.

Do not be scared of tins and frozen food. Beans on toast is perfectly acceptable as a 'meal', for hungry children add extra toast and fruit.

Use a milkman (or woman) so you are not popping to the shop midweek, lots deliver bread and other bits.

Frozen fruit can be blended to make a smoothie, or to add to home made yogurt.

I use a local butcher, I pay about the same for meat but it is much better quality and almost always pennies are knocked of the final amount or you will get an extra sausage.

Look for older recipes / cookbooks.

One of my 1980s books has a sort of lasagna made with pancakes.

So you could do pancakes one day and then with left over pancakes layer them with passatta and veg (or meat) and top with cheese sauce, with bake them or freeze.

The same batter can be used for yorkshire puddings which can be filled with meat / veg or eaten cold with golden syrup.

Buy onion salt and garlic salt, these are not strong enough to make something like garlic bread but can be used to add a bit of flavour.