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.

If you go to Aldi in the evening then they often have some of their, already cheap, meat and other chilled foods reduced to half price.

I love these threads. They are full of people who's kids apparently gobble down lentils on a daily basis. Are my kids the only ones who hate these heavily veg based meals?

OP, i know this may be overly simple but another approach is can you find any way to earn more money (job on the side etc?) If you are very low income you should be eligible for a lot of help with childcare costs. Could you get CMS involved & chase up any maintenance for the kids?

Are there any other things you could cut to free up money for food? Go on a run of trying to cut electric and water bills, sell an expensive mobile & get a cheap one, sell any old clothes or things you have round the house you don't use.

Buy own brand, usually just as good and quite often made in the same place. Check offers very carefully, it’s not always a bargain. Buy in bulk, if I remember correctly Tesco does a 3kg bag of pasta which works out cheaper then buying the smaller packets. Every supermarket has reduced to clear sections, sometimes you can get something very cheap because the package is slightly damaged or one of a multi pack is missing. Buy frozen veg, just as tasty, much cheaper.

Theres a really good book with set meal plans and menus called 'how to feed your family with very little money' by Gill Holcombe. Not sure if it's still around as I have an old copy I still use. It has some great recipes in it.

We don’t eat meat so that reduces the bill a lot, we also shop at Aldi.

World food aisles and local Indian or Middle Eastern food shops are often much better value for rice and spices.

If you know anyone with a Costco card you may be able to get some bulk items through them.

I Say surveys can earn points quite quickly and can be redeemed for Tesco vouchers (amongst others) You could probably pick up £5-10 per month.

Lidl have £5 off a £25 shop vouchers every so often. Money Saving Expert often posts the details.

Check out this site

www.thriftylesley.com/meal-plans/

Someone linked to it on a previous thread

There are loads of good suggestions here, a lot of what I do not for cost but for health benefits.
One thing I would say is be cautious with the world food aisles. Some products are much more expensive than the supermarkets own brand elsewhere in the store. Supermarkets are also con artists with their pricing strategies. It can make sense to stock up for a month and look for patterns in reductions.
Good luck op, I hope this is a short term situation for you.

Make your own pasta sauces! You can buy a tin of chopped tomatoes for 28p from Aldi's. Better nutritional value. Even adding onion and oregano you will bulk out and use again.
If you like Italian food, a lot of their recipes are very very cheap to make and delicious.

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland “I love these threads. They are full of people who's kids apparently gobble down lentils on a daily basis. Are my kids the only ones who hate these heavily veg based meals?”
If you’re on a budget and that’s what there is then they don’t have a choice, do they? I’m sure my 9 year old would rather have a diet of purely nuggets and chips but if it’s chickpea curry for tea it’s that or go hungry.

Dry food for dogs is better for their teeth !(maybe same cats ? not sure) I would use lentils to pad out some frozen mince (this is good as you can just take out what you need (So maybe 1/4 to 1/2 lentils to meat ).Also eggs are usually cheap (Sainsburys 15 mixed size eggs for about £2.00) lots of dishes : Eggs ,beans ,and chips , Quiche ,salad and a jacket potato ,omelettes ,and so on .Cheese and potato pie,tuna bake .Its healthier to cut down on too much meat anyway .Also Largest Frozen or fresh Chicken : Roast on Sunday .Monday mini roast (mash /lots of veggies ,Tuesday pie or risotto .

My tips would be:
Stop buying meat - that’ll be your biggest saving
Eggs - cheap, filling and healthy. We often have omelettes/frittata/egg on toast for tea
Frozen veg - no waste and it means it’s easy to provide a variety
Tinned beans, lentils and chickpeas for curries, chilli etc
Pasta bake made with passata - a slice of garlic bread with it for hungry children
We get through loads of bananas - banana and custard or tinned fruit and custard is a cheap & filling pudding

Thank you so much for so many suggestions.

I agree with the person that said their kids won't eat lentils or chick peas. I usually add common veg and have in the past added porridge to bulk it out.

A huge issue I may face is there's a chance I may need to go gluten free and or dairy free. Bet that can't be done on such a small budget.

I get paid on Friday so I'm going to sit down and try and come up with a month list.

Yes, you can be gluten free on a budget! I just don’t eat pasta or bread. You can still eat potatoes, rice, oats. It’s only if you start buying expensive alternative bread/pasta that’s it’s difficult.
Not sure about dairy free but I don’t eat cheese anyway, you can get cheap value soya milk.

Dairy free might not be too bad if you don’t have to avoid soya. Some people with CMPA also react to soya. Supermarket own brand soya milk isn’t that expensive. There are several dairy free spreads out there.

The key will be cooking from scratch as much as possible as dairy can be hidden. Anything labelled vegan will also be fine.

Less than £40 a week is a real struggle. I have had weeks I've done it on £25 and we basically ate toast and pasta for nearly every meal. With £40 you can cover all the food groups and still get adequate servings of fruit, veg, dairy and protein as well as the obvious cheap carbs. Much less than that and you risk some pretty major vitamin deficiencies so on anything less than that for more than a week or two I would suggest a food bank referral if you can get one

Yes, yes to what previous poster said about potatoes and rice. Both cheap and gluten free.

Slightly more expensive: maize (as sweetcorn, popcorn, maize tortilla chips (own brand), or cornflour) is generally gluten free - and you can make make fine maize-flour pancakes (no need to use milk). Coarse maize flour (polenta) can be used to make bases for pizza-like toppings, and cakes/puddings. www.bbcgoodfood.com/glossary/polenta

If children don't like lentils, would they try old-fashioned filling and nutritious dishes such as bubble and squeak or colcannon? Both can be served with an egg on top.
Scottish stovies - chunks of potatoes, swede and onion slow-cooked with a bit of oil or (in the old days) dripping can be surprisingly good. Sometimes, in the past, meat scraps were added as well.

Vegetarian. Meat is so expensive.

Make your big vegetable curries, vegetable pasta bakes etc. Rice and pasta are cheap, as are lentils to substitute the protein that you’d usually have with meat.

If you choose to have meat, bulk it out, e.g half mince and half lentils in a bolognese. A bean chilli.

Always go heavy on the veg. Lots of fibre so it’s filling.

Eggs and cheese are great too

Lentils are the answer. We make chilli with lentils, several different varieties of lentil soup, a lentil shepherd's pie, lentil curry... So much cheaper than meat.

I would ditch the crisps, fizzy drinks and cordial - they're not contributing anything nutritionally and if you are having to skip meals because of your budget, the kids have to go without stuff like that.

Bake your own cakes, slice and freeze them so you just get out exactly what you need. Lemon cake, ginger cake, apple cake, rock buns all freeze really well.

Older children will eat whats there but 3 year olds won't. If faced with food they find unpalatable, they will often resort to filling up on bread or milk, which can leave them nutritionally deficient. I know of a couple of people with toddlers who's efforts to introduce more varied diet simply resulted in the toddlers losing weight.

OP you have my sympathies, it's very hard.

rice and pasta are cheap, as are lentils to substitute the protein that you’d usually have with meat.

How much protein is there in lentils for a portion that contributes the same calories as a portion of meat, egg or fish?

It can be difficult for some small children to eat a big enough portion of those things to get a similar amount of protein.

My top tips:

1. Meal plan
2. Eat less meat
3. Try to shop at Lidl/Aldi
4. Use A Girl Called Jack's recipes. She was feeding a growing healthy boy using them.
5. Hide the lentils esp red ones by using them to bulk out stuff they will eat like shepherds pie, chilli, spag bol

Going gluten/dairy free is not the end of the world budget wise. Jack Monroe had a long vegan phase so many of her recipes are dairy free. Potatoes and rice are cheap and gluten free. Instead of looking at the expensive free-from aisle, it's about minimizing how much bread and milk you have to buy in the first place.

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland gram for gram, lentils have more protein than beef.

I think you need a combined strategy of meal planning but also looking at ways to “free up” or make more money too. Some of the recipes on here sound very miserable and I’m sure they are fine for a short-term stop gap but you need to look at the bigger picture. Are you spending too much on other things? Are you missing out on opportunities to increase your income? Don’t resign yourself to this situation and assume it will always be like this.

I cannot cut down any other Outgoings. I have already done this.
I've switched from paying for school dinners to sending them in with food.
I've cancelled anything that is seen as a treat and reduced my phone bill to the bare minimum.
I've switched suppliers for gas and electric to the best deal.
We have no trips out, no holidays, no treats, no take outs. My poor kids are bored stiff as they are getting too old for parks and I cannot afford anything else.

It's a very depressing time and is unlikely to change anytime soon.