£116 a week-is it doable?

[Itsthemostrubbishtimeoftheyear]

Really want to get the last part of a loan paid off. Have worked out it can be done if we live on £116 a week for January & February,
That has to cover food for two adults, toddler & a dog, lunches for Dh for work, small amount of petrol and wood for the fire.
Is it doable?

Totally do able and when your done it you'll be pleased with what you achieved

I would say yes with careful planning. Use chickpeas, lentils and butter beans to give you protein. Do casseroles with tinned tomatoes and some frozen veg in a slow cooker. Bread to fill you up, scrambled eggs for breakfast or omelette . Shop in Aldi or Liddle.

Eurgh, so not looking forward to the awful having to count down to the pound, have been there before, but def no treats. I figure if there’s any time to do it, it’s Jan & Feb, I just worry about scrimping on food as want all the fruit and veg for Dd especially

Easily, if that is all you are paying for out of it.

Dh buys lunch out at work, do I just do a load of sandwiches for him each day? (He eats a LOT) what would be cheap to take to work?

Porridge for breakfast with a banana.

Vegetable soup for lunch (dh lunch too)
Bread roll
Tangerine

Pasta and sauce for dinner.

Go shopping in the evening and get some yellow stickers food.

Buy a chicken.
Roast it and eat with vegetables
Pull all the meat off and make a spicy chicken rice dish
Eat as sandwiches

Check your freezer and see what you can create from the contents.

Use your store cupboard for ideas too.

Make up meals that he can reheat if he's got access to a microwave. I make big meals in the slow cooker and dh takes some at night and can reheat.

Buy frozen fruit and veg. Farmfoods beside me is 85p for bags of stuff.

Pasta and cheap sauces for meals.

Depends on the petrol and the wood. I could easily feed two adults and a kid on £60 a week and it wouldn't feel tight at all but it would really depend on being able to show monthly with small to ups in between.

Egg and beans on toast is a perfectly acceptable cheap evening meal. As is corned beef hash and beans or gravy. Pasta Carbonara is cheap and delicious. Sausage casserole with mash. Home made road in the hole. Leek and potato soup with home made bread . Scouse.Pea and ham soup. Bagged potato and whatever you fancy on top.

Breakfast, porridge with frozen fruit and honey mixed in is fine. Or over night oats. Yogurt and fruit . Home made flap jacks (can be used for lunches too).

For lunches I find it's much cheaper to but a £4 gammon and pressure cook it. Leave out to cook and then finely sliced out. It can keep in the fridge for a week perfectly but it can also be frozen. I do my unsmoked gaming in Cola and it's delicious. Finely slice some carrot, cabbage and onion and put it in a wrap. Heaven on earth and better quality and cheaper than pre packaged water ham.

I would certainly give it a good go. If you can make it a game, it could even be fun.

Buy Turkey mince for bolognaise and add a huge handful of red lentils.
It will double in size.

Add beans and lentils to everything.

Depends on what facilities he has at work.
My dp works outside but has access to microwave and kettle.
I pop in the local shop on the way home and often find ready meals reduced to 20-40p, i freeze them until needed then he takes to work and heats in microwave. I buy him micro rice, Tesco own is about 40/50p and stuff to go with it like Tesco do a chilli con carne in a red labelled tin for around £1 which he likes, I buy him chunky own brand soups, under £1 and stews/casseroles in tins which he takes with some bread+butter. Baguettes with ham/salad go down well. Sometimes he eats a lot of naked noodle pots, around 75p but often needs a sandwich/wrap to go with as they aren’t a lot on their own for someone in a physical outside job, ditto pot noodles.

Your dh is going to be the one who will find it hard if he's used to buying lunches out.
My dh takes brown bread a banana and orange. Every single day. About 6 slices of bread.

Yes it is. We are a family of 4, never spend more than £70 a week in the supermarket. That includes food for us all to take to school/work for lunch. Meal planning is key, make a list and stick to it!

Also when I make large meals, eg shepards pie, pasta Bol etc he will usually have a small lunchbox full as his lunch the following day.

Still get a few treats. It will be easier.

I just worry about scrimping on food as want all the fruit and veg for Dd especially

Fruit and veg are not expensive. I bought carrots, peppers, red onions to make a soup with, a loaf of brown seeded bread, and a bag of apples and satsumas earlier from Aldi. It will last me for the next 5 lunches and it cost less than a fiver.

What do you need to spend on petrol, and on wood?

Is your DH on board? What food does he usually buy for his lunches?

Yes it’s always hard on the side of dh’s lunches. We’ve tried before so many times, but he always goes back to buying lunches and it adds up.
He has a microwave, coffee machine at work etc

A microwave meal wouldn’t fill him up most likely

Plus he eats at around 10 too 😬how he’s not overweight, I’ve no idea

Do you pay your council tax over 10 months meaning you have Feb and March CT free?

£116 is quite a lot (depending on how much is taken up by petrol and wood). £50 a week is very doable for food.

You need to meal plan, try some veggie recipes like these two:

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/burnt-aubergine-veggie-chilli

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/lentilshepherdspiewi_93532

This is a quick and easy dinner:
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/saucy-sausage-pasta-0

Make a roast chicken dinner and make this the next day with the leftovers:
foodnetwork.co.uk/recipes/quick-thai-chicken-curry-using-roast-chicken/

Your husband can either make his own sandwiches, or jacket potato with chilli or tuna etc, soup.

@NoSquirrels If we don’t really go far at the weekend, we’ll only need to put maybe £15 in petrol. Dh goes to work on electric motorbike, so that saves loads of petrol.
For him, it can range from buying sandwiches to a proper sit down lunch at a restaurant

He’s do that maybe on a Friday for example, he’s not gonna love taking a tupperware in again

@Itsthemostrubbishtimeoftheyear

Yes it’s always hard on the side of dh’s lunches. We’ve tried before so many times, but he always goes back to buying lunches and it adds up. He has a microwave, coffee machine at work etc

What does he care about (future stuff)?

E.g. my DH absolutely prioritises buying lunch every day over things he’d also quite like - but not enough to make a daily sacrifice/delay gratification.

Whereas I’d happily eat a pack-up every day for a holiday/new sofa/gig tickets/whatever.

If he doesn’t care about paying off this debt as much as you, it may be better to accept that it’s an extra month on the pay-off.

OTOH if he’s motivated too then look for ways to sweeten the deal - buys lunch 2x days a week etc.

*On an electric motorbike