FOOD BILLS PER WEEK

[Diamondsareforever123]

We are two adults, middle aged, with 3 cats. Very low income. What's the cheapest food bill we could budget? We're not veggie/vegan, no food allergies or intolerances. I think we're spending too much.... and the fuel bill has knocked me for six!!

@ImplementingTheDennisSystem

I mean, sure, *@fairylightsandwaxmelts* - if you're absolutely determined not to make a low budget work! Spend £35 a week or spenddouble that it's of no consequence whatsoever to me! 😅

Not determined, just realistic

If OP didn't have three cats to feed and it didn't include any toiletries or cleaning products, it would be do-able I think, but pets just aren't cheap, and if her cats are anything like mine, switching food will just result in them refusing to eat completely

We don't feed high-end cat food by any means, and buy litter in bulk to save money, but even then they probably cost me £15 a week for all three at an absolute minimum, and that's just for food and litter.

We have 2 cats, both eating Tesco cat food, and their food costs £10 per week.

I cannot see how you could feed 2 cats and 2 adults for £25 per week.

Those that can get a week’s worth of food got 2 adults (with or without cats) for £25, would you mind posting the list of contents of your most recent shopping trip? We went shopping yesterday and there are 2 of us plus 2 dogs and I don’t see how I could have spent £25 and come out of the shop with enough to feed all of us for a week. What are you buying and where?

For 2, you could do £40 a week

@fairylightsandwaxmelts haha, again - you're allowed to spend whatever you like on your own shopping! 😂

Op is talking about a food bill, not cleaning products. Is the cat food included in that bill? And it depends if that food bill has to provide three meals a day.

@Blimecory

Op is talking about a food bill, not cleaning products. Is the cat food included in that bill? And it depends if that food bill has to provide three meals a day.

If the cats weren't included, she wouldn't have mentioned them.

[quote mrsm43s]@fairylightsandwaxmelts
Well that's not what they asked though.

In any case

Asda Smart price porridge made with water for breakfast 75p

Breakfast total - 75p

Lunches (each for 2 ppl)
2xSmart price beans (22p x2) on toast
2xSmart price spaghetti (16px2) on toast
2xSmart price plum tomatoes (28p x2) on toast
Smart price tomato soup (24p) with toast
Add 2 x smart price loaves of bread (39p x2)
Add spread Asda Sunflower spread (£1)

Total for lunches - £3.34

Dinners (each for 2 people)

2 meals of Asda smart price sausages (£1 for 20 pack so 5 sausages each per meal), Asda smart price tin potatoes (2x 33p), tin ASP carrots (2x20p) ASP tinned peas (2x21p)

2 meals of Asda smart price tuna (2x59p), ASP pasta (29p per 500g), ASP tinned chopped toms (2 x 28p)

1 meal of ASP chicken nuggets (85p) ASP savoury rice (25p) ASP coleslaw (37p)

2 meals of ASP breaded fish portions (4 portions £1.25) ASP chips (f90p for 1.5kg), ASP mushy peas (2x 18p)

Total for dinners - £8.49

Total for human meals £12.58

Cats 3 x Asda Tiger complete cat food at £1.05 (each pack will do 10 days for a medium cat according to feeding instructions)

Total for cat food - £3.15

Total - £15.73.

So a budget of £25-30 per week would leave £10-15 for additional fresh fruit and veg snacks (big bag of carrots approx 40p, 6 pack asda garden gang apples 89p, bananas approx 80p per kilo) ASP squash is about 40p, ASP teabags about 25p.

Would be enough to squeeze in some cleaning products and toiletries too as needed.

It's absolutely doable on £25-30 p week, albeit a basic diet.[/quote]
This looks to be very low in calories. It doesn’t look like enough for a working adult in a physically demanding job.

Also so much canned food - surely the salt content is too high?

Okay here's one of Thrifty Lesley's meal plans (I chose this one because she's checked the costings again in January this year - "You will need £18.14 in your purse at the checkout, but the amount of food actually consumed (if you follow the plan fully) comes to £13.90 – just 99p per person, per day. ") She doesn't include tea and coffee in the plan but otherwise she assumes your cupboard is empty with the exception of salt and pepper. Like Jack Monroe these plans were built out of hard necessity when she was a struggling single mother.

thriftylesley.com/meal-plans/week-three-meal-planner-chorizo-chick-peas-dried-mash/
day 1 Baked beans on toast. Using 2 slices of bread each, and a tin of baked beans between 2 people
Cauliflower and chick pea soup
Gnocchi with tomato sauce
day 2 Porridge – use 100g oats per person
Salami & mixed vegetable soup with croutons
Vegetable crumble
day 3 Jammy oat bars.
Cauliflower and chick pea soup
Chorizo, chick peas and tomato in flat bread
day 4 Porridge – use 100g oats per person
Salami & mixed vegetable soup with croutons
Vegetable crumble
day 5 Baked beans on toast. as day 1
Egg sandwich using 1 egg and 2 slices of bread per person
Farl, sautéed onion, carrot, swede and chorizo
day 6 Egg on toast and jammy toast. Cook an egg each anyway you like them and have on one slice toast. Then have a second slice with jam. Or you could have an egg sandwich
chip butty
Chorizo and roasted veg pizza
day 7 Jammy oat bars.
Meatless Sunday Lunch , crunchy roasties, crispy yorkies, mashed carrots and swede, cauli in white sauce
Oaty apple crumble and custard

Cakes & Bakes	Oaty Biscuits, Jammy oat bars, Tomato  scones

She has a range of other plans including for Christmas, one with Chicken and bacon ( a proper Mumsnet chicken) and even one for when you have no heat available to cook.

Agree. £25 is a laughable and ludicrously low suggestion.

DH and I have one cat, and we buy around 60% of our food/grocery shop from Aldi - other 40% from Iceland, Morrisons, and Asda. One takeaway a month. We rarely manage to get the bill under £65 a week. (This includes one bottle of wine, for £6 or £7.)

The £65 a week doesn't include loo rolls, washing powder, kitchen roll, shampoo, soap, washing up liquid, handwash etc... We buy this separately - usually from Wilkos - every few months.

OH and she plans her meal plans so that they meet Government nutritional guidelines and contain the recommended portions of fruit and veg each day. AS others have said you can't have out of season berries, exotic fruit etc but you absolutely can have fruit and veg.

My £65 includes feeding our one kitty btw!

I think a healthy diet would need to be £30-40 for two people.
I am not sure if you are all including washing powder , toilet rolls, toiletries and cleaning products ?
I would budget around £ 20 for these items
£50 shopping.

@Alwayscheerful

I think a healthy diet would need to be £30-40 for two people. I am not sure if you are all including washing powder , toilet rolls, toiletries and cleaning products ? I would budget around £ 20 for these items £50 shopping.

£20 a month seems high for two people. I don't spend that much.

@Daffodils22

£25/30 is completely unrealistic sorry. It’s me a 2 cats and I struggle to keep under £50/60

Completely agree, I'm on £80 a week for myself and two cats ( I do have to have some extras - oat milk etc) and this is without any super luxury items or additional snacks but I do have some fish etc. One jve bought the cat food (wet is all the eat) and cat litter that alone is around £20

Breakfast, lunch and dinner, 7 days a week = 22 meals. X2. Plus cat food. 42 meals per week.

A jacket potato is 30p can of beans, 50p and some cheese 75p. Even a meal like this is more than £1 a head.

I suppose you could buy economy pasta, economy sauce. That'd come in at under £1 per head.

I think, realistically you need to allow £4 per day, per person. At least. A fiver if you add in some fruit and stuff.

So, £35 pppw is £70 a week. Just on food for humans.

How much do you currently spend?

I just wrote a shopping list as if I lived alone, I'm vegan, I included a few items that I would actually have in my storecupboard to reflect the reality of shopping, and came out at just under £20 shopping at Tesco, for lunches and dinners, and I'd have a few extra portions to use the following week as well.
It's possible to eat really cheaply if you cook using good value ingredients and don't buy meat. Vegetables and pulses are cheap and can be found even cheaper in bulk in specialist supermarkets or online.

@fairylightsandwaxmelts

OP asked what the cheapest they could budget was

That's true, but when it comes to pets (especially cats), going with the cheapest food possible is often a false economy long-term. A lot of very cheap cat biscuits cause health issues in (especially) male cats - if OP is on a budget, she won't want to deal with a urinary blockage and a trip to the emergency vet.

It's often worth paying a little extra (not much, £2-3 a week) extra for a better quality food that will ensure long-term health.

It's different if you have absolutely ZERO option but if there is a bit of leeway, I really wouldn't recommend going with really dirty cheap food for pets.

Cheaper just to get rid of the pets tbh

day 5Baked beans on toast. as day 1
Egg sandwich using 1 egg and 2 slices of bread per person Farl, sautéed onion, carrot, swede and chorizo

Again, there’s no way that’s 2000 calories.
Just googled. Asda smart price beans are 165 calories per half tin. Bread is 90 calories a slice. So that’s 345 calories for breakfast. Maybe a few more if you put marg on the toast.

Egg sandwich - two slices of bread 90 calories per slice. One egg, even if it’s fried, is about 110 calories. So 290 calories for lunch.

The Farl recipe says it’s 412 calories per serving. That’s including the vegetables and salami.

That’s 1047 calories for a day. Nowhere near enough for an active adult.

You can save loads of money if you just have more veggie meals. Beans , Lentils and pulses are cheap, filling and nutritious.

But, also pad meals out with them. So for example, if you're making a role casserole, half the amount of meat, and chuck in a tin of haricot beans or whatever. Or a chicken saag curry? Replace half the chicken with chickpeas.

I make use of brown lentils as a minced beef replacement in things like cottage pie.

Also, waste nothing. Use the stalk of broccoli, the odd carrot, the outside cabbage leaves, the stem of cabbage leaves, the last spring onion, etc in a stir fry or a soup.

Keep veggie offcut s/peels etc I'm a bag in the freezer to make stock with every few months (and the freeze it) to use for soups etc.

Cheaper just to get rid of the pets tbh

Well, yes, but not an option for most pet owners.

@TheAverageForumUser

*day 5Baked beans on toast. as day 1 Egg sandwich using 1 egg and 2 slices of bread per person Farl, sautéed onion, carrot, swede and chorizo*

Again, there’s no way that’s 2000 calories.
Just googled. Asda smart price beans are 165 calories per half tin. Bread is 90 calories a slice. So that’s 345 calories for breakfast. Maybe a few more if you put marg on the toast.

Egg sandwich - two slices of bread 90 calories per slice. One egg, even if it’s fried, is about 110 calories. So 290 calories for lunch.

The Farl recipe says it’s 412 calories per serving. That’s including the vegetables and salami.

That’s 1047 calories for a day. Nowhere near enough for an active adult.

Why would you use only half a tin of beans? What about breakfast? £1 worth of porridge would last a week and fruit to go with it £2.50 so 250 calories, plus add some rice with dinner plus add on the butter. Need some nuts and more bread for snacks

@Autumn42 I was quoting from the meal plan that someone else posted. That said half a ton of beans per person. Also it did not include any extras.

You’re right, I’d never eat that and be full. I’d definitely eat more and some extras. In fact, I wouldn’t eat that type of stuff in the first place. But that wasn’t my point. My point was that the daily meal planner someone posted is completely inadequate.

Half a tin, not half a ton!