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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think it's impossible to feed a family of four for a week for £10

452 replies

horseyhorsey17 · 06/09/2023 09:58

On one of the forums where journalists look for case studies recently there was a call from one of the right-wing tabloids for 'savvy' mums who are able to feed a family of four for £10 a week. This got a few people's backs up (including mine) as I see this as normalising poverty - and the only way anyone can feed a family of four for a week is by using food banks. This isn't 'savvy', it's desperate - I have friends who run a food bank and the bank is on its knees and might actually have to close due to the massive pressure of increased demand, so it's immoral to normalise their use.

I also Googled a few of those 'I feed my family for a tenner/£20 a week' type articles and they're all highly disingenous, the portions are tiny (would at a stretch feed two adults and two babies but not two adults and two hungry teens), were really only one meal a day, poor nutrition and didn't include snacks or drinks. TBH I spend more than a tenner a week on food for my pets - as they don't just get the cheapest food out there as I care about their health - and that isn't weird or profligate. It boggles my mind that people think actual humans can be fed healthily for less than that.

Am I wrong? Can it be done without resorting to food banks/begging for food on local forums (something I am also seeing a lot now)? Is it OK to describe this as 'savvy' rather than a sign of the poverty that's now endemic in the fifth richest economy in the world?

OP posts:
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VeridicalVagabond · 06/09/2023 10:16

I could do it, but I'd have to use Olio and stuff to get free ingredients and hope that I could get a £1 Lidl veg box, and we'd basically be eating soup or curry or something for the week (and that's if I was allowed the spices already in my spice rack and just had to buy ingredients) in very small portions.

So... While I could do it, I don't think anyone should have to, and I don't think it should be lorded as "savvy". People being forced into becoming better at adapting to poverty is not a good thing or a positive.

violetcuriosity · 06/09/2023 10:16

Unless you cooked pasta 3 times a day every day it's not happening is it

Original poster
horseyhorsey17 · 06/09/2023 10:17

VegetablesFightingToReclaimTheAubergieneEmoji · 06/09/2023 10:11

I could probably do it if I made a vat of lentil bolognaise that we eat for the entire week.

Lentils are expensive now! I actually don't think you could make 84 portions for a tenner!

OP posts:
Whatisthis99 · 06/09/2023 10:17

Food bank wise, I dont know the name of the scheme but round here they have a place where you can pay £3 and get how ever many items of shopping. Last time I went I got one of the giant Kellogg's rice krispies cereal boxes, bacon,
Milk, 6 home made ready meals, 2 tins of tuna, 2 yoghurts, bread and a few packets of biscuits.

The biscuits and home made meals you could take as many as you wanted

Theres absolutely no way people could afford to feed their families on £10 a week from normal super markets. If you went to a discounted place or a scheme like the one I've mentioned it would probably be do able. My DC also get free school meals so obviously that would really help the budget

But without the scheme and free school meals theres no way I could feed me and 2 DC off 10 a week

CurlewKate · 06/09/2023 10:17

They also assume that you have a well stocked larder of basics.

sparkedsparkle · 06/09/2023 10:18

I bet what your saying OP, last week went in the local farm shop and spent £15 on fruit and veg (far cheaper than supermarket) but that just for our snacks or sides for our meals

BoohooWoohoo · 06/09/2023 10:19

The journalists should ask 30p Lee. He said one person could eat for about 30p a day so a family would come under a tenner.

Moreorlessmentallystable · 06/09/2023 10:19

Of course not. Not even having a 32p pack of noodles 3 times a day would make this achievable, nevermind feeding them a healthy diet. Even people that claim to do it for £50 a week, it would be with LOTS of heavily processed foods/tiny portions. We spend around £120-£150 a week for a family of 4 and that doesn't include alcohol or fizzy juice.

Original poster
horseyhorsey17 · 06/09/2023 10:21

Wildhorses2244 · 06/09/2023 10:15

You’re totally right.

If you were really really strapped for cash you might be able to manage it for a week to get you through to payday by using what you already have in and buying two loaves of bread/one big bag pasta/a couple of tins of tomatoes/ 8 baking potatoes and a couple of tins of beans. But it would be a really really shit week.

We’re a family of 3 - 1 adult 2 primary kids. I usually spend about £100 a week inc treats, cleaning products etc but no kids lunches - if I was really stuck I could manage on £45. If I regularly had less than that I would be looking at other solutions.

Same - three here, me and two teens. I also spend £100 a week on food. My kids are foodies and we all love cooking and eating nice meals. They'd be utterly miserable if they could only eat pasta or toast or cornflakes, with no snacks, no tea/coffee/squash etc. I know there are families that probably do have to do this, and I feel sorry for them - it's not something to celebrate, it's something we should be working to address!

OP posts:
OhNoForever · 06/09/2023 10:22

Snittle · 06/09/2023 10:12

I think you could not starve to death on £10… it would get you (for example):
1.5kg pasta
2 cartons of chopped tomatoes
2 loaves of bread
Jam
Margarine
2 boxes of cornflakes
2 pints of milk
3 tins of beans

It’s not a good diet by any means, but it’s not starving. And it’s certainly not aspirational.

But actually being properly fed on £10 a week does seem impossible.

That isn't enough to feed 4 people though? 2 tins of tomatoes for 28 dinners? 2 pints of milk for 28 breakfasts? There's no way you could hit your calorie allowence, let alone nutrition.

They're just trying to normalise levels of poverty which would have been shocking 29 years ago. And it's working!

Original poster
horseyhorsey17 · 06/09/2023 10:25

Also, just thinking about it - why is it always 'savvy' MUMs who have to feed their kids for a tenner a week? What are the dads doing and why aren't they equally savvy?

Presumably the right wing journalists think dad is out toiling down 't' pit or something while mum rushes round collecting coupons and visiting foodbanks. Misogynistic as well as nonsense!

OP posts:
Itisyourturntowashthebath · 06/09/2023 10:26

If you got all calories from lard, it would still cost £12.

Iop · 06/09/2023 10:26

A tenner a week?! We have 2 young DC. I'm coeliac so need gluten free. Even if we only bought the cheapest options available to us that would meet the most minimal standards of nutrition, roughly £10 would buy us:

4 pints of milk: £1.45
1kg white rice: £1.50
500g carrots: 35p
500g dried lentils: £1.90
A couple onions: 50p
A couple cheapest tins of tomatoes: 70p
Loaf of cheapest bread: 70p (this increases to £2.10 for the cheapest gluten free loaf, so I guess I'll just go without this week 🤷🏽‍♀️)
4 tins own brand baked beans: £1.20
500g wonky apples: £1
2 bananas: 40p

So... that just about covers the food groups I think. We could eat beans on toast for 5 or 6 of our meals (except for me, who gets plain beans) and rice and dahl with no seasonings or spices, for the rest. And the kids could each have 1 piece of fruit a day - maybe that could be their breakfast? No fruit for DH or me. Too bad DD is only 9 months old and probably shouldn't be having sugary, salty baked beans 4 times a week. And I guess all our loo roll, washing up liquid, soap is free.

What fucking planet do these cretins live on???

Zebedee999 · 06/09/2023 10:27

I love all the articles giving details of low cost meals; I don't get why so many rage against them. I'm quite green so like to be frugal with my consumption so appreciate such articles and take from them what I can. I don't see them as "right wing cr@p" and don't see why others immediately diss them instead of learning from them.
I also pick blackberries at the roadside (add to breakfast etc) as well as apples and anything else I can get for free.

AutumnCrow · 06/09/2023 10:28

That's 84 meals, so 12 pence a meal.

So every meal would have to be like one slice of the cheapest bread toast from Lidl, and half a tin of the cheapest (e.g. Essentials) Spaghetti Loops. You couldn't even find baked beans or tinned tomatoes cheap enough. Just those loops.

Twelve bloody pence.

Impossible without people already having food in, or being given food.

pontipinemum · 06/09/2023 10:29

Not possible at all! You can certainly do lots of £5 dinners for 4 people but that alone is £35 per week for dinner - which btw I think is very good.

3dogsandarabbit · 06/09/2023 10:29

Isn't this the sort of rubbish that Jack Munroe comes out with? I had a look at her recipes before and she breaks hers down by using 10p worth of a bag of flour etc, or grate one carrot.

This isn't a recent thing at all OP.

MidgesGirdle · 06/09/2023 10:30

I agree, it's impossible. We spend about £650 a month for a family of 6 (2 adults, 2 teens, and 2 primary). This is with minimal and homemade treats, packed lunches, home cooked meals, veggie half the week, and the 2 adults usually skip breakfast. We spend an additional £100 on cats and toiletries/sundries.

It's utterly galling to be so careful with our budget and still feel like money is pouring through our fingers.

Original poster
horseyhorsey17 · 06/09/2023 10:31

3dogsandarabbit · 06/09/2023 10:29

Isn't this the sort of rubbish that Jack Munroe comes out with? I had a look at her recipes before and she breaks hers down by using 10p worth of a bag of flour etc, or grate one carrot.

This isn't a recent thing at all OP.

She's never actually claimed you can live happily off a tenner a week though - low cost recipes yes but she has always been clear that her time of trying to live off that was extremely difficult.

OP posts:
Original poster
horseyhorsey17 · 06/09/2023 10:32

MidgesGirdle · 06/09/2023 10:30

I agree, it's impossible. We spend about £650 a month for a family of 6 (2 adults, 2 teens, and 2 primary). This is with minimal and homemade treats, packed lunches, home cooked meals, veggie half the week, and the 2 adults usually skip breakfast. We spend an additional £100 on cats and toiletries/sundries.

It's utterly galling to be so careful with our budget and still feel like money is pouring through our fingers.

I know the feeling! I feel like I am profligate with my £100 a week Aldi shop but food has gone up in price so much now that that's actually just the basics and snacks for me and the kids for a week.

OP posts:
Jellycatspyjamas · 06/09/2023 10:33

Even living on soup and porridge you couldn’t buy enough ingredients to last 4 people one week - it’s just not possible. I spend around £100/week on 3 of us and consider that well going to provide decent, nutritious meals.

Whinge · 06/09/2023 10:33

3dogsandarabbit · 06/09/2023 10:29

Isn't this the sort of rubbish that Jack Munroe comes out with? I had a look at her recipes before and she breaks hers down by using 10p worth of a bag of flour etc, or grate one carrot.

This isn't a recent thing at all OP.

I thought the same thing. Although many of her "recipes" also seem to think you have a vast pantry full of food that's just waiting to be used. YANBU OP it's just not possible.

Crikeyalmighty · 06/09/2023 10:33

It appears the UK is a race to the bottom and if woe betide you dare mention you spend £150 a week for a family - I could at a push (and a very boring week) feed a family on £50

Moreorlessmentallystable · 06/09/2023 10:33

AutumnCrow · 06/09/2023 10:28

That's 84 meals, so 12 pence a meal.

So every meal would have to be like one slice of the cheapest bread toast from Lidl, and half a tin of the cheapest (e.g. Essentials) Spaghetti Loops. You couldn't even find baked beans or tinned tomatoes cheap enough. Just those loops.

Twelve bloody pence.

Impossible without people already having food in, or being given food.

Shocking. Maybe be this should be the politicians allowance for their meals.

AutumnCrow · 06/09/2023 10:34

3dogsandarabbit · 06/09/2023 10:29

Isn't this the sort of rubbish that Jack Munroe comes out with? I had a look at her recipes before and she breaks hers down by using 10p worth of a bag of flour etc, or grate one carrot.

This isn't a recent thing at all OP.

Oh god don't get me started. That fishpaste pasta 'dinner' for example is always shown in photos that I've seen garnished with slices of fresh cut lemon, chopped fresh red chilli, and chopped fresh green herb(s). Someone posted a pic on MN the other night.

Apart from the yuck factor, that is not a good frugal meal.