£350 till end of the month. family of 4 + dog

[AnxietyLevelMax]

How do we survive? Needs to include formula for the baby. Other ds is almost 5 yrs old. Fuel to be included. We are sorted for this week and have few lunches in the freezer for the next week, but otherwise have to manage within the budget and just dont know how! Each grocery shopping is about £200 for a week with careful planning, we just cant afford it

The virtue signalling and competitive frugality on this thread is absolutely peak mumsnet 😂😂😂.

I'm Scottish and here it means ketchup. OP said her husband is American though, and I have seen "red sauce" used in American contexts to mean the marinara-type sauce served with pasta (which doesn't explain the lasagne).

I just can't get past OP's claim that he eats five jacket potatoes with a full tin of beans for a single dinner. This guy is either a 7' 2" Olympian or he weighs 400lbs.

Don't forget the opportunity for a strong dose of man bashing as well.

It's not just about the cost of food it's about the overall cost of living including low wages.

Five jacket potatoes and one tin of beans would have the same calories as a steak and chips.

We are just used to getting our high calorie meals from more expensive combinations.

Lots of potatoes and whatever might be available on the side (or not) is exactly how you eat frugally without starving.

Also how old is baby now? I thought after 6 months you can switch to cows milk? Not suggesting to do that overnight but worth a thought to start the change

Is this another "greedy hubby" thread?

Five average jacket potatoes with some butter and one can of beans (wouldn’t go far with five potatoes) is 1600 calories.

steak cooked is around 500 calories, standard portion of oven chips is 200, so he’d need to eat five portions of oven chips and a steak to be the same.

i don’t disagree that filling up on potatoes is a bad idea, but the portion size is still very big even for a large adult. That would be over half his daily calories in one meal.

This all depends on potato size. They'll be 150-225 calories before toppings. Sure, if we assume he was loading big ones with butter, that makes a difference, but with the information we have he's in steak dinner territory.

If OP wants to keep the food bill down, I suppose frying the potatoes in cheap oil and adding cheap toppings (not butter) would be best. But I wouldn't ration his potatoes.

Ultimately I think without OP giving us detail on what they actually eat at the moment we are all floundering a bit here: husband could be a lean mountain of muscle or Billy Bunter. But deciding he should cut calories isn't a good answer - they should be able to eat on that budget

The fact that the husband is used to the volume of food for one meal that 5 potatoes and toppings gives and was unsatisfied with less means that the portion size of every meal he eats will be of similar size. So the calories in this particular (fairly low calorie v volume) example probably don’t paint the whole picture

@AnxietyLevelMax he can't eat tomatoes but eats baked beans on his 5 jacket potatoes? Baked beans are in tomato sauce...

Sorry but I dont think this thread is for real. £200 a week on food is ridiculous. We spend £120 for 2 dogs and 3 kids and eat well.

Cut out meat and cook from scratch and you will find plenty of families that eat for under £50 a week. Lentils are high protein. Rice. Eggs.

5 baked potatoes is just greedy. Even a 7ft human only NEEDS a fraction of this and won't starve. Prioritise the kids.

@AnxietyLevelMax who in the world eats 5 baked potatoes??? that is excessive!! dont come away with he is big either. what does he weigh?

@AnxietyLevelMax quite a lot of needless stuff on your till receipt too!!!!

This has all become a bit pointless now without specifics and the OP contributing.

@AnxietyLevelMax you can manage, you’ve been given lots of advice and hopefully a lot to think about in terms of “average” food bills and expected amounts of food. I hope some of it helps and you are able to make it through the month.

This has all become a bit pointless now without specifics and the OP contributing.

@AnxietyLevelMax you can manage, you’ve been given lots of advice and hopefully a lot to think about in terms of “average” food bills and expected amounts of food. I hope some of it helps and you are able to make it through the month.

without the op actually bothering to say what they actually spend that on its hard to give any helpful tips! nobody is spending £200 a week on formula, cheap dog food & just living off toasties and beans and jacket potatoes.

I think there are some really good resources online for prepping cheap family meals and freezing leftovers.

We don’t know what OPs partners job is to be fair. Those of us who sit at a desk sometimes forget how physical other jobs can be. Not say 5 x jacket potatoes is normal or reasonable, just another factor. He could be army training for all we know!!!

She’s not posted a receipt

Sure. Just like the baby you were talking about will have double the amount of the next baby. It's so variable.

Actually that surprises me. Mind you perhaps that baby takes after his dad and consumes a lot

It's 12 months. They can have it food from 6 months but the drink needs to be formula until 12 months.

Maybe.

My DS as a baby would easily drink 9oz bottles so went through formula quickly. My other two never had 9oz bottles but they are twins so still went through formula quickly.

I have a DH, two older children and one three year old and a small dog and I never spend
more than £100 on food a week. I use the cheapest ranges I can find. Some ready meals from Sainsbury’s at 80p each for the freezer on my work days so the kids can have a quick good meal. Lots of ham or chicken sandwiches for lunch, a loaf of bread and pack of meat will last you up to a week if you’re careful. Can you sign up to uber or just eat and do deliveries? Food bank?

Someone asked how on earth one poster could only spend £25 a week. Well I just asked Chat GP to list food that would only cost that much to feed 2 people. Sorry I don't know how to copy the info over but the suggested menu was reasonable .Personally I would add a chicken in or mince meat to give a lot more options and then there is the feed a family of four for £20 a week website and face book site. If needs be it can be done. I also have no spend days where I do not go shopping and only use things from the fridge ,freezer and tins.

I don’t belueve this either. A family of four, 12 meals per day, no snacks no drinks etc etc wouod mean an average of 30p per meal per person. Healthy, nutritional, calorie appropriate meals for 30p per meal is not possible. No one can eat a sufficient dies on 90p per day.

Absolute bollocks.