£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

What a ridiculous comment 😂

@madaboutpurple you can copy and paste by selecting the text and right-clicking, like in Word etc.

I think £25 a week is doable but miserable, and not really what the OP needs or wants.

Apologies if this has already been suggested, but if you download apps like Too Good to Go and Olio, you might be able to pick up some basics free or very cheaply.

that was me, the poster said they eat well for £25 a week and I asked how

I cook from scratch, watch prices and shop at Aldi but I find when someone says £25pw they don’t include a takeaway they have or other stuff you buy like washing up liquid, maybe foil, oil, coffee etc

I spend £60pw for me but that’s including everything I buy there

Share bath water then, we do!

This. 200 per week is excessive. Same size as you and can manage on 60-70.

Is this real lol that’s more than my budget for the whole month including fuel and all grocery shops and cat food x

Make a big batch of soup to keep in the fridge for lunches or healthy snacks. I like to make a minestrone or lentil which is so cheap to buy and can last for days. Porridge for breakfast with maybe an apple. Cut down on meat which I’m sure you might not want to do but will save you loads. Lentils chickpeas etc can make brilliant bases for meals.carrot sticks ready chopped in the fridge for snacks…loads of ways to make food cheap. Also have a clear out do a Carboot sell on Vinted. I would rather eat cheaper and spend as much time with your baby before you need to go back

Have you also tried looking in your area for too good to go grocery shops. We have a number in our area inc aldi /morrisons/ marks and spencer that.does it.
I have to admit our food shop is £100-120 per week with 2 growing teens one of which trains /plays football 6x per week so very active and fueling up.
I agree meal plan. Meal prep and stick to said items to help cut costs. I get toiletries in bulk when really reduced for go to places like b&m sometimes I do this once every 6mth or once a month depending or I do subscribe and save on amazon as another person said doing that gets our cat food and litter really reduced in price.
I would if savings running low if it were me budget out the months income and outgoings not inc savings see what can be removed or reduced ( you would be surprised) sim only contract for example i only just last year replaced my 6 Yr old phone by doing 0% on Samsung directly for the handset as I have my sim down to £8 per month for 50gb data. Did the same for hubby. I pay monthly for contacts but take advantage of the 3 delivery per 12mth skip I can do so my payments aren't going out every month as I dont wear my contacts in the office due to dry eyes so always have spare.
Look at switching current account for a bonus pay out. Look at not touching your savings and doing the same plan out daily spend if needed.
It will be hard but it is douable and lots of pasta / rice based dishes for meals very filling and cheap.
Cook from scratch with fresh ingredients it is far cheaper than prepacked foods
Bake snacks for sweet treats

£200 on groceries for 4(two being small) what are you buying?
My food shop is between £80-100 for 4 adults my boys are 17 and 23 plus myself and husband!
I shop at Aldi I buy large packs of chicken (2kg) which i split into 4 but you having little children could split into 5 or 6 portions. Same with mincecetc. Big bags of pasta/rice and potatoes frozen veg. I make batches of soup, quiches etc I buy thin essentials bread big block of essentials cheddar. Tinned Tomatoes etc. But I generally plan meals for each day a write a list .

Have a look at an app called Too Good to Go, see if there is anywhere participating in your area.

Get the ‘Too Good To Go’ app - so much food for a very small cost, you have to be quick on the draw though!

I typed my post and then there was yours 2 mins old 😂 Great minds… 👌🏼

It isn’t cruel to point out that eating 5 x a normal portion, especially when your family is short on food, is a huge part of the problem.

and yes, his very large (extremely large) appetite does mean that he shouldn’t be accessing food banks. They are not there to support men who choose to eat 5 times the normal amount of food when they don’t need to. He has been eating like this when his family need food, do you really think he wouldn’t abuse the food bank? If he could meal plan appropriately, then he would have been. He has chosen not to. He feels that 3 jacket potatoes with beans isn’t enough and must be supplemented with cereal and milk.

if he ate normal sized portions and just dealt with a bit of hunger (which I’m sorry, I can’t imagine he really has after 3 potatoes), then his family would have enough food. He is the problem. Food banks will not make any difference as long as he carries on the way he has. They will simply eat the food bank donation within a day instead of a week or however long it’s meant to last and be back in the same position with the husband claiming hunger despite eating 3 x as much because he hasn’t had his usual 5 x as much.

it’s important as you say that the mum and children have food. But as long as the husband is there carrying on like this, they won’t have it, no matter if it’s from a food bank or a supermarket.

he is the issue. That’s not cruel. It’s an observation. One OP probably isn’t happy with and so probably won’t be back to reply.

Hi there,

So sorry you are going through this like a lot of people at the moment.

Have you tried local churches for food? They are less restrictive with who can have food than food banks and are there for everyone. They may also have baby food and formula.

Your husband not be able to eat tomatoes is really tricky for you. How about bulking out mince with green lentils? Buy rice and pulses at your local Asian/African shop. Yes they are bulky but work out much cheaper in the long run.
Check out the app OLIO to see if anyone is giving away free food near you. I went through a tricky period and honestly it was a life saver. Good luck 👍🏻

Utilise frozen veg. Is just as good as fresh.

Try the Mealia app for tasty meals on a budget, it will transfer the things you need to your shopping list or your Tesco/Asda basket too! Mine was less than £30 but that was 5 main meals for 2 adults.

Are you buying all the named brands? Are you shopping in M&S/waitrose?

Aldi/Lidl and own brands of course a cheaper option. £800-£900 per month is a lot even if you can afford it.

i moved my two dogs from pets at home wainwright food (their cheap one) to the Aldi dog food a couple of years ago. My dogs eat it and it’s a quarter of the price. Also large toilet rolls pack in Aldi for around £5.

You have to buy adult meals to get the kids’ meals for free, surely? And the Giant Haystack husband will blow the rest of the month’s budget.

£200 a week is way too much…

needing to do within your means actually equate that you can’t buy what you’d like/the children would want.
for a family of 5 and 3 weeks to go that means you have 100ish per week and that is doable if limited…

I am sorry. It isn’t a great situation but you can go through it!

Where are you OP In the UK? I have an unopened 15kg bag of hills dog food - large breed I would happily give to you. Our doggy has just undergone surgery so is in the gastro stuff for a bit whilst she recovers…
some good tips from everyone on here

When i got made redundant 8 years ago and couldnt get a job due to caparl tunnel in hands, i took loads part time jobs to pay my hefty mortgage and bills, what i had left was £30 a week to feed 3 of us,that was ongoing til i clawed my way bk up, you need to be cleverer with food budget than instead of giving up

Mumsnet is very fatphobic and full of competitive trying-to-eat-less boasting.

Things to consider:

Local community pantries/fridges that are open to everyone rather than food banks needing a referral (but do consider a referral needing food bank if you're still stuck).

Olio and similar apps are worth considering but are likely to be too much of a gamble when your working to a tight budget.

There may be holiday clubs for your child with a free lunch, if they qualify for free school meals.

Frozen rather than fresh vegetables - are often cheaper. Same with fruit if you want to make smoothies.

Vegan proteins - beans (kidney, pinto etc) can be cheap.

Oats are good - porridge/ flapjacks etc

There's a book online called Where There Is No Doctor and it covers food a bit talking about a 'main food' and adding 'helper foods'. It isn't culturally how we'd eat in the UK but is worth a look for how you might use a 10kg bag of rice.

Kids are extras and pricey too 🤷🏻‍♀️

At Asda you don’t have to buy anything.