£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

I adopt big greyhound type dogs and for over 10 years I have fed them on Tesco own brand kibble 12kg bag for £12 (Wagg is sometimes on offer) and wet pouches 40 for just under a tenner. Supplemented with human dog safe scraps as and when. One meal a day with a Tesco "bonio" for breakfast at under £4 a box. So the dog could be sorted for £26/month. My ex street boy is fit, healthy and soon to be 11 on this diet.

20 plus years ago the health visitors at weigh in could sell formula cheaper to families struggling worth an ask ?
re petrol take out all unnecessary boot stuff as added weighs burns more & drive slower. I don’t know how much this will save but on petrol crisis this is what people were told to do.
aby chance you can go back to work earlier ? Even on reduced hours ?
im sorry it’s so hard for you right now.

There absolutely is shame in people using foodbanks who don't need to. This is the exact reason I stopped donating.

OP doesn’t need that though, she just needs to cut out luxuries.

Lot of good meal suggestions on here.

Plus check all your cash back accounts to see if there's any money you can move to your bank accounts; check your Tesco vouchers if you have any you can use; check any other supermarket points; sell things you no longer need on local marketplace, including outgrown things.

Grocery shopping is genuinely terrifying at the moment isn't it?
My advice would be start by purchasing the things that are non negotiable to last until the end of the month. Its 26 days if you literally mean the last day of the month-baby formula lasts 5 days at £14/each- so 6 of those to be absolutely sure, £84 off your budget straight away-£266 left. I think this is completely doable as a one off for the month.

You mentioned the dog as well, so factor in dog food costs and then work out what you have left after essentials like bread, milk etc.

Loads and loads of nutritous, tasty and filling evening meals can easily be made for £1 a head or less-bulk out bolognaise or chilli with pulses, grated carrot, rice.

Batch cook corned beef hash/soups.

Choose cheaper cuts of meat/downgrade labels if you can.

Don't be tempted to try things like too good to go if you havent used them before-they are good but I find you need to be experienced in adapting meal plans/supplementing with ingredients to make these worth while & also in a position for it not to matter if they are a bit rubbish (it happens!).

When I have been on the tightest of budgets, I have literally meal planned every meal and done a dummy online shop to make sure I am on budget.

It absolutely can be done with meticulous planning, you've got this!

Edited because my spelling was atrocious

@fourquenelles I did not know there were street greyhounds!

Your food costs could be reduced a lot!
What do you eat?
Do you cook from basic ingredients?

Look at buying basic own brand products, tins of different types of beans, lentils.
Frozen fruit and veg.

Breakfast....porridge with frozen berries is really cheap and nutritious.

Soups made with veg and pulses are great.
Chilli with rice, use lots of different beans and veg to bulk it out...add some meat if you like.
Add lentils to bolognese.

Cut out most snacks.
Bananas and apples are cheap.

Bulk cook bolognese chilli curry and freeze.

Check out the batch lady website.

@Lex345 The dummy online shop is a great idea. I might adopt that!

know anyone with an allotment?
it's courgette & tomato glut season.

Galgos @Isittimeformynapyet Spanish cousins of the greyhound discarded when no longer useful to the hunters.

Potatoes, carrots, cabbage, onions, eggs, rice, pork, chicken, milk, bread, butter, pasta, tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, cheese, flour, plain yoghurt and whatever vegetables are reduced to clear/basics/frozen together with spices (include garlic powder).

If you have a freezer, grate and freeze the cheese so it can't be gnawed at, freeze the bread so he can't help himself to more. You need a load of ingredients, not meals and certainly not easily snatched snacks when you've got a bottomless pit wandering around.

Buy 4/5 tubs of formula, nappies, a large box of washing powder, washing up liquid and dogfood in advance so the baby and dog won't lose out in favour of him being a bit peckish and your clothes & home are clean.

It'll be fine. As long as he keeps the fuck away from the fridge.

If you know someone with Costco membership, they could get formula delivered for £20.79 for 3 packs?
https://www.costco.co.uk/Grocery-Household/Grocery-Delivery/Cow-Gate-1-First-Infant-Milk-Powder-3-x-700g/p/327485

I reckon most people could save £10-15 quid off a petrol bill of £70 per month unless you are in a city.

Just drive everywhere at 50mph and keep the air con off. And try and use the brakes as little as possible.

Also consider ride shares.

try basic food,
basic bread/rice/pasta/cheese
red lentils
frozen fruit
basic apples

Budget & Everyday | Good Food
good recipes here
go veggie
beans on toast

I usually spend about £100 a week and thats for 5 of us . (DD4 , DS15 and DS16) . I got a bag of potatoes and 2 bags of carrots for £2.50 yesterday in asda . You can get cheap chicken wings or drumsticks for £2.50 in both Tesco and Asda. By the end of the month we usually do pasta dishes quite alot. Tuna pasta , cheesy pasta and pasta bake are cheap enough . Also we usually buy a whole chicken and do a few dishes of chicken curry , we can usually get 7 dishes out of that .

We are 2 adults, 2 children age 5&10 and a cat. Spend about £100 per week. £200 is huge!

Dogs can thrive on dry kibble.
Mine (a sleek and muscular 10kg Schnauzer) has eaten the same branded dry food since he got here, advised by his breeder. Dogs don’t have “food preferences” like humans, it’s just nutrition. It also means the food stays out and he only eats when he’s hungry.
He gets hambones, dry jerky and Greek yogurt as treats but his food is 80p a day. Maybe 90 with the rise in COL. We buy online from Zooplus.

Totally agree, especially if it’s partly because her DH is greedy

Can you ask on local hand me on baby groups if anyone has formula going? There’s always someone who has tins they are no longer using and will be happy to see them used.

A lady called Lorna has a face book page How to feed your family for 20 quid a week. I saw recently she has had to adjust slightly but her meals feed 4. It would be worth looking at. I am certain you can spend far less and still have a few treats for you all. Do you check for the reduced sections of fruit and veg and the reduced fridge items. That can be helpful.

Tesco have a 5 meals for £25 portion on their website, they even give you the recipes and the shopping list.

You tube is a great resource for meals on a budget, very limited budgets at that. Many American creators in particular seem to work miracles with very little money and their recipes are filling and flavoursome.

I’m always amazed that people suggest meat when someone is budgeting. Eating vegetarian is always so much cheaper and meat isn’t necessary at all. (And I’m not vegetarian btw, just someone who is very budget conscious and it’s always the first thing to go) Bacon pasta for example, with a red sauce - just have it without the bacon and you’ve already saved yourself a couple of quid 🤷♀️