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How to consistently eat well on a low budget?

52 replies

Madmog · 11/04/2015 15:54

Our budget is approx £45/50 a week for food, toiletries and cleaning goods which I can stick to. However, from September our available monthly cash will be reduced, so food is one thing I'm looking at cutting back on.

At the moment we often find ourselves eating things like potatoes, sausage and beans (DD is lucky and gets all veggies with her sausages but to cut back we have a value can of baked beans), Lidl pie with potatoes and a small amount of veggies or something like value spaghetti on toast at lunchtime. I often eat value peanuts as they are really cheap with loads of calories and some protein and vitamins, or value biscuits. Nothing wrong occasionally with all of these but I'm aware they're not the healthiest options, so just wondering if anyone has any healthily alternatives which are cheap as well.

Also, what sort of things do you buy with protein, fruit or veggie wise which are cheaper options? We want a healthier diet, but needs to have enough calories as me and DD are underweight and DH is about right.

OP posts:
SoftKittyWarmKitty · 12/04/2015 23:03

Thanks for starting this thread, OP, I was just coming onto this section looking for exactly this! I need to cut back on our food shopping but improve our diet at the same time, so some of these ideas are really useful.

Permanentlyexhausted · 12/04/2015 23:12

Quiche (make your own pastry) is a cheap and nutritious way of using up random leftovers. You can make several, assuming you have enough dishes, and freeze them.

I make breadcrumbs out of bread that's going a bit stale (whizz them up in the food processor, spread on a baking tray and bake for 5 minutes in the oven so they dry out, and then store in airtight jar). Then you can make your own chicken goujons or fish cakes or veggie burgers - just dip in beaten egg, coat in the breadcrumbs and fry.

Risotto is another cheap meal which can bulk out a few leftovers. Or savory pancakes.

MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig · 12/04/2015 23:36

Thanks bob. I was talking to dh about it and he went Hmm at me so I thought I'd ask. I always have peas in the freezer for dfil and he's never complained.

BikeRunSki · 13/04/2015 07:33

Feed your family for £20/week

Penfold007 · 13/04/2015 07:44

Have a look at turn2us.org.UK.org.UK , the calculator allows you do check your income now and for when he starts his course. Meal planning, pulses, beans, frozen veg etc is going to be the way forward. Seek out your local Food Bank it can really help. Please take care of your family's health, being underweight isn't good for you or your dd.

Eva50 · 13/04/2015 11:25

I used to bake my own bread and rolls until I discovered that our Tesco reduce the bread and other bakery items to pennies at the end of the day. I'm lucky to have a good sized freezer and keep it filled with bread. I make my own pizza dough which is really cheap to make.

I buy most of my meat "reduced to clear" too. Some days there's loads and I can get enough to do the month. Sometimes there's very little. It's a bit hit or miss. Our co-op had medium chickens reduced to £1 a few weeks ago. I was lucky to be in at the right moment. We have been eating a fair bit of chicken!

BiddyPop · 13/04/2015 13:16

A few ideas.

Do you have a freezer, or can you get one in the meantime (somewhere like Gumtree or Freecycle might be an option)?

If that's possible, start keeping an eye out for short dated meat, in particular, and veggies too and freezing them. Also bulk deals on meat - some butchers do a "1 week pack" of say a bag of mince, 5 chicken breasts, 4 pork chops and some stewing lamb for €20. I wouldn't use all those in 1 week, but it could be worth buying the bulk pack and freezing lots for use later in the week or other weeks. Or take advantage of good offers on foods you use anyway - so BOGOFs etc - freezing or otherwise saving the additional.

Use bits of veggies to make a stir fry - so the last rubbishy carrot, a withered pepper, a couple of florets of cauliflower and an onion can make a decent either side dish of veg or the basis of a dinner with a Chinese or curry sauce.

I often do a side of roasted veggies if I have anything cooking in the oven - dice up onion, garlic, pepper, mushrooms, courgette (aubergine if I will get away with it), tomatoes. Season well, including a good glug of olive oil (doesn't have to be extra virgin) and roast for maybe 25 mins. Leftovers are great frozen to use as a side reheated, use in tomato sauce with pasta, put into a quiche, in a frittata, all sorts of uses. And while I tend to do it frequently enough as a planned side to roast chicken, I will throw together a small batch when I have a few withered bits needing using up or see a glut of suitable veggies going cheap in greengrocers/SM.

And learn to make bulk batches of dinners that can be frozen. So make a spag bol with a few extra carrots blitzed into it, or even a mix of veggies (courgette, mushrooms, peppers are nice for Italian, but also butternut squash and lentils work well for bulking up), and doing it from an onion, garlic and tin of tomatoes rather than a jar of sauce. 1lb of mince beef can make dinner for 6 instead of 2-3 that way. Eat that night's dinner, but portion out the 2nd night's dinner into freezer container before plating up to reduce "oh I'll just have seconds as there's loads there" type eating.

Frozen veg are also quite often quite cheap and are generally as good, sometimes better, than fresh. So having a freezer means you can have a few bags of frozen veg on hand always, less waste than preparing veggies, and you only need to take out exactly what you need for each meal.

Now is the start of the growing season too. So try to get a few seeds into whatever ground you might have, or even a plant or 2 from garden centre - to either cut costs over the summer and add to savings, or to freeze the produce and use that when the money slows down. Things that are good would be courgettes (get loads from 1 plant), broad beans (freeze well) and French or runner beans (also freeze well), peas (grow along a fence and you can get a lot), Brussels sprouts (long season but ready in late autumn/winter), broccoli (lots off a single plant as there are lots of side shoots), spinach or other salad leaves to eat as baby leaves (pick and eat all summer), and tomatoes (cherry tomatoes are best I think, and bush type plants grow well in hanging baskets, cordon plants grow tall - garden centre will help identify which).

Do you have a local butcher? Learn which cuts of meat are cheaper, like things that need long slow cooking etc. Things like liver and kidneys are also good once you know how to cook them well rather than just make them taste like cardboard. (You may also get bones for making stock - so a handful of mushrooms and a cup of rice with a decent chicken stock can become dinner, or lamb stock to make a really nice lamb curry etc).

Look out for an Asian supermarket too. They will have lots of seasonings like dried herbs and spices much cheaper than regular SMs, often do cheap veggies and fish, have large bags of rice and noodles which are much cheaper than SM too, and things like pastes and marinades and tinned ingredients (coconut milk, chickpeas, bamboo shoots, beansprouts etc) that you may not get or only in the expensive ethnic foods aisles of SM. I save a lot of money this way.

Learn to make things from scratch. So Chinese may actually be very cheap when you make the sauce using cornflour, water and the proper spices rather than a jar of chop suey sauce. Or Italian tomato sauce. Or Mexican chilli con carne (or even vegetarian chilli).

One thing I spend a little more on is getting fully mature or vintage cheese - because the flavor goes a heck of a long way further than mild cheese. So a small handful in a large pot of white sauce is enough, rather than half a block or more of milder versions. It does work out cheaper in the long run. And I grate it for use in sandwiches or over melts rather than slicing, as that also makes it go further.

BiddyPop · 13/04/2015 13:40

Also, think about HOW you use meat for a dinner. 2 pork chops will make a meat, veg and potatoes dinner for 2 adults. Or if chopped into pieces, use a mix of veggies and stir fried, will easily spread to the whole family.

I do the magic chicken as well. Roast dinner, sandwiches 1 day's lunches, 2 more dinners (options include risotto, chicken and mushrooms in white sauce, chicken pie, Chinese stir fry or a pasta bake), and the night of the roast, I strip the bones and make stock that forms the basis of risotto or soup or other sauces fresh that week or later from freezer.

Leftover roast lamb also does some lovely dishes (curries, scattered over salad) and beef and pork as well. Leftovers of boiled ham/bacon can be sooo versatile too. So if you see large joints bigger than you normally buy, don't necessarily be afraid of them if the price is worth it. Or even buy a large joint and cut it in half, cook one piece and freeze the other for another week.

Eggs are a great base - to use up little bits of ham, chicken, tomato, cheese etc in an omlette or scrambled. Quiche base for all sorts. Spanish omlette is a proper meal. Boiled and mashed up as sandwich filler. Or just fried as a side or even the main part of dinner (fried egg and chips? egg, rasher and hash? yummmmmm).

Leftover mashed potato is versatile too - toppings on shepherd's pie, fish pie, or fried up into rissoles/croquettes or just as hash. DH also does a dish with a chopped onion, handful of frozen peas, extra milk and topped with some butter to reheat in the oven alongside a roast/chops cooked in oven.

When using the oven, maximize it. Eg. I keep a bag of crumble mix, that I make myself, in the freezer to put over berries or cooking apples or other fruit around and chuck it in the oven when it's on already as desert. Do oven chips (I buy these) or potato wedges (sometimes bought but VERY easy homemade) alongside battered fish or chicken goujons. Do a batch of roasted veg (mentioned last post) alongside a dinner that doesn't need them, to use tomorrow/freeze as the basis of a pasta dinner in a pot. Cookies and fairy cakes are easy to make (cookie dough can be frozen raw and baked later - I make a BIG log of dough to freeze and slice off enough for 1 tray when oven is on anyway) as occasional treats.

Leanr how to "flour, egg and breadcrumb" - coating for multiple things. A tin of tuna or crab, a bowl of leftover mash, a chopped spring onion and a handful of sweetcorn, all mixed together and taken out in handfulls, seasoned, given the FEB treatment above and either fried or baked, makes a great and cheap fishcakes dinner. Slices of fish or chicken breast given the same treatment makes very easy, healthy and cheap goujons. (The rest of the sweetcorn above can be used in other dishes like Nasi Goreng (mild curry stirfried rice dish) or as a side to a different dinner or tossed over a salad).

If going to college, try to get DH into the mindset of bringing in lunch with him, and maybe buying his coffee but not the whole meal. So making sambos the night before and having fruit to eat with it or maybe a couple of cookies etc rather than having to buy loads of processed stuff. And rather than buying a bar of chocolate every day in newspaper shop, buy multipacks in the grocery store for the commute/lunchbreak. I am not trying to say he should be deprived if he takes in his lunch, but make the lunch money stretch further by planning ahead and still being satisfied. (He's not going to school where he needs to have a "healthy lunchbox", he needs to have enough to keep him going through the day and also avoid buying too much food on campus/commuting).

CMOTDibbler · 13/04/2015 13:46

The co op do a discount for students, and they really discount goods at the end of their life - much more than other supermarkets.

The college may have a hardship fund, or bursaries/grants for student parents, so its well worth talking to the student welfare office, who may have advice on benefit rules for mature students as well

knotswapper · 13/04/2015 13:50

Great posts Biddy.

AdoraBell · 13/04/2015 14:19

Just a quick Q as I'm dashing off, sorry.

Do you use full fat dairy? Both you and DD could get more calories if you make sure any yoghurt and milk you have is full fat. And add a handful of raisins to your peanuts, cheaper to buy in larger packs in the baking aisle of supermarket.

Will read through properly later but it looks like you've had good advice already.

GoodtoBetter · 13/04/2015 14:30

I second the chickpea and lentil recipes. We live in Spain and have to be careful with our budget. A typical dish here is chickpea stew (also lentil stew is good). We cna make a big batch for about €5 and it does 2 adults and 2 under 8s for about 3 days.

A variation of this:
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3147690/chorizo-and-chickpea-stew

The bbcgoodfood website is good, has lots of sections including on a budget, families, one pot meals, etc.

Madmog · 13/04/2015 15:03

Thank you so much everyone - I've made a long list of notes and can keep referring back to your posts - they are really helpful and supportive - I can channel my energy into these rather than worrying about things and knowing we aren't eating great. I've got ideas of how to be more careful and some new ideas for proper meals. I've got a Tesco and Lidl near, so later in the week when I do my food shop I'm going to both to see what I can buy cheaper.

Thanks also for your support re: DD and myself being underweight. DD certainly gets more nutritious food than us and has meals and snacks on a regular basis. I'm sure I actually eat more calories than DH but somehow burn them off. At the same time I know we can't afford to loose any weight though, especially DD while she's growing.

OP posts:
SillyPops · 13/04/2015 20:30

Please, please contact your local Foodbank. I know I said it already, but I'm honestly worried about you and your family. They will provide you with quite a lot of food, you'll be surprised!

www.trusselltrust.org/map

Madmog · 14/04/2015 14:35

Thanks again everyone.

Thanks for foodbank info. We don't need this at the moment, I just need to be more careful what I'm buying and look for healthy cheap options. We cut corners ourselves and I'm going to try and rectify this, but DD is offered everything she needs as a growing girl (ie fruit, veg, meals, snacks etc). Hopefully we will never have to claim anything, but it's good to remember in the future as things will get tighter.

OP posts:
Artandco · 14/04/2015 15:46

Have you considered trying to work one or two evenings babysitting, or take in ironing you could do? This would help you get an extra £80-100 a week which would Really help

Madmog · 15/04/2015 10:03

Thanks, I did put a card in the local newsagents at Xmas and heard nothing. I've phoned about a few of jobs I've seen locally, which have either gone or no one got back to me - my friend said she applied for a job and was told she was about the 90th to apply.

We're half considering whether to let a room (DH's work (who security check all candidates) regularly need rooms for students/graduates coming to the area). We have room which we could give up for a bedroom, but it's quite small. Having said that we have a separate lounge and dining room, so one of those would be available about 90% and the lodger would be welcome to use that when it's free for more space/watching tv.

OP posts:
Grumpyoldblonde · 15/04/2015 11:14

Oh do more than half consider the lodger, I must have had 30 over the years, never a problem and you don't have to declare the money under about 4.5 k (ish) we have a tiny box room and it has never ever been empty. that's your answer, quick and easy income

Fluffycloudland77 · 16/04/2015 19:23

Cutting back on cleaning stuff is easy. I buy;

Washing up liquid. It cleans floors, windows, removes stains from the washing.

All purpose smart price cleaner. Half fill a spray bottle with water, top up with the cleaner. It'll do sinks and work tops, the bathroom.

Smart price vinegar. Used as fabric softener, kettle descaler and polishes the stainless steel sink. I tip it in the kettle and decant it back into the bottle afterwards.

Baby oil for polishing the steel splashback.

Dishwasher rinse aid, salt, powder all from tescos own brand.

Smart price thin bleach sprayed into cups before the dishwasher goes on.

Smart price disinfectant.

Lidl bio powder.

Laundry gloop for delicates. One bar of soap grated, 250g soda crystals & 7ltrs of water all boiled together and left to set in a bucket/Tupperware box. One hairspray/polish bottle cap per wash.

Own brand products in the supermarket aren't tested on animals either. Major brands still fund animal testing.

Sleepymummyneedsrest · 19/04/2015 15:53

I bookmark any recipies I like the look of whilst online, then when it's time to meal plan I have a look through my recipies list. This week we had jack Monroe kidney bean burgers and next week will try to make onion Bhajis. I make a batch of jamie Oliver's loads of veg sauce which makes loads and I freeze inportions and add to mince to make spag Bol or cottage pie, nice as a pasta sauce too. Frozen mash from aldi or asda is great to use for cottage pies or with stew. I bulk out minced beef, curry stews etc with a few handfuls of oats, it thickens up the sauce really well. Also chicken is from Farmfoods, 3 x 1kg bags chicken breast lasts almost a month. Half a bag per meal makes plenty for 4 people and some left over, also can be cooked and sliced for sandwiches.

MsAspreyDiamonds · 24/04/2015 17:24

Hi OP you mentioned upthread that you weren't sure whether you would be eligible for tax credits because your dp is a student. I think you might be because you are working so it's worth speaking to HMRC.

www.gov.uk/benefits-credits/tax-credits

I buyy spices, rice, pasta & noodles from international food stores. I also bulk buy & freeze tortillas to use as pizza bases.

I make my own curry sauces and freeze in portions for use later, much cheaper & healthier than buying a sugar laden jar.

hereandtherex · 29/04/2015 11:10

If you have space, get a chest freezer.

Next, move your diet towards vegetarian, or at least crank up the veg based meals. Meat is very expensive.

Buy a pressure cooker and learn to cook dhals, soups and the like. Look up Indian recipe - most of which tend to be veg + pressure based.

Think about lots of pasta and rice based meals. They are a lot less stodgy than potato based meals.

If you have a local market then make an effort to use it! Market vegs is about 30% of the cost of super market veg.

Basically, learn to cook from scratch, move to veg asbed diet and buy a big frezzer.

igivein · 29/04/2015 13:28

Look into what benefits your DH can get as a student. I think he can claim Council Tax rebate and there may well be other things

Books1979 · 16/05/2015 19:06

Lodger idea is great. I was a lodger with a family for 3 years in my 20s and loved it. As long as you properly vet the lodger, the kids can really enjoy having them around. If you find a good lodger who fits well with your family, show them some love and hang onto them! I still class the family I lived with as close friends.

Good luck with the cooking

ninetynineonehundred · 16/05/2015 19:28

We eat a lot of egg based dishes here.
Curry, pancakes, quiche etc

Make own pastry for pies
Bulk out mince with lentils.

Protein wise we eat a lot of beans and pulses.
A lot of potato based dishes (but that's because I love spuds Smile)

Fruit and veg I get cheap from the market. Also frozen.
Don't buy booze or soft drinks other than tea and milk

Very rarely use tinned or processed food but I'm at home during the day so have the luxury of time.

Raisins are a cheap fruit source.

Things like yoghurts are expensive and most meat.

Make your own cakes and crumbles for desserts.