Anyone want to join me on a cheap food month challenge?

[BasinHaircut]

We are spending about £300 a month on groceries (including cleaning/toiletries etc). Want to keep it under £200 for the next 4 weeks if possible. Only 3 of us and I’ve just done a big bulk cook for DS (4) so mainly just me and DH. To cover all meals except we are invited to 2 BBQs in May so won’t need food for those.

CreativeMumma that's what we are spending too. Mostly because I run out of stuff then but expensive things at the M&S petrol station on the way home. I'm going to use my Tesco delivery saver instead. Can get same-day deliveries if I book them in the morning. I live in a village and don't have the car on my non working days so can't just pop to Aldi, which is a 20-minute drive.

CreativeMumma that's what we are spending too. Mostly because I run out of stuff then buy expensive things at the M&S petrol station on the way home. I'm going to use my Tesco delivery saver instead. Can get same-day deliveries if I book them in the morning. I live in a village and don't have the car on my non working days so can't just pop to Aldi, which is a 20-minute drive.

CreativeMumma that's what we are spending too. Mostly because I run out of stuff then buy expensive things at the M&S petrol station on the way home. I'm going to use my Tesco delivery saver instead. Can get same-day deliveries if I book them in the morning. I live in a village and don't have the car on my non working days so can't just pop to Aldi, which is a 20-minute drive.

Oops sorry. App failure.

Now up to £84 but have filled freezer so should only need tiny top ups of things like milk in next fortnight.

Does anyone want to share meal plans? Here is mine for next week, all dinners double up as next days lunch. And I haven’t decided what we are having on each day yet but here are 6 days worth. 7th day we are having a Sunday lunch/bbq at my sisters so day 6 will be day 8’s lunch IYSWIM.

1. Jacket potatoes, beans and cheese
2. Omelette/slimming world quiche and salad/coleslaw
3. Salmon, sweet potatoes and roasted onion/pepper
4. Pulled pork, macaroni cheese, broccoli
5. Taco bowls (mince/rice/veg/salad/salsa)
6. Chicken risotto with leftover veg

May I join you? DH and I do two weeks shopping each to match up with our pay days .. budget 130 a fortnight that’s for us, teen ds and 2 dogs. My plan is to do a weekly freezer inventory .. adding on any thing that goes on and taking off what’s been used ready for following week. DH and ds both big meat eaters so usually meat 5 nights a week, fish once and veggie once. It’s DH shop day today so have made a list .. about 25 I reckon as got lots of stuff in freezer needs using and 2 bags of reduced spuds so slow cooker soup and potato salad from that. Whatever left over cash wise at the end of each fortnight goes into a pot for treats.

Sounds good internal!

Had to pop out this morning and get milk, eggs and bananas so that’s £2.91 I’ve already spent out of this weeks £50 (shopping tomorrow).

Well done our weekly shop. Came to 40 so pretty good. Will last til next weekend might just need bread!

Any of you have breadmakers? Or enough freezer space to store enough for a week?.

I love the bread maker but have no freezer space really. With thorough de-packaging I can get three weeks main meals in a three drawer freezer.

I only buy sliced bread and keep it in the freezer and take slices out as I need them. We don’t eat a lot of bread.

Just did my shop in Lidl. Ended up buying a few additional bits than planned, some of it stuff I’ll cook and freeze so we be used for lunch or part of a meal next week. I spend £50.80, so add that to the £2.91 I spent yesterday’s and my first weekly total is £54.71 so slightly over my £50 budget and no £5 buffet for any extra bits I might need.

Oh well still not a bad start I don’t think. Will try and get next week’s shopping in at £45 to compensate!

Hi can I join. I would like to spend £50 or less, there is 3 of us too/sometimes 4 if DD home from Uni.
I have too slightly overspent this week £55.44 but have some food which will go into next week. I have got an emergency £5 in my purse for emergencies but plan to keep it in there. Planned meals this week not in any particular order.

1. I have made a large saucepan of Minestrone soup.
2. Paella.
3. Spagetti bol.
4. Chicken satay and Singapore noodles.
5. Roast Chicken Dinner
6. Roast chicken left overs for sandwiches and curry.
7. Salmon for either lunch or dinner.
8. Roast Chinese belly pork.
9. Frozen pizza x 2 and breaded chicken for teenage son to snack on.

I'd like to do this but my husbands fussiness makes it so difficult to keep costs down, I've spent over £600 this month for 3 of us.

Any advice for cheap meals for someone who won't eat tomato, cheese, or any kind of sauce other than gravy or garlic butter? It's taken 6 years to expand our meal options to about 8 different options basically meat, potatoes and veg or a dry stir fry and variations of those things. It's dull and expensive.

Can you batch cook his stuff and then the rest of you have something interesting?.

3 week meal plan done. £80 spent in Waitrose so far, delivery tomorrow.

Doner kebab x 3 with homemade pitta and salad
Fajitas x 2 but I serve in Pitta.
Chicken tikka masala with onion bhajis and rice x 2 All homemade incl the tikka paste.
Pizza for Dh and steak for me.

Burgers with special sauce and chips for Dh, steak for me.
Burgers for both of us.
Fish and chips, mushy peas x 2
Roast chicken dinner, Yorkshire’s, homemade stuffing x 2
Sausages x 2 haven’t decided what with. As a dinner or as hot dogs
Spaghetti Bol x 2 for Dh, and something mince based for me.

Got an extra pack of chicken breasts to make up the minimum order.

2 nights away, £80ish saved for evening meals, packed lunches for the first day, with a hotel breakfast I shouldn’t need much on the second day till dinner. Will take a banana from the buffet & buy cheap bottled water for Dh, flasks of tea and coffee for the journey down.

Things I’ll make;
Mayo
Pitta bread
Normal bread.
Crumpets.
Chicken liver pate to have on toast for breakfasts.
Soup, lentil or pulse based for me, minestrone for Dh.
Kidney bean burger for a packed lunch.
Possibly falafel.
Garlic and ginger paste.
Creamed coconut for curries.
Fajita mix
Tikka curry paste.
Curry base sauce.
Onion bhajis, will do a big batch as it’s messy.

Things Waitrose hadn’t got/charge too much for/will go off so I will need to buy at some point.
Eggs.
Organic soya milk.
Ham for dhs salads.
A coconut.
Wonky onions in morrisons.
Powdered coriander in asda ethnic aisle, turmeric.
Fresh mint for curries. Will freeze this and crush it in the bag.
Cat food. Hoping to get him on dried, I got sent loads of dry food samples for free and he had a sore gum post op so I can’t put him on it yet.
German beer.
Lacto free milk.
Bananas.

Lettuce.

Coffee beans.
Baked beans. Dh only likes aldi beans now.

It’ll be more expensive as Dh is off work next week but he is on a diet so hopefully it won’t break the bank completely.

I've just made a delicious mung bean curry with rice, cheap as chips too.

Hello. I'm going to join in as my spend has crept up to £450 in April for 4 if us. Shocking. I used to be able to do £300 on a tight month.

Seeing as prices have gone up and my children have got older since then I'm going to aim for £350 in May. Children get a good hot meal at nursery/school. Dh and I eat 3 x meals a day at home though.

This weeks meal plan:
Tues - leftover mince, potatoes and veg
Wed - omelette, salad and chips
Thursday. - prawn pasta
Friday - butternut squash pasta
Sat - home made pizza
Sun - roast chicken with mash & veg
Mon - fajitas with the leftover chicken.
Tues - scampi, chips and beans

Tesco shop for tomorrow comes in at £55 as I've a lot of the above in the feeezer

I’m in!

I’m trying not to spend anything on the credit card this month.

Yesterday was roast chicken and tonight was spicy chicken rice with lots of vegetables.

Tuesday- sausages, potatoes and peas with gravy
Wednesday- lentil dhal and rice with samosas
Thursday- spaghetti with tomatoes and mozzarella/tomato sauce
Friday- full English
Saturday- takeaway
Sunday roast chicken dinner

Technically I don’t need anything this week so I need to try hard not to spend any money at all.

Breakfasts are cereal and milk, eggs and pancakes.

Lunches are scrappy.....boys barely eat anything. 🙄🙄🙄

fluffy very organised!

I hope that’s all SW friendly calzone

Well our weeks meals are:
Monday- chicken, fries, corn on cob and slaw
Tuesday- bacon and sausage pasta bake
Weds- out for a 30th party
Thurs- fishcakes, oven chips and mushy peas
Fri- oven baked parmesan pork chops, roasted new potatoes, yellow and green beans
Sat- frittata and whatever bits need using up in fridge
Sun- lasagne and salad .
I’m working 7days on trot now so DH and I will take turns cooking.

Ooh can I join please? Spending a ridiculous amount on food each month.

Ds and I on slimming world but I only eat chicken so mine is quite a vegetarian based diet, as is dd's.

Dp is a fussy sod, we feed 3 stray cats too.

Separate cleaning and toiletries budget, separate alcohol budget ( twice a month we have a drink at home ) and spending an insane amount on cans of Diet Coke and bottled water.

Going to do an inventory and report back.

zoflora we are the same re diet cokes. I didn’t buy any this week and DH was not impressed, but he is totally on board with the £50 a week budget so sucked it up.

It annoys me the rate he goes through it though, he drinks it as if it’s water.

Somehow my waitrose shop is now £70 because two packs of mince were short dated so they give them to you for free.

So, so far £70.

Spent £15 in Sainsburys so on £99 since 26th. Didn't really need things but husband is away so treating me and DD.

basinhaircut I've bought the lidl freeway diet cola, it tastes more like Pepsi. If dh is desperate for a fix it's 40 ish pence for 2 litres.
Ds will drink it & he's addicted to the dear stuff..I quite like it.

£52 on a Tesco delivery for me toda. Hope to last the week with what's in the freezer on that but there is a pound or two spare for extra fruit at the weekend if needed.