Your tight budget meal plans please!

[mrsoutnumbered]

I had a large bill to pay a few weeks ago and it has left us tight for the next two weeks. I'm writing a meal plan and am wondering - what are your extreme budget meals that you do when you're penny pinching? I am more than happy to eat veggie as we're trying to cut down on meat anyway.

So far I've got:

Toad in the hole
Lentil Bolognese
Freezer Lucky Dip (Chips, fish fingers, whatever is in there)

Sorry if this topic had been done to death.

[mrsoutnumbered]

Yes I have lots of pasta and eggs, I think we will be okay. If not I will do an Ocado or Iceland order, as they take PayPal and I can pay with my bank account (the direct debit takes 2-3 days to come out).

It makes me a bit sad that I am nearly 40 and still getting into this situation.

Thanks for your help xxxx

[pumpkinpie01]

I made a meal last week that worked out at a couple of quid for 4 people, and it was so tasty. Tin of mixed beans, tin of mixed bean salad, tin of tomatoes bit of garlic - left in slow cooker all day. Scooped into wraps served with homemade potato wedges (40 mins in the oven with salt pepper and paprika on).

[AdaColeman]

Oh well done you! Any vegetables for soup or eggs for omelettes to do for lunch?

[mrsoutnumbered]

Thanks @AdaColeman yes we're getting there! Got all my dinners planned until Friday but might fall short on lunches and fruit we will scrape through though, we always do!

[AdaColeman]

How are you getting on OP? You must be about half way through by now, are you OK?

[AdoraBell]

Well done on the reduced meat 👍

One of my cheap meals is a veg curry. Either mixed veg, whatever you have, added to 1 chopped and fried onion and lentils, and curry paste/sauce/spices depending what’s in the cupboards.

Another one is cauliflower, cut small and blanch then add to fried onion and spice, add stock and or yoghurt/cream/milk to form a sauce. While that is cooking do rice and boil some eggs. Serve the eggs quartered on top of the cauliflower curry.

Mixed bean chilli. Fry an onion with spices - I use loads of cumin, 2 or 3 teaspoons, a little cayenne - half a teaspoon and about a teaspoon of paprika - tweak those to your taste- add kidney beans/black beans/ any beans you have/prefer, a can of tomatoes. Simmer that for about 15 mins, add a square of dark chocolate and turn the heat off, leave for a couple of minutes then stir to spread the melted chocolate. Serve that with rice/mash/jacket spud/wraps.

[Fluffycloudland77]

That’s brilliant. If you haven’t shopped online before you might get cashback from topcashback.

[mrsoutnumbered]

👍

I bought some bits in Sainsburys earlier, and was given a voucher - £12 off when you spend £50 or more online! I am definitely winning today. Will definitely use that when I do my big shop next week.

[cricketmum84]

I can make a large £4 chicken last 3 days.

Roast chicken day one with part baked baguettes and wedges and salad

Day 2 I use half the leftover chicken in a curry using lentils or chickpeas to bulk it up.

Day 3 a chicken risotto, added leeks and mushrooms.

Also lots of pasta dishes with a homemade tomato sauce using passata or tinned tomatoes, dried herbs and garlic.

[Frouby]

Loads of suggestions here for main meals which is good. But homemade pancakes are good for a sweet treat with whatever you have in on them.

And Yorkshire puddings are cheap to bulk a roast dinner out or do big ones and fill with chilli con carne (or a bean chilli), or bolognaise or whatever you have in.

Omelette is a cheap tea here (though we have our own chickens). Jacket spuds, beans and cheese. Sausages instead of a joint on a roast dinner. Big pots of slow cooker stews. Anything with mince. Chicken is the cheapest fresh meat, followed by pork.

[Clutterbugsmum]

My go to 'cheap' dinners are

Bacon, Pea pasta

1 chopped onion
2 rashers of bacon per person - cut into small bits
2 hand full of frozen Peas
whatever pasta you have.

1. get water onto boil for pasta
2. fry onion and bacon
3. add pasta to water for about 10mins
4. just before pasta cooked put in the peas
5. mix pasta and peas into onion bacon mix

you can top with cheese if you like.

Cowboy casserole

brown off 3 or 4 sausages cut each on into then add to a couple of tins of baked beans top with cheesy mash

[noeffingidea]

Baked bean curry. 1onion (15p), 1 tin baked beans (30p), 1 tin chopped tomatoes (35p) a couple of teaspoons of curry powder (depending on taste). Fry off the onion, add curry powder, fry a bit more then add all the contents of the 2 tins. Cook for a few more minutes. Should make 4 servings with rice, about 25p a serving.
Orange lentils, a sweet potato, carrots, and whatever spices you have (I use garlic, paprika and cumin) and 1-2 stock cubes. Makes a filling soup for around £1.
Potato wedges, baked beans, fried egg/sausages/bacon.
Pasta, cream cheese, broccoli and peas. I bung some mixed herbs into the pan and cook the veg and pasta together, then add a bit of the pasta water to the the cream cheese to make it into a sauce.
A jar of Sainsbury medium chilli sauce (95p) cooked with extra water and rice, topped with a bit of grated cheese (serves 4). You can add in some cooked mincemeat or extra beans if you want or add some extras like cheap doritos, sour cream/yoghurt or a few avocado slices.
We ate all these things last year when my budget dropped dramatically, it was fine, even lost a bit of weight.

[mrsoutnumbered]

@AdaColeman I never seem to find good reduced items so I was pretty amazed today!

Yes Christmas will be fine, I'm not worried.

[AdaColeman]

Well done with your M&S bargains!
Your local supermarkets will all have set times when they put out their yellow sticker reduced items. So you could find out the those times and if possible shop then.

A slimmed down Christmas can still be fun in its own way!

[mrsoutnumbered]

@AdaColeman thank you

Yes I definitely need to fill the cupboards a bit more.

That bill screwed us but I'm glad it's paid now I just have Christmas to deal with

[mrsoutnumbered]

I just managed to snag loads of reduced meat in m&s, £6.20 enough for 3/4 dinners for the 5 of us!

Thanks I will read through your recommendations when I'm home xxx

[AdaColeman]

A few ideas to use up stores ~
Porridge or waffles for breakfast
Burgers served with green lentils
Frittata with the peas/spinach
Sweetcorn fritters or use in a chowder style soup
Flatbreads made with the flour, serve to fill everyone up!
Soup with BNS and red lentils
Get some cheap sausages or use the burgers with the beans in a casserole
Fish finger sandwiches

You've only got to get through a couple of weeks, so meals like beans on toast, sardines on toast, scrambled egg on toast will be fine in the short term.
Once you are back to normal financially start to build up a good store cupboard of supplies to see you through future difficult times.

[ItWentInMyEye]

I use freezer stuff to make a 'leftover lasagne', so chop the burgers or whatever meat and add to the tomato based bit. Or burger pasta is a hit with my kids 🤷🏼‍♀️

[mrsoutnumbered]

In the freezer I have

Peas
Sweet corn
Spinach
Butternut squash

Plus some beige good like chips, fish fingers, burgers, waffles

[mrsoutnumbered]

I really have quite bare cupboards!

I have a stash of herbs and spices
Pasta
Rice
Red lentils
Green lentils
Ground almonds
Flour
Sugar
Oats
Beans

That's basically it!

So a few lentil-y pasta type dishes would work well I think. I'll only have to buy Passata for that. I've tried making dhal a few times and no ones really enjoyed it so I shan't bother with that.

Maybe some lentil soup for lunches

[Bluearsedfly36]

Macaroni cheese? Homemade soups, just an idea.

[kitkat6]

If you have some spices a bean chilli always goes down well.

Chicken or vegetable fried rice
Homemade Gnocchi and tomato sauce (onions garlic plus tin of tomatoes)
Fridge/Freezer surprise soup (or stew if I find some meat)
Lentil cottage pie
Penny wraps rather than bread for sandwiches
Pasta rather than sandwiches for kids for lunches (if you need them)


If you are nearby to any allotments or countryside location you often find people selling surplus really cheap. We get local free range eggs for £1 a dozen or half dozen depending on how much they have. Were giving away courgettes recently, now it is large butternut squash for 15p

[mrsoutnumbered]

Some fantastic ideas here, thank you to everyone for taking the time to reply. I appreciate each and every post

[whycantyouusethephone]

I second the mumsnet chicken- I know people will judge, but I often but the Lidl's whole chicken £2.65 and make it stretch three meals and a stock. I roast the chicken- breasts are sliced and form part of a roast, one leg goes toward a risotto, the other into a pie or stew with lots of veg. Then I make chicken noodle soup with the carcass. Yes it's not much meat per meal, but it's there to flavour and my family have never complained

[whycantyouusethephone]

Presuming you have tea bags,sugar and spices- this is my absolute basic plan for under £15 in Lidl's

Lentils- £0.89p
Pasta £0.29p
Rice £0.45p
Eggs 10 £1.17
Cooking bacon £1.59 per kg
Milk £1
Bread £0.45
Flour £0.45p
Marge £0.79
Tinned tomatoes x2 £0.33p
Cheddar £1.59
Stock cubes £0.60p
Carrots £0.45p
Swede £0.48p
Potatoes £1.39
Frozen peas £0.85
Frozen broccoli £.0.85p
Tomato purée - £0.40p
Mozzarella £0.45p



Lentil dhal with flatbreads
(Use half the bag of lentils, tomatoes, cumin, coriander etc and make basic flour (500g of 1.4kg bag) water salt flatbreads)

Broccoli, bacon (300g) and cheese pasta bake

Winter vegetable pie ( cube some carrots, half the swede and a few potatos, fry the cubes until starting to colour, add a tablespoon of flour and 500ml stock. Make pastry with 500g of flour, the large and some water. Serve with peas or broccoli

Egg and bacon(300g) fried rice (with peas or broccoli stirred through)

Pan haggerty (last of the carrots and bacon , some potatoes and stock)

Lentil and vegetable soup (last of the lentils and any other veg left)

Pizza - make the base with the flour left (about 400g) and mozzerella cheese and tomato purée to top

When I do this I have enough to feed the four of us (2 adults 2 kids) but I need to buy fruit/ more eggs / cereal etc to cover breakfasts.