£400 to last the month - Ideas please!

[CaptainCabinetsTrappedInCabinets]

Payday is the 24th.

2 adults 2 children (DC is a picky eater)

I need to keep the weekly food budget to around £60pw to give me some wiggle room.

I need to cover breakfast, lunches and dinners.

I have about 5 days worth of dinner ingredients in the freezer.

I need meal ideas please guys!

So far I have;

1. Spuds and beans
2. Egg on toast
3. Batch cook a vat of turkey chilli
4. Sausages, taters and peas
5. Batch cook a vat of bolognaise sauce

Ham sandwiches for lunches

Cereal for breakfasts

Toad in the hole
Vegetable nuggets
Pasta with tomato's and cheese
Burgers
Fishcakes
Meat balls
Toasted cheese sandwiches and soup

It's hard not knowing dc's likes and dislikes but a cauliflower and chickpea curry is really economical.
Tuna pasta (either white or tomato base sauce) include frozen sweetcorn
Toad in the hole
Omelettes or fritata
Pita pizzas
Dhal and rice
Pesto pasta with peas

Porridge and soup would be cheapest breakfasts and lunches but depends if dc would eat them.

Find out when the best time and day is for picking up reduced meat in your local supermarket.

Pan everything out with pasta, rice, bread and potatoes.

These are all really good ideas thank you.

Picky DC will only eat very plainly. I can adapt for some things though. Or just make him some spaghetti and broccoli. Other DC will eat whatever we eat.

I shop very frugally. I think what you have above on rotation is a good shout already.

Jack Monroe has great recipes that are cheap and not patronising https://oursouthend.wordpress.com/

You might also get some cheap ideas here:
https://lovecannedfood.com/recipes/

Breakfast - eggs, boiled/french toast/scrambled/with soldiers, porridge, yogurt and frozen berries/ supermarket cereal if that's what your DC likes, milk

Lunches - sandiwiches/toasties/soup - tinned or homemade/omelettes/frittata pastry bakes (sheet of pastry + pesto/bacon/cheese/veggies etc.) - substantial salads (bean/pasta/couscous) baked potatoes with fillings

Dinners - curries /pasta bakes/stews/ pies/ crumbles (inc. veggie crumbles)/ rissotos/ pulled pork/ stir frys

Puddings fruit crumbles /rice pudding / cakes/brownies

Snacks - flapjack /muffins/ cheese straws/scones

There is an old book by Jocasta Innes called the Pauper's cookbook - it's more than a recipe book, it talks about how to manage cooking, using leftovers, planning the week etc.

I think they've updated it, but I always found it a great resource

I regularly shop the reduced items at our local Morrisons.
This week I got ‘The Best’ range of pigs in blankets, mashed potatoes, salmon, bread and loads more for about a third of the original price.
I find 5pm or 7pm to be good times to get the best reductions.

fridge soup is usually good - whatever veg (select what you have that goes together) and make soup - save some to have with pasta bake - pasta soup with cheese on top of some variety

Shep pie with or without lentils to pad out and plenty of veg

Defo scope shops for reduced stuff - some great deals at the moment

sausage and mash with veg and gravy - if you can do your own yorkshires even better

Whole chickens better value than pieces, thighs offer good meat for curries padded out with chick peas or lentils again - plus veg like cauli and broccoli and even potato

chicken noodles, left over picked chicken veg and noodles - quick and easy can also be turned soup like

Tacos

fahitas - peppers meat onion, spices and then dips for the guacamole etc

Try and avoid sweets, crisps, tinned or fresh fruit bar enough to keep you healthy, also check out what else you have in the cupboard that needs using up and use search on good food website or others to find ideas

try out some more veggie ideas rather than having meat in everything

Eggs are always great value and can be used with left over cooked veg and potato for fritata style things, pancakes and frozen fruit and some cream or icecream for a treat

Op check out if you have a local community kitchen where food is either really cheap or free. They have been set up to try to reduce food wastage rather than to provide too cheap or free food as a food bank would, so anyone can use them. They often have limited opening hours, but depending on where you are they can be an amazing resource - I used to go to an afternoon/evening class that was in the same building as one so would see it regularly and they often used to get donations of bread from the day that hadn’t sold, plus assorted veg, occasional ready meals that needed to be eaten on the day but often the stuff was good but ready to be eaten. Sometimes there would be meat or cheese in the fridge but not always but a great place to get to know and use on a regular basis.
there are also the apps like Olio, Too Good to Go, Katma and more that have some great bargains on - again things that need to be eaten sooner rather than later and aimed at reducing food waste rather than being a food bank but check out to see what is being offered locally and you could get some great bargains. Close to me there are often Morrisons on Too Good to Go that offer bakery bags, groceries bags and veg bags, so you can get an idea of what you might get - look on mumsnet or google local facebook or similar and the name of your town and the so to see what other people have had. Might be that there are more things that you and your dh would enjoy/could eat if one or all of your dc are more picky but then at least that would mean cheap but good for you means you have a bit more to get something your fussy dc likes. I think on here someone said that karma was the one that you get most choice with but I haven’t actually used it to try.
my sis has had some fab things though - there’s also a local hotel that offers a hot breakfast bag after 10am here that I mean to try but haven’t yet - basically all the bits from the breakfast buffet get out into bags so if you’re happy to try something like that, could also be a fun option - although sometimes there will be time limits on things when they will be walkable from and to.

24th is actually only 3weeks + 1 day, so £60 a week means £180 for food with £220 for other stuff which seems ok but what else does the money have to cover? Fuel, after school clubs etc?

What else do you need to cover from your £400 budget, in the next 3 weeks?

Yes, the buffer is fuel for work and school runs plus a bit of emergency change.

Wondering if I can manage to walk the school runs and save the extra 2 miles petrol a day.

Would be tight to get back to the car and to work but I might manage it.

I also have to pay £4 a day parking

Maybe aim to do it some days but give yourself a bit of leeway if it’s wet / very cold etc else you’ll have whingey children as well to contend with 😆.

Stick to basic fruit, ie apples, bananas and satsumas this time of year as berries etc really push up the weekly shop.
Most supermarkets do a mixed 4 pack of biscuits for a little over a £1 ( custard creams, bourbon etc) which are good for snacks. Rice cakes are also quite cheap and even now at 17 Dd will often have them after school with a slice of cheese.

Try to get an Aldi too good to go which might not give you loads of meat stuff but often there's veg and carbs

Lentil soup
Dhal

Firstly, do an inventory of exactly what you've got in your cupboards/fridge & freezer. Then decide on your menu based on the ingredients you already have. Plan your shopping list around your missing ingredients.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/cheap-family-suppers-recipes

Instead of walking the school run could you not use that time to park further from work and not have to pay for parking?

I can keep our weekly shop to about £50 a week, two adults, 1 DC. Granted we often have the previous evening’s meal for lunch leftovers but you could pad that out with cheese/ ham sandwiches or whatever. Weekly meals for us typically looks something like:
Lasagne (this does 6 portions)
Pork chops with mash and green veg
Chicken and leek risotto
Spaghetti Bolognese (or some other pasta dish)
Chilli and rice (also usually get 5/6 portions out of this)
Sausage and mash with green veg
Jacket potato with trimmings such as cheese/ tuna mayo and salad

Too good to go is too risky, I've tried it multiple times and never got anything worth the money

Have you tried Olio or Too Good To Go?

Pasta, rice and mix in other ingredients for taste and nutrition. Can of tuna, any meat, any beans, add a sprinkle of cheese on top.

Know fussy eaters so a bit of their favourite sauce helps! Xxx

Ah thanks for the memory! I had an original one, didn't know there was an updated version! the book was a great comfort read to me. Think it got so tattered and worn out I binned it eventually.