I have £50 per week for food in February

[Lovelybitofsquirrel3]

After 2 big unexpected bills in a few days since getting paid, I have £60 a week for February for food for myself and 1 child, dog food and toiletries not included. I usually spend about £80-130 a week. I usually batch cook so that’s fine. Will eat a lot of things. The first week of the month I don’t need to buy anything as I’ve got enough in. I feel really overwhelmed.

Savers pasta sith canned tomatoes, herbd and cheese.
Veggie chilli with lentils, savers beans and tomstoes etc.
Jacket spuds
Toast with beans, cheese etc.
Homemade veggie soup
Eggs

Basically as much as posdible lidl / aldi savers.
I do this anyway...saves a fortune.

£60 is more than enough for a week for the two of you and dog.
Buy a chicken- have a roast dinner one day, chicken curry the next, chicken soup for lunches.
Same with mince- Spag Bol one day, could make burgers,lasagne
Then jackets and one night a super cheap meal, then bread, milk, fruit, cereal and some snacks very doable tbh

If you are reliant on ready meals could you order from Iceland one week if you have the freezer space?

Can you take the short cuts in different ways?

If I make a cottage pie I bulk it up with frozen mixed veg so no messing around chopping. I buy a lot of frozen fruit and veg. You can get ready chopped onions or I get frozen raspberries and just chuck them in porridge or Weetabix while I'm heating the milk..

Buy jars to make the pasta bake. If it the pouring out hot water that's the issue buy the kind designed for a longer bake in the oven. You will still be a lot cheaper than buying the ready made kind and stretch further.

Do you have a slow cooker? That's handy for a stew. Boneless chicken thighs or fillets, or diced beef. Chuck in some new potatoes (if peeling is an issue) and some veg with a bit of stock. I just add gravy granules at the end to thicken. You'd get two meals out of that easily so in effect a ready meal for the next day.

Or make a big steak pie - you can just put diced beef and onions (veg if you like) in the slow cooker. Put in stock, add gravy nearer the end and you've a good pie filling. Put some ready roll pastry on the top. Not the cheapest meal but much larger and nicer than buying the ready made equivalent and it doesn't require any real cooking. For £60 a week you don't need to be on lentils and beans every night.

You can manage. We are two adults here and I keep it below that. Just look at cheaper options for things, ie a packet of biscuits can be less than a cake. Veggie pasta dish (through in whatever you have to use up with pasta and homemade tomato sauce), jacket potato and beans or omelette will be less than many fish/meat dishes. Look for packs of fruit and veg on offer. Porridge can be a cheaper option that many other breakfast things - I actually enjoy mine without anything on it, so that actually saves money.

One of my favourites when I was a child that I passed to my daughter who is now 22 is macaroni cauliflower cheese. Look away now if you don't approve of double carb-ing!
One tin of macaroni cheese
lightly steamed and chopped cauli florets
some frozen peas (no need to cook)
mashed potato
MIx the Macaroni cheese and veg. Place in an oven-proof dish and top with mash. Put in oven for about 30 mins - voila!

Forgot to say, do you have any Tescos vouchers you could use towards your food. I've got some more due out next week, so might be worth checking when yours are due. If not, you can sometimes get a discount when doing an online shop for the first time elsewhere.

I think this is exactly the time to be creative! Such as finding ways to use that Mumsnet chicken you mentioned!

That's loads for food.

Some excellent ideaa on here.

I do an online shop at Sainsbury's for around £60 a week for 2 adults, 1 child, a baby and a cat.
Don't buy any brands. Get the shop basics, most bits taste the same! Maybe a while chicken and a pack of mince and that's a week of meat. Get lentils, rice, pasta, potatoes, carrots broccoli etc. you can get a kilo of carrots for about 50p.
Just breath and do it online and keep juggling till you get there :)

Okay, so I haven’t yet gone through the comments because I have a few things to do. But I did see the comment about making a list about what I have in my cupboards and I think I should start there and then if I use anything I can replace it.

A list is a good idea. I also have one on my freezer door, drawer by drawer, and cross off and add as i eat or buy. It needs redoing once a month or so as it gets a bit messy with scribbles, but is useful to know what I have and to plan shopping.

And to save time looking for stuff. I just wish DP looked at it more often before scrabbling around for things....

Also have you got a veg mini chopper? If not they're worth it
I put celery, carrots and onion in mine to add to most meals and it makes cooking so much quicker
Mushrooms also blitz down v small in it so handy for fussy eaters

Does anybody have a credit union family loan that could help me with something

Really? And what should she do with the dog. Put it in a rescue where it will stay for months because people don't want a pet with pre-existing conditions.

All budgets i have done have had separate sections for pets including food. My cats are budgeted in my monthly spend.

Have you heard of TooGoodToGo?
You download the app to your phone and choose a payment method.
Take time to follow the instructions app instructions.
The food is massively discounted and usually short code but all useable

The vet warned me that at some point one of her knees will dislocate again and it’ll be a 3k bill. So you’re correct

We just had Spanakorizo for lunch, dead easy to make, nutritious and filling and uses very cheap ingredients - frozen spinach, rice, onions, garlic and storecupboard spices.

www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/rice/spanakorizo/

1kg porridge oats - £1
1kg frozen mixed berries - £2
2 pts Milk- £1.50
= £4.50 for your & child's breakfasts for the week

14 jacket size potatoes- £3
7 tins of baked beans- £3.50
Cheap cheddar cheese- £2.50
2 bags of salad leaves (or equivalent veg)- £2
= £10 for your & child's lunches for the week

1kg rice- 60p
7 tins chopped tomatoes- £3
1kg frozen peas- £1.40
1 large bag of carrots/ onions- £1
7 tins of chickpeas/kidney beans/whatever you like- £3.50
= £9.50 for your & child's dinners for the week

= £23 per week for food.

Now of course these are ultra basic, bland meals & no snacks or coffee, tea etc. but I'm assuming you already have some spices at home & I'm doing this to illustrate that you can in fact eat very cheaply if you need to!

Swap out some things, add in some bits you like and you'll easily keep under £50 and have a bit to save each week too

Try aldi and lidl. I also found olio app helps if you can drive to collect food.

Where do you normally shop? We used to shop in Asda, but changed to Aldi and now average £50 per week for 2 adults and a child - but if we go back to Asda or Tesco for a shop it shoots up to around £80 - even though we're buying the same stuff.

For example, it’s proportionately cheaper to buy a big pack of chicken pieces, than a pack of two. Then you have some to use from the freezer.