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Really need help with keeping food budget to under £100 a week forfamily of 5

19 replies

MilaMae · 15/07/2010 13:01

Really struggling to get it down but I have to.

We are 4 X foodies who eat anything and everything,not too much meat.

1X fussy 6 year old who loves meat

I really need a website with cheap nice meals also any tips for cheap meals that would suit us all.

I'm a good cook,can bake etc.

We only buy 2 X meat a week,organic has gone out the window except for a couple of things.Ecover sadly is our only luxury and the occasional bottle of wine.No idea why I can't do this.

OP posts:
maktaitai · 15/07/2010 13:15

five is tough IMO

tighten your meal planning - put exact amounts you need - not just 'carrots' but '8 carrots' or whatever

use older cookery books - my 60s Good Housekeeping is full of really good cheap recipes with very few ingredients!

avoid supermarkets if you can - could you shop at the local market? supermarkets will make you buy more than you really need

likewise, buy exactly the number of bacon rashers you need at the butchers, rather than the number the supermarket want you to buy; get milk, bread and cheese delivered by the milkman instead of nipping into the supermarket and spending £20 without meaning to

look at the proportions of your shopping - where is the money going, e.g. what proportion is yogurt, could you start making your own? or just buy basic plain yogurt and add a little fruit here and there

make your own popcorn as a treat - bag of popping corn under £2 will last a couple of weeks, more if your family less greedy than mine

sorry but you really don't need wine - ask for it for your birthday

i sympathise totally re the Ecover though - we all have some standards we don't want to lose

Meal ideas: e.g.
hard boiled eggs with salad and bread,
grilled sardines on toast with slices of tomato, cheese on toast, macaroni cheese, egg curry, tortilla (dice potatoes and boil for 5 mins, heat oil and cook onions in a large frying pan, add potatoes and stir well, pour over 4 beaten eggs, cover and cook for ?30 mins or until set)

pasta with onions: heat oil gently, slice onions, cook them for about 30 mins, scraping off the sides of the pan as you go, mix into pasta, add a few frozen peas if you like

potatoes boulangere: slice potatoes and onions, layer into a deep dish, make one layer bacon to bump it up a bit, pour over some stock until about half full, cover and bake

hope some of this helps

DingALongCow · 15/07/2010 13:45

I dont know if you already shop online but I have found that this automatically cut our shopping bills by £20 pw as we werent shopping hungry, drawn in by BOGOFF offers we didnt need or making impulse buys. I make a shopping list and leave it on the fridge and spend 30 mins entering it once a week. Last week was £55 with nappies and this week was £39 with a whole load of extra storecupboard stuff (family of four, but both children are always enormously hungry). When it arrives I write down meal ingredients on note on the fridge and their BBE dates, plus other bits in the fridge I have e.g one column with fish pie mix, chicken fillets, fishcakes etc and the other row has the veg/pastry/eggs etc in. Takes two seconds and it means I know at a glance what I have.
I then use this list as the basis of next weeks shop+general shopping list for other bits.

Another thing I do is to think in terms of carbs with the meal so one night we have potatoes, another rice/risotto, another lentils/pulses, another couscous etc so we have some variety, plus carbs are the cheap bit so we have plenty of those and veg.

Something like a pack of bacon or ham is inexpensive and if you only use two/three slices at a time you can make it last a while e.g. cook a big pan of pasta and fry off the chopped bacon with some mushrooms or other veg. Grate some cheese and add it all to the drained pasta in the warm saucepan-serve when the cheese has melted. A block of cheese lasts much longer this way too as a little goes a long way when it is melted into the dish.

A basic white sauce can be used to make all sorts of lovely cheap dishes eg macaroni cheese, potatoes dauphinoise, pasta bake (with leftovers). Likewise passata.

Cook more vegetables than usual and store them in the fridge and use them to make next evenings tea e.g. potato bake, vegetable rice, pasta bake.

I like these websites:
www.recipes4us.co.uk/Credit%20Crunch.htm

www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/recipes/favourites/cheap-eat/

www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/Cheap-family

abshirley · 15/07/2010 16:44

Try www.mse.com. There is plenty of advice re menu planning, best times for shopping etc.

oranges · 15/07/2010 16:50

Ecover instead of wine? Really??

ConnorTraceptive · 15/07/2010 16:56

Where do you currently shop my weekly shopping bill went from £100 down to £55-£60 when I switched from sainsbury's to aldi

Alibabaandthe40nappies · 15/07/2010 17:08

oranges - that was my thought!

Wine - essential

Ecover - overpriced shite that doesn't actually clean anything

no offence intended to Ecover users.

DanJARMouse · 15/07/2010 17:11

Watching with interest.

Im currently spending in the region of £80-90 a week on grocery shopping, and then a good £20-30 a week on top-ups.

Its driving me MAD. Also a family of 5, 2 adults, 6yr old (fussy) 4yr old (eat anything) and 2yr old (eats when he feels like it)

Weekly menu does help, but hard to stick to. Also started doing online, but still cant seem to reign it in.

DD1 would rather eat meat,pots & veg 7 days a week. DD2 would prefer pasta (dd1 doesnt eat pasta) and DH and I would like anything quick and easy!

Weekly meals here are usually something like this...

Tues : Meatballs and spaghetti
Wed : pork, pots & veg
Thurs : Pizza & garlic bread
Fri : Fish, new pots and veg
Sat : Beef stew & crusty bread
Sun : Roast dinner
Mon : something and chips!

DanJARMouse · 15/07/2010 17:13

Also, Ive found the majority of my food budget seems to go on lunch stuff.

The kids have rolls/sandwiches/toast with a lot of fruit, raisins, cocktail sausages, cheese, biscuits etc

We use probably 3 bananas a day, 1 apple, a shed load of grapes and strawberries, 2 satsumas etc. Fruit is my biggest expense, but as I can guarantee they will eat it, I feel guilty if I try and cut back there!

Alibabaandthe40nappies · 15/07/2010 17:19

OP - sorry to be frivolous. We are only 3, 2 adults and a toddler, and we have recently worked out that we're spending over £100 a week on food. Don't get me wrong, we eat really well, but that is too much and it needs to come down.

My Mum used to put a loaf of bread on the table every dinner time when we were growing up (family of 5). Fruitbowl and yoghurt for pudding except on Sundays. We didn't have free access to snacks etc, we had to ask if we wanted something to eat and if a meal was happening within the next half an hour or so then we would have to wait.

My tip for saving money on wine is to not buy a couple of bottles in each weekly shop. Most supermarkets or somewhere like Majestic/Oddbins do at least a 5% discount when you buy 6 or more bottles. We save up our Nectar points that we earn on our petrol and then buy wine from Sainsbury's when they have got offers on. We buy at least 6 bottles at once to get the discount, and normally choose a wine that is on special offer as well. We very rarely actually 'pay' for wine using this method.

FreakoidOrganisoid · 15/07/2010 17:35

My situation is different because it is only me and 2 young children but I spend under £40 most weeks, £60 on an expensive week (where I need to buy washing powder etc)

This week my meal plan is:
Sun- risotto with courgette (from the garden), peas and baby broad beans (from the freezer). Parmesan left over from previous meals. Bottle of wine opened, 1 glass in risotto the rest for me to drink through the week .

Mon- veg and lentil soup with homemade rolls. Soup made with carrots, onion, broccoli, peppers, stock, tinned tomatoes and (lots of)lentils.

Tue - Roast beef (bought reduced and frozen), roast potatoes, carrots and green beans

Wed - The leftover soup over pasta with peas and cheese

Thurs - left over beef and mash with peas and carrots

Fri - Wraps with beans, peppers, onion and cheese

Sat - Roast chicken (free range) with savoury rice and green beans

The rest of the roast chicken will be used in meals next week.

So far this week I have spent £27, I need to buy the chicken and some more onions. Obviously that's not including the stuff I had in the freezer or cupboards but I have worked it out before now and it honestly averages out at £40 or less a week.

When I shop I try to buy stuff that can be used in more than one meal so for example peppers are used in the soup, wraps and in the savoury rice.

Breakfast is weetabix (own brand) or porridge. Sometimes shreddies or similar for the dc. Juice to drink (and tea for me!), the rest of the time we drink water.

DD has packed lunches 2x a week-they usually include a sandwich, raw carrot/cucumber, and either fruit or a yoghurt.

DS and I also have sandwiches for lunch most days, sometimes leftovers (eg on mon we had the risotto). They had friends over for lunch on Tues so had fishfingers, happy stars, baked beans, peas and sweetcorn, today we had eggs.

Snacks are fruit or toast. Sometimes I buy biscuits or malt loaf but not that often

Don't tend to buy puddings but when those frube type things are on offer I buy a load and put them in the freezer. We made a carrot cake this week and will be making brownies tomorrow.

Washing powder etc I try to buy on offer, failing that I buy the big boxes-lasts for ages and then you don't have to think about it for a while.

FreakoidOrganisoid · 15/07/2010 17:40

I also buy wine in bulk like alibaba, it does work out cheaper IMO (provided you don't start drinking more because you know you have another 11 bottles stashed away )

lisad123isgoingcrazy · 15/07/2010 17:44

from swapping from Tesco to Aldi and planning meals our shopping went down from 95 a week to £55

MoonFaceMama · 15/07/2010 19:22

Check out the price per kg on things (which i believe must legally be displayed and is normally in small print on the price ticket on the shelf edge). I've seen some "value" products that cost more per g than standard brands. This also applies to shampoo etc...where i shop small bottles work out cheeper than one big one.

Also check out the reduced area for things you would be buying any way(it may well have a pattern of when it is best). There is often butter and cheese, which freeze. Don't be governed by best before dates, trust your senses. Often veg in recipies are interchangeable so you can use what ever is reduced.

If there is an area in your town with a higher ethnic minority population (hope i've phrased that ok ) check it out for better value spices, lentils, rice, couscous, flour etc. Spices and herbs can turn just about any thing in to a meal. Consider buying in bulk.

Pearl barley makes a great rissoto (or orssoto as i think it's called) only much cheeper than rissoto rice and more nutritious (though it does take a little longe to cook)

Great time of year for free fruit. Brambles will be coming in to just about every park and verge soon, with a few apples (even wild or crab apples are good) you can make a jam better than that you can buy, for virtually no money. Little fingers be great for brambleing...though watch for prickles!

MoonFaceMama · 15/07/2010 19:30

oh, and if you don't mind plonk tesco do a litre of spanish red or rose for £3.30 ish. [no standards emoticon] it.s in a tetrapac. Personally i think you do need wine! we make homebrew beer too! Costs bugger all...less than two quid for 12 litres (ie, eighteen wine bottles)!

missedith01 · 15/07/2010 19:31

Second the above re spices etc. I used to live in Brum and moved - first to London and now in Shrewsbury. Never bought a chilli pepper or ginger in a supermarket before I came here as there were too many nearby independent (in Brum usually Sikh, in London Vietnamese) grocers. Nearly fainted when I saw the price of stuff .

Best thing would be to persuade your fussy one of the value of a mostly vegetarian diet.

Otherwise, shop more often and buy only what you know you need and will use.

sweetnitanitro · 15/07/2010 19:54

Definitely give meal planning a go, it has halved our weekly shopping bill. I usually buy whatever meat is going cheap and bung it in the freezer and then plan the next week's meals around what meat I have.

If you have a slow cooker then you can buy cheap cuts of meat like beef brisket and then use leftovers in stir fries and what-not, stretching one chunk of meat over a couple of meals. You can bulk things like stews and casseroles up by adding extra onions and lentils or pearl barley.

Buy things at the end of their sell-by date only if a) you are definitely going to use them and b) they can be frozen.

And yes, definitely check the prices per KG on things, supermarkets are bloody sneaky on pricing.

stressedHEmum · 15/07/2010 20:17

If you are looking for website that has cheap recipes on it try www.hillbillyhousewife.com

It is full of really cheap recipes for using dried beans, mince, rice etc. Also have a look at wartime cookery books for ways of cutting back and making things go further. Recently I made a leg of lamb feed the 5 kids for 5 meals and made soup with the bone stock by using wartime methods, same with a chicken. Another good website is the british potato council one which is full of good recipes for using potatoes.

I think that you could easily cut back a bit if you plan tightly enough, make the most of things and stretch food. I have a family of 7, eldest son 20, youngest over 7, and I spend perhaps 80 or 90pounds a week on average. I have to say that ecover is my luxury, as well.

We eat quite a lot of dried beans, barley, rice or lentils and only use a small amount of meat. This weeks meal planner is

lunch:
bean and ham soup x 2
pasta salad
lentils and rice
eggy rice
sausage burgers using hm sausagemeat
mash with roots and greens and baked beans

dinner:
lentil loaf, wedges, mixed veg
macaroni cheese, broccoli and cauliflower
garden veg rice and beans
mincey rice
shepherds pie topped with the same mixed up mash as above
curried cabbage and potatoes
creamy tuna with rice and peas.

For breakfasts we have Asda's own shreddies, hm scones, oatmeal muffins or pancakes with butter and syrup. Desserts are banana loaf, melon loaf, madeleines and oat and raisin cookies. Snacks are fruit, yoghurt, ice lollies or more of the muffins and stuff that I baked. I make all my own bread and stuff as well because it's cheaper.

As somebody already said, plan meals around the carbs and then add protein and veg. It works out well, that way. Or, what you could do is bulk cook beans or lentil and rice and then make them into several meals.

A 1lb bag of green lentils with 1lb of brown rice can be made into lentil loaf, lentil burgers, tacos/tortillas (by adding tex-mex spices.) A couple of pounds of dried chick peas can be turned into chick pea curry, falafels, hummus, spicy chick peas with cous-cous...This is what I had to do a couple of years ago when we were kitting out DS1 for uni. Then I only had about 50pounds a week to buy everything that we needed for all seven of us.

I serve some kind of bread or tortilla thing with almost every meal to bulk things out and have soup for a couple of meals a week as well. I also try to buy seasonally and grow stuff in tubs in the garden to save more money. It's a bit late now for this year, but you can grow potatoes, carrots, courgetes, tomatoes, cucumbers etc. really easily. I converted the children's sandpits into planters for courgettes, celery and things and just use big pots for everything else.

Another good website is Approved Foods. You can buy things really cheaply there. They are a bit past their best before date, but still fine and ludicrously cheap. I bought a 2kg jar of LLoyd Grossman pasta sauce for 99p which will do for about 4 meals ans angel delight stuff for 10p a packet.

Wolfcub · 15/07/2010 20:19

try www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/

Feed a family of 4 healthily for £100 a month

dustycups · 15/07/2010 20:38

every week we have a roast chicken dinner or roast chicken and chips and then have left over chicken next day in a curry or chausser!

def do a meal planner, it saves you loads

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