my challenge - starting after half term, im going to attempt to live off of £50 for 1 whole month

[juicychops]

i recently moved and i am now living 1 minute from sainsburys. i go in there every single day and i cant help myself. i am spending 40-50 quid per week on absolute crap!!

so this is my challenge

i will need lots of planning but i recon its do-able. if i can do it, i will save myself a hell of a lot of money which is what i need to do for a while, and teach myself to more efficient and stop buying all the cakes and biscuits and all the crap stuff that costs loads but doesn't = a meal

doing it during half term will be too difficult, so will begin the following week

so... 6th june i start

6th July i will finish

that is £50 on just food - not bills too

food for me, ds and dp when he's round (although he's more fussy about food so he may be buying some extra stuff for himself)

Wow, I'm impressed and interested to see how it goes. I would think eliminating all processed foods, sweets, and cooking mostly meat-as-flavouring meals with store cupboard basics would be a good start.

We saved money by getting a weekly vegbox for £8 which keeps me and DH in veg for the week, and is cheaper than the same amount of veg at the supermarket. It forces us to use what we have rather than resorting to getting a curry delivered. That alone would eat up two thirds of your budget though and you will probably need more than us as you've got a DS to feed as well.

ive got loads of rice and pasta, tins of stuff etc in the cupboards already which have been in there months so my aim is to get through all that.

would love to get weekly veg boxes but i don't think we would make the most of it and i fear some would be wasted. we eat a lot of frozen veg - i know its not as good, but its cheap and still not bad for you, and it lasts us a while.
il also stock up on eggs and have omlettes, egg noodles, and then things like jacket potato with fillings, porrige for breakfast. il try and buy meat in bulk and then seperate it into portions and freeze them individually.

Il let you know how i get on. Im quite excited actually. and im hoping it will get me into a different mind set of how i do my weekly shopping.
as you have suggested im going to try and cut out as much as i can of processed stuff, cakes, choc and sweets. i have all the basics to make biscuits and cakes so we'll (try) and have fun making rather than buying.

might even write a little food journal each day just to keep a record of what we've thrown together

Sounds like a challange. Please keep us posted. When we go abroad for a long visit, we've tried to empty out the fridge/freezer so we can switch it off while we're away. It's a good way to use up those little things that build up in your fridge. Also, periodically we'll try to see how many tins we can get through. You'd be surprised what nice meals you can create!

How is the planning going?

Do I assume £50pw - which is still impossible if doing 3 meals a day, 2 children, two adults. I would never shop everyday. I plan my meals and plan my expences. Still though with buying the basics at Aldi then popping over to Sainsbo I cant get it below £100pw.
Time I buy milk and bread for the week thats near enough £10, fruit and veg prob not far off £10+, tins, cereals, tea, coffee, cheese, ham, squash, jams etc. Have analised my list but see I dont have silly buys. Good quality fish and meat cost but I avoid buying meat from the supermarket.

This is a helpful website. I have used it a lot and have adapted the recipes to suit me and OH. Hope it helps

www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk

I use smart price frozen veg and it's good even dh who was bought up on brand names likes it. I feel the peas through the plastic bag to find the ones full of petit pois. Yes I know that's sad.

I have gone into mega-frugal mode, and have made a spreadsheet in Excel for my shopping list - a column for quantity, column for item description, one for price (either per kg, or per pack, or individually, depending on what it is)

This means I can tot up my shopping list (I also paste shopping list into mysupermarket.co.uk) so I can find the cheapest shop. That way I don't get a shock at the checkout. I always go there in person, so I can pick up cheapo yellow sticker meat and bread and freeze it.

I have also made a meal planner in Excel, which has the cost of each ingredient for each meal, so I know exactly how much a meal costs.

I have been known to spend £500 a month on food but am trying to do it for £25 per week for 4 of us (2 x preschool DSs, DP and myself) and also have gluten free, dairy free food for myself too.

This doesn't include nappies, toiletries,laundry, toilet roll etc (another tenner per week I think?)

I also want a diet free of additives for DS1, who may have autism / ADD or similar.

If you phone a fishmonger and order broken fish (need a day's notice for this) it is literally half price, and is just mis-shapes, not heads and tails or anything horrible.

Supermarket fish is leathery...

£25 is possible for a family of 4, but only for food. I think...!

I finish my Frugal Project Month on the 17th!

My tip would be to get to an asian/continental store and buy big cheap bags of pulses, rice, chappati flour (if you make bread) etc. Soak cook and freeze the beans to make them easier to use.

Consider sowing some herbs and salad leaves that will be ready to eat in a few weeks.
Good luck and let us know how it goes!

strictly no entertaining, no slap up sunday lunches and no cake making then, no biscuits, posh chocolate, and going hungrey. wouldnt work for me...and def not for my hungry herd!!!

This might sound totally bonkers, since you have just moved 1 minute from lovely sainsburys, but what about internet shopping?! We now spend average between £34 and £64 on our weekly internet shop with top ups from our local co-op of milk, bread etc. I never used to be able to go into Sainsbury's and spend less than £120 on our weekly shop! It has made a massive and totally unexpected difference to our budget.

There's a bit of confusion here, is it £50 per week or £50 per month ?

I'm really interested either way, but it's a 'hellava' difference !

Juicy how many do you have in your family ?

watching with interest.

if you have a cupboard full of tins and pasta / cereals etc i reckon it should be possible

also you might be able to go and pick some wild fruits if you know where the wild bushes are. Up here the blackcurrents are nearly ready... and they will be free. then the raspberrys, the the blackberries though doubt balckberries will be ready before you finish your bargain month.
Good luck and let us know how you get one

Can you try your local market? I get a Tesco blue small reusable bag FULL of fresh fruit / veg (often local & from local farms currently converting to orgainic but not got their organic certification yet) and normally include some large fresh local free range eggs for a tenner a week. But could be less if i took out the pineapple (£1) / punnet blueberries (80p) as i would if i was on a really strict budget. The potatoes and onions dont fit in so i carry them in a carriers bag too... also for about a tenner