Can you make a meal for a family of 4 for £5 or less?

[Jayne266]

I have just challenged my DH to this. I have got a spaghetti bolognese using value range were applicable (not the meat) and came up to £3.64.

Basil £0.61 (dried)
Carrot £0.08 (1 carrot)
Chopped tomatoes £0.62 (2 Tins)
Spaghetti £0.19
Mince £1.50
Onion £0.18
Garlic £0.30
Garlic bread £0.33

Have you got any ideas?

Some of these sound yummy! I don't often spend more than £5 for a meal nowadays and the key seems to be cooking a meal that will last 2 meals if it involves meat, and pasta at least twice a week.

I do a mean risotto:

Fry garlic 20p, leek 40p and chorizo £2, in butter 40p. Add a box of risotto £1.20 and a splash of wine and tinned tomatoes 80p. Add water oxo cube from kettle gradually and bubble gently til cooked then add loads of grated fresh Parmesan tah dah, tasty meal for a fiver.

I currently feed 4 adults + 2 small DC (ages 4 & 2) & can usually feed us all for less than £5 - there are often trimmings for the cat, too!

I mainly do this by buying food that has been reduced in the supermarket at the end of the day, usually by 75%-90%.

This means that we don't particularly plan what we eat and we have quite a varied selection! Anything from ready meals such as curry to stewing meat to fish to less popular meats such as venison or oxtail are often available.

I also buy bread products and fruit & veg in the same way.

Yesterday's meal was herring with a hm tomato sauce, wedges & broccoli & carrots. I used 5 whole fish, which cost £2 (cat had the guts for dinner ). The broccoli was 14p for a small head (organic) & the carrots 8p for a 1kg bag. Potatoes were not reduced in price & were £5.49 for 7.5kg, I used at most 1kg.

Farm Foods is also a great place to shop - £1.60 for 2 x 4 pints of milk, £1.60 for 2 loaves Hovis bread, 69p for a bunch of bananas, 49p for a small bag of onions, £3 for 30 bags of crisps etc

I shop at ethnic store too for onions and veg. There is a Turkish shop that sell 5kg boxes of vine toms for £2.50 at the mo. I forsee lots of greek salad coming up with basics 'salad style' cheese. The onions and most of their veg are cheaper too as they are really seasonal not flown halfway around the world - poss Spain etc? - and much tastier.

Spaghetti mozzarella bake.
Spag
Mozzarella
Onion/garlic
Tin toms

Job done.