Budgeting

[Partyof7]

Hi all, I'm new here and I'm sure this has been discussed a million times, however im interested to hear what different sizes of family's spend on average for food/ household items etc. We are feeding 7, and have so far reduced our costs from £200 to around £160-70 per week. This covers groceries and cleaning, laundry and toiletry products. I am really hoping to reduce costs even more so any tips would be most welcome

Buy value toiletries only, ditto cleaning stuff. Reduce how many different types you buy, and use less of it.

Food wise, have a couple of days pw where you have beans on toast or baked potato, or pasta and pesto, or egg fried rice. Something which is really cheap to make.

Or tinned soup and toasted cheese sandwiches. Things the children like, but very cheap.

We are a family of 6 (2 adults, 3 teenagers and a 10yr old) I've managed to get our shopping bill down from around £165 to about £110, i do a split shop between Iceland and Tesco, works out really well.

I use the slow cooker about 3 times a week for making a big casserole, cooking baked potatoes and either pulled gammon or pulled pork.

Like the idea of soup/toasted sandwiches. I think that would be a big hit with the children. Thankyou!

That is an impressive saving! Are your children big eaters? We have 4 boys who are like bottomless pits, especially the eldest who is 14. Our little girl eats tiny amounts in comparison!

Porridge is about the cheapest breakfast you can do. Serve with frozen berries and chopped banana to make it more filling. Follow with wholemeal toast if needed, keep a sliced loaf in the freezer so it doesn’t go off. Make pancakes at the weekend to mix things up a bit.
Do your kids have school dinners or do you have to include things for packed lunches? Big batches of flapjack, sponge tray bakes or cheese scones make filling snacks or treats. For healthier snacks, carrots are one of the cheapest veg, buy a bag, peel and cut into batons with a tub of home made hummus. Big bags of nuts decanted into small portions are also good. Try to buy seasonal fruit, apple, satsumas etc.
Eat veggie a few times a week and cook from scratch where possible, things like big pasta bakes, fritata. Pad out mince dishes, stews and casseroles with beans, lentils and veg.
For cleaning products and toiletries places like home bargains are often cheaper than supermarkets.

Bar of soap instead of shower gels (there's a whole thread about the benefits of it).

4 of us £80-£100pw. One child is on free school meals. The other has a diary allergy so his special milk/butter/cheese is fairly expensive.

We meal plan each evening meal and shop online weekly to keep track of the cost. Sometimes we go to aldi once a week to top up bread, fruit etc.

Atleastitsnotmonday, we do a combination of school meals twice per week, then packed lunches 3 days. Hubby also takes packed lunch 5 days, also mid morning snack for all 5 kids and hubby. Pancakes are a regular here, and I try to make enough where I can use them both for breakfast and next day for schoil snack. Only me and our littles eat porridge, so I usually make 2 days worth at a time so I just need to reheat.
I try to buy a lot of own brand produce...currently receiving 2 online Tesco shops every week . ideally I would like to cut this down to only once per week with just a top up shop for fresh food in between. I've be scouring mumsnet and several other sites for recipies, so hopeful I can manage to save!

Thanks guys. Some great ideas. X

@LaChatte was that here? That would be interesting to read. We go through a LOT of shower gels and bodywashes!

Have you git an Aldi loccally?

@ScienceNut unfortunately no Aldi here in Northern Ireland as yet. Feels like we are missing out!