£ 40.00 budget to feed 5! how?

Morning to everyone, hope anyone can help
Got myself sorted to go shopping this morning and checked my account and lo and behold my wages have not been put in. :( So have been on phone to the boss to blast him but he hasnt answered his phone!!

Anyway dilemma is now i still need to shop has i need baby milk and nappies, but what else should i buy for a few meals to tide me over until wages are there. I do like to cook from scratch has i have 3 kids 1 dog and 1 husband and myself and dont believe in buying ready meals.
Budget is only £40.00 so if anyone has any ideas that would be great.
Shops that i can get to is Aldi and Tesco

Thanks everyone :D
£2.00 COIN SAVINGS...........TOTAL £24.00 :j

ONLY £11.946.00 TO GO :wall:
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  • Spendless
    Spendless Posts: 24,082
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    Hi

    What sort of things do you have in your cupboards already so we know what to suggest to make your meals go further. Nappies which do you use? I found Tescos own fine. Baby milk unless your clinic still sells it cheaper and you can get to it there isn't a way of getting it cheaper. Does your Tescos take coupons? Have you got any mags laying round house that you could go thru and cut out that would knock something off your shopping bill.
  • Lucie_2
    Lucie_2 Posts: 1,482
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    Are Tesco still doing 2 chickens for a fiver? You can do lots with that much chicken. Do a search for threads called rubber chicken, or check out the recipe index at the top of the page. There are lots of suggestions in there, including a "feed 6 for £1.26" (or similar amount!)
    Before you go have a real good look through your cupboards to see what you can use up; no point planning meals with rice if all you have is pasta.
  • I would definitely go to Aldi, as they are much much cheaper and you should be able to do okay particularly if you do a check through your storecupboard first. Do you have a butcher nearby? I always get a ham shank once a week from my butchers for £1.79 and it makes three meals - hot boiled ham with potatoes and veg and parsley sauce, a huge pan of split pea soup and ham and cheese pasta bake (like macaroni cheese with ham in it). Also at Aldi they do lovely pizzas for 99p (the stonebake ones), or I sometimes get their home bake baguettes (2 for 39p) and you can make 4 big french bread pizzas from them just by adding a tin of tomatoes which you reduce in a frying pan with herbs and chopped onion, spreading this on the uncooked baguettes which you split open and then top with grated mild cheese. Great with baked potatoes. Baby milk is probably best bought from a baby clinic - even without vouchers I always found it to be significantly cheaper than the supermarket, but failing that you could go into Tescos just for the baby milk and nappies, although Aldi do nappies but I have no idea if they are any good!

    good luck!!
    Jane

    ENDIS. Employed, no disposable income or savings!
  • If you do have cupboard ingriedients like pasta, i find tuna bake (bulked out with mushrooms, carrotts and sweetcorn cheap, tasty and filling.

    My hubby likes pasta in cheese sauce with chopped up hot dogs (I know its not healthy so we don't have it that often) But a tin of hot dogs is only about 55p and will stretch in a meal like this.

    5 ben casserol 3 x tins of barlotti, flagelot, kidney, black eyed beans (any really even baked beans) Fry of onion and any spare veg (inc frozen) you have then add oxo cube, tin tomatoes & some water leave to simmer. You can add dried herbs I like to add chilli powder and serve with rice. That costs me about £1.50 and serves four generous portions but by adding another tin of beans it will go further!

    Corned beef hash!

    Pita bread stuffed with all sorts - tuna, salad, cheese, the five bean stuff (add some sugar and reduce the sauce yummy!)

    Potato and leek soup meesage me and i'll type up the recipe if you would like it, spaghetti carbonara.

    And my favourite desperation meal raiding the cupboars and using up all the odds adn ends for a picnic style meal. Last time we had odd sausages a few sanwiches, onion rings, fish fingers all sorts (reminded me of children's party food.

    I hope these might insipre you
    julybride



    DFD 18th Dec2007 :D We did it!!!
  • £40 for how long? A week .... a month .... :confused:
    Warning ..... I'm a peri-menopausal axe-wielding maniac ;)
  • What does your dog eat? Mine eats raw food and I buy a tray of chicken carcasses from my butcher for £2 - about 20kg!!!!

    That feeds him for about one month and I steal one or two carcasses to make chicken stock/soup :D
    Warning ..... I'm a peri-menopausal axe-wielding maniac ;)
  • Thanks everyone some great ideas there.
    In cupboards already is Pasta loads of, Tuna, tinned tomatoes, corned beef, tin stewing steak, tin tomato soup, tin minced beef and loads of tinned fruit. (from christmas!!)
    Just went to open frezzer and one of the doors is stuck so now i have to defrost :( that in their is loads of frozen veg couple fish fingers box of hamburgers
    Tesco nappies i do use but thru the day and keep pampers for night times but i think to night it will have to be cheaper ones.
    £2.00 COIN SAVINGS...........TOTAL £24.00 :j

    ONLY £11.946.00 TO GO :wall:
  • Strepsy
    Strepsy Posts: 5,651 Forumite
    One suggestion would be a tub of cheese sauce mix. You can then use that with pasta, to do a cauliflower cheese or lots of things. Just discovered it recently and the kids love it and it's so handy for when the shop's due and the cupboards are bare.
    I've been lucky, I'll be lucky again. ~ Bette Davis
  • squeaky
    squeaky Posts: 14,129
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    There are, as has been mentioned, quite a few threads that will help you out here. Having some idea now of what you already have in store and so can at least knock up a few meals without having to buy at all (if anything) for a day or two - it might help if you browse the threads I have listed below to get ideas which you can use or adapt and help minimise your shopping needs.

    Challenge:
    [post=506497] - Cheapest cake to feed six[/post]
    [post=364086] - Cheapest meal[/post]
    [post=68212] - Feed six for £1.62[/post]
    [post=849361] - Full cupboards[/post]
    [post=87164] - Got £1 and hungry[/post]
    [post=475770] - Store cupboard Challenge[/post]
    Hi, I'm a Board Guide on the Old Style and the Consumer Rights boards which means I'm a volunteer to help the boards run smoothly and can move and merge posts there. Board guides are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an inappropriate or illegal post then please report it to [email protected]. It is not part of my role to deal with reportable posts. Any views are mine and are not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
    Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.
    DTFAC: Y.T.D = £5.20 Apr £0.50
  • Morning,

    When we're at the end of the month and I'm trying not to spend more money on groceries (as we've always got basics in), I don't actually tell my DH that we're having a "cheap meal". If I'm making something like tuna pasta bake or pasta carbonara, I always make a cheapo pudding like a fruit crumble. Yesterday was apple and raisin as Braeburn apples were reduced to 7p (!!!) per pound in Tesco the other day. It's really easy, fills them up and makes them feel a bit spoilt. You could use a Tesco value tin of peaches or other fruit, topped with some crumble with some oats in it for crunch.

    H2H,

    DFS
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