food bill for 5 - is £35 a week unrealistic?

CharleneUK

We had a £200 per month budget for 2 adults and 2 kids.

While we were out, my husband and I would regularly 'pop in' to tesco and get bits and pieces.

Last month we added up ALL the extra receipts we could find and we were HORRIFIED, between us, for that month alone, we spent £175!!! So much for £200 budget!

So now we're going to do this for another month or so and work out a new budget and money saving ideas.

rainbowkanga

I've got 3 kids and do packed lunches too. I do buy cartons of OJ or AJ because I've tried loads of different bottles and we were often having leaks. But I get the juices from ALdi where it is 3 for 44p so in fact the juice cost is reasonable (15p) I think - and I want them to drink juice anyway to count towards their 5 a day. I also have a breadmaker so have home made rolls which are cheaper, get ham on special offer or hm tuna/egg mayo (say 15p), then they have pack of raisins (8p), pouch of yoghurt - I buy the frubes which are 6 for 99p (16p) and freeze them and put one in frozen. Then depending on time they have either hm cake/biscuit or bought cereal bar on special (10 - 20p). Total 74p a day max, often cheaper.

Think this compares well with school meals which in our area are £1.65 a day each. Drives me mad that because of the rules we're not entitled although we're below the earnings limit (because we work, only get them on income support) nor does it take into account how many children you have. Anyway that's another story.

Like you I was spending about £100 a week on food. I aimed first to cut it down to £75 and am now on my second phase of cutting it down to £50 a week. I am really strict and write down everything I spend - even the little odd items from our local NISA shop - surprising how that all adds up to - but with the help of all the tips on this site I am on the way.

I guess how strict you want to be depends on the reason for the OS moneysaving. I don't have any debts to pay off but want to manage to have a family holiday camping in France, which on a relatively low income requires some careful saving for! But I do have things which are non-negotiable - do like filter coffee a couple of times a day, try to buy fair trade wherever possible; and this lunchtime found that my children will only eat Heinz tomato soup (had bought a cheaper own brand - do like making soup but not tomato, getting skins off too much hassle!)

:xmassign:

thriftlady_2

rainbowkanga wrote:

my children will only eat Heinz tomato soup (had bought a cheaper own brand - do like making soup but not tomato, getting skins off too much hassle!)

Try roasting the tomatoes in a roasting tin with a drop of olive oil.Then rub through a sieve to get rid of skins -takes but a minute.Use in soup- tastes like Heinz only better.

Btw the best bottles for not leaking are those sports bottles with the pop up thing in the middle of the lid.I don't put juice in them as it tends to make them smelly and difficult to clean,also school requires the kids to have a drink of water with them.I save the juice for home. :xmastree:

Nelski

kitster wrote:

give the little buggers tap waters?

:snow_laug then chuck the blighters in the workhouse and they will be completely free :rolleyes:

Merry Christmas Kipster and everyone else:xmassign:

Penny-Pincher!!

Hi

Looking through all the posts again.....I would say meal planning is the cheapest and simplest method to cut down on spending, buying only whats needed. Tend to find doing 1 big shop every 4 weeks buying the bulk items for the month such as meat (lamb joints, lamb mince, chickens whole, bacon, diced lamb, chicken portions, sausages, etc), bread, flours, baking bits, fish (cod in crumbs, cod in parsley sauce which i make into a fish pie and very very cheap!), cheese, condiments, hams, eggs, biscuits, fruit, veg, crisps, yeast, frozen stuff etc. Normally only spend about £50'ish on this after hopefully finding a £10 voucher on voucher thread...lol, but thats all meat/fish for the month. Top up weekly at Lidl (2 min drive away) for fruit/veg, mozarella (OH's HM pizzas :rolleyes: ), hams, yogurts and a few other basics-about £5-£10pw. Once a month go to Aldi's (15min drive away) stock up on their baked beans, toms, rice pudding, sweetcorn, kidney beans, bread (25p a loaf and lovely thick soft white bread), milk. This is about £12 a month-so roughly about £110 for the month...thats quite good actually.

PP
xx

in_my_wellies

I've found this interesting. It annoys me that my MIL and SIL and sometimes even my OH moan that I am penny pinching. I certainly don't believe in wasting money - I think I work very hard for my salary so I don't want to waste it!
I do think that with a bit of planning I can produce good home cooked meals and know what goes into them. A couple of hours baking on a Thursday evening provides puddings and cakes for the next week. I never put the oven on for only one item. I use the pressure cooker and steamer. Buy food in season and store it (freeze, pickle, jam, etc) I grow what I can. All I get for my efforts is sarcastic comments from relatives like 'lentils, well that's one way of cutting down on meat'.
Trying to explain my principles of buying local produce in order to support local farmers, cutting down on transport miles, cutting down on packaging for environmental reasons are completely beyond their thinking.
I honestly believe that you do not need to spend a huge amount tp eat well, in fact I think we eat better with good old fashioned home cooking.
I support anyone who can spend only £35.

ruthyjo

Have just advised my ten year old re the tapwater suggestion - he is not impressed. I think the main problem with saving much of what I spend currently is that they're too spoilt and expect certain (not budget) things but I'll work on that. Also I'm quite careful and tend to buy organic for things like juice, I especially don't like things like value juice with artificial sweeteners, so I guess there has to be a balance between cost and the health of the kids. I haven't been in a wholefood coop since I left university - thats a definite possibility. Anyone know of one in the Huddersfield area?

in_my_wellies

Hi, perhaps you could try to get your children to realise that there is something in it for them. Tell them why they are having different drink/foods. Explain that they will be able to have a treat with the money saved - only needs to be a little something. They may get used to the changes and if you are really lucky join in the challenge!

(I think I was too successful at this and now have three children who save all their money and a student son with a full ISA!)

thriftlady_2

ruthyjo wrote:

I think the main problem with saving much of what I spend currently is that they're too spoilt and expect certain (not budget) things but I'll work on that.

Oh yes ruthyjo,that's a good point,once they're used to something it's diffiicult to change their minds.You really do have to start as you mean to go on -glad I did when ds1 started school.

On the juice question,Tesco's value juice is pure juice made from concentrate.I wouldn't buy it if it had artificial sweeteners in ,they are the invention of the devil.

I'm constantly making compromises on price because my dd is allergic to nuts and quite often the cheaper option has the dreaded 'may contain traces of nuts' warning which is the bane of my life.

in my wellies-Well done for standing by your food principles, I agree with everything you say. :T