Budgeting for a family of five - how much the basics?

janb5

thriftlady wrote:

Hi, I also have OH and 3 kids to feed although rarely other adults and OH takes a packed lunch to work.I reckon I average about £55-£60 a week on basics.

I get all my fruit + veg from my local farmshop (lucky for me I have quite a good choice of these around Worcester)My farmshop is a fruit grower and has owngrown apples from late August until around March,they usually cost £1.40 for a 4lb bag which is the cheapest I've seen - mind you my ds2 gets through about 5 a day if allowed so I buy about 12lbs a week.I don't buy them at all in the Summer as local, seasonal produce is a priority for me.The other brilliant bargain from the farmshop is a 20kg bag of spuds for £4 -works out at about 9p a lb.

I too have cut down on meat,tending to buy it only for weekends.I'm quite fussy about its origins and go to a very good butcher who can tell me exactly where it came from and how it was reared.I always make stock with the carcass of any bird we eat.My butcher also has wild rabbits for£3.99 each which are a really good buy as a rabbit stew will easily serve the whole family once and me and OH again later in the week.

For dairy stuff and dry goods,baking supplies(I also make my own bread) and household items I go to Tesco, which I loathe but its my nearest shop -in fact my very nearest shop used to be a Onestop but that's now a Tesco Express, they're taking over the world.Their value lines can be quite good.The ones I buy are flour,tinned tomatoes,baked beans,OJ&AJ,loo roll,cheese,pitta bread,oats and the value chocolate is very good.

I also do a lot of Grandma-type stuff like making jams, jellies and chutney, and damson gin - just started this year's batch delicious! I use an electric yogurt maker to make fantastic yogurt for 92p a litre.

Sorry, was that too much information? Once I get started.......

anyway hope it helps :santa2:

Thrift lady what is OJ and AJ please?

kiwichick

my guess would be apple juice and orange juice????

thriftlady_2

:xmassmile Yes kiwichick is right -orange juice and apple juice.Sorry to confuse

frosty

I am spending about £50 on our shopping,this is for 5 Adults,3 dogs and the cat.

we only buy things when they are on a special offer,and we always visit the reduced section in the supermarket first.
when I do the washing I only use a good make of washing powder but I only use half the amount.
I recently purchased a box of persil(gel capsules) washing capsules,when I went to use them they were a bit slimey,one of them had leaked,so I phoned up persil and they sent me a voucher for £8.00,we saved it and used it when there was a really good offer on washing powder,now I have enough for at least 12 months.

rainbowkanga

Thanks for all the useful hints. I tend to get washing stuff on offer from Makro too though have just got a big pack of Aldi non-biological but I will definitely try to half the amount and see. I might also try some uht in cooking. Defeintely couldn't have it in ddrinks as don't like the taste but will try it cooked! Thanks. Really appreciate the help.

frosty

When I buy meat at the supermarket I always try to get as many meals from it as possible,a pack of pork mince costs about 86p in tesco I would half this and use half in a chilli sauce and serve with rice or salad and baked potato,the other half I would add sliced onions,carrots,peas or any veg that needs using up and then turn this into a cottage pie,(all serve 5 people)served with veg and home made bread.A chicken would make several meals aswell ,sliced with roast potatoes,veg,yorkshire puds ect,then I would pick the meat off and make a curry,then make chicken stew with any veg that needs using up,add lots of diced potatoes(we like thick chunky stews)then serve this with homemade bread,if you keep some of the stew you can use this to make a homemade chicken and veg pie,so as you can see a chicken is very good value, I have only been making these kinds of meals since joining this site,all my family are enjoying what I cook and so far I have not had any complaints. :j :snow_laug

Prudent

I only have myself and my daughter to feed, so can't compare economies of scale.However I find the time I shop can make a big difference to what I spend. My local Morrisons (and to my pleasure found on holiday that hereford was the same) often make big reductions around 4pm. The best reductions there are usually from the cheese or fruit and veg depts. They reduce to 10 -25p. I confess I often buy lots at that price and freeze what I can. Some of it goes to friends like yourself and math who have big families but feed other people in the church regularly. I can only do this some days as I work full time. Officially I can go before 4pm, but often don't get away in time.
I am planning going just before closing on Christmas eve as I am sure there will be some great bargains then.