Eat for £12 a week?

Bogof_Babe

I don't meal plan because a lot depends on what bargains I find, also we get given food by s-i-l who overstocks! I am happy to cost out our meals as we have them though, and post the results. I do it in my head anyway.

I reckon about £1.80 is average for an evening meal for both of us (2 adults), and we "graze" for breakfast and lunch, so probs another £1.50 all told. That comes to £23.10 pw, which is about right. We also pay a small fortune for the very best cat food for our pensioner puss, so with tea, coffee & milk I'd reckon about £35 a week total.

Then there's the cider.........:o :rotfl:

Herbaholic

lynzpower wrote: »

Do you think, for future reference ( just opening it up for discussion) we should try & cost up our menu plans, ( especialy for thise of us who have bveg boxes delivered- it would be good to see who pays what, and hear about the bargains?)

I have over time had people also presuime we eat really badly on the little we spend- I find it frustrating that people seem to think its "lies" when they could embrace some of the tricks of other OSers and save themselves more money :money:

I might do that next week in any case ( if I remember)

Good idea Lynz Although not sure I have time to do that but if I can I will... I've dropped from spending £450-500 a month on what I'd call junk/convienience food and made meals from scratch and I've halved our monthly spend (less than half so far :j ) and I'm aiming to cut it even more, with bargains and savvy shopping it's possible and I have more money to spend on things other than food!

My meal plans look like they don't have much veg but then things like the sweet chilli chicken on this weeks menu has peppers, carrots and onions in, my homemade toast has sultanas in and I have a glass of OJ with my breakfast toast which I don't declare on the menu, I also have apple or grapes to snack on during the day. My chips are actually spuds left with their jackets on, par boiled and then oven baked with herbs or garlic granules and pepper on them, don't own a deep fat fryer like one of the other posters, think they make too much mess more than the health aspect, occasionally we have shop bought oven chips (low fat ones) but mostly I make my own. Yet on my plan it simply says 'chips', now some people will see them as the greasy stodgy chips from transport cafes and chippies, others who cook 'healthy' homemade chips will fill in the blank for themselves, me I know what we're having so don't give a fig what others think

I've lost weight since starting the meal plans, as I said in another post I feel we're eating healthier and cheaply, and cheap doesn't mean that the stuff we're eating isn't nutritionally balanced, it means I'm buying good stuff a lot cheaper by taking advantage of BOGOF's, seasonal food (and the recipes that go with them), reduced priced meat and veg, plus I now use everything and waste nothing, it all equates to a cheaper shopping basket and why pay £50 for your fruit, veg and meat if you can get the same stuff for £25 or less?!

I think the savvy ones amongst us know that the menu plans don't list everything, it's a plan, which is a basic idea after all, and it should be obvious that there are 'hidden' extras in the menus! It would be incredibly long and boring to list every single item in our menu plans don't you think? Hopefully this thread will get back to the helpful caring and sharing system of advice and support I've come to know and love and have been happy to contribute to soon :T

liney

I think Cute and Quirky is assuming spag bol is made from a jar as is lasagna. Oven chips are out of the freezer as are yorkshires. This is not homecooking; this is convenience food. Most people here make sauces from scratch and most other things too.

Carbohydrates are an essential part of our diet, therefore eating potatoes/pasta/rice as part of your evening meal is not stodge.

2 veg for dinner, a couple of fruit snacks and some juice gives you 5 portions immediately. It isnt difficult, or expensive. A bag of apples costs maybe a £1?

Please let me see your non stodgy Atkins diet plan though Quirky. Or do you just talk a good game?)

Today for Dinner we had Steak sandwiches. wedges, onion rings and salad. This was sizzle steak in sunflower seeded brown rolls, veggie wedges, home made onions rings and salad.

Personally i am more concerned about additives and preservatives than i am about eating one potato too many. Ho hum.

lynzpower

completely agree with you herbaholic when you say this

It would be incredibly long and boring to list every single item in our menu plans don't you think? Hopefully this thread will get back to the helpful caring and sharing system of advice and support I've come to know and love and have been happy to contribute to soon

Im certainly not going down the route of "grind of black pepper 0.0004p" despite how much i post on here I do have a life ( or so I kid myself! )

just more of a ballpark fig I think, jsut to give others ideas

this I think is partic good for the "new recipe" that people bring, Im not going to cost up a spag bol :rolleyes: as im sure its been dicussed ad nausum

but maybe Ill give guide figures jut in case

maverickangel

Hmmmm, this is about the second time i've crept up the boards from The Arms...does the lack of oxygen at this altitude have a bad effect on some folk

Cripes, maybe i've got this all wrong but i thought one of the reasons for this board was sharing tips and advice so we can all cut down abit on expenditure as well as eating according to our own preferences - whatever they might be.

I didn't think it was some enormous race to see who can spend least on food...it's more about cutting down to the budget you've set yourself as i see it.

I also think it's blxxdy bad manners to criticise other people's menu planners and recipe ideas, unless it's to give constructive advice.

Yeah, some of the recipes and menuplanners are more to my taste than others, but I am grateful that people post them, as I can take what I find useful and fit it to the tastes / needs of my family.

Anyhow, just to say "thanks" to the people on this thread who have posted some really helpful tips and meal planners, so we can hopefully cut our food bill a tad in maverick's neck o the woods.

Think i'll zip bac to the Arms now for a reviving brandy and babycham;)

Bogof_Babe

brandy and babycham :eek: . Well there's next week's budget blown .

do_it_today!

hi all :hello: being offensive and attacking others who are simply offering their experiences to help others isnt necessary
However I would agree that foods/ carbohydrates such as bread white pasta / white rice, porridge and potatoes are stodgy foods the nature of white pasta/rice/bread and sugar means they have been processed - now to me stodgy foods are filling and good to bulk out meals. To have a diet based exclusively on these foods alone I dont think would be healthy... but from what I have read I dont think anyone on here is doing that.
Im not sure this is the place to be picking apart peoples offerings - this post was about feeding families for £12 or less a week not whether the meals meat the ideal nutritional requirements - the other thing to bear in mind is that different foods will benefit or adversley affect different people depending on their constitution yet again I didnt think this was the place to debate it...?

maverickangel

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

brandy and babycham :eek: . Well there's next week's budget blown .

heh heh...true, true...i am fairly new to budgeting and things, but have already decided that good quality booze is an essential, after a rough nite on some ghastly "vin rouge" which tasted like vinegar and left me with a raging head the next day.....

...i suspect a day trip to france is called for, to stock up on some decent plonk and a couple of bottles of le corvoisier at cut price, in true money saving style cheers:beer:

mrsmortenharket

also to add a small point.

Sometimes people are really really short of money say for a week or a month.

So for that time they may need the cheapest food possible.

MAybe they wouldn't live like that all the time but just when necessary.

Also if a person eats a lot of 'white' carbs in a menu planner then just substitute for wholemeal if you want to follow the planner.

I think its wrong to pull apart someones menu ideas cos they have put hard work into it & have shared it with others.

Lisa

shell2001

I think like a previous poster stated its people reading others menu plan one way but it actually being meant another. As in HM chips - to me this is cooked in the oven with tablespoon of oil rather than chip pan full of lard. Also all my HM bread, pizza, rolls are made with wholemeal or stoneground flour. Pasta is wholemeal as is rice. I am sure the same is true for a lot of posters but because it is the norm people just put rice rather than wholegrain rice.

I enjoy the meal planners, at least I can always find my "list" so I know what i intended to cook. It is there for my benefit, I like reading others meal plans too - I may even get round to trying one or two of the lovely recipies that get posted on the thread.

I personally cannot shop for the prices someothers seem to achieve. I dont have the choice of shops or the ability to drive from one supermarket to the next because several items are cheaper from there. So I do the best I can for my family. I cook all our food from scratch, buy veggies daily from the local veg man and meal plan to save on costs.

I see the person who caused all this who har has not come back with their meal plan - maybe thats how they get their enjoyment, stir it, sit back and watch.

I for one think this board is fab, it has inspired me to try different things and I think my family life has done nothing but benefit from it. The majority of people of here are friendly and helpful, its just a shame you get the odd bad apple - but thats life:rolleyes: and its not gonna stop me posting - so there:p