Eat for £12 a week?

Pink.

Hi JJP,

Welcome to MSE and Old Style in particular. :hello:

These threads have some lists of storecupboard essentials that may help:

Your fully comprehensive storecupboard

store cupboard essentials?

Storecupboard list - might be useful

OS store cupboard basics

You might also find it useful to join the July 2008 Grocery Challenge where you'll get lots of help and support from the regulars on that thread. Good luck with cutting back.

Pink

bluehippo

Hi all,
I am new to these forums but have been reading all your budgeting techniques so here are mine. I shop to feed 6 (dh, me & dss 19, 16 & 14, dd nrly 12), on average monthly grocery shop is £160 so for this month (nrly 5 weeks) it works out as £5.36 per person which includes cleaning products, loo roll and shampoo/shower gel. This figure goes up by £5 per person with weekly needs like milk, bread and anything else we run out of through the month, but still Im pleased with £10.36 per person per week.

I have always had to budget but the last couple of years I have written a menu for the coming month, then a list with all ingredients needed i.e. meat and any spices that aren't in the cupboard. I grow a lot of veg in the garden which isn't huge but I would need a field to grow enough carrots for my family so still have to buy some.

My kids have always been brought up with white label baked beans, etc and to be honest they have on occasion had the branded variety and didn't like them. I have found it cheaper to do the shopping in one hit at one supermarket, not a bit here and bit there to find the cheapest because that just leads to higher bills plus extra petrol. And a tip for all is NEVER take the kids shopping, much quicker, cheaper and less stressful without them.
Hope my tips help

webwahm

I have been told twice, by debt advisors, that £200 a month on food for me and my 2 kids is NOT enough...and you are 'allowed' £25 per person per week... Fine, helped my budget sheet, but £200 or less is fine by me ;-)

I do a bulk shop once a month inc pet supplies and cleaning (I use Costco quite a lot) and then just spend on fresh stuff and milk each week - milk costs me a fortune!

Used to get an organic delivery for fresh fruit, veg and dairy, which I budgeted £20 a week for, but having to cut back at the mo so spent the whole £200 on an ASDA delivery this time, and got a load of Smartprice veg and fruit. Also, was quite chuffed that I saved £18 by buying multi-deals and the like. Bread used to cost me a lot too, but hardly buy it now as I make my own in the machine if/when we need it. Harldy buy tins, mostly just staples like diff types of beans and tinned tomatoes.

I'm veggie and kids eat a lot of prepared fish, but once had a partner who ate meat and my bill went up drastically...so I guess it depends what you are eating, and how many meals you get out of one cooking session.

I really should do a menu planner, but one of my fav tips is bulk cooking 'mince' based stuff (but I use Quorn) because if you make a Shepherds Pie one night, you can easily turn the left overs into chilli, or spag bol or lasagne...

I like the challenge of seeing what you can get by on :-)

freebie_lover_debs

This thread is an absolute godsend! I am a student and live on £20 per week for food and toiletries/cleaning products etc. This is obviously nowhere near £12 but I don't find I can do it on much cheaper, unless I get lucky at the reduced section - love it, btw! I sometimes buy a bottle of wine, but do not get drunk ever (I hate the feeling) and do not smoke, so like to spend a little more on food - better than any other vice I say!

Have about 20 regular meals I eat (for evenings) which are mostly fairly cheap, and just switch them about each week. I am lucky in that I live with my boyfriend and we sometimes share meals or make huge pots of things like jambalaya or make HM chicken goujons, garlic bread etc.

Will post some recipes when I have a mintute, but in mean time, THANK YOU to all of you for such inspriring ideas and recipes. In fact I have just written up a meal sheet for my shopping trip tomorrow and am excited about starting the new recipes I've found.

Keep up the good work guys! x x x

freebie_lover_debs

I forgot to say, I don't know if anyone has suggested this website on the forum, but they haven't on this thread so here goes:

http://www.cookingbynumbers.com/

It is pretty cool, you put in whatever's in the pantry and/or fridge, and it makes meal suggestions for you.
Some stuff is a bit basic, but have found some hidden gems!

Hope this helps someone x x x

henrietta

curlydi wrote: »

Hi all
Well what can i say my menu plan has gone out the window, have had to change most nights as things on at school and work hours changed!
Yesterday i tried to make fish cakes with some fish that needed using up, had the potatoes and fresh parsley left over from the weekend, sadley the potatoe was too sloppy and i couldn't make them in to patties so it all ended up in the bin(does anyone have a nice easy recipe for fish cakes)?
cous cous and roasted veg for lunch prepared yesterday with peppers that were on the turn, so that was a success!
Need to go to the shop today for milk and butter hope i don't get tempted to buy more than i need.
Have a good day all

Hey, curly
You can stick sloppy mash in the microwave for a minute and it evaporates the liquid, I have had to rescue mash a few times doing that. If you have no microwave you can just stick it in a saucepan and cook it until the liquid evaporates out, doesn't take long but you have to stir it so it doesn't burn.

I do menu plan and find I have a lot less waste that way, but haven't managed to get down to £12 a week each, I need to start more batch cooking, and I have to say I haven't tried markets, cheap supermarkets or hanging around for reduced items, I just get my weekly shop at whatever price it is (saying that, I use Tesco online, vouchers from here and clubcard deals) I thought I was being quite MSE but I have lots to learn, LOL.
I do a shop in Costco every six weeks for bulk buys, but it is about 50 miles away so we only go when visiting the in-laws and I probably don't get enough.
I am lucky that we have Aldi, Lidl and farmfoods as well as Tesco, Asda and Morrison, I shall venture in at some point, but it all seems quite time consuming to visit each one to see what you can get each week. We also have a weekly market but no idea what the prices are like.

This has all got me thinking though.

Cornishpixie_2

There is a website called madaboutbargains. It lists Supermarket offers. So you could say go to site click on Tesco/Asda, see whats on offer and base your meals around that.And if there are any offers on store cupboard or non pershibles get them from the shop with the offers. Aldi/lidl are good for all round cheap shop but my Hubby doesn't like shopping there (I don't drive, 10 miles away), but if it was up to me I would probably shop there maybe twice a month, topping up with offers on other Supermarkets. Hope this helps.Being inventive with left overs also helps and store cupboard meals.:D Ofcourse this can become addictive after awhile;)

poppyoscar_3

Cornishpixie wrote: »

There is a website called madaboutbargains. It lists Supermarket offers. So you could say go to site click on Tesco/Asda, see whats on offer and base your meals around that.And if there are any offers on store cupboard or non pershibles get them from the shop with the offers. Aldi/lidl are good for all round cheap shop but my Hubby doesn't like shopping there (I don't drive, 10 miles away), but if it was up to me I would probably shop there maybe twice a month, topping up with offers on other Supermarkets. Hope this helps.Being inventive with left overs also helps and store cupboard meals.:D Ofcourse this can become addictive after awhile;)

Thanks for this!! it's great to know what to look out for - I know that iIm usually in a rush and I miss half the bargains, or I buy them because they're there. This will help me plan!

PO xx

MrsE_2

Lydia wrote: »

That means you are living on £7.16 a week for three people. That means £2.38 each for a week. Thats amazing! What an example you are. Please please would you give us some kind of breakdown or an example of a typical week because I'd love to give it a go.

I really don't believe (unless you grow your own) that you can eat healthily on so little per week. I'm not even convinced on £12 per week its possible.

I spend a good £20 pw on fruit/veg & salad & prob £20 pw (or more) on lean meat & poultry.

You need fruit/veg & salad & you need lean low fat protein, in your diet.

I know frozen veg is cheap, but I hate the taste.

If you grew your own or kept chickens I can see where savings could be made.

Penelope_Penguin

MrsE wrote: »

I really don't believe (unless you grow your own) that you can eat healthily on so little per week. I'm not even convinced on £12 per week its possible.

I spend a good £20 pw on fruit/veg & salad & prob £20 pw (or more) on lean meat & poultry.

You need fruit/veg & salad & you need lean low fat protein, in your diet.

I know frozen veg is cheap, but I hate the taste.

If you grew your own or kept chickens I can see where savings could be made.

There are plenty of people on Old Style who'd probably disagree with this You don't need meat for protein - that can just as easily come from pulses and lentils.

Take a look at Weezl's 50p a day until christmas - she's managing it :T Interestingly, she's done the nutritional breakdown, too, so it's difficult to argue that it's not balanced.

Penny. x