Eat for £12 a week?

cooking-mama

brightonman123 wrote: »

to the OP / others, can someone link me to this £12 a week shopping list..? I am struggling to get basics with £20!

This post was started in 2006,so i dont think there is a list,even if there was it would cost a lot more than £12 at todays food prices...i think there are links throughout the topic to cheap recipes and ideas on how others manage it tho...i personaly couldnt do it for £12...my veggie box alone costs £14.!

Nimeth

cooking-mama wrote: »

This post was started in 2006,so i dont think there is a list,even if there was it would cost a lot more than £12 at todays food prices...i think there are links throughout the topic to cheap recipes and ideas on how others manage it tho...i personaly couldnt do it for £12...my veggie box alone costs £14.!

How much do you think is a doable per week budget for 2 people? I'm trying to cut down and I don't want to frustrate myself trying to do something that isn't realistic.

Allegra

Nimeth wrote: »

How much do you think is a doable per week budget for 2 people? I'm trying to cut down and I don't want to frustrate myself trying to do something that isn't realistic.

It really depends on the individuals in question, what they can afford, and what they are not willing to compromise on.

If you follow one of the monthly planners on the Cheap Family Recipes website though (linked in posts further up), it will cost you £50 for two people for a calendar month.

cooking-mama

Nimeth wrote: »

How much do you think is a doable per week budget for 2 people? I'm trying to cut down and I don't want to frustrate myself trying to do something that isn't realistic.

I agree with Allegra,it very much depends on individuals and personal choice,im fortunate in that i dont need to compromise too much,EG,I try and buy higher welfare meat,wont buy caged chickens/eggs,we eat a lot of fruit and veg,i could actualy save money by giving my daughters crisps and biscuits in their packed lunches,but fruit is better for them,its a sad day that fruit is more expensive than junk,however i hate waste and still like to cook healthy low cost meals,so i check out topics like this and take out wee snippets/ideas that i could use,

Nayma12

Hi

I have been reading these posts with amazement and take my hat off to how much everyone seems to be able to save at the supermarket.

We are a family of 2 adults and 2 children with an 18 year old stepson who lives with us half the week. We also have 2 small dogs.

Our food bills used to be huge( largely as a result of my bad planning and impulse buying) about £750 a month( i am ashamed of this as so many people on these boards spend so much less and still eat as well>)

I am really keen to find out how it is possible for adults to eat for £12.50 a week. I really need to cut back on our food bills desperately.

In May i spent £588. In June i would like that figure to be below £400 so i have lots of work to do.

I have just found my supermarket and intend to try that too.

If anyone has any tips on cheap shopping i'd be really grateful.

:)

redlady_1

First question is can you cook? As this will make a big difference.

Butterfly_Brain

Nayma12 wrote: »

Hi

I have been reading these posts with amazement and take my hat off to how much everyone seems to be able to save at the supermarket.

We are a family of 2 adults and 2 children with an 18 year old stepson who lives with us half the week. We also have 2 small dogs.

Our food bills used to be huge( largely as a result of my bad planning and impulse buying) about £750 a month( i am ashamed of this as so many people on these boards spend so much less and still eat as well>)

I am really keen to find out how it is possible for adults to eat for £12.50 a week. I really need to cut back on our food bills desperately.

In May i spent £588. In June i would like that figure to be below £400 so i have lots of work to do.

I have just found my supermarket and intend to try that too.

If anyone has any tips on cheap shopping i'd be really grateful.

:)

Baby Steps ....you won't change your ways overnight but if you employ some of the following strategies you should be able to cut back quite a bit.

1. Check your store cupboards and freezers to see what you have in the house first.
2. Menu Planning... is a must.....sit down and work out your meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a week.
3. Make a list and stick to it! Don't be side tracked
4. Shop at your local market (just before they close on a Saturday you can pick up a few bargains)
5. Find a friendly local butcher who can help with cheaper cuts of meat and how to cook them
6. Use Aldi, netto, poundland, iceland etc they always have good deals, Aldi super six is usually really good and their meat is a reasonable price as well.
7. Use my supermarket to check prices before you go shopping.
8. Go down a brand ...it is surprising how llittle difference there is. A lot of the smart price/basics stuff is really good and healthier because it usually has less salt, sugar etc I prefer Aldi tuna to John West or Princes. Wilkinsons always have offers on for cleaning stuff
9. Make your own bread
10. Batch bake/cook I always double or treble whatever I am making so that even on days when ICBA to cook there is always a meal in the freezer - it saves on gas/electric as well.
11. I buy joints of Meat when they are on offer and roast then slice them and this way I can make a joint do 4 meals and just have to reheat in gravy. It works out cheaper to do this for sandwich meat as well - much better than plastic ham etc.
12. Check out the cheap meals ideas on this board there are lots of brilliant cheap and tasty meals.

I hope this helps x

Roomfullofsocks

Hi I have been reading this post and I am hoping to reduce what we spend alot! We have suddenly found ourselves very short so any reduction I can make would be fantastic. We normally spend about £80 a week on food for two adults and four children. I am not sure what a realistic price for us would be but since we are currently racking up our credit card the smaller the number the better. Today I made home made pizzas which came out really well everyone actually enjoyed them more than shop bought or takeaway ones! (found the recipe for the base on here!) so it doesn't seem so bleak

thornelius_2

Surly £12 a week is impossible what with the current rise in food prices, I have been trying to cut our spend down and so far it ranges between £50 and £70 per week for a family of 4, it cost more on the weeks when I buy washing powder and dishwasher tabs and things like that, I think the main key is the plan ahead and cook as much from scratch as possible, Hopefully when I eventually got an allotment I can save money by growing veg etc but I wont hold my breath, have been on the waiting list over 2 years already and I live in the countryside!!
What sort of things do other people have for mid-week dinners?

rachbc

its not impossible - but its hard - I recently took part in the £1 a day challenge and fed 4 of us for £20 for 5 days - 3 meals plus snacks and drinks - for a full week s that would obviosuly be £7 pp. We ate sausages, mince, chicken (on offer or yellow stickered), pasta, rice, a couple of veggie meals. My 'usual' spend is around £60 a week for 4 inc an unfillable teen!