Eat for £12 a week?

Curry_Queen

Ok, if it helps people with their meal plans I'll post up my current 14 day plan too, although it's not necessarily in order of when it will get eaten

Some of the stuff I've already got pre-cooked in the freezer, others I have the raw ingredients waiting to cook and there's a couple of what I call "storecupboard meals" that can be made any time from stuff I keep in stock in general.

Steak & veg pie (using leftover beef stew) spuds, mashed carrot/swede
Chilli & rice (already in freezer)
Beef curry (bhuna) - using leftover beef from joint
Pork & Leek sausages & colcannon
Bubble & Squeak (using leftovers of above)
Belly Pork joint, sweet & sour red cabbage (in freezer from Yule) roast spuds & veggies
Salmon fillets (bogof) dill sauce, baby new spuds & veggies
HM pizza & HM wedges/potato skins
Macaroni cheese
Pork hock & bean casserole & mash
Vegetable lasagne (pasta sauce already in freezer)
Spicy sausage hotpot
Pasta & pesto (HM with basil & spinach)
Minestrone soup (using up any left-over veggies) & HM bread


I suppose what I really should do is try and cost all that up, as PP has done, so I know exactly what each meal costs as I don't shop on a regular enough basis to know what I spend from one week to the next, but I do keep account of it all in a spreadsheet and average it out over the month. Last year I was averaging approx £25 a week for me and a teenage son, but now I have an extra adult mouth to feed I need to work out the extra costs involved.

Sherratthead

I'M THE ONE WITH THE CAT SIGNATURE!!!

Anyway, I used to take £60 out of the bank every week to spend on food. There are just the two of us - me, hubby and also two kitties (Daisy and Scooter).

I always had money left over each week and would fritter this away during the following week.

BUT.... after finding this brilliant site, I've started to whittle it down each time I go. I've only been doing it a few months, but I've got it down to £40.00 - and that's without much trying!

Watch this space - I'm aiming for around £30 per week now!

Jayne xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Skintmama

thriftlady wrote:

Skintmama,are they teenage boys? apparently boys between the ages of 15 and 18 have the greatest calorie requirement of all ( 2755 according to The Diet Bible by Judith Wills) I can't wait till mine are that age :eek:

Hi Thriftlady,
No, they are not this age yet. DD is nearly 15 and has suddenly discovered her appetite! She is long and leggy and remains like this despite eating all day :rolleyes: I am not envious!
DS is 12 1/2yrs but has started his growth spurt early, he is a broad shouldered rugby playing sport fanatic. OMG I can't bear to think of it getting any worse :eek:

rubytuesday

pabby-ellis wrote:

gonna follow your lead for meal plans here. well worked out thank you. if i can find this thread again, i'll let you know how i get on.

You can subscribe to the thread just go to thread tools.

robhammond

As a student, I managed on £5 per week!! But there were 7 of us and we all put £5 into a kitty and then bought cheap stuff in bulk - our cupboards were awash with Tesco Blue & White Stripes - oh the memories!

mummysaver

thriftlady wrote:

Skintmama,are they teenage boys? apparently boys between the ages of 15 and 18 have the greatest calorie requirement of all ( 2755 according to The Diet Bible by Judith Wills) I can't wait till mine are that age :eek:

Can't wait for mine to grow up after reading this :eek: I though I had a large appetite, well I certainly seem to eat more than most people I know (either that or no-one else actually likes my food except dh and the children ) but all my children eat just as much as I do, even the four year old :rolleyes:

Good job I've found MSE and the OS board, otherwise when their appetites increase I'd have to take them off to the woods, like Hansel and Gretel :rotfl:

Cooked my lamb stew last night in the slow cooker, and thought that I'd be able to freeze half for another day, but came home from work and found it had all been eaten. DH phoned me this morning and said the stew was nice, but not as good as the beef casserole the other day (new to this slow cooker business, so am trying out everything in it, bolognese sauce bubbling away now, ready for tonight's lasagne!), must have been really tired yesterday as realised whilst he was talking that forgot to add stock cubes or salt and pepper :rolleyes: Must have been some stew to get eaten without any extra flavouring - perhaps next time I'll season it and see if they prefer it to the beef! :rotfl:

seraphina

Bigbarn had an article on meals for under £2 per person per day. Links are:
http://www.bigbarn.co.uk/food/articles/index.php?articleid=198

and for the recipes:

http://www.bigbarn.net/food/articles/?articleid=195

I love the way their budget menu includes roast phesant! All costings are given, I think

HOLsale

Bogof_Babe wrote:

Got to go, he has his paws on the back of my chair and is looking over my shoulder in a disapproving way :rolleyes: :eek: .

he's probably concerned that by reading the OS section you may be tempted to buy him inferior quality (in his eyes) cat food!

just reassure him that by being OS in OTHER areas you can afford to feed him like the king that he is :rotfl:

HOLsale

thriftlady wrote:

That is interesting reading Kat.I've read a few of these sort of things from US websites.Don't you have to take into account the fact that some foodstuffs are cheaper over there than here?From my reading of the Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn I get the impression that meat is much cheaper and dried milk considerably cheaper than fresh,whereas here dried milk is only a bit cheaper than fresh.I've never shopped for food in America so I don't really know,just a general impression from things I've read.

meat is DEFINATELY cheaper in the states, and yes, milk powder is significantly cheaper and many low income families can get WIC (women, infants, children) which will provide you with vouchers for milk or milk powder (plus lots of other healthy stuff).

i had serious sticker shock when i first got here :eek:

ladygrey_2

how inspiring all of this is
to feed 4 people on less than £10 a week is amazing

can I ask the person who spends £53 in 6 weeks wether she will freeze some of her 65p a head lasagne? or does she blow the budget some days and then manage to make 4 meals for less than 20p another day