Help £65 a week for a family of 5

weewillywinkie

Hi all,

I am new here but have been reading your threads with interest and would like some help with my weekly shopping budget.

I would ideally like to reduce this from £130 a week to £65.00 a week but really dont know where to start, we are a family of 5, 2 adults 3 children aged 18mths, 4 and 12 with 2 cats and a very large dog.

I would be really grateful it you could direct me in the right direction on how to acheive this.

I usually shop in Asda and need some help.

Thanxs

weewillywinkie

bryanb

I think your pets are a luxury you can't afford on that budget.

weewillywinkie

thanks for the reply but my pets are NOT a luxury they are part of our family and we cant just not feed them.

xx_Jo_xx

Hi there,

Have a look at the July Grocery Challenge thread. Everyone on there has a set budget and there are lots of recipe ideas to help get you started cheaply.

You could also do a store cupboard challenge and start using up all the things you already have.

And most importantly - MEAL PLAN.

Look at the cupboards/freezer etc - see what you already have to make meals, then your shopping list should consist of hopefully a few things that you need to make them up, plus fresh bread milk etc.

Cook foods which are about to go off and freeze them in portions and pick up reduced items in supermarkets and freeze them too.

I make my little ones packed lunches in advance and put them in the freezer - that way the bread never goes off and I just take one out every morning xx
HTH

SunnyGirl

We are a family of 6 with a large dog & 4 cats too & it can be done. For pet food I always look around for the deals in our local cheapie shops - Home Bargains etc. The grocery challenge thread is brilliant with loads of recipes in it. Good luck

bryanb

weewillywinkie wrote: »

thanks for the reply but my pets are NOT a luxury they are part of our family and we cant just not feed them.

Sorry, that was said tongue in cheek, the only other info you gave was regarding the children and I guessed you'd not want to get rid of them!

xx_Jo_xx

Why dont you post up your list of what you have in already and we will see if we can try to help you?? xx

Glpark01

we are a family of 3 with 3 dogs, 2 rabbits and a hamster. I've found the best way for us is to write down everything on a list, also shopping online is a big help as you don't pick up things you don't want just because they are on offer. Atm we're managing on £180 for food which includes pet food, nappies, wipes, toiletries, cleaning products and food. I've found downgrading stuff has helped, the dogs use to be on eukanuba food which was costing us £70 a month, now they are on wagg as i couldn't notice any difference in ingredients and they like it. I buy my nappies at asda as i get 2 boxes of pampers for £18 and wipes are johnsons again 2 of the multipacks for £8 which lasts us 3-4 months. Tins i've started buy asda smartprice for most things like beans, tomatoes, spaghetti, ravioli and its fine as i like to spend a bit more on meat which i usually buy once a month and freeze in portions, things like spag bol i bulk up with tomatoes and mushrooms, curries i found it was cheaper to buy the spices than a jar of sauce, i've also started making bread rather than buying it and if it starts to go stale i make bread and butter pudding, same with biscuits instead of buying i now make the homemade hobnobs from this forum. I've found cooking from scratch has saved us lots and tbh i enjoy it and the family are enjoying their meals more.

Bitsy_Beans

I second meal planning, that way you only buy what you need for that week.
Most of my food is avalanche food ie the white tins in Mr S Not tried Asdas range so can't comment on their taste etc. I don't buy value meat though. My meat comes from Costco in bulk and the quality is fantastic. I tend to stock up on meat and bit of salmon from there every 5 months, I do buy whole chickens from supermarket as well and pick these to pieces and make the meat stretch. Lentils are now a treasured friend in bulking out meals like spag bol, chili etc.
Buying nappies though is going to be hard as these are expensive. I like the ones from Tesco's Baby Essentials. Don't leak are really nice and are faaaaaar cheaper than Huggies or Pampers.

BilberryCharlotte

I am afraid that I am not much use to you in sorting out your actual budget, but wondered if you might consider having one day a week as a vegan or vegetarian day. Usually, unless you want to use some exotic item, it is cheaper than buying meat or fish.

There are some really lovely recipes on the Vegan OS thread, including some that can be used on an eat half/freeze half basis, thus saving time and fuel.

Good luck, you might even find it fun, I hope so.

jennihen

Agree with BilberryCharlotte above - try cutting out meat a couple of times a week - it cut my shopping bill hugely. If your family is like mine your 12 year old is probably the most fussy so involve that child in the meal planning and cooking as much as poss. get them looking at cookbooks and recipes. Tinned fish and pasta goes down surprisingly well! Good luck x