£50 for a months shopping

danniian

I have £50 for a whole month shopping including packed lunches for one when he goes back school next week any ideas what i can get what will last i have nothing in my freezer at the min we was running it down the last two months so that we could go out and do a big shop but my partner was made redundant. for a family of 4 two adult and 2 children they will eat anythink.

any idears welcom

danni

lizzie169

Hi Danni
You could get a big bag of potatoes - value ones are fine - and make loads of mash which you can then freeze. This is nice mixed with grated cheese and browned in oven/grill and served with beans, very filling and quite nutritious.
Do any of your neighbours/friends/relatives have any spare veg they've grown as you could make a great big pot of ratatouille and freeze, which can be the base for lots of things.
Go out and pick lots of blackberries - free! - and freeze them to use later in crumbles.
Hope this helps.
Liz

moneysavingmumofone

Do you have a morrisons near you? Until sunday they have diced chicken breast, 8 sausages and 4 burgers for 50p each!

Berni888

You can have a read through some of these threads (I recommend at least reading the first one) and or go to supermarkets when food reduced by 90% and check what's on offer (described in first link if you scroll down to near the end)

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/cheap-supermarket-shopping

http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/251277/cheap-as-chips-meals-please/showthread.php?t=251277

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=179221&highlight=freezer

http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/storage_and_tools/tips/freezer?page=6

Cheapest evening meal
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=168963

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=36443

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=110020&highlight=cheapest+meal

Website to create recipes using what ingredients you have.
http://www.cookingbynumbers.com/search.html

Cook once, eat twice
http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/recipes

I hope your partner finds employment soon.

Frugaldom

Hi Danniian, sorry to read about your OH's redundancy. With an empty freezer, I think it's best to start with a complete list of everything you have in the house so you know what basic ingredients you have and what you'll need. Next, you'll need to plan the menu for the month around what you have and then get anything that's missing/needed. If the kids take sandwiches to school, work out numbers of school days x slices of bread so you'll know how many loaves and get them into the freezer whilst you have the cash. You'll also need to work out how much milk you'll use etc. Bread and milk are my most regular purchases unless I get cheap flour for breadmaking. Luckily, several of the big supermarkets sell UHT for 49p per litre, which is a huge saving as it won't go off if you buy the whole amount you need for a full week or month at a time. Berry picking, if available locally, is great - I've just stewed my recent pickings for fruit crumbles, but was fortunate in that I had plenty of sugar stockpiled, otherwise this would have been an unneccesary expense.

Good luck with your shopping challenge, there are loads of frugal recipes on MSE plus the actual grocery challenge itself, and there are always plenty of helpful people about to help suggest recipes with the ingredients you have in stock.

jcr16

one thing i find handy for lunches boxes is cream crackers. u can get a large pack for abour 30p ish. and this easily does about 2/3 weeks of lunches for my Daughter. she loves them with marmite on and chunk of cheese. or she likes to take a couple slices of ham and grated cheese in a little pot so she can make them up herself like a dariylee lunchable. our family seems to go througha loaf of bread a day, so this is one way i've found to keep costs down and also give some varitey in lunches. ( my hubby also likes lunch like this).

don't know if you have a BM but one way i've found to bulk out small meal's is by making a garlic bread to go with ti, or some home made bread pies.

also tinned fruit helps towards your five a day. one pudding we all love is fruit and jelly. Sainssburys do there own basics pineapple in juice in a small tin for 13p ( can also drink the jucie if you don't add to jelly) and they do a strawberry jelly for 7p. so for 20p you can make a nice, simple pudding . my kids see this as a real treat as we don't often have it but it is gorgeous.

buying uht milk is fab for cups of tea or coffee, hot choclate etc. 1 litre is 49p ( value range) i find it last about 4 days for us. works out alot cheaper than buying fresh milk. plus i don't notice any difference to my tea.

hope this is of some help to you

Katie-Kat-Kins

Make a list of what you have in and we can suggest what to do with it.

Think veggie meals mainly as meat is expensive. And try Netto or Lidl for cheap tinned goods. Also try running your shopping through mysupermarket to find out what supermarket is cheapest.

I try to do my shopping in Lidl and get as much as I can there, then go to Asda for the things that I can't get in Lidl.

Read Mbaz's thread where she needs to feed a family of four for £20, I think she managed about £26 in the end, but her children were younger and she had more in the freezer.

Also if the kids are going back to school find out whether they can get free school meals if your DH is out of work, this could save you a lot of money as they would have had a main meal at lunchtime and could manage with just beans on toast or something for tea.

Good Luck and keep posting.

jcr16

sure i read in another post if u buy a daily star newspaper thsi week ( think today last day) there is a voucher for £5 off when u spend £30 at lidl. but not sure when it has to be used by.

Frugaldom

jcr16 wrote: »

sure i read in another post if u buy a daily star newspaper thsi week ( think today last day) there is a voucher for £5 off when u spend £30 at lidl. but not sure when it has to be used by.

It's in Martin's newsletter, too, but you'll need to be quick for this as it ends today - see link here - good luck, hope you can get one and you have a Lidl's near you. We don't. :rolleyes:

QueenBeruthiel

I would think that the school age kiddie should be eligible for free school meals.
Check it out:
http://www3.hants.gov.uk/caterers/hc3s-menusandotherinformation/hc3s-freemeals.htm
What is in your storeboard, danniian?

danniian

Hi all

Thank you so much for all the info also i called the local council who are sending me out a form for free school meals.

in my freezer at the min i have some frozen ham for butties
2 chicken breasts
and a french stick thing
half a bag of frozen veg

in the fridge
2 tins of tuna

in the cupboard

a big box of corn flakes
box of coco pops
a jar of sweet and sour sauce
a jar of curry sauce
a tin chicken soup
half a bag of spuds small bag
a loaf of bread

that is all i have got in as i said i was running every think down for the last 2 months so we could do a big shop but now cant afford due to my partners job also me and the kids are fine having curry and veg but my partner cant have anything like that as he has IBD and all that stuff causes a relapse

thanks

danniian