Help! £40 to feed family for the month

funkyfunkymonkey

Hi Carrie, sorry to hear about your new circumstances. There is a great thread here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1246027

Lots of support, help, recipes, some people post their meal plans too. They will be only too eager to help.

FFM

jembie

carrie.brookes wrote: »

This is brilliany I never thought it could be done.

My OH has just taken a paycut at work so we have had to cancle christmas this year. No pressies for any one . My OH wages noramlly cover all the bills while my wages are used for food ect... Howeve it looks like my wages will have to go towards some of the bills now leaving us with about £20 a week for food, nappies ect... Im fortunate enough to have a lidl and aldi nearby but im absolutly usless at meal planning and bugeting (even cooking :embarasse ).
Can any of you brainy people help me with this or has anyone got any tips and hints they would be willing to share. xxx

You should read through the thread and take some notes. I am also useless at budgeting and menu planning and I found this thread a revelation. It is amazing what you can do with 2lb of mince and how far you can make it stretch with the addition of oats and lentils.
I found it also helps to keep coming back to keep you motivated. GOOD LUCK!!! :T

ljbnotts

Just spent hours reading this thread, well done! I'm so inspired to cut our weekly bill which is way to high! Congratulations to Mbaz and to all who have posted!

little_miss_thrifty

I too need to tighten our food costs - so starting today i am going to make a real hard effort (with your help!!).
As it is snowing outside, lots of warm drinks today; I got up at 7 am this morning to put some meat in the slow cooker which will give me time to make an apple crumble (all items we already had so haven't got to go out at all today other than to make a snowman!)
Thanks guys x

lauzjp

I have to say thank you to everyone on this thread who has mentioned lentils! I never thought my husband or I would actually like them - but I did cheat a little and bought a tin of them from asda - the only place I've seen them in a tin!?

I was making some mince and just bunged in half the tin

juliapenguin

lauzjp wrote: »

I have to say thank you to everyone on this thread who has mentioned lentils! I never thought my husband or I would actually like them - but I did cheat a little and bought a tin of them from asda - the only place I've seen them in a tin!?

I was making some mince and just bunged in half the tin

If you buy a packet of orange lentils they just cook in the same time as the mince and veg - no need for a tin and much, much cheaper. Also, they disappear so if anyone in the family is not a fan of lentils, they won't even know they are there . I agree that tins can be useful for green and brown lentils, but even then they don't take that much longer to cook from dry. Try putting a bit of soya 'mince' in as well (also called TVP) - again, you won't even notice it if you don't put in too much. The taste is fine, it's the texture I'm not so keen on, but even if you only use a bit it still makes a huge difference to the overall cost. Grated carrots too - they disappear if you cook it long enough.

Caroline73_2

I bought a pack of lentils today. I will add them to our chili and spag bol that are planned for later in the week. Thanks for the tips - this thread is fab!

inamess200

Since reading this thread I have been adding orange lentils to my mince in the slow cooker - the kids adore them and complain now when I cook mince without them !!

This thread is great

miggy

carrie.brookes wrote: »

has anyone got any tips and hints they would be willing to share. xxx

Hi Carrie,
I'm sorry to hear you've hit this rough patch. Mbaz's thread is great, and it's worth browsing the Old Style board for recipes.This is a good place to start, there are links to some useful recipes and as you will see, Weezle's budget is lower than most! She also takes care to eat healthily.
There are also guides to the board here, which you may already have seen.
Good luck with it all, I hope you come back and tell us how you are doing and we will cheer you on!:T

p00

for those that buy carton skimmed milk I found it is only 31p ltr at Farmfoods which is cheaper than Aldi on offer at 41p at the mo. And it tastes like fresh milk and drinkable.

xxp00