Help! £40 to feed family for the month

1carminestocky

Lunar_Eclipse wrote: »

Do you mean four portions of curry, as in one meal for the family of four, or four meals which would be 16 (presumably tiny and mainly lentils) portions? It would be the former in our house. Hubbie ideally likes two chicken breasts in his curries. :rolleyes: I add potatoes to bulk out my curries, but they're not cheap thesedays!

Whenever I read about a few pieces of chicken going so far I just truly don't know how. Would I be right in thinking we are talking tiny, child-like portions? My 6ft 2" hubbie has a big appetitie (but weighs about 10 stone).

Help?! ... this is driving me mad!

Asda's Smartprice potatoes are just 73p for 2.5kg...and IME are the nicest non-organic potatoes they stock in the shop! They soon sell out in my local Asda, though.

Lunar_Eclipse

1carminestocky wrote: »

Asda's Smartprice potatoes are just 73p for 2.5kg...and IME are the nicest non-organic potatoes they stock in the shop! They soon sell out in my local Asda, though.

Thanks for the tip, very kind and a good buy. But I don't shop in Asda. :rotfl:Thankfully I have 3 Tesco's, Sains & Waitrose on the doorstep so have no need to.

Whilst I would be delighted if Asda started delivering to our postcode (they come within 200 yards of my house - different postcode:rolleyes:), I really cannot stand being in an Asda supermarket and always spend an absolute fortune when I'm there. Maybe they just have too many bargains!

Shame though - they have some great stuff I know.

I've been so inspired by this thread that I'm off to seriously reduce the contents of my trolley on T's online!

lucysmam

I thought I did ok on £50 a fortnight!! Am going to watch this with interest as I'm always looking out to reduce my shopping bill and try something new at the same time! I'm amazed by the £20 for a month thing but think I might have a go at reducing the amount I spend a fortnight after reading this

mbaz

I've had a bit of a switch around as have decided not to play the bol card too early incase DH spots the lentils and my cover is blown!! Want to see how long I can go without him noticing how little I've spent! tee hee hee!! Got the rest of my shopping today came to another £6.35 so in total I've soent just over £20!! well chuffed!

In terms of the caserolle I thought I'd make 2 seperate portions on sunday and freeze one to be reheated. Is that ok do you think?

Thanks for all the messages. I've got so many ideas now! :T

1st - carbonara (just found a jar in back of cupboard)
2nd Lasagne (with added lentils )
3rd chicken and rice
4th Veggie burgers with homemade chips
5th defrost a curry
6th lentil soup
7th chicken dinner
8th chicken casserole with yorkshires (leftovers)
9th Defrost a curry
10th lasagne (hoping to bulk out sauce enough with lentils to s-t-r-e-t-c-h to two)
11th Bolognaise
12th shepherds pie (make 2 and freeze 1)
13th veggie sausages and mash
14th Beans on toast (gotta crop up somewhere)!!
15th chicken curry with 4p sauce
16th chicken casserole (hopefully made enough on 8th to s-t-r-e-t-c-h )
17th pasta with cheese and tomatoe sauce
18th shepherds pie from 12th
19th risotto
20th Homemade soup
21th Chilli
22th Egg and chips
23th Shezza's sauce and pasta (I'll always call it that now!)
24th - Go to take away in middle of night when OH's salary goes in!!

mbaz

tattoed_bum wrote: »

my friend and i have been trying to cut back so we costed a few things out so here goes

toad in the hole for 4 people
2 eggs =20p
flour =08p
watered down milk = 08p
8 value sausages chopped =40p
total =66p thats only 16p per person

hovis bread mix pizza
1 packet hovis bread mix =27p
value grated cheese £1.00
value bolognese sauce =27p
total £1.54
this will make 6 8in pizzas at 27p each

sweet and sour turkey
value rice 20p
turkey thigh cooked and stripped £1.00
sliced carrots 8p
value sweet and sour sauce 29p

total 1.57 this will feed 4 at 39p each

i love this site it really makes you think about the amount of money we spend each month

mmm I love toad in the hole! may have to add that one to my plan! thanks!

lilly81

After have to spend £32 on a new pair of shoes for my ds (the cheap ones i got him hurt him!) I am going to have to not buy much/any food for a few weeks.
Have loads in cupboard so hopefully be ok.
Will be copying a few ideas from here! :money:

otterspasm

Quote:
Originally Posted by otterspasm
You could certainly get 4 curries out of your chicken and 2 jars curry sauce...bulking them out with carrots and onions make them cheap. I often add red lentils too which are very cheap


Do you mean four portions of curry, as in one meal for the family of four, or four meals which would be 16 (presumably tiny and mainly lentils) portions? It would be the former in our house. Hubbie ideally likes two chicken breasts in his curries. :rolleyes: I add potatoes to bulk out my curries, but they're not cheap thesedays!

Whenever I read about a few pieces of chicken going so far I just truly don't know how. Would I be right in thinking we are talking tiny, child-like portions? My 6ft 2" hubbie has a big appetitie (but weighs about 10 stone).

Help?! ... this is driving me mad!

Hi Lunar Eclipse. Sorry to drive you mad!!:o
We eat meat in our house but it is so expensive we have to make it go a looooong way. I would make 16 portions of curry out of the 6 chicken portions and 2 jars of curry by adding lots of veg and some lentils. We eat big portions (and my husband is 6ft 3 too ). It would probably be fairer to call it veg and chicken curry . Served with plenty of rice and/or homemade chapattis it still makes a filling and nutritious meal with lots of protein from the lentils as well as the chicken.
Hope that helps.
Tess

281273

Just a small question... someone earlier in the thread mentioned tinned mushrooms. Can these be used in the bol mix.... I now its probably a daft question but I just wondered. My hubby works in the building trade so money is starting to get tighter.

lucysmam

I used to use tinned mushrooms 281273, they just tend to be smaller pieces than you'd probably cut yourself

slm6002

Love this thread and can relate to having no money spare. I would love to have the disapline to just spend £20 a month and have a similar family as you mbaz but i always get caught out with the bargins at asda. Also my OH is quite fussy and wants 'proper food' - meat and 2 veg a lot of the time, but as we all know its not always possible with no money! Good luck with it and i will keep watching