Am new here, need tips on feeding family of 5 please!

Flipped27

Help, I am trying to get on top of my debts which means admitting I spend way too much on food for my family....

I am a bit stuck on how to feed a family of five, including packed lunch for 3 children and two adults (inlcuding a shift worker) for £80

Is it possible?!

ps I am scared of cooking but willing to try!!!

thisismoneysaving

Flipped27 wrote: »

Help, I am trying to get on top of my debts which means admitting I spend way too much on food for my family....
Well first of all, welcome to the Old Style Board, I've not been around here for long, but I have learnt so much already. Well done for sorting out your debts and taking control, it's a big step, but you WILL get there! :j

I am a bit stuck on how to feed a family of five, including packed lunch for 3 children and two adults (inlcuding a shift worker) for £80
I'm not sure how long you want the £80 to last...

Is it possible?!
however it is possible to feed your family for very little. Bulk cooking, buying whoopsies, menu planning, shopping smart, taking advatage of offers will make this possible.

ps I am scared of cooking but willing to try!!!
Don't be scared to cook, OS is about cooking good homemade grub, it's not about having culinary expertise! It's great to hear you're willing to try though.

Post any questions and someone will always be there to answer - they're great aren't they!

xxxxx

Olliebeak

Hello :wave: and welcome, Flipped27!

There's quite a few threads that will help you get started. Let's just see if I can get the hang of posting the links to one of them:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1826625&highlight=getting+started+old+style

There's also a 'Quick Questions on anything' thread at the top of this board and always loads of folks willing to say how they manage.

Best of luck and my No.1 tip is to make sure that your OH and family are 'on-board' with what you're doing and that they all understand WHY it's necessary .

morwenna

Hi Flipped27

Can you post how long the £80 is to last? There are lots of inspiring threads to help you on here and there is always help if you get a bit stuck!

The thread that came to mind when I saw your post was this one:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=575356&highlight=family+five

It has lots of recipes and best of all pictures!

toolittletime

We're a family of 5 (3 children and 2 adults) And when I'm focused we can manage on around £60 a week - though this will depend on how old your children are.

I find it helps if I:
* buy a sack of potatoes from the local farmer.
* look out for reduced bread etc and fill the freezer with it.
* buy milk from Costco. 6 x 2 litre bottles are £5.45 (ish!) and freeze some if necessary.
* bulk cook and freeze extra portions.
* Make puddings - really helps fill the boys up - very cheap to if you're able to get hold of cooking apples, blackberries etc and freeze them
* Use a slow cooker - able to use cheaper meat.
* Try to make a weekly shop last 8 days (using leftovers etc.) That way I only ever have to go shopping 4 times a month - even if it's a 31 day month!

The main thing for me is trying to be organsied - not easy with 3 children!!

Oh and come on here regularly - the tips are amazing!!

misskool

If this is a new venture, can you get the whole family involved? Ideas for meals and getting the children to help out? And for juggling around the shift work, maybe meals that can be reheated without problems like stew with mash or chilli and rice instead of things that won't be quite as good second time round.

Norman_Bean

My top tips are:

• Gradually reduce portion sizes and don't allow seconds (well I do let kids have seconds but not H!) Using slightly smaller plates helps with this.

• Always have a pudding as then they don't moan about smaller portions - not much good now but we are still eating loads of apples, pears and blackberries we picked a few months ago and froze.

• Re-use ALL scraps - since being a MSE I reuse everything, even gravy, you'll be amazed how far stuff goes when you don't throw anything away.

• Meal-plan and go to cheapest places - I go to Aldi / Lidl but I think you can get some really cheap stuff and good bargains in UK

• Last but not least Rubber Chicken - it's amazing and I now easily get 4 meals (2 adults 2 nippers) plus soup out of a chicken

Good luck and welcome!

Norman x

Bitsy_Beans

I found meal planning to help cut my bill. I looked at what was scheduled for the week, saw what I didn't have to make the meal and that's all I bought from the supermarket. I can recommend a lot of Sainsbury's Basics items (pretty much all I buy with the exception of the meat). I only use Stardrops for cleaning with some value microfibre cloth from Tesco (for £1 for 3 cloths) and basics bleach. I don't need any other expensive cleaning materials Stardrops does most of the stuff and is truly fab on stainless steel sinks. All for circa 75p and a little goes a looooooong way.
I bulk out meals with lentils (good source of protein and low in fat) and make most things from scratch. I bake all my sweet treats and some savouries - far more filling and tasty.

And most importantly I live on the OS board LOL and check out the Food and Groceries board too, people post offers etc on there.

Good luck with your venture - it's a challenge but one that I enjoy!

Norman_Bean

Bitsy Beans (fab name btw, we might be related?) can I ask about your lentils .... what type do you use? Do you cook them first? When do you add them?
I can get puy lentils here in France which I love - tinned for 0.47€ which is costly or dry which aren't as tasty. I also have a couple of bags of red split lentils which I bought in UK but hardly ever use
Thanks

Norman x

patchwork_cat

Norman bean, jumping in sorry , most people use red split lentils to bulk out mince, but I really don't like the consistency. Others put a handful or two of lentils and a handful of oats to stretch mince. http://frugal-cooking.co.uk/recipe/193/batch-bake-minced-beef-recipe - excellent rubber mince recipe (if you like red lentils! and beans)

Flipped I assume that you are talking £80 per week, yes perfectly doable. Have a look here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2111897 There is a weekly meal plan thread to. Have a look at Weezl's 50p a day thread http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1007423&highlight=weezle . The key is cooking from scratch, there is lots of help to plan and advice on cooking on this board.

Flipped27

Thank for all replies :T
The £80 budget is for the week, and ideally I would like to spend less, that is just our maximum.

I made chicken thighs with roasted veg tonight but it didn't go down too well with baby who is 16 months, he ended up having some cheese instead...:rolleyes:

I really like the idea of puddings, we never have pudding and they are always telling me they are STARVING five mins after eating!!!

I struggle mostly with packed lunches - all i can ever think of is cheese and ham?!