6000 meals under 50p in 2010; feeding your family on a low budget

Raini

Hi Mark, Just wanted to say well done on a brilliant thread & an excellent challenge!! :T:T:T

Speaking as a mental health professional (that has worked with adolescents in crisis although clearly I don't work in nutrition) if the worst thing you do is feed your kids a little too much cheese or not enough veg (which thanks to Weezl I think we can see is untrue (also thanks for signposting me to this thread in the first place!)) whilst showing them how to manage & balance the books and showing them an excellent example of responsibility I think they will do alright! You very clearly care very much for your kids and I'm shocked that people would try & make you feel bad for trying to stick to a budget. I'm sure that there will be many kids going to bed hungry tonight because their parents can't put anything or much at all on the table - not through want of trying I'm sure. Would everyone condemn them too? You do want you can with you have.
Cheap doesn't have to mean carp!!

I'm surprised that there are so many people that can afford (high) horses on a site like this.

Allegra

maryb wrote: »

A quick question if I may since lots of people on here are interested in nutrition - can you count onion towards your 5 a day? I'd never thought of doing so because I see it as just seasoning but on the other hand you would count leek which is the same family. And if you use two onions in a dish for four people which is fairly typical for me (I like onions!) would you count that as half a portion each?

I'd definitely say yes, and I do - onions contain vitamins A, C and B complex, including folic acid.

SunnyGirl

maryb wrote: »

A quick question if I may since lots of people on here are interested in nutrition - can you count onion towards your 5 a day? I'd never thought of doing so because I see it as just seasoning but on the other hand you would count leek which is the same family. And if you use two onions in a dish for four people which is fairly typical for me (I like onions!) would you count that as half a portion each?

I'm sure that I read on Weezl's 50p a day challenge that 80g of onion is a portion. No doubt Weezl will come along at some stage & put me right :rotfl:

poppy-glos

princessl84 wrote: »

your having far to much cheese and also if you cant afford £2.50 for your daughter to have lunch with her friends then you really need to look at what your spending your money on. also if you are not letting your children have certin things then you are causing them porblems in later life ie. Your daughter cant have £2.50 for a girly lunch then whats stopping her when she is older spending much more on lunch/nights out because when she was younger dad wont let her. I know this cause it happend to me.

We all do our best within the resources we have, and the reality of living within a budget affects all children (and parents!) at some point.

With rising food prices and loss of jobs, and all manner of factors which affect the amount of money we have to spend, we are all looking to do the best we can with what we have.

I am a huge beleiver in the 'walk in my footsteps before you judge me' school of thought.

Also as a single parent I struggle with if i'm making the right decisions sometimes, with the conflicting advice of books, tv, government, and other peoples opinions makes it all the harder.

This thread has become another of my daily reads, the debate is good, the sharing of information and recipes and where to buy things at the best prices mean we are all doing our best to make the most of the money in our pockets, and to our best for our families.

Thanks mark for the thread,

poppy

Penelope_Penguin

Raini wrote: »

I'm sure that there will be many kids going to bed hungry tonight because their parents can't put anything or much at all on the table - not through want of trying I'm sure.

We discussed this earier on. The benefits and Tax Credits system is designed that no child should ever be going hungry For parents on a low income, they now get Child Tax Credits which should provide a good basic diet for children.

Allegra wrote: »

The only potential downside to cheese I am aware of is the fat content and therefore high calorie count

I've not been criticising anyone's diet, but cheese does contain a fair amount of salt, too. It's well recognised that there are a lot of poeple in this country who exceed the recommended intake.

Can I ask Mark a qustion, please? Your budget on this thread for "meals" is 50p/day for 6 people, or £273pcm. On the GC, your budget is £550pcm, which is more than double. Can you please tell us what the rest of the budget is for?

TIA, Penny. x

poppy-glos

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

We discussed this earier on. The benefits and Tax Credits system is designed that no child should ever be going hungry For parents on a low income, they now get Child Tax Credits which should provide a good basic diet for children.



I've not been criticising anyone's diet, but cheese does contain a fair amount of salt, too. It's well recognised that there are a lot of poeple in this country who exceed the recommended intake.

Can I ask Mark a qustion, please? Your budget on this thread for "meals" is 50p/day for 6 people, or £273pcm. On the GC, your budget is £550pcm, which is more than double. Can you please tell us what the rest of the budget is for?

TIA, Penny. x

yes, i agree penny, to a point. The working and tax credit system do mean that money is made available. The issue is what the responsible adult chooses or feels forced to spend the money on.

Raini

poppy-glos wrote: »

I am a huge beleiver in the 'walk in my footsteps before you judge me' school of thought.

Also as a single parent I struggle with if i'm making the right decisions sometimes, with the conflicting advice of books, tv, government, and other peoples opinions makes it all the harder.

I quite I agree with you. Although I don't have kids of my own, like I said before, I have experience of working with adolescents and my thought is if you genuinely care & do the best you can you can't be going that wrong.

If a diet is really that bad there will be signs in the person - lack of energy etc.

This thread is really about someone doing the best they can for their family & I would never do anything but commend that.

Raini

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

We discussed this earier on. The benefits and Tax Credits system is designed that no child should ever be going hungry For parents on a low income, they now get Child Tax Credits which should provide a good basic diet for children.

I bet you that there are kids - no matter how few - going hungry. The ones that slip through the net. My point was that you can only do what you can do & no-one is in a position to judge anyone else.

Sorry to be hijacking this thread though Mark - it is yours after all!

Penelope_Penguin

poppy-glos wrote: »

yes, i agree penny, to a point. The working and tax credit system do mean that money is made available. The issue is what the responsible adult chooses or feels forced to spend the money on.

If the adult is (your words) "responsible" then there is money being made avialable for them to feed their children. There is no reason, in this country with its welfare state, for a child to not have enough money to be fed a proper diet. You suggets that an adult might be "forced" to spend Child Tax Credits on other than food, and other essentials, for their children. Such as what?

I was responding to this point:

Raini wrote: »

I'm sure that there will be many kids going to bed hungry tonight because their parents can't put anything or much at all on the table - not through want of trying I'm sure.

Raini wrote: »

I bet you that there are kids - no matter how few - going hungry. The ones that slip through the net. My point was that you can only do what you can do & no-one is in a position to judge anyone else.

I'm not judging anyone - just putting an alternative point of view

Sorry to be hijacking this thread though Mark - it is yours after all!

No it isn't - Martin Lewis asserts copyright, and anyone can contribute to any thread, as long as they follow the Forum Rules

poppy-glos

thanks, yes, i chose to write responsible for just that reason