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

Lesley_Gaye

phizzimum wrote: »

weezl - we'll give the Borsht a go in the week - I'll be getting the ingredients from Tesco (if that's ok, miss!)

lesley - whereabouts is your greengrocers? is it in Heathfield high st?

Hi Phizzimum, yes it is in Heathfield high street and the bashed box is a great source of bargains - maybe I'll see you in there!

Lesley_Gaye

vandanfc wrote: »

Mark

Twinks Hobnobs
Be warned though, they are VERY moreish and need to kept under lock and key otherwise they will disappear as if by magic!!!

I have made these and can concur that they are so moreish that for me they aren't frugal at all as too many get scoffed (even the raw mixture is TOTALLY yummy!!)

Lesley_Gaye

nopot2pin wrote: »

Weezl....

Lesley ....
I made THIS today .... it is lovely :drool:
I am not sure if you like that kind of thing... but maybe a yellow pepper/green chilli jam would be a nice variation of it ??

If you do try it, I would love to know how it turns out :D
And of course, your bargain peppers, would bring the cost down (my guesstimate, for costings using 3 peppers would be 25p per 100g)

Thanks for this, but I think I won't make it just yet as I did lots and lots of chutneys in the autumn. It looks really nice tho and I will def have a go when we have fewer chutneys to use up.

Used half of one of the peppers in the rice I did with last nights dinner

vandanfc

Well having written about the hobnobs I had to make some didn't I ?

So I used half the stated recipe, made 12 decent sized biscuits - total cost 36p for ingredients = 3 p each. Don't know if this is frugal enough, as you cannot stop at one, but put one or two in a lunch box and it should eke them out.

maltesers_2

[QUOTE=mark88man;29399901
* crisps & biscuits & chocolate - £30
* baking £30 - OH did a lot of cake making with the kids in the big freeze- and went a bit OTT on chocolate and sprinkles

[/QUOTE]

Twinks hobnobs are frugal but apparently chocolate, biscuits and cakes are not included in the meal budget. They are in the total grocery budget but not in the meals.

vandanfc

You seem to be making alot of these extras, but if you actually break it down it works out at 34p per person per day on a 30 day month - not really so extravagent ????

Mark is being honest about his spending and disclosing it in different sub headings, many others just add it into their main amounts.

weezl74

maltesers wrote: »

Twinks hobnobs are frugal but apparently chocolate, biscuits and cakes are not included in the meal budget. They are in the total grocery budget but not in the meals.

I didn't think Mark minded us giving tips about the snacks though, so I think it's ok for twinks to be chatted about here, unless I've missed something.:o

Also, genuinely confused here, not challenging you, but I read your previous post a few times and I don't understand it, sorry. I really think Mark's been very upfront about what's included and the thread title is clear that the meals are 50p each rather than all in...

maltesers_2

vandanfc wrote: »

You seem to be making alot of these extras, but if you actually break it down it works out at 34p per person per day on a 30 day month - not really so extravagent ????

Mark is being honest about his spending and disclosing it in different sub headings, many others just add it into their main amounts.

Mark's food budget for Jan totalled £497 - £15 non food = £482. There is a large gap of £212 between the cost of 540 meals at 50p each which would be £270. If all the food and drink was counted in as meals the meals would be more like 90p each - i.e. nearly double. That is not 34p per day per person but £1.20 per day per person - the equivalent of over two meals on this challenge.

In his breakdown Mark said the 50p "covers all cereal, main meals, vegetables" so drinks, cakes and baking, crisps, chocolates,fruit and store cupboard items were counted separately and cost £212. That is a bit misleading as crisps fruit juice and fruit were included in the meals too.

maltesers_2

weezl74 wrote: »

I didn't think Mark minded us giving tips about the snacks though, so I think it's ok for twinks to be chatted about here, unless I've missed something.:o

Also, genuinely confused here, not challenging you, but I read your previous post a few times and I don't understand it, sorry. I really think Mark's been very upfront about what's included and the thread title is clear that the meals are 50p each rather than all in...

I'm sure Mark doesn't mind us giving tips about snacks or meals or anything.

I was referring to Mark's post number 583 where he gave a breakdown of his grocery challenge total spend for Jan which was £497. I hope I explained it below in post 642. It seems to me a thread about feeding a family on low budget is misleading if it spends £212 on extras and treats per month.

BigMummaF

I'd assumed that the original grocery budget would include things like washing up liquid, salt, spread [as in butter type stuff], toothpaste, milk, laundry powder, herbs, squash, baking powder...all the bits you forget to include in a 'menu' or on a shopping list.
My lot are 'grazers' & naturally have a biscuit or bit of toast with a mid-morning/ afternoon cuppa, so that's not "a meal". Fruit is always available so that's not "a meal". Cereal is often a supper here & it's not unknown to take a sandwich if going to be out for any length of time so again, not "a meal".
I honestly believe that some folk's definition of what constitutes "a meal" is becoming a little obsessive, as the OP is doing exactly what he set out to do as per his rules & as it says in the very early posts, this is an experiment to see if it can be done. Why not come back in three month's time to see if it works before casting verdict now?