How Much???

natalieho

csm wrote: »

How do you manage on £40 per week? I have 2 adults and 3 children also (1 bf baby, although only just starting very small amounts of homemade puree)

We go to costco every month and get chicken breast and cook the majority of our meals from scratch, although we have 2 very fussy children who want to eat rubbish all the time.

We spend way more than £40, we spend over £100....where are we going wrong?

What meat do you buy from costco? What sort of things do you cook?

I'd love to get my food shopping cost down alot per week.

thanks

Costco i buy chicken, but once its reduced again and then freeze it into portions as soon as we get home. If its the breasts i use 2 breasts for 4 of us because they are large breasts and i also buy mince when its got the £3.00 off a pack offer and i portion it into 1/2 pounds rather than full pounds and bulk meals out with veggies. I buy things when they are on offer, tbh ive found doing my shopping online i also spend a lot less too. We shop in Tescos and buy Tescos own brand for most things for example they have 3KG bags of pasta this week for £2.00 which makes heaps and heaps of meals. We dont eat meat every day maybe 3 times a week. When i buy stirfry i just buy the veggies, sause and noodles i dont bother with meat as its filling on its own. If my DH had the choice he would prefere meat with every meal but we just dont have the funds to do that.

From Costco i also buy the 6 lots of milk and freeze 5 and pull them out when needed, ive also started getting my Ham from there as it works out similar price to the wafer thin ham in Tescos yet you get 'proper' ham if you know what i mean.

Meals i tend to do are

Pasta with tomato, garlic sause (fussy eater will eat this)
Spagetti Bol with lots of small diced onion and mushrooms to bulk out. 1/2 mince will do 4 adult meals and 2 childrens.
Veg StirFry
Chilli and Rice
Soup just use any veggies that need eating (always goes down well)
I also do buy the proper chicken Kievs from Costo again 2 will feed the 4 of us with chips

If you have a slow cooker they are great for throwing anything together really if you fancy batch cooking too.


I hope that helps x

natalieho

Just another thought if you buy full chickens, most of the time people leave loads of meat on them, you can strip the bones and use the bits in a lemon chicken risotto and then make stock with the bones which can be made into chicken broth soup.

Kimitatsu

I think the age of the children is the key to it! I have a 13 year old who eats more than any adult I know, and grazes constantly, and an 11 year old who is fast catching up with him. As teenagers its hard to fill them up and we spend around £125 a week and I cook a lot from scratch and bake a lot too, so there is little rubbish in their diets, but they drink gallons of milk.

Have you checked out approved foods? They have some cracking deals on at the moment, I have stocked up on beans and pulses to bulk out meals with, lots of packets of things like pizza swirls that I can add toppings to and garlic dough balls for bulking meals out with.

Its been a really good year for fruit this year so perhaps you can pick some up cheap from the market and bake with it and freeze it? I am lucky enough to have fruit trees in the garden so have stewed lots and made jam this year.

With that amount of people though, its never going to be cheap - or quiet!! :rotfl:

stephen77

depends on what you like eating?
veggie or meat eaters.
depends on the food quality as well.
I managed quite easily for two adults and one child on around £35 a week and i have a large appetite however I enjoy cooking.

clairabell

Wow guys, thanks so much for all of your replys and helpful suggestions. I think i will try and get it to between £90 - £100 but i just hate paying so much for food. Has anyone else noticed the price of food going up lately or is it just because i am skint at the mo lol.

Again thanks for all your help, Claire xxx

nellienoo

Hi-hope you don't mind me joining in! I am finding it very hard work trying to keep family shopping down. Everything seems to keep getting more expensive. There are 2 adults and 2 kids in our family-14 and 11 yrs(one whose fussy).I prefer to do the shopping on my own(though it is not always possible) then people don't ask for things or query "cheaper brand " items! Weekends are "treat" days with some fizzy pop and treats allowed (on offer or supermarket's own) . I do feel guilty and a bit of a skinflint though when I refuse to buy certain treat items, but needs must. I get as much as I can when offers are on too(loo roll,toiletries etc). Most meals are home made -roast dinner,bolognase,mexican,sausage and mash etc and if certain foods are on offer then that will dictate what we eat. I honestly cannot believe how much it costs even when I'm careful (£80/£90-is a good week!). I was beginning to think I was on my own-frowning round the supermarket trying not to shriek at the prices ! Looks like we are all in the same boat x

UnderPressure

csm wrote: »

How do you manage on £40 per week? I have 2 adults and 3 children also (1 bf baby, although only just starting very small amounts of homemade puree)

We go to costco every month and get chicken breast and cook the majority of our meals from scratch, although we have 2 very fussy children who want to eat rubbish all the time.

We spend way more than £40, we spend over £100....where are we going wrong?

What meat do you buy from costco? What sort of things do you cook?

I'd love to get my food shopping cost down alot per week.

thanks

Your not going wrong at all and for your own sanity ignore posts like this. For some reason this place is full of dreamers whi reckon they feed their whole families on this kind of money some people swear they can do it for under 30 quid, its like it is some kind of competition ridiculous really.

Until one of them comes along and posts their shopping reciepts along with menus for 3 meals a day I personally dont pay any attention to their threads and see them as pure fantasy.

If anyone wants to prove me wrong then please do so I would love to see a full weeks worth of receipts along with a 3 meal a day "healthy" menu please do otherwise...........................................................................................

shutup with your fantasies they help no one!

m40

UnderPressure wrote: »

Your not going wrong at all and for your own sanity ignore posts like this. For some reason this place is full of dreamers whi reckon they feed their whole families on this kind of money some people swear they can do it for under 30 quid, its like it is some kind of competition ridiculous really.

Until one of them comes along and posts their shopping reciepts along with menus for 3 meals a day I personally dont pay any attention to their threads and see them as pure fantasy.

If anyone wants to prove me wrong then please do so I would love to see a full weeks worth of receipts along with a 3 meal a day "healthy" menu please do otherwise...........................................................................................

shutup with your fantasies they help no one!

I couldn't agree more UnderPressure..

hermum

The best place to go is the old style board.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=33
Brilliant help suggestions, recipes & any questions you have someone will answer. I'd suggest having a good look around that one.
It really does depend on ages of children & what they'll eat. How much time you have to shop around.
Do you go on http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/ you can check out special offers from tesoc, asda, sainsbury, ocado, unfortunately Morrisons isn't on there.
Approved Foods as someone has said can be pretty good, but one word of warning do be strict with yourself when you first start because else you can end up with boxes of stuff that you would never normally buy if you had to pay full price.
I've only recently discovered the 99p shop & have been amazed at some of the grocery lines they do.
A key to good budgeting is a menu plan & shopping list.
The old style board will be a great help to anyone trying to get their bills down.
Good luck