Can you feed a family of 6 under £30 ??

apple_mint

I do the big shop at the beginning of the month and buy fresh fruit and veg weekly. This works for us as we have a good storecupboard (built up over time) and I make a note as I go through the month as to what I'm running out of. So flour, UHT milk, value oats, orange juice, stock cubes etc. etc. etc. are part of the monthly shop.

We live in a rural area but I work in the main local town. So I buy my weekly shopping one night a week on the way home. Buying my monthly shop means that on the weekly shop I am just nipping in for the fresh item needs. You soon learn how many apples, oranges, bananas, bags of veg etc. you need. Buy veg that is in season as it is much cheaper. Lidls veg offers have saved us a fortune and I buy extra to use the next week (see green lakeland veg bag info below).

I don't buy my meat and fish from supermarkets so I keep a small portion of the monthly budget for using in the butchers (ours sells fish as well). I buy cheaper cuts and stretch it as far as possible.

The things that have helped us are:

1. Understanding just how many units of the monthly shop items we go through each month. (Start noting down when you start using an item and the date it is finished).
2. Using Lakeland's green veggie bags to store our veggies, salad etc. They are expensive initially to buy, but you can wash and re-use them. They extend the life of your fresh goods. Prior to using them, carrots would go off within days. With the bags, I split a large bag of carrots up between a few smaller bags and they last for ages. (The banana bags work too - the bananas don't look pretty but they are fine inside)
3. Batch cooking - putting the extra meal/s in the freezer. There are two of us but I cook for 4. This helps out in the week when we are rushed and saves on electric.
4. Make your own calorie filling foods for your other half. In fact, get your OH involved in making some of the foods. My OH is the bread maker in our house. I do the baking (but he does take a specific interest in what I'm producing and lets me know which are his favourite recipes :rotfl:). When I first started I found muffins to be really easy to make.
5. We eat value porridge oats for breakfast. I have it as porridge (made with water with milk added at the end) and OH has it as a form of museli. If he has the munchies late in the evening, he happily has a bowl of his 'cereals'. Oats are very filling.
6. I try not to spend to my monthly shop limit and keep some back for bargains and special offers. We don't often buy ready made foods, biscuits etc. and make from scratch. So the offers we are looking for are on flour, orange juice, milk etc.

It does take some getting used to, but eventually it's second nature. I have a real aversion to going over the budget so see it as a personal affront when prices go up as much as they have been lately. You should hear me muttering in the supermarket :rotfl:

The recipes and money saving ideas posted on MSE have been the biggest help to us. I write down a good recipe when I see it. I might not use it right away but when my budget is getting tight I go through my recipe file and look for something I can make with what is in the store cupboard.

costaerer

apple_mint wrote: »

I do the big shop at the beginning of the month and buy fresh fruit and veg weekly. This works for us as we have a good storecupboard (built up over time) and I make a note as I go through the month as to what I'm running out of. So flour, UHT milk, value oats, orange juice, stock cubes etc. etc. etc. are part of the monthly shop.

We live in a rural area but I work in the main local town. So I buy my weekly shopping one night a week on the way home. Buying my monthly shop means that on the weekly shop I am just nipping in for the fresh item needs. You soon learn how many apples, oranges, bananas, bags of veg etc. you need. Buy veg that is in season as it is much cheaper. Lidls veg offers have saved us a fortune and I buy extra to use the next week (see green lakeland veg bag info below).

I don't buy my meat and fish from supermarkets so I keep a small portion of the monthly budget for using in the butchers (ours sells fish as well). I buy cheaper cuts and stretch it as far as possible.

The things that have helped us are:

1. Understanding just how many units of the monthly shop items we go through each month. (Start noting down when you start using an item and the date it is finished).
2. Using Lakeland's green veggie bags to store our veggies, salad etc. They are expensive initially to buy, but you can wash and re-use them. They extend the life of your fresh goods. Prior to using them, carrots would go off within days. With the bags, I split a large bag of carrots up between a few smaller bags and they last for ages. (The banana bags work too - the bananas don't look pretty but they are fine inside)
3. Batch cooking - putting the extra meal/s in the freezer. There are two of us but I cook for 4. This helps out in the week when we are rushed and saves on electric.
4. Make your own calorie filling foods for your other half. In fact, get your OH involved in making some of the foods. My OH is the bread maker in our house. I do the baking (but he does take a specific interest in what I'm producing and lets me know which are his favourite recipes :rotfl:). When I first started I found muffins to be really easy to make.
5. We eat value porridge oats for breakfast. I have it as porridge (made with water with milk added at the end) and OH has it as a form of museli. If he has the munchies late in the evening, he happily has a bowl of his 'cereals'. Oats are very filling.
6. I try not to spend to my monthly shop limit and keep some back for bargains and special offers. We don't often buy ready made foods, biscuits etc. and make from scratch. So the offers we are looking for are on flour, orange juice, milk etc.

It does take some getting used to, but eventually it's second nature. I have a real aversion to going over the budget so see it as a personal affront when prices go up as much as they have been lately. You should hear me muttering in the supermarket :rotfl:

The recipes and money saving ideas posted on MSE have been the biggest help to us. I write down a good recipe when I see it. I might not use it right away but when my budget is getting tight I go through my recipe file and look for something I can make with what is in the store cupboard.

thanks! very useful. i do buy my meat and fish at butchers so i wouldnt include that in my supermarket shop. would you say £30 for meat and fish per month was too much.
i generally buy mince meat, braising steak and chicken breast.
That means only £90 for everything else. Im really bad at the moment, i chuck SO much stuff away- maining fresh fruit or veg. for example i currently have a bag of 10 economy bananas in my fridge that need to be thrown... will make some banana muffins!

i keep all my veg in the fridge so dont think i need those bags but i did buy some disposable ones in quality save a few weeks ago and they def keep veg fresher for longer!

im quite good at cooking and baking, it comes naturally to me. but its laziness that is my downfall.

OH often does 16 hr days- cant expect him to come and cook as well. i like to have a hot meal for him when he comes in from uni to give him energy for work! shepherds pie or chicken and roast spuds it normally is!

knithappens

Dont throw the banana's. slice them up and freeze - this can be added to smoothies, or batch cook banana bread, slice and freeze, when you need it just take a slice out in the mornign will be defrosted in an hour or so , so great for packed lunches

maybe invest in a slow cooker, great to just chuck everything in , stews, soups etc, and great for a lazy cook, plus when OH comes in there is a hot meal waiting

Penelope_Penguin

hello and welocme :beer:

My tips would be:

• Waste nothing, be inventive with leftovers
• buy and cook in bulk to save time and money
• bulk out eat with lentils and vegetables
• eat veggie at least twice a week
• encourage DH to eat at work - food you don;t need to pay for

there are lots of threads of cheap meals, collated by Pink-winged:

Cheapest recipes???

Meal for two for 50p. Suggestions?

The Cheapest Healthy Meal Ever!

Feed 6 for £1.62

Cheapest meal

Your Cheapest Evening Meal.

cheap, easy family meals

We also have a tread on feeding your family for £30, so i'll add this to that one later.

good luck :T

apple_mint

£30 sounds fine to me. Everything is stretched in this house. So lentils / extra veg to stretch, pie-making, etc. etc.

Knithappens suggestion of a slow cooker is a good idea. We have one and I batch-cook using mine. Do you have a freezer and a microwave oven?

What I tend to do is batch-cook items at the weekend and put the spare meals in the freezer. I also batch-cook roast potatoes and mash potatoes and put meal size portions in the freezer. Soup is frozen in individual portions and OH freezes home made bread rolls. The soup and roll is for our lunch, with a couple of pieces of fruit and a muffin or HM tea cake.

Would it be easier for you to batch-make some individual meals for your OH? We built up a stock of freezer containers (bought a few each week) and on busy days we pull out of the freezer something like a spicy sausage casserole, mince, chilli etc. and match up with mash, roasties, HM potato wedges, rice etc. I pop some veg in the steamer or microwave and we have a quick meal. I always try to keep a few days worth of 'complete meals' in the freezer.

It does involve some time in the kitchen but I look at is as income generation. What I save in the kitchen means there is more money in the household. We eat very well. In moments of weakness I used to ask my self how long it took me or OH to earn the money (before tax) to cover the cost of a ready-meal or take-away. That cured me :rotfl:

costaerer

thank you to you both!
i have a slow cooker, have never made anything other than stew- braising steak, barley, potatoes, beans, carrots etc....
ive always wanted to cook chicken in it but always worried and i like reeeally well cooked chicken!
yes i have a microwave and enough freezer space.
my OH is a fussy !!!!!! and doesnt like soup. i think he would quite happily eat spag bol/shep pie everyother day! he is also happy with egg and chips, or egg and beans on toast.
im going to have to experiment with some more meals!!
i think im going to start at beginning of month by doing big shop for meat etc. so what if by the end of the month were eating porridge 3 times a day

Penelope_Penguin

costaerer wrote: »

my OH is a fussy !!!!!! and doesnt like soup.

He's an adult, and there must be at least one type of soup he likes If you cook a whole chicken, try using the carcase to make stock, then chuck in some finely chopped veg, and possibly some leftover chicken. I defy him not to like it

costaerer

i know someone who HAS to have soup every day at least once. but he cant have the same soup for two days running! it drives his wife potty!

so im almost thankful my OH doesnt like soup. he will eat chicken soup- i do make that. but veg soup he wont eat. pretty easy apart from that!

flutterbyuk25

I live on my own and typically spend £60-£80 a month on food. I am veggie though so I guess that cuts down on some costs.

I do a big monthly shop on or around payday spending around £40 and then do a weekly top up of veg/fresh stuff/eggs etc when needed.

I'm lucky that I have all major supermarkets inc Aldi and Lidl within a 5 min drive so can shop around. I tend to look at the websites to see what offers there are each week and decide which to top up my shopping at.

Batch cooking is a must. I cook for 3/4 people and freeze the leftovers, really helps on those days when I'm too tired to cook! Soups are great in winter.

Try not to throw out anything. Use the OS board or google to find out ways to use stuff up. Most veg can be frozen so if it's looking a bit sad then chop and freeze.

If there are voucher offers like spend £50 get £5 off for supermarkets then I tend to bulk buy things like pasta/rice/UHT milk/tinned goods etc so bump my spend up to get the money off. As long as it's stuff I'll use then it's worth it.

A well stocked storecupboard is a must too. I could probably live off my storecupboard and freezer contents for about 6 weeks if I had too (but would be lacking in fruit and veg!).

costaerer wrote: »

other than that im doing slimming world so 'trying' to cut sugars and carbs!! my OH is a 'carb !!!!!' and could easily eat a whole packet of pasta at a meal yet still has a 30inch waist!!:mad::mad:

Can you not do Green days on SW and have carbs then? I live on carbs when I'm doing SW :rotfl:

Good luck

x

costaerer

Yes I can do green days but find weight loss is slower. I'm a 50 second walk from lidl but I never go! Going to start having to!
Going to make individual veg lasagne, shep pie and beef casserole and freeze. Any other suggestions?