I need help with food budget

Learning2Budget

There are 4 of us, 2 adults, a 3 year old and a 1 year old. I have a budget of £360 (which i know for you seasoned pro's would be plenty) to last from 18th to the 18th. But i'm struggling to keep within budget.
I am not the world's best cook but i am prepared to have a go, and have started meal planning and cooking from scratch.
My youngest still has baby milk (cow n gate, number 3) for health reasons, but that is the only special thing she needs, she is starting to eat normal diet now.

The budget includes all toiletries, cleaning produvts, nappies, etc.

Please help.
L2B.x

Learning2Budget

please feel free to move this, if i've posted in wrong place.x

pickle54

Hi, thought I'd reply as my household is exactly the same as yours, 2 adults and a 1 and 3 yr old. I try and aim for £80pw, but am finding that prices are rising all the time so it's a battle!

I generally keep prices down by meal planning and giving the kids the same food as us (sometimes just add peppers/mushrooms in at the last minute). Also by doing an egg/omlette meal once a week and perhaps a jacket potato night helps. What sort of things do you buy/eat and maybe we can compare?

my meal plan this week was
Mon - salmon, mixed rice
Tues - Sausage pie (chopped sausage/peas/carrots/gravy topped with mash) with baken beans
Wed - pork sweet n sour with rice (picked out the peppers before I dished theirs up!)
Thurs - fritatta (omelette and new pots and veg for the kids - ours is the same stuff just cooked together)
Fri - hm chicken gougons for the kids with fahita wraps and carrots, chicken fahitas for us
Sat - jacket pots, peas, beans, tuna, salad
Sun - bacon/peas/passata and spaghetti (mushrooms in for the adults) and garlic bread

I use washable nappies, and I only use about a tablespoon of washing powder in the clothes wash, and don't buy many cleaning products at all (skummy mummy?!)

Learning2Budget

Well this week we had
Mon- Chilli and jack pots, the kids had cheesey potatoes with beans
Tues- roast chicken dinner
Wed - homemade chicken and apple balls for the kids with left over chicken, we had tuna salad
Thurs- pasta, bacon and peas in creme fresh and cheese sauce
Fri - homemade pizza
Sat - meatballs, pasta and sauce, made a load and froze another 2 portions of meatballs
Sun - chicken fahitas

Seem to keep making the same meals over and over, so am devising a spreadsheet of all the meals i can make at the min, over a four week period, to make meal planning easier (is that a bit sad??)
L2B.x

pickle54

Well if you are sad then I am too as I have a spreadsheet listing all the meals we all eat . I've started searching the web for inspiration, sainsburys feed the family and therescourcefullcook, but its difficult to change what we eat radically as kids are used to the same 20 or so meals presented to them....
Do you buy treats, fruit juice and lots of fresh fruit as that hikes up my bill?

Learning2Budget

Lol, I feel better for hearing that pickle. )

DD1 loves fruit smoothies, and i buy own brand, but still adds up. Gonna have to start buying fresh fruit elsewhere, but nearest aldo/lidl/costcutter's are all a fair distance. Tried fruit shopping on the market but it's only a tiddly market and I spent just as much as I would in supermarket.
Have just done food shop in asda (normally do tesco online). Bought no choc, crisps, biscuits, etc, cos gonna attempt diy biscuits (twink's hobnobs seem easy enough), and I've got all the bits in to make popcorn, etc. Came to £86 which is better, and that was with buying OH a new razor (can't buy him cheap ones cos he shreds his face).

Wish me luck with the baking, although I know the kids will love it, so plus side it's extra bonding time, and cheap entertainment.x

galileo74

try using mysupermarket.co.uk
they don't have meal planning, but you can compare prices from all supermarkets and get the cheapest basket.
we don't have children yet (working on it) but we still need to check prices as we live on a limited food budget.
i use their site all the time and i actually save money!
hope this helps..

Learning2Budget

Cheers Galileo.

WhiteHorse

Ditch all cakes, biscuits, confectionary. These add nothing to your diet and cost a great deal. Concentrate on the basics at first. Get a slow cooker, these save not only money, but time!

Gigervamp

Check out the Old Style forum. There's the Grocery challenge thread, tons of recipes and loads of help.

pickle54

good luck with the baking! Good fun with the kids Though I'm not convinced that homemade costs less....well certainly not the way I do it as I only buy free range eggs (around 23p each I think?) and proper (ie hard) butter. I make cakes but also buy smartprice/value choc chip cookies and rich teas (around 39p a packet) as an occasional treat for the kids, saves pennies on brands but also that way dp won't touch them (label snob ). Also have been branching out and buying a few other smartprice bits - garlic bread (39p), pasta, lasagne, flour ok so far...pasta sauce not nice

I definately find Asda cheaper for the weekly shop, plus using mysupermarket is good as it gives you switches/swops to get the price of the chosen shop down. Don't forget to check Asda.com/priceguarantee as I usually get £2-£3 vouchers to put towards the next shop

As for smoothies - how about value fruit juice and a bit of banana? Would that work out cheaper? I also agree with the fruit and veg from the market, I live in a small town and only have one stall, it costs the same but it is certainly nicer - no more hard plums sitting on the side for months! I've also tried our local butcher but that is soooooo expensive, getting meat 3 for £10/£12 works out cheaper. I've found getting a side of salmon works out cheaper for us though (kids big salmon eaters!)

I recon we are being hit two fold.....the prices are on the up but I know my kids appettites are also increasing at an alarming rate!