eat for 30 quid a week

LlanfrynachStar

We are a family of 5 and we used to shop at Waitrose, as we have allergies etc, but having to cut down we tried Sainsbury's and haven't looked back !!!!!

We buy a lot of reduced items and freeze them, bread, meat, deli meat, cakes, milk, juices, everything really.

We also have 7 cats (soon to be 8) and a bouncing boxer puppy, handy tip for smelly litter tray's use baby talc, a bit in the morning in the bottom of the tray really helps the smell.

For cleaning products we use sains's basic baby wipes 18p, they're own cif at 38p a bottle
dettol for a pound in Home Bargins, also Jeyes Bloo for the toilet 50p a bottle, Jeyes Easy washing up liquid around 50p.

So shopping on £30. a week is easy peasy. Just keep an eye out for bargins and grab em while you can. Hope this helps

hayleymoo

I do it for 2 adults! We eat meat probably 6 if not 7 days out of the week.

The way I do it is to do a monthly shop - I plan all the meals out for the month ahead (which ingredients I'll need) and shop based on that online. I find that helps me keep on track, and I'm not tempted to throw goodies in the trolley. I can also see clearly what's in my basket so if I find a better deal or decide later I don't need it I can just delete. When I shop instore I tend to forget the items I chucked in right at the start. My monthly budget is £130, so just a tiny bit over £30 - but included in this is breakfasts, soft drinks, lunches (sandwiches, crisps, healthy eating bars, fruit) for both of us, and dinners for both of us. I make probably 90% dinners from scratch, unless I'm chucking in a pizza or some breaded fish portions, which is just a couple of times a month.

Obviously my freezer is my friend! I tend to freeze everything - meat, bread, milk, and just thaw out as necessary. We do eat well - I do tend to shop according to offers, buy lean red meat, often buy some brands (e.g. I won't stray from Uncle Ben's rice!), and I try to use discount codes where possible, so it isn't all just value stuff. Dinners I tend to make regularly are (homemade!), chilli con carne w/rice, meatballs w/pasta in a tomato sauce, beef stroganoff, lasagne, shepherd's pie, belly pork w/HM chips, chicken curry w/rice, etc. We also enjoy stuff like jacket potatoes with tuna or cheese.

It is possible to eat well, and eat cheaply! If you like cheaper cuts of meat like belly pork, or lamb's liver, then these make a great cheap meal! Obviously the biggest problem with buying monthly is that the fresh fruit and veg runs out quite quickly. I have frozen things like fresh green beans in the past and try and buy bags of the 'freshly frozen' to bulk out. Carrots and onions keep quite well in the fridge.

Sorry for rambling on!!

freddie_2

Seriously, how can anyone eat their 5 a day anf be spending 30 pound sor less for a family?

I can cut back on the basics, have switched to Quorn mince as cheap stuff is not worth it. but the fruit and vegatables are so expensive, especially with a 5 year old and a 1 year old who could quite happily eat a 2.49 box of blueberries in one sitting. I bought 4 pounds worth of grapes last week and they were all eaten in one day!.

I have tried Lidl and yes they are great for fruit and veg but they ahev now put in a bakery section and my will power to walk past the fresh croissants, apple puffs, bread etc to get to the fruit is non existant!!!

[Deleted User]

Five a day isn't obligatory its just an idea put forward by health officials .I grew up during WW2 with rationing, and we certainly never had anything like five a day Blooming lucky to have one at times .Bananas were unheard of and the first one I saw my brother thought you had to eat the skin as well.but we survived and didn't end up with rickets or scurvy:):) I can live quite comfortably on less than £30.00 per week its only a case of organising yourself and keeping a sharp eye out for bargains. You have the greatest cook book at your fingers and with a few clicks can find a recipe very easily .No one is born knowing how to cook (believe me I exploded boiled eggs once when I first got married in 1962, but that is another story )Dried pulses extend even the smallest packet of mince along with a few oats .With 250 gms of mince I can conjour up a shepards pie,a chilli and maybe even a small lasagne out of.This will leave me with a few spoonfuls left over to put into the freezer to top off a jacket potato with (another cheap and filling meal)4 meals for me for less that £2.00
Another tip Don't go shopping on an empty stomach.Make large quantities of soup (another meal extender) for pennies with veg that is past its best (good way with reduced veg from the supermarket) I too did a week a little while ago on a pound a day ,not very interesting, and I wouldn't recommend it as it can be a bit boring but you won't starve There are millions of people in this world who have no choice and live on less than that. Well exist should I say and to them to have £30.00 a week would make them feel very rich indeed .Rice and pasta make cheap fillers andif having soup for a starter you don't need a pudding, or if no soup then fill up with a pud.Back in the days of yore kids were filled up with bread and jam when food got short (jam was mixed fruit and not a lot of fruit either but it helped to fill you up)So yes it is possible to eat for £30.00 a week and less but its like anything research your subject then have a go at it
by the way if you have the recipe gothicfairy I would love the Lentil Curry to try
JackieO xx
P.S. I have pm'd you kentguy07

Gigervamp

Don't buy expensive fruit like blueberries and grapes! Also, in season fruit and veg are cheaper, frozen veg is good value and in summer there are loads of foraging opportunities.

quintwins

grapes are quite cheap now if you buy value (98p), my kids are thrilled lol the past 3 weeks we've always had some and they love them

i don't eat 5 aday more like 2-3 aday however thats my choice i'm not a big fruit eater really but we always have veg with dinner, i do like salad aswell, my oh does really eat fruit other than the odd apple so all he has is fruit juice and the veg with dinner, but our kids always have well over 5 aday, today so far theres been a banana, a bowl or grapes, theres sweetcorn for lunch, prob an apple for a snack, i'm bringing some rasins to keep him calm in the dr's and some yogurt bites which say they count as one of your 5 aday, were having broad beans for tea and they will also have some fruit juice

we do this buy buying the cheapest fruit, also if you go the market or farm shop it may be cheaper, i also use alot of frozen veg, but i prob spend as much of fruit as i do on meat but really thats your basics anyway

Gothicfairy

I agree 100 % with JackieO (will PM the lentil recipe this afternoon when no one is looking at what else I am meant to be doing lol)

My mother always remembers the first time she had a Orange as she couldn't work out what to do with it and eat the whole thing, skin and all and couldn't understand why everyone was raving about them as she thought it was horrible..She didn' see another one for years after which was maybe just as well.

I eat fresh veg everyday (might not eat fruit though for weeks on time but apples etc are always cheap)

thisbirdhasflown000

I can't actually imagine how you would be able to spend £30 a week on food for one! :eek: (not including eating out in this of course). I was single for quite a while until a few months back and easily lived on £10 a week worth of food.
I didn't go to any great lengths or do anything special as far as I know, though I must admit I never did (or do) buy ready meals or really any pre-prepared food (within reason of course).
I also didn't and don't buy pre-packaged fruit and veg (unless that's all they have of a particular thing).
Cooking your own meals from scratch (and I'm not a brilliant cook, but definitely got a lot better very quickly with practice) saves you TONS of money and only needs to take up as much time as you let it. If you are short on time or don't enjoy cooking- keep it simple. Simple meals are often the tastiest IMHO.
I take advantage of offers BUT ONLY if they genuinely make the thing cheaper than other products of the same quality, which they definitely don't always do. For example BOGOFs of expensive brands often still make them dearer than the supermarket own brands (which easily do the job just as well).
Buying in bulk i.e. larger packs of things (if you can store them or eat them without them going off) almost always works out significantly cheaper- the initial outlay may be high, but it could be weeks or even months (or years, lol! ) before you need to buy again.
One trick I would suggest if you're confused about what is the best value is to look at the price per weight, which you will see in small print at the bottom of the price labels on the shelves. It will say something lke '0.59p per 100g' or '£2.00 per kg' or something like that. Just because something's the cheapest on the shelf doesn't mean it's the best value as it's often the least amount. This is partly why I'm sceptical of 'value/basics/smartprice' products in supermarkets- look at the price per weight of a lot of these products (not all however) and you'll see that you're often only saving a few pence on the normal supermarket own, which is more often than not not worth the loss in quality. Sometimes those value products actually work out MORE expensive price per weight. I've experienced this on quite a few occasions!
Basically, if you want to live on £30 (or less!) a week, then the days of breezing through supermarkets throwing whatever takes your eye into the trolley are over. You need to take a bit of control over your buying habits and take a close look at the shelves and really CHOOSE your products, don't let the supermarkets play mind games with you: they want you to buy the more expensive/lower value products, so they will make these more attractive in one way or another- don't let them get the better of you!
Good luck xx :wave:

allym464

this has been an interesting read. I budget £50 per week for food for one person. I will definitely have a go and bringing that down to £30.

Wish me luck this weekend!

Hovel_lady

allym464 wrote: »

this has been an interesting read. I budget £50 per week for food for one person. I will definitely have a go and bringing that down to £30.

Wish me luck this weekend!

£50! We don't spend that on 2 adults, a dog and the birds in the garden!
You might be interested in a thread on the food shopping forum about eating well for £10 a week.
Good luck - I'm sure you'll be sucessful