How do you eat healthly on £50 a week?

picklednut

When I've done my SOA on other threads people have said I should be able to budget £50 a week for groceries but I really can't see how this can be achieved. We are a family of three, me, my OH and our 3 year old son. How do you achieve healthy 3 meals a day, with snacks and fruit of £50 a week. I dont want to resort to Iceland £1 specials.

Any meal planners, recipes, tips, shopping lists greatly appreciated.

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ifonlyitwaseasier

http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/

have a look, site was set up by Weezl who posts on here a lot

CH27

Look at your local greengrocers, market or farm shop. They are often cheaper for seasonal fruit & veg than supermarkets.

Check out your local butcher too.

Bulk out meat with beans & pearly barley.

Eggs are cheap & healthy.

boredjellybean

ifonlyitwaseasier wrote: »

http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/

have a look, site was set up by Weezl who posts on here a lot

thanks for that link - I look forward to having a good read!
BJB

rachbc

by shopping around, eating seasonally, meal planning, reducing meat consumption, making your own snacks, drinking only water, making your own bread, using cheaper cuts of meat, eating pulses. There are lots of was to make food healthier and cheaper!

HappyMJ

Don't worry too much about debt-free wannabee suggestions. £300 a month for 3 people is only £100 each and that is supposed to include ALL groceries not just food but includes washing powder, soaps, deodorant, shaving stuff etc etc etc. I am a single person and spend £45 a week on ALL my shopping. £25 on food and £20 a week on non-food. Non-food also includes drinks such as Ribena, Orange juice a bottle of coke a few beers etc.

I see one of the suggestions was to spend less on Car insurance and you only spend £50 a month with 2 main drivers. I spend £130 a month. Insurance is what it is it can't easily be changed. I do assume you have checked a few companies though.

oldtractor

lots of pulses and lentils home made bread adn home grown fruit and veg.

quintwins

we live off around that and theres 2 adults and 3 kids in our house, i shop around and use cheaper brands, i use alot of frozen veg and reduced fruit and veg also hardly any snack foods (unless there value) we buy big sacks of spuds and fruit from the farm shop

ubamother

Can I suggest, rather than suddenly trying to achieve what may be a huge drop in just a week, and shocking the family into mutiny, that you try and drop £x per week. If you are a supermarket shopper, there are lots of ideas on the shopping area of the site. If you are not a cook-from-scratch type, get some cheap and cheerful, but easy recipes under your belt. Maybe adding a cheap home-made recipe once a week until it becomes more naturally to you, making a huge batch of cheap biscuits then freezing rather than buying snacks, etc. etc. One of the easiest ways to cut down on cost is to lessen the number of meat meals per week, or using meat as a flavour rather than the main part of meal. Things like hm pizza use meat as a garnish rather than needing a huge slab on the plate. Mince goes further than cubed meat, which goes further than chops, etc. etc. If there are specific types of meals/treats/snacks you like to cook, or your family like to eat, I would post them and the wise ones here will I'm sure be happy to offer good cheaper alternatives.

u751904

frozen veg is often cheaper than fresh. Frozen onions and garlic for example. Also you usually waste less. Get into making your own yogurt and wine (easy). The student grub cookbooks are also simple and easy to follow. you can always glam up the ingredients if it is too basic. Going to the shops with a shopping list and sticking to it is key. Consider soap nuts for washing powder. Make sure you shop at places like Aldi etc. You might feel it feels a bit grim having to do this but honestly it gets easier and you won't notice so much soon.

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi, I used to be able to feed my family of four for £65 a week but now its more like £75. At one time I spent over £100. The biggest change for me was simply meal planning and being more organised. I only buy what I need now and really think about what I am buying.

We eat meat most days and this weeks dinner menu has been roast chicken, stew and dumplings, chicken pie, spaghetti bolegnaise, home-made pizza and chicken curry.

I have also saved money by buying things like value lasagne sheets, value tinned tomatoes etc. You dont even notice the difference.

I think the suggestion of trying to reduce your costs gradually is a good idea.