£224 per month for 7!!!

Churchmouse

Allegra wrote: »

That's because there is no way on this earth - or I should say in this country - to create a menu plan containing that sort of food for that sort of money. It just can't be done. To keep it as low as Weezl did (as well as meeting the basic nutritional guidelines) some seriously off-the-wall thinking was required !

Although I've not needed to follow Weezl's plan, I did look at it from time to time because I found it fascinating, and a real challenge for all the team. As far as I recall Weezl's costings were based on what anyone would pay at Asda's, not on some theoretical discounted price. I have always found it somewhat annoying when various posters on MSE have claimed ultra low spending, to find they "always" get enormous reductions, find absolute bargains marked down in the supermarket etc etc It's just not a level playing field, and while I won't compare myself to them, some people do and then get disheartened and discouraged. I'm sorry but I tend to think like some others here, this lady is in fantasy land. £28 of fruit and veg and the stall holder says £20 ! There isn't that much profit in fresh produce that he could afford to cut his margins that far!;)

Her ingredient sizes do seem a tad on the light side. 200gm of pasta to make a pasta bake for 7 :eek::eek: And she calls them large portions too I'm sure she's reduced her grocery bill, just not as far as she believes

Softstuff

ssffjohn wrote: »

Does anyone think they could do it?

I think if I suggested to my hubby that 50g of pasta bake constituted a meal he'd be spending rather more on solicitors fees.

We spend about $75 a week on food alone, that's about 50 quid, and there's only 2 of us. That's pretty easy, with large portions and 3 meals a day with snacks. A good amount of fruit and veg, but not a luxurious variety. And also food is by and large dearer here in Oz. But we don't eat anywhere near as much meat as she suggests they do.

Could I feed 7 on that budget? Probably, but it'd involve a whole lot more beans and lentils and a whole lot less chicken.

And frankly, if anyone has a greengrocer who would discount their fruit and veg by a third each week, they should be hugging him and offering to bear his offspring.

lola34

They must have tiny portions, I know we all need to be aware of the sizes but we still need to eat a decent meal, re: the eggs, I bought free range from our local farm shop and they were about £2 or slightly more for a basket of about 18 - and we're 'up north'. I've recently cut our shopping bill and am trying £60 per week so £240 for a month for 2 ad and 2 ch (11 and 7) and I have to say that its quite hard work at times!!!!!

Cheapskate

Had a quick look at this lady's threads and agree that there's either information missing, or she's a bit of a fantasist, although if she's cut down her food bills then that's still a good thing.

We're 3 adults, 4 year-old and nearly-2-year-old, no animals. We eat a fair amount of pasta, rice, veggie food, as it's cheaper than lots of meat, but what meat I buy is very good. I get most of my eggs from the milkman, about £1.10 for 6 FR, but they're local. Also have a neighbour who sells his FR eggs, £1 for 6, but he doesn't have a lot spare! Need to get a better grip financially, but think I spend about £80 a week on food & groceries. The butcher in my village sometimes rounds down your bill, but it's pennies - say rounds down £7.10 to £7, etc. If I bought everything I could as shops really basic brands I could probably save £5-8 a week - and I do this when things are tight, but I will not buy cheap meat as a principle - if I can't afford good stuff (at least the Freedom Food level) then we eat vegetarian, and we certainly don't have meat every day!

Rowan9

It's interesting to read though. Not many people would be willing to put their grocery purchases up in such detail. The list of main meals gave me some ideas to add to mine (the HM ones) - I haven't looked at our menu plan thread for a while and it usually inspires me too.
W

dollydaydream07

here's her original thread that she started off

http://www.netmums.com/coffeehouse/house-garden-194/money-saving-budgeting-bargains-609/551294-all-you-lovely-savvy-shoppers.html

Gigervamp

dollydaydream07 wrote: »

here's her original thread that she started off

http://www.netmums.com/coffeehouse/house-garden-194/money-saving-budgeting-bargains-609/551294-all-you-lovely-savvy-shoppers.html

Gosh, there's a lot of rubbish on there. 60+ ice lollies, frozen doughnuts, etc. I also noticed she lists only 2 packets of pasta. How does she manage to stretch one packet between 7 people? I've found that 500g is about right for 4 of us.

quintwins

OMG is that 10 large blocks of cheese? even on offer thats £20 of cheese (assuming you can get a block for £2 which you usually can)

TryingHardToSave_2

anguk wrote: »

I've just had a quick look at her shopping thread, I'd love to know where she lives because she gets a massive amount of fruit & veg from the market for £20 and also 30 free range eggs for £2.40 from a local shop.

I mentioned this to hubby as we get a tray of 36 fr eggs from local farm and they cost us £7! :O

patchwork_cat

Allegra wrote: »

That's because there is no way on this earth - or I should say in this country - to create a menu plan containing that sort of food for that sort of money. It just can't be done. To keep it as low as Weezl did (as well as meeting the basic nutritional guidelines) some seriously off-the-wall thinking was required !

I'm not criticising per se , it just isn't to my taste and even if I only had £100 I think I would make different meal choices to weezl. We all have different tastes, but it is none the less remarkable.