Where to shop for family of 6? Help and advice needed as cant afford food anymore :(

Mummy2four.withnomoney

:oHi Everyone im new on this site, as i have been trolling through everywhere trying to find out where i should do my shopping and How. Sound silly but i have 4 children, my husband has not worked for 11 months, as he was diagnosed with MS and is getting worse by the month. so im trying to feed all of us...all of us being 4 children aged
Aaliyah is 1, well 13 months ( but on baby food as was born at 23 weeks and has many health development delays)
Reuben is also 1 - 20 months
Ashton is 3
and kayden is 6

Now i usually go to Asda but finding each time i go its costing more, i usually spend on average about 140.00 on a wed, then im back on a sat spending about 60.00. then again on the wed. Its just getting silly as every penny i get and have saved is going and seems all i buy is food, my son needed school uniform and it was a nightmare buying as my pot is always empty.
I dont no if im shopping wrong, or going the wrong places. i just dont no, but in my shopping is included... Nappies, i have to but size 2 for Aaliyah Then Size 4 for Reuben then pull ups for night for Ashton so thats a good 30.00. then infant milk, i have not yet got milk tokens, as they messing me about, so i have to buy stage one for aaliyah, then toddler for Reuben, as he cannot have cows milk due to allergies, and wont drink soya or goats, then of course i have to get the more expensive allergy free cheese, yogurts. But surely i can cut down somehow??

I tend to but frozen food on offer, as with 4 little ones and my hubby so ill, i need quick food, though i no its not that good for them. so any tips on what too make too feed us all would be so helpful please.
And also tell me where you shop, what you but a week, and what you cook please??
I know its alot to ask, but i need help, as sick of spending so much and never seem to have food in, or it goes off, like mince, why are supermarkets saying it goes off on say the 5th, when 2 days after its gone off!

Thankyou to anyone that replied to me, its a great help.

merlin68

Are you getting all the benefits your entitled to like DLA, Carers allowance for baby and hubby.
Child tax credits should be £270 with a dissability element and child benefit £43. So hardly no money. More a matter of poor budgetting. I can feed four for about £30 a week in Aldi's. You need to meal plan and keep to a strict budget. Would it help to do a statement of affairs, listing all your outgoings and incomings.I shop once a week and bung it all in the freezer, even bread and milk.

ixia

I think the best thing to do is write a shopping list including all the necessities you need for the children.

meal plan for the week for all meals including drinks snacks etc. make sure you include all meals and then you shouldn't have to return to the shops. try shops like Ald* for their fruit and veg offers their milk is only 79p also. take advantage of special offers etc.

A big pot of homemade soup is filling and good for you. I wish you luck and I am sure there will be others along to help you soon.

tessie_bear

u could perhaps try lidl or aldi....i find them cheaper than asda

have a look at the grocery challenge first page...loads of recipes.....that u might all like

examples of cheap(ish) recipes that u could try
chilli
spag bol
pasta bake mince or tuna
jacket pots with beans/tuna/cheese
omelette
on toast beans/spaghetti/cheese

nappies powdered milk are expensive i found but seek out offers/vouchers...work out what u need then deduct amount from food budget...this figure left is what u have got to spend on food

aldi super 6 veg/fruit are great value imo

as for quick i find doing food from scratch is the cheapest but not often quick....time investment needed

good luck tessa

sleepyme

I make a list, keep it on the back of the cupboard door and add to it when I use the last of something. I have started only buying essentials (and glitches of course).

We are a family of 4 and I try to budget £20 a week for my weekly shop and £10 a week for extras like bread and milk. I manage it every week without fail, infact the last couple of weeks I've only been spending the £20 and about £5 on essentials during the week

forever.insane

I may not help a lot (but in this case, every penny helps), you seem to have missed a certain type of milk..... and its FREE! Why not breast feed? Ok it's a little personal, but there is a reason females produce the stuff.

Why not give it a try?

Also, if you shop at Asda, have you tried the 10% challenge?

sleepyme

forever.insane wrote: »

I may not help a lot (but in this case, every penny helps), you seem to have missed a certain type of milk..... and its FREE! Why not breast feed? Ok it's a little personal, but there is a reason females produce the stuff.

Why not give it a try?

Also, if you shop at Asda, have you tried the 10% challenge?

Might be a bit late now to try breast feeding if baby is 13 months! :rotfl:

Lugh_Chronain

I tend to buy most of my toiletries from the 99p Store though do be careful when shopping there as some of the stuff they sell can be bought cheaper elsewhere.

I also like shopping around in all the major supermarkets for most other stuff though find Aldi and Lidl top them for bargain prices, though not always.

I also sometimes go armed with a shopping list which will include the prices after checking them online. It's a good way of comparing and does help a big deal and have found most of the prices when shopping in Lidl are nearly always cheaper.

And if you don't think you're getting the benefits you're entitled to as pointed out by merlin68 then perhaps consider checking the Benefits Check Up guide.

If you would like to check supermarket prices then I'd recommend you have a look at the following websites:

mySupermarket - click on any image to compare prices in other supermarkets. Can also a click on the supermarket buttons near the top of the page. This site includes all the top 4, Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury's, Waitrose.

HotUKDeals - there's a search box top right hand corner if you're after anything specific.

&

Mad About Bargains is fairly good but not as good as the other two in my opinion. Sometimes they will have bargains that HotUKDeals miss out so don't rule them out completely.

Lugh_Chronain

By the way, don't confuse best-before and a display-until dates. If you are then the likelihood is you're throwing a lot of food away unnecessarily.

Have a look at Martin's tools to reduce waste .

You could also have a look at the full Supermarket Shopping guide as well.

mcallister1

Hi Mummy2.4.
I wonder if for baby food you have thought of getting one of these? A baby food grinder?

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?client=safari&rls=en&q=baby+food+grinder&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=6383576371641159929&sa=X&ei=tMBzTvT1A6ap0AWR3PmWCA&ved=0CG4Q8wIwAA#ps-sellers

I found it saved a lot of money and also let you just mush the food the rest of the family have with a bit less salt.
Secondly, is there a market near you? Getting fruit and veg there saved me a lot of money and when it is really cheap you eat so much more.
On the topic of stuff going off- get it all in a freezer. If you haven't got one, try freecycle for a free one.If you are cooking up mince, cook double and freeze half- that saves loads of time. And instead of mince in spag bol try tinned lentils as a cheap healthy alternative.
Finally, have you tried https://www.approvedfood.co.uk ? The stuff on it varies from day to day, but for heavy staples like tinned tomatoes, sometimes big jars of sauce, muffin mix, juice and noodles, it gives you access to store cupboard stuff, delivered, at a really good price for some of it.
Good luck! With three kids under 3 and a husband ill, you certainly have a challenge, but you are rising to it.

santer_2

This can be useful

http://supermarketownbrandguide.co.uk/search.php?table=all

Tick the shops you have nearby, tick to include tasting notes, tick any of the dietary requirements, set the score to 9+ then enter the search item and see if any are suitable

So, cornflakes returns this

http://supermarketownbrandguide.co.uk/search.php?SearchString=cornflakes&Search.x=31&Search.y=27&score=%3E9&price=0&pricevalue=0.00&tastingnote=1