Feed a family of 4 on £100 for a month.

Phil3822

Going well all. Although we are meant to be starting in November have already started so our money stretches a bit. Means we can clear a bit of debt as well. We did a two week shop on budget however we have today had to go out and get some more bread and milk which has taken us over I have certainly been bulking up on bread and toast as snacks and with meals. Used much more bread this week!

bexxie90

Just wanted to say Tescos are doing Huggies pull ups for £2.74 or thereabouts I think there is 12 in pack they come in either girl or boys,and are currently half price,BUT if you go on the huggies website there is a form to fill in (its on MSE somewhere in printable coupons) for a free nappie trial (one to try) with a coupon for money off they send you in post am guessing its for a quid or so...so depending on how quick they send it out and how long this is on offer for (just looked its 15/11:j) these could be a good deal...

HTH
Bex

quintwins

we also use alot of bread i make my own as a back up but most of the time we buy reduced loaves for 20-30p i rarely pay full price for bread

burge23

I'm just back from Asda with 2 loaves for 30p. :j You can get some really nice loaves for pennies if you can go later. The wee one's favourite filled pancakes were only 10p a pack so there is a stash in the freezer now. I'd also popped up the other night and they were reducing a lot of milk. 6 pints for 30p a carton so I got 3. We go through so much we're be as well moving a cow into the garden, but luckily we've not paid full price for the last 2 weeks. It also has a week left on it.

Reductions can be hit or miss but the bakery usually has lots and the milk ones are most often in the milk aisle which people often overlook. I've also been making soup today from the reduced veg I got in the week for 10p a pack. It helps because it frees up some extra cash for the meat shop and a bit for standby at the end of a week. My lunches for 5 days at work will also come in at pennies thanks to the bread and soup.

Check out Farmfoods if you have one close. Their Cumberland sausages are lovely (74-75% pork) and are on special at 2 packs for £3 (2 x 12) so do us 3 meals. They also have multi buy's on pork, chicken and gammon steaks. Their LA Diner ice cream is as good as carte d'or and 2 for £2.

JBD

Someone mentioned sausage meat in place of mince. I do it as a roast, along with yorkshires. I just bung it in the oven for 30-40 mins. My kids love it. I roll of sausage meat will easily feed 4 people.
I also buy the reduced vegetables, potatoes etc. Ignore the sell by date, if you keep them in the salad part of the fridge they will last for ages, especially potatoes. [sorry if someone has already given these hints, haven't read the whole thread.]

burge23

JBD wrote: »

Someone mentioned sausage meat in place of mince. I do it as a roast, along with yorkshires. I just bung it in the oven for 30-40 mins. My kids love it. I roll of sausage meat will easily feed 4 people.


It was me. It works really well, though the credit goes so Jamie Oliver as it was one of his recipes which gave me the idea! You're supposed to use the meat from sausages but this works out cheaper and less fiddly. You can use it in pies and lasagne as well which with some veg, basic or smartprice lasagne sheets and a home made sauce can be filling but really cheap. :)

rowsew

Having read through the thread, I would just like to say I wish you the best of luck. Loads of good ideas here. Have you checked out the Grocery Challenge yet? Look here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3571735 so much good advice. I did it for two years, and we saved so much, used all of our food instead of wasting it, and ate more healthily. Still do it now, but don't need to keep track so much as its a habit to be frugal now. We are family of four, two adults and one seven and one five year old. Only have hubby's salary so always have to be careful with money, my food budget is about £200 a month, which includes all toiletries as well as foodstuffs. I bake my own bread, and we don't eat processed food-fresh stuff is cheaper! Menu planning really helps a lot, freezing everything left over, peeling and chopping veg to freeze if you can't use straightaway, also 'shop' from your cupboards before you write your shopping list!

Sneakyezekiel

Hey, I manage to feed 2 and a toddler on £100 a month but there would easily be enough each night for another portion. We buy the 3 for £10 meats deals most big supermarkets have and also buy things that can last a long time (a few bags of potatoes, rice, pasta etc). Buy as much own brand stuff as you can find and try to shop at Aldi or do an online shop with whoever has money off deals on. The past 3 months I’ve managed to get at least £20-£30 off each time just by taking advantage of sign up discounts at places like Ocado, Sainsburys and Waitrose. Buy basic things like bread and milk in bulk and then freeze half and defrost as needed for the usual ‘2 for x amount’ deals. Cheap cereal can be good for a quick breakfast for the kids. If you can get to an Iceland they’re dirt cheap and have saved us from going hungry more times than not. There’s also no shame in popping over to a food bank, don’t feel guilty its literally what they are for. Buy some spaghetti, tomato pur!e and an onion and you’ve got at least 2 nights dinner.
It’s not the greatest situation but it can be doable, we’ve managed it for nearly a year now. I’m not sure whether I’m remembering everything I wanted to write but good luck. I’m here if you need more help

Sneakyezekiel

Ah I forgot to say, we also buy nappies and wipes in bulk for the month off eBay. It all works out to £32 and sometimes lasts a little bit longer than a month. So much cheaper for pampers this way as everything else leaks on our little girl.

Danthewelder

I'd highly recommend whole chickens. If you stick one in a slow cooker all the meat falls off the bone - I think Aldi have medium/large chickens for between 2.50 and 3.50. With no waste you can get quite a few meals out of this.

When I was at university I used to buy cheap large bags of frozen vegetables, 3.5kg bags of potatoes, cheap gravy granules and frozen cheap sausages. You can make many meals for absolute peanuts this way. Questionable nutritional content in the sausages, however, needs must.

Porridge is always a favourite.

Other filling uni staples - cheap noodles, rice, home made chips, baked potatoes, omelettes (with cheap eggs), pork chops bought in bulk, corned beef hash, home made pies, garlic bread, tinned tuna fishcakes, tinned mackerel.

Also home made soup bulked out with potatoes is good. Keep an eye out for reduced bread and whack it in the freezer. Cheap and filling.

Perhaps consider going to supermarkets before closing time? There are usually whoopsies to be had.