Feeding a Family of 4 - Realistic budget

nickij_2

Since reading this board my spending on groceries has gone from about £300 month to less than £240 a month, for a family of 4 - 2adults, 2 kids (10 and 6) and 2 cats. This includes loads of fresh fruit and veg. I've done this by
1. Meal planning before I shop.
2. Making more meals from scratch - some great recipes on here.
3. HM bread and slow cooker recipes are great fillers.
4. Bulking meals up eg adding breadcrumbs to mince for meatballs, to make meat stretch further.
5. Shopping online (using £5 off vouchers so delivery is free) - easy to spot the best deals but resist stuff you don't need. (Although when I drop my extra hours at work I'd like to start shopping at butchers/green grocers.)
6. NEVER popping into a supermarket! So easily spend £10 when you've only gone in for milk!
7. I'll never buy shop pizza again - sooooo easy to make your own dough and add toppings, and delicious.

Good luck - let us know how you go!

MUSTBEFUNNY_2

Hi

Before finding this board I was just like u.....I didn't know what I was spending each month on food. I think it might have been as much as £550 for family of 4:eek: Now I spend about £270 and am aiming for £250:money: We eat really well now; lots of fruit and veg and all meals made from scratch. Yesterday, all my left over fruit went into the blender and we had great smoothies. In the past all that fruit wld have ended up in the bin:rolleyes: I've been doing this for 4 years and i have probaby saved £200 per month.....that's £10,000k....better in my bank account that the supermkts Profit & Loss Account....:D

.....Did I tell u I've lost weight too!

Good Luck

thriftykatie

I cannot real add much more to the excellent advice on here but had to have my say anyway!

I started serious moneysaving at the beginning of the year having devoured all the threads on here. I cannot believe what a difference it has made and so quickly!

The keys for me are menu planning. I try to do a couple of weeks at a time but not dated (ie list of meals but not Saturday - chicken, Sunday - beef)but include a few 'storecupboard' meals such as pasta and pesto with pine nuts and parmesan, meals pre-cooked and frozen. This helps avoid waste if your plans change: if all your meals are planned using fresh ingredients and you don't eat at home one evening that throws out your planning and results in food wasted. If I do have food left over, I am becoming very adept at using it up for something! I now really begrudge throwing anything out and will eat an odd concoction to avoid doing so!

I also write a list and stick to it when going shopping and use cash . This hasn't been easy (I love a bargain and also tend to buy 'just in case') but it has been really rewarding sticking to my plans, and my list, and spending within my budget.

I have also bought a slow cooker (surprised there are any left in the shops after all the MSEers out buying them! and have been experimenting with that. It's also great for using up left over vegetables (with cheap tinned tomatoes and some spices) to make soup.

Good luck - I have become a bit of an addict but I prefer my money going towards paying off my debts than into the coffers of M&S! And I can honestly say the quality of my meals hasn't suffered in the least - if anything it has improved.

Sorry for the long post...

Ex-Spendaholic

Thank you everyone. I am really delighted at all the advice you have given me. I'm determined to make this work. I'm really pleased that yesterday I spent no money. Today I shouldn't need to either. I'm going to start this week as I get paid on Friday. A week for me will run Saturday to Saturday as I have time on a Saturday morning to do shopping etc. Here's my plan:

1. Do weekly menu plans - this will really sort out my life. The pressure of coming home from work and wondering what to make for dinner is awful hence the continual trips to M&S.
2. Buy all meat/poultry in one go
3. Buy all fruit/vegetables/potatoes in one go
4. Make a list of what is in my cupboard and then create another list of what I need - this weekend I'll go and buy that stuff so that I'm sorted for the month
5. Invest in stardrops. I recent won £90 of Unilever vouchers so this will take care of a load of toiletries etc for a while.
6. When I need milk/bread I'll send my son so that I don't come back with a load.
7. Look into the slow cooker option
8. Avoid M&S
9. Still have a takeaway on a Saturday night. The family like it and hopefully what I save during the week will take the sting off.
10. Shop with cash and use a calculator.

I think I'll set a budget of £70 per week (although this week may be higher with the stocking up for the month on store items) to start off with the hope of getting it down to £50.

I'll let you know how I go.

whatatwit

Ex-spendaholic, although you have the Unilever vouchers, don't forget to check through your bathroom supplies, I recently excavated 4 deodrants, nearly all full and 4 tubes of toothpaste, let alone all the shampoos and conditioners half used.
I am trying my hardest to only buy 'essential' bathroom supplies until the stockpile has gone.

If you have a freezer and cupboard full of stuff, but no ideas as to what to transform it into, post a thread on here, detailing what you have and some great meals will emerge.

*zippy*

I used to be exactly the same we are a family of 4 and our food bills were over £550 a month I got it easily down to £350 by stopping the ready meals and junk and getting most at aldi/lidl. I Really want to reduce this again now so thanks for starting the thread ex spendaholic I will be following the tips as well.

Yesterday I got in and had 3/4 of an hour before I had to go back out. 18 months ago that would have been an excuse for a takeaway of ready meal, but I timed myself and it took 15 mins to make spag bol, put a loaf in the bread maker and make myself a cup of tea, I then had a nice relaxed cuppa feeling very pleased with myself

Ex-Spendaholic

Thanks Whatawit. Funnily enough I did my bathroom last night. There is very little in it. The £7 shampoo & £8 conditioner from the salon are now a thing of the past.

Zippy, that's what I have been like. My son goes to an afterschool club on a Tuesday and a different activity that evening. There is 1.5 hours in between. Traditionally we have got a carry out or went to McDonalds. Tonight we are having Roast Beef with all the trimmings.

I know it's sad but I'm getting really excited about getting organised with food and shopping.

jellycat40

I have not really done much about cutting down on what I spend consciously but it must be happening as I have more left over at the end of the month.

I don't meal plan as such but we generally eat the same sort of things - DS has high protein diet so that can add up a bit but I found some bargain salmon steaks in Makro and he is munching through them at the mo and of course his turkey steaks are cheap at the mo too.

We try to have at least 2 veggie days a week which helps cut costs down and at least one day a week when we have a day eating whatever is in the cupboards - can get some odd combinations but hey who cares.

DD3 has school dinners as they are cheaper for us than packed lunches. She wants alsorts of school bars and stuff in her lunch for packed lunch and they are really pricey.

Louise

dianadors

Hi Ex Spendaholic

I know what you mean about getting excited about being organised with the shopping and cooking. I was exactly like you before I hit this site. I still dont know how much we are spending on food (thats March's goal) but I do know its much much less - we were not overdrawn for the first time in years at the end of January! We dont throw food away now and we eat much better. My family much prefer home made pizza's (I use packet bread mix) to bought ones and I manage to hide peppers, aubergines, courgettes etc in the tomato sauce (all things that they claim to not like!!) We also feel a lot "greener" as we have hardly any packaging waste and all peelings etc are now "composted". The kids are excited by it too and I feel that its a great life lesson for them. They are much more involved with the food preparation side of life and when they accompany me to the supermarket these days, they dont throw stuff into the trolley like they used to - they compare prices, decide we dont need things and look for cheaper options.
The money saving aspect spreads to all area's of your life - Its a great feeling seeing your hard earned cash going further. We challenged ourselves to have twice as much fun for half as much money last year. We were amazed (that with the help of all the great contributors to this site) that we were able to have 4 times as much fun for "no money"!! our entertainment budget is no zero and we are never in!

As I said earlier, the whole family are involved and I do feel its been a great lesson to teach the kids (both early teens). My daughter now only wants a bargain when she goes clothes shopping!

newlywed

I work full time and so plan meals for the evenings when I have very little time - eg omelets take 20 minutes, stir fry takes 10 mins, noodles are very quick and easy too.

Other evenings when I have a bit more time I'll make a double lot of whatever meal we're having that night (one lot to go in the freezer), curry, chilli, lasagna, shepherds pie are all just as easy to make double and then freeze so you get an easier day later in the week/next week when you think you'll be tired, fed up of cooking etc

I also found stopping buying crisps, biscuits, cakes and fizzy drinks made a serious drop in our budget. Now I make microwave flapjacks (takes about 5 minutes total including mixing - just needs time to let it cool), microwave sponges (under 10 minutes). The kids don't complain - they have crisps as a treat now instead.

Meal planning helps as you know what you are going to cook as soon as you get home so you can start it before you sit down (I find this way works best for me or I don't want to get up and start cooking). It also means you can use things up before they go out of date - I use up extra veg in s/pie, lasagna, pasta etc to make sure we get a minimum of 5 a day Now I hardly throw anything away.

The other thing I found helped was taking a basket instead of a trolley. Makes you more aware of how much you are actually getting. With a trolley I'd spend £70 a go easily. With a basket, it can't carry much more than £30-£40 worth so you have to work out what you really need and put the extra bits back (usually the chocolate, wine, cake etc with me ).

Hope that helps.