Breadline Families - Make Stuff Go Further Tips

*max*

Nobody is denying that sometimes people have to make do with very little money - a lot of people do. But having nothing reasonably healthy to feed yourself or your kids here in the UK will be due to poor planning and money management in the vast majority of cases.

Claiming that jam sandwiches and crisps are perfectly acceptable and nutritious lunches for kids (or anyone for that matters) is wildly mistaken and shows a poor understanding of very basic nutrition facts.

Once in a while is fine, but making it part of a "meal plan" is wrong and unhealthy.

asparagus1968

NewCustomerOnly wrote: »

I have seen them in Holland and Barrett and in health food shops - good luck!

but they are much cheaper in the supermarkets:)

BigBlackcat

This thread has reminded me of a relative who would feed her children sugar sandwiches. Probably because most of her money went on cigarettes.

emlou2009

Well yeah we are skint, I'm off on maternity leave at the moment so things are tight. But the answer is just not hummus sandwiches lol! My boy is a pretty good eater , he eats most things we give him without fuss, as long as its not cheesy pasta which for some reason he has a massive aversion to.
Sandwiches are not great unless you can afford decent bread, so we get the value loaf and use it for toasties. The cheese goes further if you grate it.
Payday weekend here is spent stocking the freezer with meat and chicken, enough to last the month, then all we need each week is fresh stuff. Which is cheap if you can get to places like Aldi and Lidl.
Its actually cheaper to buy a big jar of value tomato pasta sauce than it is to make it from scratch, although scratch is obviously healthier and nicer. But it will do for several lunches if mixed with pasta.

NewCustomerOnly

There will be a lot about this topic on the BBC tomorrow - theres a report coming out that says since this coalition and George Osbornes failed budget, %95 of relevant families will lose up to £73 per week - despite all the assurances to get into 'power' (leaving tax credits alone,leaving child benefit alone,leaving pensioners alone et etc) Breadline Families take cheer - much of Europe is ditching the damaging austerity plan and Labour are 13 points ahead in the polls! Won't be long now!

emlou2009

At the end of the day, when money is tight, I would rather give him a jam sandwich, or a chocolate spread sandwich, or peanut butter, and know he will enjoy it, than give him a hummus sandwich and be all "I've wasted good money on that and he hasn't eaten it, its the end of the world!"

but if its the cost of fuel that's an issue, how is it that they need to be able to fit shopping on the buggy? They can take the car to avoid online delivery charges, and won't need to pay silly corner shop prices, surely!

*max*

I don't know where all this talk of hummous has come from...lol I have to say, I wouldn't eat a hummous sandwich myself either tbh, even though I quite like it as a dip!
But there are plenty of alternatives that are just as healthy and just as cheap. Cheap and healthy doesn't have to be boring or a "flower in my hair, chanting pagan tunes while eating cress and raw mushrooms" type of food!

NewCustomerOnly

emlou2009 wrote: »

At the end of the day, when money is tight, I would rather give him a jam sandwich, or a chocolate spread sandwich, or peanut butter, and know he will enjoy it, than give him a hummus sandwich and be all "I've wasted good money on that and he hasn't eaten it, its the end of the world!"

but if its the cost of fuel that's an issue, how is it that they need to be able to fit shopping on the buggy? They can take the car to avoid online delivery charges, and won't need to pay silly corner shop prices, surely!

'Rising Fuel Prices' - they are desperately struggling to warm the kids,house,cook etc - it means the electric,gas etc as well - going up all the time - its actually quite scary. Hard to keep under £15 per wk for elec meter - we dont have a freezer cos we worked out the 'cheap' food was costing us a fortune to store! (Meter man told us freezer,kettle,shower can be most expensive in house!)

GlasweJen

Given the amount of child related benefits available I think if parents can't or won't feed their kids then the kids should be removed until the parents have learned some basic money management. This isnt the governments fault it's society's fault for letting these idiots breed in the first place.

ska_lover

I was a bit exited when I saw this thread until I looked into it a little more.

There is a tendancy for some people to assume that because you are skint, you must be on benefits/out of work - and how there must be people who 'won't feed their kids' - the latter as in the ludicrous post above.

Can I just kindly point out, the working poor? Those of us who have not had a wage rise (unlike benefit claimers) for years, those of us who have to struggle with rising transport/fuel costs. Those of us whos' costs are mounting just to survive (rising utilities for one) with no light at tne end of the tunnel, so what is the one and only household outgoing that people tend to cut back on? Grocery shopping! No one here is talking about '' not WANTING to feed their children'' - it is an absolute neccesity nowadays to cut back and eat as cheaply as possible.

Employers these days will constantly tell you you are lucky to be a in job these days with it being a double dip rescession

Now in our house, we are two adults working full time, no benefits,no debts, and by no means going to starve, but in April, just about every bill went up (even after doing the obvious swapping companies for utilities) - we have no control over that, which means we have less money availible for other things - such as food. But we can control our food shopping - it is the only thing we can control in the home budget. A lot of people cannot afford the same amount of grocery budget that they did before as it has been eaten up by fuel increases (petrol, gas)

Benefits rise each year to take into account all these utility rises, wages don't. I hope that doesn't come across as benefit bashing, because it isn't intended - any one who is currently unemployed could easily become redundant, it could happen to any of us, and yes- I have claimed benefits in the past when I have been made redundant- we can all fall on hard times

It is a shame there isn't more of a 'we are all in the same boat' together kind of attitude