Where do I start? How do I feed us all for under £500 a month?

nharriswhite

as for rabbit food, you can buy feed from farm shops or horse places I pay £6 for 20kg it called Heygates (I have 15 rabbits to feed) but it will last ages - I even sell 1kg bags of it at bootfairs

JodyBPM

sketchingkari wrote: »

One example is breakfast, I cannot eat carbs before lunch, so its either wheat free sausages (expensive) or bacon and eggs,

Bacon and eggs or specialist sausages for breakfast sounds like an expensive and luxurious breakfast to me! Are there not alternatives such as just eggs (scrambled, boiled, hard boiled, poached etc) or natural yoghurt, or how about a continental style breakfast with a wedge of camembert (basics is fine) or other cheese and a slice or two of salami or ham? One pack of camembert and a pack of salami would set you back about £3 in total, and could provide a whole week of breakfasts! (I'd personally add a slice of melon or a handful of grapes to that, but not sure whether there would be too much sugar in the fruit for your dietary requirements - perhaps a couple of celery sticks or chunks of cucumber would be a good substitite)

I'd also try to stop allowing different family members to have different meals unless there was a medical reason for it, that will rack up costs very quickly.

tiredwithtwins

some superb replies on here already, and i would add that if you have time, have a good read over previous threads with a notebook and pen beside you to make notes!

2 small changes i made, amongst the many from the info ive had on here, is to cut down on the portion size and make the evening meal a cheapo one instead of a full meal. this is for when the kids have had a hot school dinner, i make them something like soup or beans on toast ... it really is enough and they are fine with it! my 3 kids are 14, 11 + 11 and eat like adults ... just cutting down on portions and making that change has saved me a small fortune. with fruit/beg sticks and home baking to fill up on, beans on toast is often enough!

over the years, with the help from the good folks on here, i ve got my food bill down to about £250 a month, which is over half what i was spending.

good luck :beer:

oldtractor

buy value ranges cheap meat eg shin or liver can you eat pulses? [lentils split peas chickpeas? if so then they are cheap protein providers. eggs are cheap. Can you grow some veg? make veg soup and veg casseroles. serve with home made bread and jacket potatoes for the family.
because of health reason I cannot eat hi fibre or dairy before lunch either. my brkfst is eggs often a veg and 1 egg omlette or some frozen kippers or a tin of fruit. or fresh fruit [not bananas]. but the rest of the day is wholemeal ad veg based, eg veg and chickpea casserole vegie chilli or curry. poached fish and jacket pots and veg or salad. basically lots of veg and a little protein mai ly fish and eggs. We are 4 adults and 2 cats my shopping budget for us including cleaning products is £300 a month max. i bake everythig for the family ie bread cakes biscuits quiche all pastry dishes eg pie and cook everything from scratch. make my own museli and laundry gloop and clean with lemon juice and bicarb. there are lots of theads on here and elsewhere on the internet about all these things. It is do-able.

sketchingkari

Apologies if I miss anyones question, there is lots to read through, thank you so much for taking the time.

I dont eat gluten free replacement foods, they are high carb and usually high sugar, its easier just to avoid.

Scambled eggs on their own for brekkie is really hard to eat, i've tried, I do have an omellete a couple of times a week, or sometimes make do with a couple of plain boiled eggs but it can be hard to get them down. Other than a bit grated ontop of meals, I dont really eat cheese.

My hypo basically means little sugar, low carb, I can eat rice (brown) or spuds, but not large amounts and not every day.

Todays menu for example:

Brekkie- 2 slices of bacon (in a rush)
lunch 2 sausages (£2.99 for 6) half tin of value baked beans
dinner is homemade cottage pie, wheat free and I have a small portion of the mash from the top.

snacks are a handfull of nuts, a carrot with peanut butter and some live yogurt (not very exciting eh)

I think Nicepeach may be onto something there, I do need to start saying 'is this something I want, or something I need?' not just in the groceries, but with everything.

I work stupid long hours 11+ per day, every day, and its all just gotten a bit too much, I think I often opt for convenience and quick to cook foods as the easier option.

sonastin

JodyBPM wrote: »

I'd also try to stop allowing different family members to have different meals unless there was a medical reason for it, that will rack up costs very quickly.

Definitely agree with this for main meals and possibly lunches too, depending on what/when/who. But for the example you gave for breakfast I don't think it matters so much if you're all eating different things at different times as none of them are expensive to prepare (except yours - some good suggestions already given!) or likely to go off quickly if not used. There isn't a lot of difference between the kids eating the same cereal and the box being used twice as fast or eating different cereals and each box lasting twice as long. What would make the difference is if you can get each one onto a cheaper alternative - get OH out of bed a bit earlier so he can have porridge instead of cereal bar, DS onto homemade bread or cheaper jam, the other two onto a cheaper cereal option, etc.

For main meals, meal planning definitely helps. Batch cooking, bulk buying and only having the cooker/oven on once definitely helps (although the latter helps your energy bills rather than grocery!)

Hang around on this site for a while and you'll learn loads of useful ideas. I know I have!

MandM90

I don't know if you actually have a day you can do this, working such long hours (though maybe your OH could help?) but we've started cooking once a week and freezing/chilling everything. Often we do a pot of something which will last 2-4 meals and freeze in portions and if the oven is on put in a couple of meals and a pudding (saves electricity too!)

horsechestnut

Following recomendations on here, I started making my own Yoghurt a few years ago using an Easy-yo Yogurt maker: there is a whole thread on it which is easy to follow, this has saved me a lot of money.
You don't have to use the Easy-Yo packets of yoghurt mix, I use value dried milk and long life milk: you can make a full litre for less than a £.
Do you have a Home Bargains near you? Cheap for everything and sell Stardrops for about 90p.
Look at the Stardrops thread. If you can't buy it where you live then Flash all-suface cleaner is a bit more expensive but good for floors, sinks, bathrooms and most other surfaces. You keep your old spray bottle and fill it with water nearly to the top, then add 3 tablespoons of Stardrops/Flash and if you like to use bleach in the spray then add a small squeeze. Do always put the water in first or you will get suds all over the place!!!! Buying different bottles of spray stuff at £1 a bottle just eats the money.

adelight

Dunroamin wrote: »

Why not just have scrambled eggs or some cheese?

scrambled eggs or omelette? yogurt, quark, cottage cheese, fromage frais are all low carb and can be made sweet or savoury. i think those would all be about 30-40p a serving.
i know this may well not appeal but protein shake? they can actually be very cheap <30p

Butterfly_Brain

You definitely need to meal plan. As for different meals that is a disaster on budget control for anyone, unless you have someone who has special dietary needs apart from that everyone else should be eating the same.
I agree that if the children have a hot school dinner then a simple evening meal is fine.
I batch cook as well so if I am making A Spag Bol I will make double or even four times the amount of sauce and freeze to use in a lasagne, another Spag Bol, or use for a stromboli etc.

Can you use soya mince, TVP or quorn products?

I Shop in Aldi because it is by far cheaper on a lot of things especially meat. They always have offers on fruit and veg too. My DD prefers their cream cheese to philli and it is only 59p
I buy a small Chicken for £2.59 or the medium one is £3.49 and it easily stretches to feed 5 of us for a roast and I can squeeze a risotto or a pie out of it the next day plus I use the carcass to make a stock. The mince is fantastic and I buy their cheaper 800g packs for £2.49 and split into 2 x 400g units or just batch cook with it. I buy their streaky bacon for 89p and it is not fatty and we often have it with eggs, instead of expensive back bacon, it comes as smoked or unsmoked. I also chop a couple of packs into lardons, that I can use to sprinkle on top of a pizza, use for a carbonara or use the smoked one with a tin of tomatoes, a small onion some peppers and mushrooms to make a lovely sauce for spaghetti or rice. Risotto is cheap and easy too.
1 kg of Spaghetti is 59p. 1kg of rice is 40p and much nicer than some supermarket brands that I could mention! I buy fuselli from Farmfoods 3kg bag for £2.50.

I only use stardrops, vinegar and soda crystals for cleaning and buy the Asda own Washing powder (£3.36 for a sixty wash box which can be extended if you only use half of the stated amount it still washes well) I have used it for years and even though DD and I both have excema we don't have a reaction unlike some of the branded powders that we have used in the past.

I make my own bread and yoghurt, muesli, granola (Which can easily be made into bars just add dried fruit and nuts of choice) , jams, pickles and chutneys.I also have a dehydrator which makes the best fruit leather that you have ever tasted. Also if there is a glut of any fruit and it is going cheap I either freeze or dehydrate that as well.
Flapjacks are a cheap alternative to those sawdusty shop bought bars and no dubious additives. Or how about pancakes for brekkie.

these links may help
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=8736367#post8736367

http://thirty-quid.blogspot.co.uk/

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=122529&highlight=gluten