How DO YOU feed a family on <£250?

fifi_le_pew

my biggest tip would definitely have to be BUY A SEPARATE FREEZER!! followed by :-

-never buy ready meals, they are vile, tasteless, cardboard mush - its really not that hard to cook things from scratch (i used to class opening a tin as cooking, and always just bought ready meals until pennies got tight and i had to make changes)
- buy meat in bulk, split it into portions (depending on what you are planning to make with it), and freeze the uncooked portions
- cook big batches of things like bolognaise, mince (for mince n tatties), lasagne, soups, and then freeze into portions (u will need to stock up on plastic tubs etc).
- pad things out with veg when cooking, whenever possible, as this creates extra portions and you can then freeze them, for use later in the month
- try and be organised ie have an idea of what meals you will be cooking that whole week, and take the meat out to defrost in plenty of time (otherwise, its a takeaway or ready meal )
- i still buy cooking sauces from shops, but i make sure i have a good variety stocked up so its easy to decide what to make at a glance
- i no longer shop at asda if i can help it (too much temptation to buy unnecessarys ie clothes, cds etc), i use aldis and am saving a fortune. I work beside someone who does procurement for aldis through the week, and they told us a few weeks ago that aldis are now using the same supplier for their steaks as M&S! Naturally, we have put this to the test, and I can confirm, the vacuum-sealed packs of sirloin, fillett steak etc are DELICIOUS and def as good as the stuff from M&S, but at least a third off the price! Get in There!
:beer:
- always have clingfilm and clothes pegs to hand, to wrap up any veg ie lettuce, cucumber, as they can last for days this way, and the clothes pegs help seal bags of frozen veg but also seal bags of fresh salad that can be kept in the fridge and last for days

Sparklyfairy

HeadAboveWater wrote: »

Hmmmmmmmmmm...

Lol, HeadAboveWater, pop around for a cuppa, I guarantee you'll never know the difference!;)

fisherlass

I fed myself and 3 very active teenagers on a really low budget.
Bread - I made my own - soooo much cheaper, tastier and filling (so you use less). Actually only took 20mins of my time to make 6 loaves so I used 2 and froze 4. The boys could make bread too if I was busy. Always baked other things while the oven was on. I used dried soya mince instead of meat and just added a bit extra flavouring. Also used barley to add to veg stews and soups. Picked berries to make jams and puddings. Tried to grow veg but always battling against the deer, sheep and rabbits!!! Lived on an island where food and transport prices were very high. No such thing as markets or cheap supermarkets but I still managed a good diet for us while on income support.

dreamdreamer

I've just done a weekly shop (I'm also in Norfolk!). It cost £50.87 and it'll last us a week. Meal planning really is the key. Our meals for the next week are as such:

Monday - Homemade Soup & Bread. Cost: £1.77
Tuesday - Sausage Casserole. Cost: £4.17
Wednesday - Shepherd's Pie. Cost: £6.12
Thursday - Spag Bol. Cost: £3.89
Friday - Spanish Chicken & Rice. Cost: £5.99
Saturday - Piri Piri Chicken & Homemade Chips. Cost: £5.75
Sunday - Roast Chicken, spuds, veg, yorkshires, stuffing. Cost: £5.79

Cost of our evening meals is £33.48 BUT these are all made for 4 people and there's just the 2 of us so we have leftovers for lunch tuesday-friday.

The other £17 is spent on: Milk, ham, eggs, salad, crisps, diet coke, fruit juice, yoghurts, granola and cereal bars. This makes up our breakfasts and lunches when we don't have leftovers. Breakfast is usually granola or eggs and toast at the weekends.

We don't routinely buy toiletries with our food shopping. We stock up when they're on offer, usually spending about £20 every couple of months on shampoo, razor blades, shower gel, deoderant and shaving foam.

I know we could pare this down (we pay for the convenience with some things as we both work very long hours) but we do enjoy our food and I don't think £50 is that unreasonable. It does need saying though that this shop assumes you have some things in your cupboard such as stock cubes, flour, herbs etc. Again we stock up on these when theyre on offer as they'll always get used.

HTH

Dreamer x

funnythings

I'm lucky i have 4 major supermarkets within a couple minutes drive from eachother.

Before i do my weekly shop the night before i go on each of the supermarkets websites

and write down all the deals on offer that i wish to buy. I also have 2x 10% discount cards for 2 of the supermarkets. I always on the look out for printable vouchers one week my £55.00
shop cost me £12.00 with discounts and vouchers.

I think it is becoming the usual to shop between different shops and supermarkets to find the best deals and prices.

I have 2 Adults 3 children and a cat to feed and a £200.00 amonth budget.

Plan Plan Plan,and search is the best advice