What is a realistic weekly budget for a family of four?

FireWyrm

Well, baking doesnt always come out...but a dozen jam tarts and two good loaves of bread today should see us right for the next few days.

Dinner tonight is lasagne made with 1Lb of mince , some mozarella, sheets of lasangne pasta, cheese sauce and a tin of tomatoes (general herbs) etc. That makes enough food which will be split between tonight and tomorrow.

Yesterday was Chicken Risoto made from what was left over from Sunday roast dinner.

The way to make it last is to figure out how to use left overs effectively. Left over mash? Try making rosti type paties the next day. Personally, I love bubble & squeek so that gets made often. I never buy ready made meals, 1 designated takeaway a month. Need to use cheap or inferior type fish, make a fish pie. Got a tough old piece of stewing steak? Bulk with vegetables, slow cook for nutritous stews. Pumpkins after halloween? Pumpkin stew is a favourite in our house. Marrows from the local allotments? Why not stuff with mince/tomato/herbs and bake?

I strongly suggest you investigate old style cook books. Just because it's fallen out of fashion doesnt mean that it's not good to eat. So, hearts, kidneys, liver, stewing beef (chuck or neck), salted meats etc.

Where possible, opt to spend your money on vegetables and halve your meat. As a species, we evolved to survive on around 5 to 8oz of meat per "week" with the bulk of our diet consisting of pulses, herbs, veg, nuts and berries. None of those are bad, just not fashionable. We've all grown up eating far too much high quality protein which is frankly not good for us. There is clear evidence that too much meat often leads to heart disease, liver disfunction and even cancer, whereas diets high in oils, pulses, nuts and berries are far healthier. A diet which is a cross between mediterranean and far eastern is probably the best overall giving good nutrition without breaking the bank. Asian food such as chinese (not that horrible stuff from the takeaway, but 'traditional' chinese cooking) is in most cases ridiculously simple to prepare, super quick to knock up and high in nutrition.

Another option is to include far more fish than we as a western nation are used to. Traditionally, fish comes battered from the local chippy, but there are literally hundreds of alternative fish out there which are fantastic to eat, cheap (because they're not fashionable) and sustainable.

When you buy from the local supermarket, take a look at the ingedients. Discard anything that has a name you cant pronouce or an E number. Look at what is actually in it and see if you can make a version of it yourself. Nine times out of ten, it's actually pretty simple, quick and cheap to make yourself if you just have a go.

helpmepayit

FireWyrm, please come and live with us haha. That all sounds absolutely amazing!! I am not much of a cook but think now is the time to get started properly. You guys have all given me so much to think about you really have so a big big thank you:T:T:T
I have enough food in cupboards, fridge and freezer but I think I will attempt my next 'big' shop at Aldi or Lidl. I have a few cook books I am going to get down from the loft and I'm going to dig my slow cooker out from the cupboard under the stairs (which is a total mess) MIL bought me a lovely little slow cooker cook book at Christmas so I am going to look through that. Will start to meal plan tonight so I have a full shopping list ready for the next big shop.
Never took my purse on school run today, if I had I'd have been about £2 in Greggs as my oldest son was wanting 2 sausage rolls and a yumyum!! He was that desperate he was wanting us to walk home to get my purse amd walk back up (quite a trek as its all uphill on the way back to the shops)


I am cancelling OH contact phone today saving £20 per month, downgraded on virgin tv saving £25 per month, hoping to lose the Halifax overdraft within a few weeks saving me over £50 per month. I am on a mission now.
You guys really are an inspiration :A:money::A xxx

FireWyrm

In that case, I would personally be requesting cook books for Christmas. Some suggestions then...

Rachel Allen - Home Cooking
Delia Smith - Delias complete cooking course (general purpose advice similar to the old style 'how to be a housewife' style books from the 50's)
Delias Frugal Food
Ching He Huang - Chings Fast Food (all purpose, super simple Chinese)
Bill Granger - Simply Bill (more beech and summer food, but ok)
Carla Capalbo - the ultimate Italian cookbook

Hold on...hubby just put his back out getting plates for dinner...oh hum.

That should keep you going

Tommelise

If you have a smartphone I can recommed using EEBA, if you want to try budget with the evelope system:

https://www.eebacanhelp.com/

FireWyrm's suggestions are good, so try to copy that and have a look around the oldstyle board for more help with menu planning

cottonhead

I try to stick to £200 a month for the 3 of us and now we have a bit more money I have splashed out and made it £300.But I was shocked when I phoned the bank recently and had to do an income and expenditure in order to set up a repayment arrangement for an overdraft they told me that according to the citizens advice centre a family of 3 in our area needs £600 a month to cover food and cleaning stuff and so thats what they put on my form. To me that seems very very generous ! I cut my food bills by writing a list, shopping in Aldi which is much cheaper than tesco, not shopping when I am hungry ( yes it really does work ! ) and swapping some brands for others. IE coke is now £2.05p a bottle in Tesco where we live and yet if we swap to Aldi cloudy lemonade instead , which we enjoy just as much - its only 40p a bottle ! Also I agree that setting a budget and having it in cash stops you overspending. If you have to touch the money and physically part with it , it seems more real.

Learning2Budget

I have been using https://www.theresourcefulcook.com for meal planning and recipes. But starting to get the hang of my own meal planning now.
Used to use eeba app for my spends and envelope system but have now moved across to easy money app but you have to reload it every month if you want it free. Have just hauled out some cookbook for inspiration.
Good luck hun. L2B.x

lesgeo2012

I'm glad you started this thread as my food bill is scary and I was wondering what everyone else spends. Its pay day tomorrow, so i'm doing a proper food plan and cutting out the rubbish to see how much I can cut out!