What would you buy last fiver?

DianneB

I would have got the loo rolls first!!
Then a big bag of potatoes for jackets, chips and mash toppings.
Do your children like homemade bread? Have some nice thick slices with homemade soup. Make some buns or doughnuts. Now is not the time to be picky eat the sausages!! Good luck.

pigpen

Stop sending the man to the shop.. he is a twit when it comes to the practicalities of food shopping..

Tuna pasta springs to mind.. pasta + tuna + mayo or anything saucy to make it less dry... can be hot or cold.. add peas or sweetcorn or peppers or whatever you like (frozen work just as well as fresh!!)

Shopping.. we would have to have milk and bread and lots of cheap/reduced veg/mince. Potatoes and pasta we would never run out of as they are the things we eat every day.. not usually both I'd go mince and pack our with lentils.. cheap, filling and good for you I add them to everything made with mince.

Sausage casserole.. you can chop sausages into 5 or 6 pieces and have with mash or jackets.. if you don't like the sausage itself you can just have the sauce and veg and feed the sausage to everyone else.

Jackets with beans/tuna/cheese are cheap and filling.

You don't need sweet stuff, just because they like them does not mean they need them.. if they are in they will eat them, they are not necessary or good for your health or pocket and have little nutritional value. With £5 in your pocket you need to focus on good and filling not treats!

mummyroysof3

i must have missed where it said how many of you there are sorry. if it was me id also be buying £1 bag of apples or bananas and some value tinned fruit so the kids had at least a bit of fruit in those 3/4 days. do the kids get school dinners or do you need packed lunches too?

juliettet

I think Gailey you do very well looking after your family. What about a packet of soya mince and cook with onion and passata and that will make spag bol? Also a £1 stew veg pack could be roasted and pureed into soup. Also I would get a pack of loo roll and give them porridge made with water for breakfast. Also eggs could be made into eggy bread. I'm sure all the above posts will give you some ideas too.

[Deleted User]

spuds,onions,cheese
spuds can be chipped,mashed or jacketed
Onions and cheese layered with mashed spuds for a cheese pie
and definitntely so loo roll
Crisps and biscuits kids can do without If you have some flour ,marge caster sugar and oats make some 'melting moments' very yummy and cheap as chips to make

kezlou

Hi gailey,

I would buy toilet roll, potatoes, milk, eggs and cheese.
I can't stand sausages so know how you feel.

how about sausage casserole
sausage, pasta, passata and herbs.
tuna and pasta
salmon and pasta
Soup with passata, frozen veg and potatoes
i would add the frozen veg to bulk out the casserole and serve with mash

If get pots and eggs you could make an omelette
pancakes with jam as a little desert.
cheese and crackers as snacks

your a great mum gailey and like i know how it feels, its awful but you can do it!!!!

LameWolf

I'd definitely get some apples. They generally keep well (make sure they're not bruised when you buy them) and can be a dessert, a snack, a lunch-box item.

Our local market often has large bowls of produce on offer for £1 a bowl - I got 12 bananas for £1 the other day. Sliced banana with a spoonful of HM jam is a favourite dessert in the Wolf's Lair; and again, they make good snacks or lunch-box fillers.

The above would probably be either/or given your £5 limit, because potatoes are a must.

Crisps and biscuits simply wouldn't happen. Nor would any expensive drinks - there's water in the tap.

I'm vegetarian, so would go for the two packs of soya mince for the final £3 in Mr T's, which is extremely versatile; for obvious reasons I can't give you meat or fish ideas, but Shepherd Spy is always a favourite here - onions (which you say you have), whatever other veg you have to hand (I usually use carrots and peas), soya mince, season as you like. Bung into an oven-proof dish. Shove a layer of mash on top; if you have a bit of cheese kicking around, grate this over the top, and bake the lot in the oven.

sonastin

tbh - it looks like you've got plenty in for dinners -loads of ideas above. not sure about breakfasts or lunches so maybe get stuff for those. £5 can stretch to quite a lot for those meals - spuds, bread, porridge oats. Can go quite a long way depending on how many of you there are.

I've made OH go without snacks and drinks for much longer than 3 days for no other reason than I'm not making a special trip to the SM for just teabags or biscuits. He has to wait until I'm passing anyway or going to stock up on important things like nutritious food, bog roll, etc. You aren't the only one that has to learn to live on this budget - your family need to start to recognise the difference between essentials and treats and that way you won't feel under so much pressure to make the budget stretch to treats too.

FairyPrincessk

Instead of using the tuna on the pizza, I'd use it in a pasta bake. I'd probably slit open one or two sausages and crumble and brown in a pan and then use them as a pizza topping. I'd then probably use the rest in some sort of pie with the potatos or as another has suggested, in spag bol--so if you need flour/fat for a pie crust I'd spend on that. You could then use the remainder fat/flour to bake something sweet, although it sounds like you've already got some sweet stuff in if you have ice cream. You could do an onion soup with the onions, perhaps make one cheese toastie with any leftover cheese and then cut it into small squares to float one on top of each bowl to make it feel more luxurious. If you need something for breakfast I'd definitely go for porridge.

aliama

If you're sick of sausages, why not try something different with them? Remove them from their skins and turn them into meatballs, using mashed up crackers. They might fall apart without an egg to bind them, but that won't matter if you use them in a soup or a pasta sauce. Or slice and use in a soup or stew.

I'd probably use the smoked salmon for lunches and breakfast.

Hmm, I think I'd do:

- a tuna pasta bake using the tuna, some passata, onions, etc
(e.g. http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1965/pasta-with-tuna-and-tomato-sauce - probably leave out the basil or use dried mixed herbs instead)
- A big vegetable soup, usng onions, passata, mushrooms, pasta, lentils, stock (if you have any)
- Finally I'd do a sausage and lentil casserole with the sliced sausages, possibly any leftover carrots and mushrooms

Sainsburies basics toilet roll - 1.96
500g carrots - 0.45
400g basics mushrooms - 0.97
500g dried lentils - 1.09
basics chicked stock cubes - 0.10
medium wholemeal bread - 0.50