Feed A Family Of Four Only £29.99 Week All In !

Softstuff

Last month OH and I spent $200 for the month (that's about 80 quid). It was eating pretty medium quality stuff really. Wasn't as cheap as it could have been, but it was also not as chock full of fruit, veggies and fresh food as this months is.

Some recipes that are super cheap - toad in the hole, potato pancakes, pasta bake, egg and chips, home made burgers, meatballs and rice, savoury chicken rice.

I find with eating super cheap you do have to sacrifice a bit of variety along the way, but 29.99 for four is by no means impossible, it's just not the perfect diet.

thriftlady_2

bukup wrote: »

Certainly,the shopping list will be posted on Sunday.Otherwise,watch the menu for a week,see if you like what you are reading,then maybe join in the following week.

The menu will be varied as much as possible.

Monday-Friday lunches will be on a packed lunch basis.

Have I missed it ?

MrsBartolozzi

I am with Icemaiden here - I agree that by using BOGOFs you may be able to get to 29.99 a week but I think it might need to be looked at more as £125 per month, making the most of cheaper bulk packs etc

eg 2 1.75kg packs of frozen mince Tesco 3.13 each (not the value stuff) = 7 meals spread over the month - maybe 1 spag bol + 1 chili per week/10 days

2kg value onions = 80p (i find these keep pretty well and usually last 3 weeks til used up maybe longer)

just some thoughts
MrsB.

sarahmoon_2

I'm disppointed I just found this thread and would definitely have joined in. If it wasn't for food shopping we'd be rich!

Penny-Pincher!!

I posted a few weeks complete menu/food weekly plans a few months back and I dont know how to find them ...i think most weeks we came in about £25-£30pw and this was including all fruit and veg.

I think I posted it on BS menu plan. How do I look it up?

£30pw is definately achievable!

PP
xx

Shortie

Okay, I'm off work today and bored so have sat on tried to wrok this one out..... A few presumtions etc made here , listed below, and here goes:

1. This is just one week - I'm not saying this is at all a good rounded diet for a long term.
2. It's for 4 people without dietary needs etc
3. You have seasoniongs you want and oil, butter, oh… 2 eggs (99 for 6 eggs blew me over budget)
4. You can only get to Tesco (that way not variance in local markets etc where you could make more savings)
5. Some items you'll have stuff left the end of the week for other meals, but the prices here are for the whole pack, not the amount needed just for the one week. If you divide it by the week, it'll be cheaper.
6. It'll get boring if done for a long while (as well as not nutritionally balanced like I say above)
7. TV = Tesco Value and ** means you’ll probably have spare left the end of the week
8. Everything is full price as you can't guarentee reductions, but reductions found would mean you could buy a couple of treats (TV biscuits say)

Okay here goes:

List
TV Porridge Oats - 48p **
TV Skimmed Dried Milk - £1.53 **
Sultanas – 60p
TV Brown Bread – 84p
TV Mature Cheese block - £4
TV Sweet Pickle – 26p
Funsize apples x 3 - £2.97
Jaffa Satsumas x 2 - £2.98
TV frozen chicken (1 kg) - £2.99
TV Frozen Mince (1kg) - £1.45
TV Sausages x 3 - £1.47
TV Basmati Rice - 79p
TV Curry Sauce x 2 - 48p
Frozen Sweetcorn x 2 - £2.38
Frozen Peas - £1.10
TV Fresh Carrots x 2 - £1.36
TV Chopped Toms x 4 – 60p
TV Gravy Powder – 38p **
1 netting bag of onions (from market or local shop) - £1 **
TV Chips – 44p
TV Potatoes - £1.49
Total = £29.81


Meals

Breakfast – per person
Porridge made with rehydrated milk and sultanas added

Lunch – per person
Sandwich – 2 bread, some grated cheese and pickle
Fruit from above shopping list

Dinner – meals for 4.

Chicken Curry
Half bag of frozen chicken, cubed. Half bag of Basmati rice, TV Curry Sauces, couple of peeled and cubed potatoes, sultanas, onions.
Chicken Stir Fry
Half bag of frozen chicken, cubed. Half bag of Basmati rice, onions, sweetcorn, peas, seasoning
Bolognaise
Half bag of mince meat, plenty of onions, carrots chopped small, gravy powder, 3x tinned tomatoes, seasoning. Leave overnight in fridge to thicken. Serve with grated cheese
Burger and chips
Half bag of mince mixed with finely chopped onions and seasoning. Chips and veg
Sausage and Mash
2x pack of sausages (i.e 16 sausages, so 4 each), potatoes mashed, gravy and veg
Toad in the Hole and Mash
1x pack of sausages cut in ahlf each to make them ‘go further’, 2x batter mix with 2 eggs. Mash and veg
Cheese and Potato Pie
Mashed potatoes, finely chopped onions, tin of chopped toms, seasoning, mixed all together and in oven with cheese melted on top


Bums. I just realised I never accounted for £1 bag of pasta from Tesco for pasta.

Hmm... the more I look at that the less I’m convinced…..

Yategirl

I think it *is* achieveable based on the fact that we have a budget of £200/month for 2 adults and 2 children... this has to include cleaning stuff/toilet rolls/nappies BUT the way I do it is the first week of the month buy stuff that will last us the month i.e. porridge oats and golden syrup for flapjack, toilet rolls etc... plus that weeks fruit/veg/milk/tinned stuff and then each week after I just top up with any fruit/veg/milk/tinned stuff needed for the meals. You *do* have to menu plan slightly at the start of the month - so what cakes etc you might make and then menu plan each week to fit in with what money you have over. Does that make sense??

What I would say though is that we manage our 5 a day because I menu plan but there is no spare money over within that budget if we fancy a meal out or some different veg/fruit (so it's ok if you can spend more for the occasional treat). I cook from scratch and I do grow our own veg to supplement what we have so we don't go short.

cupid_s

Sorry this is going to be long.

I've just gone throuh a typical two weeks meals for us and costed them according to the tesco website (so not taking into account the silly reduced prices that we pay quite often but taking into account current offers like BOGOF).

I doubled all the quantities because there's only two of us but it works out as about £48 for 2 weeks. This is what I put on the 2 week menu plan and is typical for us.

1. Roast shoulder of pork with roast pots, and 3 veg
2. salmon (smoked salmon and normal salmon) and mushroom pasta with a creamy dill sauce
3. pork stirfry using leftover meat with veg and brown rice
4. jacket potato with lemon chicken, corn on cob, broccoli, carrots
5. spaghetti bolognese (with veg)
6. pad thai
7. seafood pizza (with prawns, mussels, smoked salmon, tuna and anchovies - yummy) with strawberries in strawberry jelly for afters
8. roast chicken thighs with mash and 3 veg
9. egg and chips with mushrooms/beans with plum cobbler for pud
10. chicken wraps with jacket wedges, corn on the cob and salad
11. sausage casserole
12. pasta with chicken and bacon
13. home-made burgers and chips with salad
14. chicken and spinach pizza with mandarin segments in orange jelly for afters

In addition to this there are 2 portions of fruit or fruit juice (not from concentrate) per person each day so everyone is getting their 5 a day or close to it. The majority of the fruit comes from the market and so is cheaper

Breakfasts are bacon/sausage/egg sandwiches, toast or cereal (all included in costing)
Lunches are sandwiches/wraps with leftover meat or leftover meals from evening before

We don’t often have puddings. Only if the main meal is smaller or doesn’t have enough veg in.

Another thing, very little on my list was value. I especially don’t buy value meat/sausages. I could knock a fair bit off that by doing everything value instead. However there are some things needed that are typical storecupboard items so not included in my costing. Could get most of them or that extra tenner though.

Yategirl

cupid_s - is your £48 just for food or does that include any cleaning stuff (I get the impression it doesn't)? Have you allowed for any snacks, tea/coffee etc?

Just trying to figure it out in my head!

Pink.

Penny-Pincher!! wrote: »

I posted a few weeks complete menu/food weekly plans a few months back and I dont know how to find them ...i think most weeks we came in about £25-£30pw and this was including all fruit and veg.

I think I posted it on BS menu plan. How do I look it up?

£30pw is definately achievable!

PP
xx

Hi Penny Pincher,

There are a couple of meal plans that you posted on BS's thread here and here. Are these the ones you were looking for?

Pink