How do people feed families on £40 a week?

Foxn86

It is possible if I have been running short on money there is weeks I have had to do this. And we certainly have not went short on food. I have went to places like aldi and asda. Stocked up on fruit to do a whole week. Also veg and made big bowls of soup which is filling and so cheap to make. Also pasta and buy puree tomato with red onion and basil again so cheap but a good dinner. Buy potatoes and make baked pots with salad, and meats and have with the potatoes and veg left from the soup stuff. And eggs and use them for omelettes and make your own chips with the potatoes in the oven with some olive oil over them. There is lots you can do on a budget and eat really well. And as for saying you could only live off chicken nuggets and pizza I would say these items and dearer most of the time than ingredients you buy to cook from scratch.

Fire_Fox

lalapalooza wrote: »

wow - want an amazing string! I spend far too much on food I am embarrassed to say I don't even know the price of things - been someone who has for years just shoved food into my trolley and paid at the tills :-(

I have just resigned from work as I am fed up with politics/ stress. I will therefore be £26,500 worse off per month as of the end of April so am on here for lots of ideas and to learn from you guys how to budget properly. I think I need to do an inventory of what food I have, then work out a menu plan as a starting point?

I get my veg off a local veg man delivered, and I do shop at Lidl as we have one locally - we like to buy UK meat, and freerange chicken & eggs ( I was veggy for 4 years so this is quite important to me). I know I will have to reduce our meat consumption but as we are both overweight this will be a good thing!

I do get some meat from Makro (again, UK only) such as pork joints and lamb steaks which I cook slice and freeze into portions which saves money. I prefer butchers meat as although it looks more expensive it isn't pumped full of water and therefore goes further. I reckon for the two of us I spend currently £500-600 per month which is outrageous (I have 5 cats and OH likes a glass of wine so not all food).

I am also dairy free so have to purchase alternatives :-).

Looking forward to reading all the hints and tips as I will need them with my non existant food budget until I get my new business established!

Going by what I have put above, what would you say is a good weekly budget? Many thanks for reading x

Cats: could switch to part or all raw if they will take to it, for example pork kidneys are about £1 a kilo. Otherwise try Butchers Classic from the supermarket or online and Porta 21 Sensible from Zooplus. Both grain free, nasty additive free, feed rate/ portion size lower than most water and cereal packed commercial foods. Pouches are incredibly overpriced per kilo. I don't spend more than 50p per day per cat, and that is for nutrient dense food no cheap fillers. That would be £75 a month for five cats tho! :eek:

If you are overweight cutting back on the booze is an easy way to save money and get healthier. Do you have an Aldi? They are cheap for British free range medium eggs (14.5p per egg) and British free range whole chicken (£3.40 a kilo), no idea if you are saying you normally get this from Lidl or a big supermarket.

Asda have free range local large eggs on offer at 24 for £4 (16.5p per egg), here in Yorkshire it is James Potter but presumably different brands nationwide. Ocado for free range lean pork mince (£6.60 a kilo), it's £2 a kilo cheaper than the Tesco not free range stuff!! Mince can be stretched with vegetables and pulses in a way that pork or lamb steaks cannot; lamb is crazy expensive and generally fatty you might want to knock that on the head for a while.

Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury, Waitrose and Ocado all have all their prices on their websites if you want to start comparing price per kilo, I use these to fill a virtual 'trolley' even if I intend to shop in a physical store. You might also find the long running supermarket organic thread started by Edwardia useful, we do also discuss the best prices on free range, British and additive free because a few of us cannot afford organic.

Dairy free .... canned wild oily fish with the crumbly bones mashed in is the obvious calcium substitute, and it's recommended to have fish at least twice a week for health. Pilchards in tomato sauce and mackerel in 400g cans are under £1, great source of protein and omega-3 essential fatty acids, bioavailable vitamin D as well as the calcium so multi tasking. Also make your own chicken stock, break the bones up with poultry shears then cook for hours and hours to get minerals out. Gorgeous homemade vegetable soups! :drool:

Many faux dairy products just contain chalk for calcium, they really are not good value for money you could supplement much cheaper. Do bear in mind the calcium needs to be balanced with vitamin D and magnesium to be absorbed and utilised.

I don't really understand why you are purchasing fresh vegetables then freezing them, you will likely find it much cheaper to buy at least some of your vegetables frozen. Farmfoods has three packs of 750g/ 1kg for £2. Supermarkets have various frozen veggies for around £1 a kilo, bear in mind there is little waste (peels, stalks) with frozen. Aldi and Lidl have regular offers on fresh vegetables.

lalapalooza

Hi Firefox

Thanks for your reply.

I prefer to buy locally and support local businesses hence the vegbox.... we freeze to prevent waste. We do have green beans and peas in frozen form as easier - I just freeze onions, carrot and swede, potatoes for roast/ parmantiers etc. Parsnips prefer fresh.

We are semi rural and nearest shops are Sainsburys and Lidl and we have a bustling town centre too. Lidl is where I was meaning re the freerange chicken.... Once I finish work I am hoping to take advantage of the weekly market in the town (subject to prices once I am more price savvy).

Aldi is over 20 miles away from us and not on a route to anywhere so not a goer really, same as Asda. Our next nearest are Waitrose (6 miles - good for dairy free goods) and Tescos (14 miles).

I eat a lot of dark green veg which is where I get most of my calcium from - never been a lover of creamy sauces/ milk per se.. I used to drink wine often but have knocked that on the head as pointless calories, and , as you say, depletes the magnesium and calcium....

We have fish at least twice a week - smoked mackeral as brunch over the weekend (although just seen the price this week in S - so expensive!) and I have yellow fish/ haddock/ whiting/salmon in the freezer as I speak.

We love fruit and veg and I have lots of tins of pulses in the cupboard and red lentils in packet so plenty to start with!

Edwardia

Getting rather tired of the vitriol because I choose to eat healthily rather than stuff additive laden reduced price junk. Don't smoke, don't drink, don't eat out, don't booze in pubs or holiday in Magaluf.. can afford to eat organic therefore, for my health.

In fact, in order to stay healthy with Type 2 diabetes with minimal drugs it's not really an option to do otherwise. If I stuffed crisps, chocolate, ready meals etc I would quickly be going blind and on insulin.

Diabetes is an epidemic in the Western world, it is killing millions. Type 2 diabetes is preventable.

Yeah I am blunt about the rubbish too many people on MSE eat. I got diabetes even though I wasn't eating it.

Many people on here are taking risks with their health and that of their kids. You can have Type 2 diabetes for ten years without knowing it and you don't have to be John Prescott size either.

mumonashoestring

If you have a freezer it's also worth keeping a few 'ready meals' in there for the little one. Ours eats what we eat usually but I make extra when making bolognese sauce, chicken casserole etc. and freeze it in portions for nights when we decide we fancy something salty/fatty. Steamed mashed butternut squash mixed with flaked tinned mackerel (1 tin per half squash) and steamed mashed sweet potato with a little grated cheese or cream cheese mixed into it are other good freezer fallbacks.

Bananabrain

Edwardia wrote: »

Reported.

Getting rather tired of the vitriol because I choose to eat healthily rather than stuff additive laden reduced price junk. Don't smoke, don't drink, don't eat out, don't booze in pubs or holiday in Magaluf.. can afford to eat organic therefore, for my health.

In fact, in order to stay healthy with Type 2 diabetes with minimal drugs it's not really an option to do otherwise. If I stuffed crisps, chocolate, ready meals etc I would quickly be going blind and on insulin.

Diabetes is an epidemic in the Western world, it is killing millions. Type 2 diabetes is preventable.

Yeah I am blunt about the rubbish too many people on MSE eat. I got diabetes even though I wasn't eating it.

Many people on here are taking risks with their health and that of their kids. You can have Type 2 diabetes for ten years without knowing it and you don't have to be John Prescott size either.

Edwardia, I think Spiritwood and I [and possibly others] are just slightly bemused as to why you found it necessary to tell the world that you are half French and bisexual.
What upsets me personally, is that some of your posts come across as extremely judgmental.
Perhaps you don't mean to be but you may want to consider the tone of your comments in the future.

blackandwhitebunny

lalapalooza wrote: »

We have fish at least twice a week - smoked mackeral as brunch over the weekend (although just seen the price this week in S - so expensive!) and I have yellow fish/ haddock/ whiting/salmon in the freezer as I speak.

We've also noticed that the price of smoked mackerel has gone up a lot but I think this is because its changed marine steward status and Sains is now sourcing it from a different sustainable source. We have bought smoked herring from there recently and that's been a lot cheaper, a few more bones but nearly half the price.
We also have a clutter of cats (down to four after losing two aged moggies but also feeding a stray) and spend around £100 a month but they eat felix, whiskas and sheba pouches and royal canin dry food. If you can bulk buy on special offers it makes a big difference. I don't know if you have a pets at home or a just for pets near you but one of them usually has a good special offer on something.

paulineb_2

Its not the reduced prices that make something additive laden. You can get healthy food cheaply if you look around. To be honest, I think if I or anyone else wants to buy crisps then that is our choice. I dont smoke. I dont holiday abroad. I dont have a tv. I dont even go out that much. But from me making one post about buying crisps from approved foods, it was assumed, wrongly about other food choices I made.

Ive had numerous packets of crisps kicking around my flat for a few weeks now, I'll eat them when I can be bothered, but it wont be 4 or 5 packets at a time.

And yes, I live in a council estate and so does my mum (she lives in a more upmarket one than I do), but Im not some stereotypical chav or ned as people get called in Scotland. I just happen not to have a mortgage and pay rent direct to the local council. And yes I see deprivation on a daily basis. I used to work with young people on benefits and I see people daily who make appalling food choices, but you'll also get people who have high or middling incomes who make appalling food choices. I know people who earn 4 and 5 times what I do who have cake with every meal, who have chocolate and fried food every other day, who binge drink. Because they can, because its available.

And I applaud ANYONE who gets off their backside and does something positive about healthy eating. But the occasional treat isnt a one way ticket to obesity or rotten teeth or malnutrition. Its as I said earlier, the word is moderation.

And if people's view out there in the UK is of those who get any benefits or get housing benefit as being uneducated chavs who do nothing but eat junk food, smoke, go to bingo and have a fortnight abroad in Benidorm courtesy of the taxpayer, then yes Im sure there are people like that.

But there are people quietly getting on with it and trying to make the best of the life and the health they have. And personally, I dont think anyone should be pulled up short for recommending a low cost site such as approved foods to other posters.

Because its not the case that everyone who shops there wants to fill their cupboards and their faces full or crap. Even me with my crisp habit, less than one packet a day.

As I said, I applaud anyone who makes positive choices re their own health and also anyone who tries to point other people in that direction as well.

I dont see the harm in someone having an occasional treat in moderation. I think my diet is healthier than most people I know and that didnt come about overnight, having less money made me make more positive choices. Not that I was ever the pie monster or the cake monster. I dont eat sweets, Im probably the only scots person alive without a biscuit tin and I can take or leave chocolate. I also dont and never have had a deep fat fryer in my house.

And even some of those yellow stickered goods can be fruit and veg. I absolutely agree that people need to be educated, because Ive worked with young folks who could barely boil an egg and havent a clue how to budget the money they have. And over a fairly lengthy period, the best part of 20 years. Ive also worked with people 20 plus years older than me who were living alone due to addictions and relationships breaking down and believe me, its not just a young person on benefit who have trouble budgeting, it can span all ages.

You know, I hardly know anyone on here and Ive lurked for a long time. But I dont have an issue with anyone on this thread, I might not agree with everything people have said, but its not necessary if people have an issue with one another, if the people concerned can let it blow over, it doesnt need to be raked up again, surely?

Oh and back to the original topic, I have to say my local aldi is spotless, doesnt stink of weed (sounds like you have been unlucky). I would definitely leave OH at home if he wont stop whinging.

And as an aside, I just wondered if the OP may be suffering a bit from the baby blues, PND, because when people were making comments about get up, get dressed and get out and about, if you are feeling low and unmotivated on a daily basis, you might be suffering from a touch of depression, can take a year for hormones to settle (Im not a mum, I teach pre and post natal fitness classes)

Just a thought, not trying to be nosey, just thought if you were still feeling low, which happens, maybe there might be a reason.

lalapalooza

blackandwhitebunny wrote: »

We've also noticed that the price of smoked mackerel has gone up a lot but I think this is because its changed marine steward status and Sains is now sourcing it from a different sustainable source. We have bought smoked herring from there recently and that's been a lot cheaper, a few more bones but nearly half the price.
We also have a clutter of cats (down to four after losing two aged moggies but also feeding a stray) and spend around £100 a month but they eat felix, whiskas and sheba pouches and royal canin dry food. If you can bulk buy on special offers it makes a big difference. I don't know if you have a pets at home or a just for pets near you but one of them usually has a good special offer on something.

Hi, I too feed Royal Canin and Sheba, (I get my RC direct and discounted as a registered breeder/exhibitor of Persians) and Sheba I have been lucky as I usually get 2 packs for £8 - not seen it any cheaper though....?

wensday

Hi thanks for this interesting thread (political backbiting aside) I am going to write a meal plan as I do get sucked into offers and get back to my fridge to find limited meals.
I find aldi fab, we eat free range/british meat which pushes up the price, plus I have coeliac disease and an egg allergy so that makes things a bit more expensive/complicated.
Going tomorrow whilst lo is in nursery so I dont get distracted.

I often bulk cook chilli/bol etc and freeze portions and I need to tomorrow cos Im in work thu fri sat 12.5hr days so food ends uo going manky in the fridge while oh has butties and takeaways