How do people feed families on £40 a week?

littlegreenparrot

Having read the thread the problem seems to be your OH doesn't like some shops, some ranges, can't have/doesn't like some food.
What makes his opinion the deciding one, what about what you think/like?


Just a thought.

maman

SandA wrote: »

This evening we are going to do a bit of multi-shopping. Can't get to the butchers this time because OH isn't back from work till 5.30. But next week we are going to start with butchers and a fruit and veg shop.

So first trip is aldi, I need onions, potatoes, and parsnips. All of these are 0.49p each so bonus for me! Will have a look around see if I can get anything else on my list for cheaper. Next step is farmfoods, for teabags and milk and whatever else we can get cheaper. Then to tesco to get the rest of our shopping plus baby milk. We have a £5 of voucher if we spend over £40, which I suspect we will.

Hoping to aim for around £55 this week including £8 baby milk.

Wish we look all

If you buy all the things in Aldi and Farmfoods that are on your list I'd be surprised if you needed to spend £40 in Tesco. You might want to use your voucher so you could stock up on baby milk and save it for another week. Then this week's shop will cost more but it'll balance out.

If you want to post your shopping list I'm sure we could advise what to try in Aldi. If you're still planning a pie then Farmfoods often have Upper Crust or Pukka at good prices (apologies if that's considered junk food;)). I'd write down the prices at Tesco (from mysupermarket) before you go then you can make a comparison.

SandA

Yes thats definitely the issue.

Problem is my OH does not realise the financial situation we are in. He doesn't seem to understand that overdrafts won't pay themselves, and when it comes to my little ones first birthday, it breaks my heart that as it stands I can offer him no party, and nothing memorable. It won't be until this point that OH realises that its not choice to reduce our shopping bill, its essential. Our gas and electricity is spiralling out of control at the minute, I know at my review there going to put my direct debit up which makes it worse. I am trying to pay for £110 gas, electricity and water, £33 phone, all of the food shopping, £85 car insurance and £101 council tax out of child tax credit, working tax credit and child benefit.

The problem with the OH is he works hard, in a job he hates, and so goes out once per month spending anything from £60-£100. I can't deny him of that.

My only option is to not take him with me and do it myself. Perhaps I need to deny him going out and wasting money we don't have and spending every penny he has on 'branded' food before he realises what situation he puts me in every month. Maybe wearing clothes to small for him since having baby 8 months ago might make him realise.

Heres to hoping.

SandA

Hi,

Thats what I plan to do, buy 2 tubs of baby milk instead of one, or maybe more to get it over the £40. It might make this week more expensive but not spending £8 next week and possible the week after will save us money in the long run, I will post my list up now. One mo x

GarnetLady

Edwardia wrote: »

Sorry to be rude.. really ? Well actually I think you just put egg on your own face, because obviously you haven't read my posts as well as you say you have,.

If you had, you would know that we don't have a car, which is why I get food delivered (free, Riverford, free with Ocado SmartPass, 99p, Abel & Cole).

Secondly, the waffle re: langoustines is your own, since I bought them frozen from Morrisons at £3 a box. The wholesaler price for wild North Atlantic prawns per kilo is often considerably less than the price per kilo for farmed Indonesian/Vietnamese prawns in Tesco.

I bought pork loin steaks from Tesco and discovered 11% added water, sodium citrate, sodium acetate and dried glucose syrup. For someone with Type 2 diabetes, an unknown quantity of glucose was a no-no. I was so shaken up by it that we decided to go organic - which has really improved my health and OH feels better too.

I buy veg boxes from Ocado because I get 20% off with the SmartPass, but I only buy them if I'll use everything in one.

Before going organic, I relied on my mother to take me shopping to Lidl and ASDA once a fortnight and my OH to packhorse it to Lidl on foot, for more veg every weekend.

I still do go out shopping with my mother a couple of times a month and if I see cheaper organic veg etc in Lidl, Morrisons, ASDA I will buy it but there's very little around here.

I live in a town of 50,000 that doesn't have a bakery which bakes bread, a farmers' market, a fishmonger, and only one butcher and one greengrocer neither of which sell organic food.

It seems on MSE its OK to feed yourself and kids utter rubbish, in order to afford those designer clothes, holidays, SKY, boozy nights out etc.

Basically I'm being called a snob for wanting to eat good food, by someone who says she eats organic food herself. :rotfl:

You may call clothes from supermarkets and charity shops, no vacation since 1997, no TV let alone SKY, no smoking and no booze since Christmas a luxury lifestyle, but I don't.

I'm quite happy watching TV on catch up and saving £146pa. I don't feel the need to emblazon my body like a mobile billboard and get ripped off. I do miss vacations in the South of France every year but I'm not living with a millionaire father anymore, I live with my husband within his means.

If I was the snob you obviously think I am then I never would have married a man from a council estate and accquired in laws with criminal records.

I am not going to apologise for eating good food, anymore than I would apologise for being intelligent, bisexual,half-French, an ex-chef or marrying the man I love.

I think you'll find snobbery is an attitude, it has nothing to do with who you're married to or anything else. And as you have just proved once again, you look down on anyone who can't/won't for whatever reason adapt the same diet as you do. Also I'd be interested to know how you've arrived at the conclusion that - 'It seems on MSE its OK to feed yourself and kids utter rubbish, in order to afford those designer clothes, holidays, SKY, boozy nights out etc.' as I see very little of this. Have you conducted a survey, kept a tally?

I neither eat organic (can't afford to), but nor do I feed myself and my family rubbish to afford designer clothes or any of the other things you list. But then I've also seen you condemn people buying yellow sticker bargains as only buying rubbish, which is far from the truth. Maybe it's time you stop tarring everyone with the same brush? Esp when based on unfounded 'facts'.

paulineb_2

Well perhaps you need to sit him down and tell him. Im not married, I dont live with anyone and I only need to think about me. I was made redundant 4 years ago from a career that I loved but my working conditions were intolerable and that was at the end of around 20 years in that line of work. My health was being affected badly. I ended up going from full time wages to £71 a week and I did get some financial support from family, because without it Id have gone under.

I worked part time for a while, I live in an area which has one of the highest rates of unemployment in Scotland and tried and failed to get a second job, I just couldnt find anything. Its not easy living on an income where you need to save every penny. Im sure there are people who do well on benefits and have money left over for designer clothes, shoes, holidays, bingo. I dont have a TV. I dont drive so Ive never had that expense. Ive just changed my mobile phone onto the lowest tariff, £13 a month.

Im not a heavy user of gas and electricty anyway, but for the last month my heating has been off, apart from 30 mins before bed. And it might not be practical for you to do that with a baby because obviously the house needs to be warm, but it makes sense that if you need to cut corners and you can, that if you can halve your shopping bill, that you make every effort to do that.

Your wee one wont remember whether they have a big party or not. As long as you have a good day thats all that matters.

Also, theres nothing wrong with your husband going out once a month, but does he really need to spend £100 a time when you are struggling with other things?

If I go out once a month and I do sometimes, othertimes I can spend a couple of months and not have a night out, I set myself a budget and I stick to it. Im going for a meal tomorrow and its going to cost me £14 and possibly the price of a glass of wine in wetherspoons and thats it.
I often leave nights out early and get the last bus home to leave people who want to party all night long to it. Its reality when you dont have cash and no one has ever said to me, why arent you staying out all night, they know I dont have a lot of money to spare

And yes, leaving him at home while you shop sounds like a very good idea.

GarnetLady

We're a family of 3, my daughter is nearly 2 and I'm veggie. I could easily feed us for £40 a week

Farmfoods good for frozen veg etc. And it's worth having a look at their website for the latest offers and vouchers.

I find that knowing what a good price is for things helps, makes identifying the good offers from the rubbish ones much easier, and when something is a good price I stock up, means that for a lot of things I never pay full price. I have a huge chest freezer and I stock that with meat/veg yellow sticker bargains as and when I see them. I also have a small walk in larder and again it's well stocked (I reckon other than bread, milk and fruit I could feed us for at least a month out of my stocks.).

Your husband's attitude definitely needs a change, can he not go out but spend a much lesser amount? When you have a child your priorities have to change. It's not fair that you do without and he carries on as normal.

Oh and fruit pots - Asda were the cheapest for these at 12 for £3, but what about just mashing down some banana instead, would be much cheaper? We do have these sometimes, but they're a bit expensive for what they are.

eagle_eye

SandA wrote: »

Problem is my OH does not realise the financial situation we are in.

Well what I would do is draw up a budget spreadsheet and show him where the money is going and ask him where he would make the savings needed? I have done an annual budget for the last 5 years since I was made redundant and it was one of the best things I have ever done. I'm a bit sad as I still record every penny I spend - a lot easier these days as cash spending is just a relatively small number of transactions per week. However this is essential if you want to see where the money is going and where you can save.

A young child though would make my job so much harder so I sympathise there, but budgeting allows you to see the big picture and that always helps.

SandA

Ok my meal plans for the week are:

Friday - Risotto (with mushrooms and chicken thigh, chicken stock (heinz veg stock for little one) onion and soy sauce)

Saturday - Early Sunday roast (With roasties, frozen veg, chicken, gravy, parsnips, yorkshires, cheese sauce)

Sunday - Chicken Casserole (Using frozen carrots left in frozen veg (there always seems to be loads of carrots in those?!), onion, left over chicken. Already have a packet of colmans sauce mix in)

Monday - Omelette (Eggs, some of the chicken thigh, onion, mushrooms if any left) served with chips probably)

Tuesday - Quiche, new potatoes and green beans

Wednesday - Sausage casserole (Sausages, baked beans, cannelini beans, tomato puree, paprika, onion)

Thursday - Curry (Using rest of chicken thigh, rice, some frozen bhajis I have, pashwiri naan)

Friday - Sausage and pasta (Sausages, onion, pasta and tomato soup)

Here is our list.

Mushrooms 350g
3 Onions
1Kg long grain rice
Whole chicken (1.5kgish)
chicken thigh (500g)
gravy granules
cheese sauce (packet)
parsnips (although will sacrifice these if necessary)
Potatoes (enough for roasties for 4 + baby, can I use the new potatoes from aldi, I home make roasties)
Goose fat - Again, will sacrifice if can't get cheaper then £1.50
Yorkshire puddings frozen
Garlic bread (2 baguettes)
Pasta shells 1kg
Pork Sausages (12)
Bacon (Enough for breakfast over the weekend)
12 eggs (breakfasts, omelette, scrambled egg for little one)
12 bread rolls (for cobs)
Bread 400g (toast for little one)
Curry sauce (Usually korma, usually get it for a £1 on offer)
Pashwiri naan (Usually find these for pennies, but will sacrifice if can't get cheap)
Tomato soup (sausage and pasta)
Cannelni beans
Soy sauce (for serving with risotto)
Kitchen roll
Multisurface cleaner
Quiche
Tinned new potatoes
green beans (frozen)
stuffing mix / frozen stuffing
baby milk (7.99)
squash (2 bottles of, usually on offer for 2, only reason why I get 2)
tea bags
fruit pots for little one (usually cow and gate ones, I dont think there to expensive)
Pasta 'n' Sauce / noodles for lunch for me during the week

xx

meer53

Edwardia wrote: »

Unless they're Canadian oysters.. I'm really partial to mussels and clams, langoustines (got frozen £3 box in Morrisons), wild North Atlantic prawns (£6/kg from wholesaler). Seafood mmmmm

The oysters people are talking about are the oyster shaped pieces of chicken found underneath the body of the chicken ! Don't suppose you've ever looked for them ?

They are the best bits ! Apart from crispy chicken skin.