Cheap budget meals to feed 7! Any ideas?

LolitaLove

Due to recent circumstances (family members falling on hard times and staying with us) there are now six adults and one growing teenager in the house.Our energy bills have skyrocketed due to the demands of so many people being in the house, and especially as two members are disabled and feel the cold a lot more so the heating is on constantly. We really need to save money somehow. The easiest thing to cut back on is food, as we probably spend at least £200 per week! I have tried looking at budgeting meal plans but everything is geared towards two adults and two children, not six adults and one almost adult! I also want us to eat healthily. One family member has a serious illness, and I recently read a book called the anti cancer diet, which I'd like to follow as much as possible. Organic fruit and veg would be ideal, as would meat, but it is out of the question unfortunately as it is just too expensive. Just seems really hard. Any ideas would be very, very much appreciated.

quintwins

Try lidl and aldi for fruit and veg and gear food acount that.

Pasta bakes are ver cheaper and filling.

Spag bol can be bulked out with garlic bread.

I would avoid roasts, steaks and chops and do casaroles and stews bulked out with veg.

Add things like yorkshire puddings and roasted veg to make meat go further.

Try soup before meals or cakes/crumble after so meal meals are smaller.

Try shopping later in the day for reduced iyems most can be frozen but anything that can't will soon be eaten with so many people.

mummyroysof3

Do you have a slow cooker? Casseroles and bakes are good as you can chuck loads of reduced veg in them.

Diane60

If you make spag Bol or chilli, you can bulk it out with soya mince. Tescos have 375g for £1.89 and it does go far.
I also make homemade veg soup with the items I find in the reductions section of the supermarket.

mumonashoestring

Spag bol can also be bulked up with finely diced mushrooms and grated carrot and courgette which increases the amount and works some more veg into your diet - I can make a bolognese sauce that feeds 7 with £2.69 worth of Lidl's lean beef mince without it seeming 'stretched'. Cheaper cuts of chicken like the thighs and legs are cheaper than breast meat and are perfect for casseroles, stews and slow cooked curries, and you can also bulk those out with lentils and pearl barley for extra protein and fibre

I'd recommend having a look on the 'old style' board, there are tons of ideas for hearty cheap meals on there.

PennyForThem_2

If you want a treat I would go for roast chicken - often can get reduced or on offer.

At first seems expensive but can get another meal out of it using the leftover meat i.e. curry and then make a stock from the carcass and go through the bones picking off any meat scraps. This could bulk out another dish or put into a soup.

Stock for caasseroles, or soups.

If you like spicy food check out indian lentil or dahl recipies on the net - lots of indian dishes are vegetarian. Spices cheap from Indian grocery store if you live in a city.

Edwardia

Abel & Cole https://www.abelandcole.co.uk minimum order £10 delivery charge 99p does free range as well as organic.

Their veg is just too expensive for a budget and boxes not as good value as Ocado BUT for stews/casseroles/soups you can get cheap 1kg chicken carcasses and 1kg lamb and beef bones.

Cheapest places for organic veg are Lidl, Morrisons and ASDA but how much you find depends on where you live.

Recently I've bought organic carrots 82p, organic onions 67p, organic semi-skimmed milk 2 pints 99p (Lidl), organic mushrooms (all types) £1 per pack, 2 organic courgettes £1, whole organic cucumber 90p, 2 bulbs organic garlic 59p (Morrisons).

Cheaper organic meat in supermarkets is often tough and disappointing so I'd suggest free range. Virtually all Lidl's meat is British Tractor logo and you'll find decent free range chicken.

With that many to feed it might be cheaper to go to local farms, greengrocer, farmer's market or market and I'd suggest looking at price per kilo rather than pack price for everything and haggling if you can. An alternative source might be frozen veg from iceland or Farmfoods.

I'd suggest yellow sticker stuff in supermarkets but for things like meat, poultry, fish, veg not crisps, desserts, noodles etc. When you look at the per kilo price of things like fish fingers or burgers or crisps they can be horribly expensive. Reduced price veg an be made into really good soups or added to stews.

Ethnic aisles in supermarkets when things are on offer or ethnic stores if you have any are good for things like big sacks of rice, cheaper chickpeas, lentils, beans, tinned tomatoes, spices and herbs.

Keeping eyes peeled for bargains will help, even if you don't normally visit local Co-op, Iceland, Spar, Costcutter etc if you check offers on the websites you may be able to save money on all sorts from loo roll to garbage bags to bread, veg etc.

paulineb_2

I use aldi often. Aldi super 6 is good value. I also use approved foods and has been said on the boards, you dont get fruit and veg but Ive used it for staples such as pasta, rice, spelt, polenta, tofu and if I do buy any snacks I buy them from approved foods.

Also get creative and cook as much as you can from scratch, I make a lot of soup, broccoli, spinach, leek and potato, costs very little.

Good luck, am sure you'll find all the support you need on here.

midnightraven3

pop over to the old style board
a WEALTH of cheap and nutritious meals for varying budgets

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=33

redfox

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com"]forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

scaredy_cat

add a handful of lentil to mince dishes to bulk them, and add grated carrot or other root veg as well.