Family Food budgets

moneymuddles

Hello!
I have been following this page along with the debt-free wannabe page for a good while and learnt lots of helpful things.
I am looking for a bit of advice in tweaking our budgets.
I have a good job and work three days, my husband previously worked fulltime and was made redundant in October. He is looking for work but on the interim is on jobseekers contribution allowance, which means we are £1000 down on income a month. I have managed to secure an extra day at work :-) and have changed my mortgage term, utilities and checked all benefits (we aren't entitled). I have a car that is leased through work but as I work for the NHS in the community I can't change that. With the changes I have made and not using dh's car unless for interviews/job centre (we live in a rural area) we are approx. £500 month down now. I have worked out a new budget and re-prioritised finances and our new food/household/clothes budget is £200 per month. There is me, dh, dd (7) and ds (4) and a cat! At present I am keeping them on school dinners as they have a fantastic cook and get good balanced meals and then have a smaller meal (beans on toast, soup, HM pizza) for tea and dh and I eat a meal together later.
Old style things I think we already do: only buy white vinegar, bleach and wash up liq for cleaning. Bulk buy washing powder, toilet rolls, tinned toms, beans, pasta etc.
Make our own; bread, pizza, biscuits.
Don't buy and pre-prepfood and try to shop at ALDI, LIDL and local market.
I make hair accessories for little girls for gifts and cards etc.


Any other ideas?
Thankyou

Ladyluck1

Sounds like your already doing lots of things I do!
We spend on average £120 a month for me, DH, DS and DD (but she's a baby)
I cook in bulk a lot, stock up on very good offers and reduced items and meal plan.
Helps me a lot.
Good luck!
C x

moneymuddles

Thanks for your reply. I have been trying for the last couple of years and it has slowly become a way of life. Any tips gratefully received though!:)

clarryd

As said before you have made great progress on your own.

I have cut my gas bill by not putting the heating on during the day and just layer up if I am cold.

Cook meals from scratch, using market fruit and vegetables.

Some times make to much and freeze a batch, saves on electricity in the long run.

Some times just using cheaper shower gel, deodorant etc can save a few pounds a week.

Good luck.

Fredula

I have to agree with the budget toiletries - I used to buy Tesco value (bright orange) shampoo when my husband was off work sick - It was a massive bottle and lasted me about 5 months. It didn't really make my hair feel amazing when it was wet, but when it was dry it had a better shine to it, and felt like it had less shampoo left in it (I do wash my hair our properly, but shampoos leave residue - can't remember what it's called, but people with dreads can't use normal shampoo because of the residue)..anyway, then I went on to Alberto Balsam which is £1 per shampoo or conditioner. OMG, it's amazing. Would definitely recommend it. The only thing I don't skimp on toiletries wise is dove soap, because all other soaps don't feel right.


I'd also definitely agree with cooking. If you have enough space in the freezer batch cook too. I do a 5 week meal plan so most things I cook in month 1, I cook enough so that in month 2 theres some in the freezer, which also means I save a bit more money during month 2. Believe me it took ages to think of 5 weeks worth of meals, but my husband and I did it, and we have a wide rotation of stuff which means we never get board with what we eat, and when things come round we get excited about it! Haha, that sounds a bit sad actually

joedenise

Fredula wrote: »

I have to agree with the budget toiletries - I used to buy Tesco value (bright orange) shampoo when my husband was off work sick - It was a massive bottle and lasted me about 5 months. It didn't really make my hair feel amazing when it was wet, but when it was dry it had a better shine to it, and felt like it had less shampoo left in it (I do wash my hair our properly, but shampoos leave residue - can't remember what it's called, but people with dreads can't use normal shampoo because of the residue)..anyway, then I went on to Alberto Balsam which is £1 per shampoo or conditioner. OMG, it's amazing. Would definitely recommend it. The only thing I don't skimp on toiletries wise is dove soap, because all other soaps don't feel right.


I'd also definitely agree with cooking. If you have enough space in the freezer batch cook too. I do a 5 week meal plan so most things I cook in month 1, I cook enough so that in month 2 theres some in the freezer, which also means I save a bit more money during month 2. Believe me it took ages to think of 5 weeks worth of meals, but my husband and I did it, and we have a wide rotation of stuff which means we never get board with what we eat, and when things come round we get excited about it! Haha, that sounds a bit sad actually

Like others I think you've already done really well.

I love the suggestion for the 5 week meal plan Fredula mentions above. However, if you use the same 5 week planner does that mean you don't really eat seasonally at all, after all fruit and veg available in summer is completely different to what is available in winter; or does your meal plan just have "ideas" for each day, for example - "a rice dish, a pasta dish, something with chips" etc?

Denise

Butterfly_Brain

You have done really well so far on your own.
I agree with batch cooking because it saves on power and if you come in shattered from work or can't face DH's cooking there is always a home made meal in the freezer.
Do you have a local butcher where you can get some cheaper cuts of meat? Ham hock is really cheap as are pigs cheeks, lambs liver, ox heart, kidneys, shin of beef etc ask your butcher for advice on what is cheap and tasty and how to cook it. I remember when we were in a similar situation my local butcher was really helpful with cheap ideas and even gave me beef bones and ham bones with lots of meat left on them that I could make into a tasty soup.
Why not try having a vegetarian day once or twice a week or have a soup and pudding night which my lot love; it is basically lots of HM soup with home made bread followed by a tasty pudding such as an apple sponge, chocolate pudding, jam roly poly, rice pudding etc

Fredula

joedenise wrote: »

Like others I think you've already done really well.

I love the suggestion for the 5 week meal plan Fredula mentions above. However, if you use the same 5 week planner does that mean you don't really eat seasonally at all, after all fruit and veg available in summer is completely different to what is available in winter; or does your meal plan just have "ideas" for each day, for example - "a rice dish, a pasta dish, something with chips" etc?

Denise

Hi Denise, I know this sounds a bit stupid/lame but I've never really learned what fruit/veg is in season so I wouldn't know what to buy when. I do online shopping too so I guess that doesn't help. Fruit isn't really factored into the meal plan, but veg, we just choose what we fancy. For example, with pasta meals we will usually have either mushrooms or pepper and (frozen) spinach. For roasts in the winter we have roasted roots just because they're a bit more hearty, and for things like chicken veg and cous cous we will usually just have broccoli. Occasionally for a roast I will buy cauliflower or cabbage but we tend to stick to peas, carrots and broccoli. Oh, and of course, at Christmas we have sprouts (OH hates sprouts, I can eat a 500g bag to myself in a week! Yummmm).

joedenise

Fredula wrote: »

Hi Denise, I know this sounds a bit stupid/lame but I've never really learned what fruit/veg is in season so I wouldn't know what to buy when. I do online shopping too so I guess that doesn't help. Fruit isn't really factored into the meal plan, but veg, we just choose what we fancy. For example, with pasta meals we will usually have either mushrooms or pepper and (frozen) spinach. For roasts in the winter we have roasted roots just because they're a bit more hearty, and for things like chicken veg and cous cous we will usually just have broccoli. Occasionally for a roast I will buy cauliflower or cabbage but we tend to stick to peas, carrots and broccoli. Oh, and of course, at Christmas we have sprouts (OH hates sprouts, I can eat a 500g bag to myself in a week! Yummmm).

Reading what you've put you do in fact eat fairly seasonally - without even realising it! The easiest way to check whether something is in season (apart from checking on line) is to check where the veg is from; if it's from UK it's probably seasonal.

Things like cabbage & carrots are available all year round, as are potatoes.

Denise

[Deleted User]

You seem to be doing very well , I try to make sure that every bit of food is used up,i.e. bendy veg goes to make soup.A great extender for meals especially in the wintertime and so easy to make.last week I had three bendy leeks and a few slightly sprouty spud that made with a couple of value veg stock cubes from my stash in the cupboard three half lites of leek and tattie soup.I had one and each of my DDs had one each to take to work for lunch
I also made three big pots of carrot and coriander soup from a bag of reduced carrots 29p and some coriander spice from the cupboard and again a couple of stock cubes.I get my stock cubes from Sainsbobs at about 20p for a box so the cubes cost me only pennies.
This soup will do me for lunches or a starter for dinner through this week and is a lot tastier to eat than tinned stuff.(cheaper as well).I try to make as much as possible myself fromscratch as even with the cooking involved its a darned sight cheaper than buying ready-made and you know whats gone into it.no nasty chemicals or E numbers
I cook as my late Mum did during the 1940s-50s and it works for me,but then I am retired so probably have more time than most ,but cooking really doesn't take up a great deal of time and once you get into the hang of it it becomes easier and quicker I too batch cook stuff and my ready-meals from the freezer have beem HM by me :):) I have a stash of small dishes and bags that I can portion things up in.Those white plastic take-awy boxes are brilliant as they satck nicely in the freezer so no wasted room in there.I buy fruit and veg as requiredand will use it up if I can and nothing gets binned in my house.I will use the carcuss of a chicken or lamb joint to make a thick stock which will go into soups or stews.any fat skimmed of a joint goes into my 'dripping pot' in the fridge to be used up when I cook something else :)
JackieO xxx

poorly_scammo

You seem to be doing well already OP. Here is what I do but there are certain caveats the first being that I have no children, the second is that I don't work at the moment but OH does and the third is that OH eats his main meal at lunchtime at work unlike most people who eat in the evening.

Batch cooking is fabulous especially when you're ill (as I have been) or just fed up and suffering from can't-be-bothereditis! I batch cook stuff like stews, casseroles, anything that will freeze because OH can take it to work for lunch and I can eat as I need to at home. Often the only thing I add to food once it has defrosted is a carb such as rice, potatoes etc. So far this week neither OH or I have eaten a meal cooked fresh IYSWIM. Everything has been from the freezer.

In terms of what we actually eat: everything where appropriate gets bulked out with veg; usually carrots (we live on carrots ), celery, onions etc. So if a recipe calls for onion and garlic to be sweated off first, finely diced carrots and other root veg stuff will get added to it at the same time. It is called mirepoix and is actually the base of many French dishes. Here is another post of mine which explained this sort of stuff in depth: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=64044366&postcount=53

I too make lots of soups from veg that is on offer - I made some spicy sprout soup yesterday for example. Much nicer than it sounds, it was too!

Is it possible for you to grow any of your own food? I'm a gardener and love growing stuff. You don't need a garden as you can grow stuff in pots like potatoes, carrots etc. It's worth a thought.

I think the main thing with budgeting is to really stick to it - which you already are doing. OH came home one evening last week with some revolting looking chicken nuggets from the supermarket that were in the yellow sticker section. I was livid because firstly, they're grim and have all sorts of sh ite in them and secondly, we have loads of food in the house to eat. They cost £1.49 - not a huge sum for us but they were unnecessary and tasted like shoes! No point having a budget and not sticking to it especially as we're saving for a fence for the garden and a holiday. Grrr...

Hope my rant helps.