food budget of £200

michael1983l

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Michael must really love Instant Noodles.

1kg pack of value rice 37p, tinned veg's under 25p, Dried Spaghetti 19p per pack, ALDI super 6 - 49 p per pack, Eggs at ALDI 1.14 for a box of 15. Tinned sardines 29p.

Yes you don't get much variety but it can be done.

Kate_fixing_it

£200 is perfectly ample. Weekly meal plan before creating a list and don't shop hungry!

As a guide, I use aldi, lidl and Iceland. There are 6 of us (2 adults, two teens and two primary school age children) and I spend around £70 per week. We all have packed lunches, breakfast is either eggs and bacon or a choice of cereals and dinner is a "proper" meal. Snacks are fruit and yoghurt. We eat seasonal foods and draw up the weekly meal plan together.

HTH
Kate x

kindofagilr

vics1928 wrote: »

How do I do this? That's £50 pw can it be done??

What meals / lunches can be made with that

Def do-able

We are a family of 4, 2 adults, one 3 year old (nearly 4 year old) toddler and a nearly 10 month old baby.

We have £60 a week budgetd and that includes baby milk, nappies and all toiletries for the house.

I take £60 out of the bank on a wed, then I start my shopping week on the thursday, I do all my shopping using cash (I found it was far too easy to go over budget if I paid by card) then on a tuesday night, whatever I have left in my purse, I bung into a sealed pot (which I dont open till december, I started this last sept and by 1st dec I had £122 ) then I start all over again on the wed and take another £60 out

I cook EVERYTHING from scratch, I may have one bag of chicken nuggets in the freezer for times when my toddler isnt eating what we are eating.

OH used to take tins of soup to work so now I make soup etc

I started a few months ago going through my recipe books and trying some different recipes I wouldnt have thought of, then I put them into a binder, so made my own kind of recipe book full of different meals that we all like, that I know how much they cost, so then on a thurs I get 90% of the shopping in for that week, and sometimes have to go on a sunday for top up like veg and milk etc xx

thecassman86

We find the hardest thing about budgeting for 2 people is actually due to portions. You generally find that the better deals are around the foods designed for a family of 4, rather than 2... For example, a 4 pack of chicken breasts will cost you less, per breast, than a pack of 2.

So, i'd definitely echo the earlier comments... Bulk make stuff - chili, pasta, soup, casseroles, etc. And, with meat, buy what ends up being the cheapest deal and freeze the additional portions, rather than going for the smaller packs that end up more expensive.

It doesn't help us that my wife is vegetarian though. I almost am now as it's just cheaper than cooking chicken and Quorn separately!

kindofagilr

thecassman86 wrote: »

We find the hardest thing about budgeting for 2 people is actually due to portions. You generally find that the better deals are around the foods designed for a family of 4, rather than 2... For example, a 4 pack of chicken breasts will cost you less, per breast, than a pack of 2.

If you have freezer space then this has reminded me I sometimes go to costco and get the huge packs of chicken breasts (20 breats in a pack) or their big packs of mince, then I portion it off and freeze it.