Can £200 for the month really be done now?

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a kilo of porridge in the supermarkets can be bought for around 75p if you have a good price check om moneysupermarket.com. lettuce I buy an iceberg lettuce which is aroud 49p I am not keen on bagged lettuce as its sprayed with chemicals to keep fresh I just wrap mine in foil if I haven't used my 'lettuce keeper bowl' brilliant invention that I got from bettaware and it really does keep lettuce well. By the way if you use a plastic knife to cut off the lettuce, or your own hands if you can it will stop the lettuce 'browning ' at the edges I also wrap celery and cabbage in foil and keep in the bottom of my fridge,helps keep it fresh for ages.I buy value yogurt and mix it with chopped banana or diced fruit for flavour a bag of frozen berries defrosted and mashed up are also great to mix a tablespoonful into the yogurt for the 'mueller' corner type yogurts at a fraction of the price.I try to look at what I like in the shops and replicate itmyself at home

culpepper

Hi sammy how nice to see you again.

I think it is possible.
If you are in Lidl, they have bags of oats for 39 pence. One bag does a weeks breakfast for me and another for DH.
We have them with sultanas (85p in aldi not sure what they are in lidl) or banana sliced and honey.
The eggs are a good price there too.
Their chickens are a little cheaper than sains but about the same as Aldi.
If you can get to a sainsburys they do cooking bacon which is quite good pieces and not the little bits of the other stores that do it. Dont try their frozen cooking bacon though, it is ridiculous little scraps.
If you eat much bread, it is worth having a bread machine and doing your own. Great for pizza dough too .
I scratch cook and do enough per meal for an extra portion and then pack that up in the fridge so that I can have mums night off without our buying take away.
Things worth planting are runner beans and french beans.

Dill

Hi Sammy_kaye. Yes I remember you Many years ago you were feeding your family on about £100 per month if I remember rightly, until prices shot up and that was no longer possible. I'm harking back to the days when you could pretty much fill your car at Lidls for about £30!


I have 2 adults to feed and I have £175 per month for groceries. I always run out of money about mid-way through the month but I'm not a great cook and I also get tempted to buy treats, as I have a sweet tooth and love desserts!!


£200 per month for 4 of you sounds tight to me, but I'll be following your thread with interest.

iris

Yes, I also remember you Sammy_Kaye. If I remember correctly you were suffering badly with vertigo - hope you are now feeling much better.


I am sure with a budget of £200 pm it's possible to feed a family of 2 adults and 2 children, however as your children get older it might be more of a problem.


As JackieO says, porridge is cheap at 75p kilo (Tesco & Aldi). Also Farmfoods has 4x 2L milk for £2 (25p pl) and 15 medium eggs for 99p. I always buy my chickens from Aldi. If you can't afford free range why not buy their small chickens at £2.39 each. If you are careful choosing you can normally find one weighing 1.1/2 kilos, which should feed you all for 2 days bulked out with veg/potatoes and perhaps a yorkie. I bought a large bag of 'spring greens' today for 65p, but I know that a lot of children won't eat cabbage. A jelly with a tin of fruit (I buy Aldi's mandarins in juice for 44p) added and that's 2 days main meals for probably £5.


Don't forget to print off a £1 coupon for pizza (they are only a £1 in Tesco so free pizza) There is also a coupon for a tube of 'free' Pringles.


I wish you luck sorting out your budget and sticking to it.

TopsyGirl

I shall be watching this thread too.
Im here after a change in circumstances and my food bill is one of the best ways i think i have to shave some extra money off!
Going to make a list of what i have in my freezer and cupboards i think and then see where i can go from there with what i already have.
I'd definitely say £200 was possibly though especially with planning and you seem very used to cooking from scratch and shopping around etc - £200 is what i plan on using as my maximum spend a month for me,my two daughters (13 and 11 and eat like big adult men,lol) and 2 cats.....it may be the cats that push my budget up a bit if it needs to go up.

Goldiegirl

iris wrote: »

Yes, I also remember you Sammy_Kaye. If I remember correctly you were suffering badly with vertigo - hope you are now feeling much better.

Hello to Sammy Kaye.


I noticed that you said you had an MRI scan - was that in connection with the vertigo?


I suffered with vertigo a couple of years ago, and had to have an MRI scan.


I was eventually diagnosed with Meniere's Disease, which I now control with a low salt diet.


I'm probably not the best person to advise about feeding a family on £200, as I spend about £225 for the two of us.... but should you need it, I've got loads of tips about a low salt diet!

System

I remember you too Sammy_kaye.:hello:

iris

Goldiegirl wrote: »

Hello to Sammy Kaye.


I noticed that you said you had an MRI scan - was that in connection with the vertigo?


I suffered with vertigo a couple of years ago, and had to have an MRI scan.


I was eventually diagnosed with Meniere's Disease, which I now control with a low salt diet.


I'm probably not the best person to advise about feeding a family on £200, as I spend about £225 for the two of us.... but should you need it, I've got loads of tips about a low salt diet!

Hello Goldie, I remember you from a couple of years ago saying that you suffered with 'vertigo' and that in fact you were diagnosed with Meniere's Disease. The reason that I remember you is because at the time my husband was suffering with 'vertigo' and dizziness, plus a slight dry cough/sweating and I wondered if he had Meniere's disease.


His GP didn't think this was the case and said he was suffering with migraines and fainting fits and tried antibiotics for the cough. Nothing worked.


However, moving on to last year my husband has been diagnosed with Mesothelioma. Little did we know that a lot of his symptoms were due to this terrible disease. It seems that GPs don't know much about 'Meso' symptoms.


We are now trying to come to terms with his terminal diagnosis.


Glad to hear that having a low salt diet has kept your symptoms at bay Goldie.

Goldiegirl

iris wrote: »

Hello Goldie, I remember you from a couple of years ago saying that you suffered with 'vertigo' and that in fact you were diagnosed with Meniere's Disease. The reason that I remember you is because at the time my husband was suffering with 'vertigo' and dizziness, plus a slight dry cough/sweating and I wondered if he had Meniere's disease.


His GP didn't think this was the case and said he was suffering with migraines and fainting fits and tried antibiotics for the cough. Nothing worked.


However, moving on to last year my husband has been diagnosed with Mesothelioma. Little did we know that a lot of his symptoms were due to this terrible disease. It seems that GPs don't know much about 'Meso' symptoms.


We are now trying to come to terms with his terminal diagnosis.


Glad to hear that having a low salt diet has kept your symptoms at bay Goldie.

I am so sorry to hear your news, Iris. It must have come to a terrible shock to both of you, and it must be incredibly difficult to accept this situation.


My very best wishes to you both, and I hope your husband is as comfortable as he can be

happy35

I think £200 is doable but you will have to plan, I spend roughly this amount for 3adults but OH and DS have huge appetites.

I do most of my shopping at Lidl but do get a fruit and veg box delivered, I try to buy meat when it is on offer so find sometimes all i have to buy is bread milk and cheese.

I buy chorizo as find it goes a point way, it is about £2.50 but is enough for 2 huge pizzas, pasta dish and maybe a jambalaya type thing.

I get 2 days main meals out of a chicken, I often buy meat at Morrison's 3 for £10, whole chicken, gammon or bacon joint and 1 of whatever takes my fancy.