Tips and OS recipes for larger families....

mardatha

I promised to come in here and get some tips for my daughter, who has 5 kids aged between 16 and 3, (inc 3 huge teenagers) herself & partner. We are trying to get her shopping bill down , can anybody give me advice for the larger family please

Penelope_Penguin

No advice, but I'll add this to the existing "larger families" thread so that you can see the tips of others

Penny. x

mardatha

OK thanks to whoever moved this -- but could I also ask for anything else MS for her ? Is it still cheaper to cook from scratch when there's 7 of you ? etc? TY

Penelope_Penguin

mardatha wrote: »

OK thanks to whoever moved this -- but could I also ask for anything else MS for her ? Is it still cheaper to cook from scratch when there's 7 of you ? etc? TY

Don't see why not (per head, of courses - feeding 7 will obviously cost more than feeding similar portions to 4 people ).

Penny. x

mardatha

At present they are living on pasta, pizza, & frozen pies. She works from home and the youngest is a bit difficult, so hasn't a lot of time on her hands. I want so much to help but I only had 3 and that was a long time ago..

crazyhazy

As someone with only 2 children but them being 2yrs and 8 weeks I can sympathise with not having much time to get dinner made. My slow cooker is a saviour though, like today I had some time this morning while dd1 was at nursery and dd2 was having a nap so was able to chuck everything in there and it meant when h came home tonight dinner was ready. I think it will always be cheaper to cook from scratch than live on ready made stuff.

anonymousie

ness_w wrote: »

Thankyou for the kind replies. I am not, thankfully, in the situation where I will have to ask the school for lost property, but will definitely look into getting it second hand. I will try freecycle...why didn't I think of that! It is a state school, but rather a sought after grammar so they have a bit of a 'if you don't like it then...' attitude I'm afraid. If I knew for definite that other children would follow her it would make buying the £30 rugby shirt etc a bit more easy! They are currently setting up a second hand shop apparantly, hopefully it will be in time for us this year! I have asked a mum who has had children at the school and she says they get away with asda shirts and trousers. The blazer is maroon unfortunately, so not a lot of hope of getting a cheap one and sewing a badge on, don't think you can get the badges anyway. To add insult to injury, the nearest designated outfitters is 20 miles away! I feel like she's going to Hogwarts... wish she was actually, at least it would be fun!

Thanks also for the tip on the freebies, I am pretty new here and had no idea!

Thanks again, Ness.

RE the uniform...

DD1 and Ds are insimilar positions- grammar school and you have to have the uniform, full stop.

However, although it is an outlay, it is cheap really in pence per wearing.Buy the biggest you can (everyone else does the same) and turn up/take in to allow for growth if your DD is still very pre pubertal:rotfl:

DD1 hs 1 skirt for the year and it wears out (first year she had trousers and skirt but trousers not needed). 2 sweatshirts- you can't tumble dry them overnight, though again initially I bought 1 that "fitted" and one that was huge- that lasted her the 1st 2 years.

THe shirts are £11 each:eek: but she had 3 at age 12 (when they changes the design:mad: ) and they will have lasted from age 12 to age 16 being worn every day!

All DD1s PE kit has lasted from age 11 to 16 too (Ok she has had new socks). So even that isn't too expensive (the sweatshirt for PE has hardly been worn though!).

DS a bit more costly as he keeps getting lots taller and wears trousers out as well- can't faultthem if he wears them till they have holes in though! Nis blazer has lasted 1yr and 1 term- it is pretty small now, but actually needs replacing because it has worn on the shoulders where his rucksack goes!

DS might need 1 replacement set of rugby kit (wears it a lot) but I bet his gym shorts and polo top will do till age 16. The real pain for DS is trainer- "needed" for indoor PE in the winter- but they almost always go out, and by the athletics season he has outgrown them:rotfl: (DD1 has had 1 pair trainers for 5yrs!! Her feet don't grow and she isn't sporty aty all so they don't get "stressed" either!).

anonymousie

mardatha wrote: »

At present they are living on pasta, pizza, & frozen pies. She works from home and the youngest is a bit difficult, so hasn't a lot of time on her hands. I want so much to help but I only had 3 and that was a long time ago..

She needs a big slow cooker for Xmas!

Soups/stews/curries (mostly lentil/pulses) are a big staple of my cooking and I work pretty much f/t- do a "big cook up" to set the slow cooker and pressure cooker going and have meals for 5 of us for most of the week then!

Aldi is great for basics and choice is lmitied which cuts the budget straight away!

Cornishpixie_2

Hi, We are a family of 6 (4 primary school children) and it isn't easy. I shop on line, have a set menu and a list and if I buy larger chicken or meat joint I can then do 2 meals. I have also bought rice and pasta in bulk. and also emergency pack of noodles(DD3, doesn't like curries or chilli). The rest love it. Tinned tomatoes and pasata for quick pasta meals really good. Stocked up on flour cheap porridge oats and syrup makes good biscuits for packs/snacks and jam tarts. Its getting started. I also buy cooking onions large bag peel and chop and bung in the freezer to throw in curries, stew etc. I also grate big blocks of cheese usually on offer split into bags and freeze. I try not to buy things like crisps, too many biscuits. The cheapest I can get our shopping is around £120 a month. But I have to work hard at that. I try to get the kids to help make HM pizza at the weekend. For afters large tub neopolition ice cream is good, with cones, they can choose 2 flavour, jelly with tinned fruit and evapourated milk put this in posh wine glasses. Also look at local greengrocer buy whatevers on offer. I got enough big apples last week, to do a days packs for 45p. Good luck

mardatha

My god, £120 a MONTH ? I spend more than that for just the 2 of us...sob!
I am passing on all these posts to her--thanks all x