Food budget plan

RedCola

We're in a bit of a mess. Been paying off debt for quite a while.

This month we've had a rather large amount taken out of my husbands wages (Council Tax) We still need to pay off our regular debt payments on top off this, and of course our usual bills.

I am so sad we are still struggling with this, however we are determined to get it over and done with.
I'd really appreciate any advice on how to manage our food this month. We get paid on Friday, so would really like a plan in place then, so can get straight to it.

Any advice on what to buy, how to keep healthy, best way to stretch what we have etc would all be really helpful.
T.I.A

Islandmaid

Hi

You will get loads of help and advice here.

Let us know a bit more info i.e. who your cooking for, how many meals a day (packed lunches/school dinners etc) what you have in, what you have to spend on food and over what period (weekly/monthly etc)

RedCola

Thank you IslandMaid.

We're cooking for my husband and myself, along with our 3DC (Teen / Primary / Nursery ages)

My husband takes a packed lunch, and so do the children. Youngest at Nursery only eats lunch there twice a week.

I'm not sure what our budget will be, my husband called me a while ago from work to tell me, after being given his wage slip. We'll sit down together tonight so sort through our budget. I think we'd be lucky to pull about £40 for food each week though

Ginmonster

Hi


I can recommend the monthly Grocery Challenge threads - they have a massive list of recipes you can access in the first couple of posts which will help with meal planning.


Here are also 2 sites which are based on feeding a person on £1 a day. That's not to say you have to do that exactly it's just that they give you loads of cheap and easy meal ideas.


http://www.thriftylesley.com/
https://eatnotspend.wordpress.com/


For cheap and easy recipes I also like :


https://cookingonabootstrap.com/


It's definitely worth making a list of what you already have in the cupboards / fridge / freezer too and starting with that as it'll minimise how much you need to buy.


Hang on in there. This is a fantastically supportive place and people have lots of practical advice to share. Good luck!


There are some specific boards for getting debt free too so it might be worth joining them as well for extra support.

Fruittea

Hi there RedCola
I'm sure you'll get through. Do you have any supplies in - perhaps the freezer or a stash of food you could try to use up rather than buy.
It would be good to do a bit of an audit and work from there. I also recommend setting out meal plans and only shopping from a list. It really works for me.

RedCola

Thanks everyone.

We are quite disorganised with our meals really. We buy food in, and just serve what we want and when. Lunchboxes are quite stressful, as I never know what to make.

The children eat at 4pm, after school and have a snack at 7pm. We eat later, once the younger 2 are in bed. So a lot of different meals going on, although this seems to work best for us (Middle DC has ASD, and likes the routine)

I could put a list of what we have up on here?

monnagran

First rule: Don't panic. Lance/Corporal Jones was on to a winner there.

Second rule: Cut down on choice. A maximum of 2 breakfast cereals, 2 spreads for toast, 2 sorts of fruit etc.

Third rule. Go down to the basicest of basic own brands. If you look at the ingredients in them they are strangely similar to the more expensive products. If you think that there may be resistance decant the cheap stuff into branded containers. Cheating and sneakiness is commendable in these circumstances.

Fourth rule: Leftovers are brilliant and can always been turned into something else.
I've said before, and my sons will put a pillow over my face if I say it much more, when they were young they used to poke at their plates suspiciously and ask, " what did this used to be?"

If your teenager is of the male variety he will have hollow legs, especially when he gets in from school. Carbohydrates will be your friend. Discounted buns, HM breadpudding, hm cakes, flapjacks, scones.... anything to fill him up cheaply.

If you can manage it make one day a week treat day. That is the day when everyone can choose one thing they have missed. A bag of crisps, a small bar of chocolate or whatever their hearts desire that costs under 50p.
It gives everyone something to look forward to.

Good Luck!

x

RedCola

I've been through my kitchen and written down what we have. I've tried to keep it in some kind of order. The cupboard stuff is mostly what we have left every month and I don't really know what to do with it, so it just carries over

Freezer:

Fries
Sliced kiwi
Bananas
Plums
Corn on the cobs
Sweetcorn
Sliced mushrooms
Green beans
Peas
Mixed peppers
Julienne Carrots
Potato cubes
Heck Sausages 1/2 pk
Pork chops (8)
Chicken breasts (2)
Leg of lamb 1/2
Minted lamb shanks (4)
Lamb sausages (6-8)

Cupboard:

Baked beans x 3
Spaghetti loops
Chopped toms x 4
Beans (1 tin of each: Cannellini / Pinto / Refried)
Tuna x 4
Egg noodles x 3pk
Red lentils
Various pasta (small amounts of each)
Lasagne sheets
Spaghetti
Macaroni (500g)
Ready made polenta
Couscous
Instant noodles
Long grain rice

Stuffing mix
Short crust pastry Mix
Pizza mix
Baking powder / Bicarbonate of soda / Easy dried yeast
Flour - Self raising / plain / corn
Sugar - muscavado / icing / granulated / castor / granulated
Evaporated milk
Apple slices
Dried fruit & nuts - Apricots / Pecans /Cranberries /Almonds
Porridge oats
Jelly cubes & sachet
Choc sauce / sprinkles etc
Chocolate (large slab type)

Crisps (18pk)
Tortilla chips x 2
Cornflakes
Wheat Biscuits
Rice crispies
English Muffins x 2
Bread x 2
Tiger bread ( ready to bake)
Tortilla wraps x 2
Ciabatta
Crumpets x 2
Sandwich thins
Panini

Assorted oils, chilli, herbs, spices, stock, vinegars,
Rubs - Pulled pork / Beef BBQ / Pork rib

Potatoes - white / sweet / new
Onions
Chantenay carrots
Green beans
Broccoli
Tomatoes
Cherry toms
Mushrooms
Garlic

Pears
Satsumas
Apples
Nectarines
Plums
Bananas


Fridge

Milk 6pints x2
Greek yogurt (large pot)
Butter
Red leicester
Cheddar

Pate
Pepperoni
Ham
Bacon

Little gem lettuce

Franalamadingdong

One of my son's favourite meals is cowboy pie. It's just sausages, onions (sliced), peppers, any loitering veg (mushrooms, courgette etc), a tin of baked beans, tin of tomatoes and water or stock and paprika and cumin. Sometimes I'll add red lentils and/or mixed beans to bulk it out further. Serve with mash. Oh, and I chop the sausages up. I think you have everything in for that.

You've got good scope to simplify. If you have potatoes do you need potato cubes? If you have steak chips you don't need fries as well. Pizza mix must be just flour and yeast, which you already have. Shortcrust is just flour and butter. Definitely use these items up, but they might not need replacing. Again, whole carrots are cheaper than prepared, although I'm unsure if your prepared veg is frozen or fridge ones that you put in the freezer.

Oats, flour, butter, sugar and some of those dried fruits will make a lovely flapjack treat for the kiddies.

C_J

I'd use the two chicken breasts, sweetcorn and potatoes you already have to make a pie - dice and simmer a few potatoes, add a cup or two of sweetcorn and the diced chicken breast and smother in a creamy white sauce. Pile into a pie dish and top with homemade shortcrust pastry (you have the ingredients for this). Bake for 30 mins until piping hot and golden, and serve with your green beans. The potato pads it out nicely so there should be some left over for your lunch next day.

Macaroni cheese is also cheap and filling, and you have the ingredients for that too.

If I have several small amounts of different shaped pasta left over, I just mix them together anyway. You have frozen sausages, so I would roast those then chop them up and mix them with some saut!ed onion, chopped peppers, and a tin or two of chopped tomatoes, mix with the cooked pasta shapes and top with a little grated cheese to make a sausage pasta bake. Tasty and filling!

You have ingredients for various soups there too (red lentil and peppers, or sweet potato for example). If people are particularly hungry, I find it a good idea to make a soup starter, and then they eat less of the main course!

RedCola

monnagran - I love the rules! Thank you My teen is the male variety, he's always wanting snacks - I'm pretty useless at baking, though willing to learn. Any recipes would be lovely.

Franalamadingdong - Your recipe sounds lovely, and will be trying it. Good points about the potatoes / chips etc. My veg is shop bought, and the fruit I froze myself. Although I dont use them much.

Also, I forgot to add - my husband's job is manual, and he leaves early(ish) He gets really hungry through out the day, so any tips on how to sort that cheaply and healthily ?