Family meal budgeting

KSal

Hi,


We are in a similar situation, we are a family of four with two children. What has helped us greatly is shopping in the evening for reduced supermarket items. I now regularly visit our two local supermarkets between about 6.45 and 7.30 when items seem to be reduced. I have always planned meals and shopped with a list, but now I buy what is reduced, freeze what I can, and plan my meals around what I have managed to find. We have managed to eat well extremely cheaply by being more adaptable, just this evening I got some steak mince for 60p, some fromage frais for 35p, and some pears for 30p, plus there is usually loads of very cheap bread, sometimes only 5p per loaf.


Good luck!

[Deleted User]

jackieblack wrote: »

Why are you feeding 2 other children 2 or 3 times a week?
They may not each much but that's and extra 16 - 26 meals a month.
Can you ask their parents to make a contribution towards the expense?

I assumed they were step kids coming to visit so this household would be expoected to feed them.

jackieblack

BBH123 wrote: »

I assumed they were step kids coming to visit so this household would be expoected to feed them.

Fair enough, I didn't think of that, I assumed cousins/friends (due to ages - two of the children being 4 year olds)

Penguin8410

thanks for the replies everyone.


Sorry, i didn't explain well about the other 2 children. Jackieblack you're right they are my niece and nephew and we split childcare so twice a week my 2 eat at my sister in laws so they cancel each other out really but we have a lot more to feed on the 2 days they are here.


thanks ginmonster i will have a look at the grocery challenge thread. i used to do this before the kids but had forgotten about it so will crack on with that!


ksal thats a great idea to plan around what you get ys'd. we have a small local coop which quite often has a lot of ys things late on in the day. i usually pick things up when i can but will go with that basis rather than not buying it.


i'm not a big meat eater but my smallest and oh are so i think we will try and do a roast once a week and stretch whatever meat we get from that. I've just found out our local butchers do a £10 tray day at the end of the month so i'm going to go and see what i can get from there.


stocking up the store cupboard is something i need to start doing again as it has run down pretty low recently as i haven't had the extra money to buy anything extra but i will start again with maybe just buying one or 2 extra bits a week.


We have been fortunate enough to come into some money recently which will clear our debts but i do still need to keep ontop of this to make sure we dont get into debt again. i've made notes of everything you have all posted so thank you for taking the time to do that xx

maman

Penguin8410 wrote: »

i'm not a big meat eater but my smallest and oh are

We eat quite small meat portions as, aside from being mse, it's healthier to have plenty of veg. I'd suggest you make meals that don't show the meat portions are relatively small but give the flavour.


Sausage casserole is a good example. You can probably get away with 6 sausages for the 4 of you. Here's a sample recipe:
http://www.schwartz.co.uk/recipes/pork/barbecue-sausage-and-baked-bean-hotpot-with-potato-wedges


Cut the sausages into the size of meatballs and then I like it with pasta and plenty of beans and onions you'll make a filling meal. I always add some mushrooms too because they have the chewy texture of meat.

BodMor

Some more general principles:


A bigger quantity isn't always cheaper per unit than a smaller quantity (eg smaller mango chutney on offer at Tesco is less per weight than the bigger jar just now). Compare before picking up (use phone calculator if the sums are tricky!) This said, some things seem to be reliably cheaper in bulk. The first pint of milk 58p, two pints 75p, four £1. Four pints are a lot to use for a single/small family but if you have pasta, dried herbs, cheese and fish in freezer etc. then milk can be a nutritious main component of several meals in a week as well as using on cereals/tea/coffee.


Approved Food website prices (out of date but perfectly usable food) are generally more competitive than in "best by" food including minimum purchase and postage cost considerations if you have the storage space for "store cupboard items". Consider clubbing together an order with local friends (to hit minimum purchase level) if individual orders are small.


A larger branch of the same multiple retailer brand is generally better priced than a small one. For example a Sainsbury's Local near a train station that I sometimes wander into (but don't buy from) is priced for passenger distressed pricing (compared with say station concession prices and on train "catering"). A larger branch within 400m has the same stuff at fractions of the price and a much bigger selection of own label budget lines cf premium brands.

BodMor

>> We eat quite small meat portions
> Sausage casserole is a good example.


Also toad in the hole (cut a few "white bag" ie butcher counter discounted item) sausages in half lengways and half again. Roast in some oil/butter at 200C for a few minutes while making a Yorkshire pud batter (hand whisk up 3 eggs, 200g plain flour, 300 ml milk plus a spoon of mustard or some dried herbs if you have and like these), lob the batter on top of the sausages, roast for 30 min & serve with some frozen peas and an instant gravy (both many serve per item store cupboard/freezer staples).

BodMor

One other point - unless it is obvious that you're getting something of good quality in a white label bag, get the person on the counter to open it up and show you the goods before deciding whether to buy. They can be used for palming off poor bits of the stock on the unsuspecting (eg the smallest bits of oxtail with little meat on them bunched together that no amount of slow cooking will transform into something tasty, or a bit of meat with a disproportionate layer of fat sold at meat prices, or something with a colour you wouldn't contemplate buying.)


At their best these can offer stuff I couldn't afford on my means at headline prices (10% priced fish, 33% lamb legs or bulk pork belly cheaper and better than the discount stores) - but only if you dodge anything dodgy on offer.

Keedie

I love these threads as I learn so much and I'll be reading the grocery one next. But I am a bit confused, what does 'ys' mean? I'm trying to figure it out to put the posts in context but I'm coming up short

elona

YS

It is yellow stickered items - reduced at the end of the day.