£45 per week housekeeping

t1redmonkey

I probably get by on about £15-£20 a week at most I think, although that is including the fact I'm a bit lazy and buy sandwiches for my lunch every day rather than make them myself (which would save me a fair amount if I did this).

I would say however, that I'm an extremely unfussy eater and I'm perfectly happy to eat the same thing several days in a row which definitely helps with cost! Some of the stuff I eat in the evening costs almost nothing. A meal I eat a lot (be warned it's very boring!):

150g of pasta = works out at about 8p I think (since I buy 500g of pasta from Asda for 30p)
25g of cheddar cheese = about 13p
100g of Quorn Chicken style pieces = about 20p (since I bought a load of 500g bags for £1 each a few weeks ago!)
Total cost = 41p

Or...

125g of rice = 20p (I'm lazy so I buy boil in the bag rice otherwise this'd be less!)
Can of sweetcorn = 20p
2x Linda McCartney sausages = 33p (these are always on offer at £1 for 6)
Total cost = 73p

Just some ideas anyway, I do have a very boring palette so I'm happy eating plain stuff like this since it tastes good to me and fills me up I guess a general suggestion is just to base the 'bulk' of your meal around a cheap and filling item like rice or pasta since that really brings the cost down.

pumpkin89

t1redmonkey wrote: »

I probably get by on about £15-£20 a week at most I think, although that is including the fact I'm a bit lazy and buy sandwiches for my lunch every day rather than make them myself (which would save me a fair amount if I did this).

I would say however, that I'm an extremely unfussy eater and I'm perfectly happy to eat the same thing several days in a row which definitely helps with cost! Some of the stuff I eat in the evening costs almost nothing. A meal I eat a lot (be warned it's very boring!):

150g of pasta = works out at about 8p I think (since I buy 500g of pasta from Asda for 30p)
25g of cheddar cheese = about 13p
100g of Quorn Chicken style pieces = about 20p (since I bought a load of 500g bags for £1 each a few weeks ago!)
Total cost = 41p

Or...

125g of rice = 20p (I'm lazy so I buy boil in the bag rice otherwise this'd be less!)
Can of sweetcorn = 20p
2x Linda McCartney sausages = 33p (these are always on offer at £1 for 6)
Total cost = 73p

Just some ideas anyway, I do have a very boring palette so I'm happy eating plain stuff like this since it tastes good to me and fills me up I guess a general suggestion is just to base the 'bulk' of your meal around a cheap and filling item like rice or pasta since that really brings the cost down.

This is definitely thrifty, but it sounds like an incredibly unhealthy way to eat!

wort

Have you tried the eco egg , it's put in the washing machine instead of powder, and last for years great for sensitive skin too.
It comes with a bottle of stain remover for stubborn stains, though I find washing up liquid is great for most stains.
You don't even need to use softer.
Hope this helps someone.

lessonlearned

It is difficult and costs are definitely rising again.

I have to eat a largely paleo diet for health reasons so filling up on cheap carbs is not an option for me. So I do tend to pack out meals with masses of vegetables.

The other thing is because I can't eat carbs I automatically don't eat puddings, cakes, pastries, biscuits so quite a saving there, although I indulge in a little bit of chocolate now and again. Just a couple of squares is enough to satisfy any cravings.

I tend to do most of my shopping at Aldi. I really think they offer very good value for money.

Cosmetics, toiletries grooming etc.....again Aldi really do a great range of skin care products at exceptionally low prices die the quality in offer.

However, if Money is really tight, you can make many of your own skin care lotions and potions with ingredients from your kitchen cupboard. If you google you will find lots of tips and advice on how to make your own bath and beauty products. And of course no nasty chemicals like parabens, or sodium laurel sulphates

Hair colouring can be done at home. Places like B&M, Superdrug, Wilkinson's etc are very reasonable.

If you can't get friends or family to cut your hair then you could try a hair dressing college or even a unisex hairdresser. I used to get mine done at a gents hairdresser, great cut and for less than half I paid In a women's salon. He had quite a few female customers.

As for clothes well I have to confess I just love charity shops.;).

Again I would advise that it might be easier to budget for a month rather than weekly, then you can take advantage of offers. And of course your freezer is your best friend.

Hope you feel better soon.

mattpaint

Do you have a Lidl nearby? They're doing boxes (5kg) of wonky veg for £1.50. Two of those and a chicken would make enough nutritious chicken and veg soup (and the stock to go with it) for weeks of meals if you're able to freeze them? Not to mention another chicken based meal and a the fruit for dessert.

Poppy1984

Hi I'm not the OP but I am in a similar position myself. I am one adult one teen boy with hollow legs and I budget £50 a week (£200 a month) for food and household products and toiletries for us both. Any money not spent at the end of he month goes to my debts as an overpayment. So I aim to come in under budget as often as I can to pay my debts back quicker.
I just wanted to say thank you so much to all the posters wow so much great advice I've read the thread from start to finish and it's really helped me!

I don't have much to add as I'm learning too but things I have done over the months to try and cut costs have been swap to Aldi own non bio washing powder from fairy and I now only use the recommended amount I used to put loads in! I still buy fairy fabric conditioner but again only use a tiny amount, I've stopped using it in towel washes all together as they don't need it and dry you better when they are rougher. I have also stopped using it in ds wash as he has bad eczema and I didn't realise fabric conditioner can aggravate it. So a bottle lasts me ages now. I could give it up all together but I don't want to lol.

I now line dry or use a clothes maiden as much as possible and only use the dryer if I have to finish some washing off. I set a timer so it's the shortest time possible.

I've cancelled sky and changed broadband and phone line to talk talk which is £17 a month. I've swapped both our mobiles to sim only deals mines only £7.50 a month ds is a little more because he uses so much data but I don't give him pocket money I pay for his phone monthly instead.

I box dye my hair and haven't had it cut since January! Sob! It's desperate but like the op I can't afford it atm so it will have to wait till I can. In jan I had a treat with Xmas money and got it cut and coloured at the hairdressers colour wise it was no different to my box dye didn't last any longer or anything and cost a fortune! I won't be doing that again!

I'm another fan of using a monthly budget and bulk buying! Check the price per kg on price labels on the shelves a big bag might cost more but it actually ends up being cheaper if you compare price per kg or whatever it is for that product I think lol rolls are price per roll.
I buy the big bags of cheapest pasta and rice and they last me ages. You can usually rustle up something healthy and filling with a handful of rice or pasta on the side.

Big bags of potatoes also last ages and can be used for all sorts! I like to bake 5/6 at a time(if I'm using the oven for 1-2) it makes sense to put a job lot in and cook them all at once then I wrap them in foil and Pop them in the freezer. Take one out the night before to defrost in the fridge, remove foil and wrap a damp piece kitchen roll around it, microwave for 2-3 mins depending on size. Perfect jack spud to have for lunch or with a meal for dinner. I often do this for work and colleagues are always shocked when I say i bulk bake and freeze a few have started doing it now.

Aldi frozen chicken breasts are £4.50 per kg, Iceland sell fresh chicken breasts in bulk for £22 that work out at £4.40 per kg so I'm going to buy that next time, it's a big chunk of a weekly budget but if I seperate them out and freeze they will last me months! I use thigh rather than breast mainly as it's so tasty and loads cheaper but ds won't entertain it grrrr!

I also buy uht milk from Aldi tastes fine to me and means I've always got it on hand and it doesn't get wasted like fresh can.
I freeze my bread and only use what I need, make croutons for salad and pasta dishes with any left over slightly stale bits. I'm really trying not to let anything get wasted!

Sorry didn't realise this would end up so long!

Pollycat

Spider_In_The_Bath wrote: »

One of the things I do is to 'steal a meal'. So take your normal ingredients for a meal and reduce them every so slightly.

For example, I was recently batch cooking. Instead of using 4 carrots I used 3 and 1/2, 1 & 3/4s of a leek instead of two, 1 less potato on so. This was not enough difference to the main meal I was cooking for it to be noticed.

To the 'stolen' food I then added a onion, black pepper and a bit of cheddar cheese and made some pastry. I managed to get 8 vegetable pasties from this food and popped them in the freezer to be eaten later.

I do this too.
Instead of buying a 400gm pack of mince and using it in a bol or shepherd's pie for 2, I buy a kilo pack and split it into 3 portions of 340 gms (a tiny tad under 3/4lb).
The kilo pack is usually cheaper than the smaller size anyway so you've got a double win.
I buy large beef joints when half price and cut slices for braising and dice some. Cheaper than buying it ready done.
Batch cooking mince bases is where you can really save money by bulking it out with carrots/ mushrooms etc.



And when I menu plan, I include recipes that use family packs of peppers and mushrooms over a few days. These are cheaper than buying a single pepper and 8oz of mushrooms for a specific recipe.

Baileys_Babe

wannalot wrote: »

I’d recommend you take a look round your local supermarkets. Take a list of the things you eat most often and compare prices.

Save your self some shoe leather, you can check lots of prices on mysupermarket.

JackieO wrote: »

Re your big box of soap powder If you buy a bag of ordinary washing soda crystals for a pound shop use half of your normal amount of soap powder and half soda crystals you get the same amount of cleaning power and your box of powder will last twice as long.

I also use soda crystals in my laundry. I buy them in Home Bargains/Quality save 70p/kg.
I buy ecover zero as it doesn't aggravate our allergies. I buy online in bulk for less than £25 (including postage) for 7.5kg, supposedly 100 washes, this lasts our family of 4 for more than 9 months, averaging 5 loads a week. When putting the laundry on 1 put 1 part soda 1 part detergent into the machine, we do not use fabric softener, nor do we iron (saves time & money). Whenever possible we dry outside. We do not own a tumble drier.

Ceegee Thank you for starting this thread, I have found it thought provoking, informative and positive. I hope you are able to take some things fom this thread and make your situation happier.

Mummy2cheekymonkeys

Pollycat wrote: »

I do this too.
Instead of buying a 400gm pack of mince and using it in a bol or shepherd's pie for 2, I buy a kilo pack and split it into 3 portions of 340 gms (a tiny tad under 3/4lb).
The kilo pack is usually cheaper than the smaller size anyway so you've got a double win.
I buy large beef joints when half price and cut slices for braising and dice some. Cheaper than buying it ready done.
Batch cooking mince bases is where you can really save money by bulking it out with carrots/ mushrooms etc.



And when I menu plan, I include recipes that use family packs of peppers and mushrooms over a few days. These are cheaper than buying a single pepper and 8oz of mushrooms for a specific recipe.

I normally use a food processor to blend up loads of carrot, onion and celery to make the base for spaghetti bolognese or cottage pie. Helps to bulk it out and get loads of veggies in. Then I add lots of lentils.
Defiantly agree about meat. Tonight j went into asda and they wanted 3.70 for a 350g pack of stir fry beef. I opted for a pack off frying steak which was 2.57 for 360g. OK I had to cut it into strips myself which is hardly difficult but at over a pound cheaper it was a no brainer.

[Deleted User]

I too use UHT milk from Aldi's as fresh milk goes off too quick for me and at 52p for a big carton it lasts me almost a week

yes The Shirley Goode Kitchen is brilliant I think I ought my last copy for my DGS for Uni for 10p at a boot sale and he has used it for the past four years
I wasn't going to let my own rather tatty copy go :) So many good ways to streetch out your food to go further .The 'steal a meal' is a great idea and veggie pasties (I like a bit of chilli sauce, or curry powder to liven them up a bit )will soon fill an empty tummy.