Sorting out my housekeeping.

meanmarie

Ness,

Having seven children myself, I can appreciate how horrendous food bills can be...mine are all adults now but I remember it well!

Congratulations on how much you are managing to do in addition to the washing, cleaning and story telling involved when you have a big family.

As I see it, the areas you might be able to save a little in are: bread...homemade bread is far cheaper than bought and easy enough when you get the hang of it....don't know how helpful a breadmaker would be as it would be on day and night to make enough; Lidl and Aldi have huge boxes of detergents for a very reasonable price and their dishwasher tablets are excellent, vinegar and washing soda crystals are definitely very good economical ways of keeping things clear of limescale; can you use some dried beans to provide protein in your main meal once a week ....I make a 'cassoulet'...like to use fancy terms with about 500g mixed beans...I don't buy them mixed better to buy separately and lots of veg...I would add some bacon or ham but you can use a few vegetarian sausages and then sprinkle some grated cheese, mixed with breadcrumb, over the top and brown in oven or under grill.

You may think from reading above that I manage wonderfully, but I am really much better at telling others what to do than doing things myself!

Best of luck

Marie

lbt_2

Hi Ness

I personally don't think that £207 per week is outrageous - especially with the nappies and having a vegetarian diet. It is surprising how much fruit and veg can add up to!!! I started a diet (a few years ago now!) and because I ate so much more fruit and veg (and quorn) my shopping bill went up, but it was worth it because I was eating much better.

I agree with the point about slow cookers - I use mine all the time. I make big portions and freeze whatever is left over which also saves on electricity because you are not cooking twice.

Also there are some things that might save you money but might be too difficult and stressful in the long run. A stressful Mum is no fun for anyone :eek:. I come from a family of seven so I know how hectic it can be - I don't know how my parents coped!!!!!

Sorry I can't offer any more ideas that they ones others have already given, but I wanted to give you a bit of support anyway.

lbt x

ness_w

I think it's outrageous too! I am just a beginner at this though, and I shopped normally last week to have a starting point. Even I can see where I can save a few quid - some of the cereals were a bit luxurious and there were a few nice biscuits and crackers thrown in.
What do people feel is a reasonable amount per head then? I know it will differ, for example I'm happy to have value fruit juice and mostly none at all, but not value bread, some people would feel the opposite.

I am a stay at home mum so I can cook properly, but do have to look after my children and house - so can't spend all day in the kitchen. I know it's doable purely on lentils and carrots and milk and cabbage, but would like to work towards a happy median!!

Spendless

Are the night time nappies dry-nites? How old a child for? I know I went back to regular disposibles at bed-time cos even the pull-ups I was using were far more expensive and less absorbant. Realise this may not be an option if it's for an older child.

ravylesley

Ness w there are 6 in our house and we average about £80 per week spend.I definitely think you have to invest in a bread machine as they are so useful for making teacakes and pizza bases.Also getting your fruit and veg from the local market might save you a bit of money too.I am not vegetarian so I cant comment more than that but wish you well

Lesleyxx

lil_me

Oooops edited post, I read as in a month aswell

If you'd used all of the stuff you'd bought, I may have said it was bad, but I think you might have to do it over a month, or even the year, to give true figures. Costing out meals over the week might be another way.

Waste - that was another key area for me when reducing budgets, noting everything thrown away foodwise was a kick in the *** making me realise how much we wasted. It might be worth looking at how much you throw away aswell.

Deserts - we don't have them usually, very rare now we have a desert at all but do use fruit for day time snacks

Portion sizes - helped us with the waste reducing and waist reduction also helps the budget. Working out how much meat or meat substitute I used in a meal, then I decided to half it because it was way too much.

Nappies etc - I get the PJ pants I need to use (too big for nappies) from Boots usually, I order in bulk with any toiletries etc we need using codes and offers for extra points or money off. The last batch was a £81 order, I got £10 off and 1000 extra points, so that was £20 off plus the normal reward points, not bad getting 25% off really. A friend has started doing this with all her baby stuff and toiletries, saving her quite a bit.

Powdered milk - might work out cheaper to use when doing cheese sauces and other cooking, saves on fridge space too.

angchris

i would check around to see if there are any fruit/veg wholesalers in your area, there is one near me and oh used to quite often drop in unannouced and see if they had trays of fruit or veg that were not quite up to the standard that he could feel happy selling to businesses so he heavily reduced it to get shot of it, oh often used to come home with huge trays of mushrooms/bananas maybe v. slightly bruised apples and sacks of veg. i just pick through it, maybe 80-95% of it is still perfectly useable

purpleivy

I use powdered milk, it's described as skim milk powder, is in the '5pt' style bottle. Isn't as low cal as the value stuff, but is cheaper, bizarrely. Might be better for children really. I use it in almost all cooking as it's much easier/lighter/less bulky to get home and store than liquid milk of any description. Also works out slightly cheaper too. Mixed with hot milk from the kettle speeds up making things too. I paid 99p for the last 'bottle'

"Powdered milk - might work out cheaper to use when doing cheese sauces and other cooking, saves on fridge space too."

belfastgirl23

Just to add that we live in a soft water area so not sure if the Tesco washing powder is good for you, although at that price worth a try I'd think

Also to add that it's worth seeing what they have in lidl and whether it suits the way you eat. EG they do have really good quality dishwasher tablets really cheap (£1.99 for 30 and you can use just half where we are), also good for cheese and chocolate imho. Their tins of stuff are comparable pricewise with value brands in tesco but usually much better quality - their tinned tomatos are 19p and taste like premium brand. Also their kidney beans. And even their tinned rice (I can hear the oldstyle community whispering that I don't make my own but I'm the only one who eats it!!). And I quite like their fruit and veg too, especially for more exotic stuff like mangoes and aubergines they are always a lot cheaper than tesco. Although avoid the potatos. Personally I find that it is worth it once a month but it's only a minor hike for me - about 20 mins away.

Finally it's also worth checking local asian/chinese supermarkets if you buy eg rice in bulk...I think you might find quite a bit of their bulk supplies would be useful to you (too big for just me and DH). But they do eg big packs of tomato sauce or big tins of tomatos or whatever.

Merlot

Hi, Firstly I take my hat off to you with 6 children, you are worth your weight in gold.:T

I live in E.Yorks and have really hard water, and I use Tesco value soap powder £1.41 approx a box, and I have never had a problem, it could save you alot of money, alternatively you could mixed half and half, I also use vinegar for the softener. I also use vinegar for cleaning, and once a month I use a branded cleaner (and now the dirt is gone-says Barry!) to really remove the build up of limescale on the taps and sinks etc.

I have two children and I don't seem to have time to turn round some days never mind 6. You must be so organised, I must try harder tomorrow and keep away from this site and do something productive.:D