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Feeding a family frugally

Hi everyone I haven't posted on the forum for a long time and had to set up a new profile. I found this site invaluable for us when we were in an IVA (now complete :j)
We are a family of 5 (myself SAHM, arthritic,asthmatic and hip dysplasia sufferer also carer for youngest son who has SEN, hubby works 40+ hrs but only minimum wage, 3 sons age 16, 14 and 9) oh and not forgetting our pets one cat and one dog.
We are stable financially now (just about) and learnt many lessons during that time not least how to feed our family well on a fairly small budget however that was quite a few years back and S basics were our lifeline, prices have shot up now and I'm finding it harder and harder to feed us all on less than £150 a week :( (This does include dog/cat food, litter, toiletries, cleaning products etc but I'd love to get that down a bit if possible) I use S/burys for petrol/nectar points and its the cheapest fuel locally so also have there for the few bits I can't get and there is also a BnM close by.
I do tend to meal plan and shop to that but I have to say I do sometimes find it hard to stick to it and think of new meal ideas. I usually draw the cash out and pop into envelopes so as not to use the debit card, it's so much harder to see what you are spending when you don't physically hand the cash over. On my shopping route is a farmfoods (use this for the best offers and get the money off coupons to use), poundstretcher and Aldi.
At the moment main meals are things like carbonara, mexican mince/chilli (lean turkey mince), beercan whole chicken, homemade pizzas, Roast on a Sunday usually chicken (we don't eat red meat), stirfries, bbq chicken melt, homemade curries. I tend to make my own wedges/coleslaw/salads to accompany and I love to bake too. HUGE fan of my slowcooker :):D
I'm finding that the cost is creeping up gradually though and meat based meals are becoming more expensive. Unless anyone has ideas/recipes for using a whole chicken they are only £2.09 atm in Aldi.
Breakfasts are usually toast/cereal/fruit and yoghurt. Lunches are pack ups - homemade salads for hubby to take to work. Eldest only needs to take lunch with him to college one day a week. Myself and youngest two (we home ed) lunches are usually sandwiches/soup/beans on toast/pitta pizzas/wraps etc.
Hubby has also built us two large raised beds (waist height they're fab) and we have lots of veggies planted and happily growing atm.
We try to get out and about at the weekend visiting country parks only costs petrol and occasionally parking, sometimes use the kids AM cinema screenings as a treat or use Netflix/Now TV trials.
We love a charity shop bargain especially educational books/resouces but great for clothes too.
Sorry for the rambly post but I'd really appreciate any other money saving tips you can think of. I think we need to build a bit of a rainy day savings pot and any money I can shave off the shopping will be a great help.
Thanks in advance.
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Comments

  • Hello:)
    We're also a family of 5, and pretty much in a similar situation. I have some health problems, and we're struggling to keep our shopping bill down, again around the same as yours.
    The difference is that it seems you're a lot more resourceful than a me! We have a lot of waste, and I'm not a very confident cook.
    I can't really advise, as I'm just starting to learn myself. I just wanted to say hi:wave:
    I did start a thread, that has had quite a lot of helpful, encouraging replies.
    I can't link, as I don't know how. It's on this bit of the forum though, if you wanted to take a look?
  • Hi MartagonLilie I have just had a read of your thread, yes is seems we are in a very similar position good to know that we're not alone. I don't know about being more resourceful lol but tbh out of necessity I had to learn alot and this site was a fabulous source of information. It's so difficult isn't it trying to cut back where you can. I aim to follow slimming world as much as our budget will allow too which isn't easy. Good luck to you in your quest to cut back :) I would definitely recommend using envelopes to split your budget and each time you do a shop that week pop the receipt in to help you keep track. Something else we used to do again out of necessity but occasionally do it now too was to write an inventory of what we had in the fridge/freezer and cupboards then try to make meals from that only adding essential missing ingredients onto that weeks shopping list. Little things make all the difference don't they and we all have to start somewhere x
  • I would say, as you've done it before, it's really just a case of becoming focused again. Next shop try £140 in your envelopes instead of £150. Once it's gone, it's gone but you can get it the following week if it's a necessity :)

    Good luck though and I will be following with interest as I can't say I have this mastered yet, either :D[/QUOTE]

    Great idea thank you so simple why didn't I think of that :rotfl: x
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0
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    edited 14 June 2018 at 3:34PM
    You don't need meat at every main meal you like curries so explore pulse based recipes and serve the pulse based curry you make with a vegetable curry, some spiced rice, plain yoghurt (we like Greek best) or plain yoghurt mixed with grated cucumber, mint sauce concentrate and crushed garlic, raisins/sultanas, sliced banana, chutney/lime pickle and ring the changes by cutting out rice and serving naan bread/chapatis with it instead and you have a very thrifty feast!

    You don't have to go through the whole rigmarole of soaking and cooking dry pulses either the tinned ones are good, cheap and so much easier, most come in a ring pull can.
  • We save money by having a use up night once a week or fortnight. We use up all the dregs of bits and pieces that often lurk in the fridge and freezer, it makes for some interesting combinations! We usually do this before our big shop then DH helpfully washes the fridge shelves (I'm spoiled)
    Grippy is my middle name!
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 17,413
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    veggie lasagne or curry is delicious I no longer have a family to feed they are all grown up and gone but I make both of these for my DGS at times and they are happily scoffed by them. My eldest DGS Danny who now lives in NYC adores a curry made with cauliflower and assorted vegetables and he is a lanky 6ft carnivore who loves meat.

    I enjoy finding ways to make the cash streetch a bit further, and the left over cash goes into my holiday fund. When I batch cook I am making individual portions for my freezer which in turn feeds me when I have those CBA evenings.

    Chicken thighs make a delicious curry (I have never bought a chicken breast in my life ) and even a good sized turkey leg once cooked and stripped can be a good basis for either a pie or curry and helps to keep the cost of the meat down a bit.

    Meat has become so expensive that I feel that we shall all be returning to the streetch the stuff out ways of my late Mum When rationing was on in the 1940s-50s it was a case of having to find ways to make the meat go further as there was so little availability.

    Today there is the availability but the cost is often prohibitive. I have found even buying Y/S steak I cut it in half before I freeze it and then when I get a bit out it gets a darned good walloping with my meat hammer before it gets cooked very slowly and gently :) bashing it certainly makes it not only tender but look bigger than it is :):):)

    a couple of meat free evening meals are fine, even the humble egg and chips helps fill empty tums. When I was little we always had either soup and main course or main course and a pudding ,never both A soup starter can be made for pennies with Y/S veg, and a rice pud can cost around 70p for a good sized pudding.If you make it in the slow cooker it costs even less to cook than the oven. Now over 70 years later I still have either soup or pudding and it helps streetch the meal out a bit
    Hope this helps
    JackieO xx
  • joedenise
    joedenise Posts: 16,481
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    Jackie - how do you do your rice pudding in the SC? I assume you don't bet a skin on it, which is ok by me but DH might not bre so happy.

    Denise
  • Mrs_Cheshire
    Mrs_Cheshire Posts: 1,173
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    I'd recommend the grocery challenge.
    We're a family of 5, 1 in nappies still and we try to stick to £400 per month, all food, drinks, household and toiletries included. It's hard but we manage.
    Meal planning definitely helps, as does having bits in that can make a quick meal if the meal plan doesn't quite work. I forgot to get meat out this week, but had one of those smoked sausages in the fridge, used some pepper, mushroom and frozen sweetcorn with some pasta and the sausage mixed with pesto and created a meal we all like.
    This week I've got some veg to use up that won't keep very long so I intend on making some meals for the freezer to be used the week after, when we won't have much left in the budget.

    I buy chicken breasts in bulk £20 for 5kg and freeze them as breasts and some diced.

    I only use 250g of 5% minced beef per meal, bulking it out with loads of veg and sometimes a handful of lentils.

    One meal I've recently tried was potato, onion and bacon bake - very frugal as I only used 8 rashers of bacon for the 5 of us.
    Grocery Challenge 2020
    Jan £377.98/£380, Feb £417.83/£370 March /£400
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 17,413
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    edited 18 June 2018 at 1:32PM
    joedenise wrote: »
    Jackie - how do you do your rice pudding in the SC? I assume you don't bet a skin on it, which is ok by me but DH might not bre so happy.

    Denise

    I have put four ounces of pudding rice into the buttered inner pot, add two ounces of sugar, I get a large tin of evaporated milk into a large jug I empty the tin, and add one and a half tins of water to it then top it up with some milk so its two pints altogether.Pour the whole lot over the rice and sugar and mix with a fork.Sprinkle a little cinnamon or nutmeg over the top put the lid on cook on low for 8 plus hours (I usually cook it overnight) If you like you can add a few sultanas, in the morning its cooked beautifully ,once its reached its desired thickness decant into a bowl to cool down and it does get a skin on it as well.This goes into the fridge to be used over several days to reheat I just bung into the microwave until hot and bubbling, or have it cold with hot custard poured over the top.I have been making rice pudding like this for well over 20 years and its delicious. A tin of it from the shop which feeds at most two people costs about 60p, my mega pud will do 6-8 servings and costs about the same Plus it tastes nicer than tinned stuff ;)
  • Thanks everyone for your suggestions, have just done a meal plan and worked out what we need to buy for the week which hopefully will come to less than £50 :T
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