A Family of 4 20 Dollars a Week
Desire to know how to feed a family of 4 for £twenty a calendar week? Mummy blogger Anneliese Giggins gave information technology her all-time shot!
Mummy blogger Anneliese Giggins shows how to feed a family of 4 for £20 a calendar week! She just loves a claiming.
Last time it was bootleg food, this fourth dimension she'south trying to feed her family unit of 4 for only £20 a week – yeah, really! Read our exclusive web log to see how she got on. Over to yous Anneliese…
How to feed a family unit of 4 for £20 a week – what'south it all almost Anneliese?
I think it's fair to say I like a challenge but I'm wondering if I may take set the bar too high this fourth dimension. For 30 days I volition be scrutinising every unmarried price label, my calculator will exist dusted off and put to daily employ. Each tater, slice of pasta, smear of margarine, in fact every item of food which passes my family's lips will be calculated and I volition be keeping a very beady middle on the shopping receipts.
Yes, yeah, YES, this may seem rather a boring activeness but it's all for a good reason, I promise! I remember we are all aware that food prices are sky high nowadays and they continue to rise. An average family of iv will spend at least £225 a month on nutrient (according to Office for National Statistics) and I'm sure some of us spend even more than, especially when jubilant special occasions such equally birthdays and Christmas.
Anneliese, husband Neil and her ii piffling boys, Isaac and Oliver
A fair few of us now prefer to carry out the weekly or monthly shop online, all the same some still prefer to be the one to choose and pick out food at the supermarket or local grocery and butcher. Whichever style nosotros cull, most of us feel our center sink when we see the grand total and begrudgingly reach into our wallet. We are left wondering if nosotros have enough money in the depository financial institution to cover the monthly utility bills, will there exist whatever greenbacks left over to treat the kids to a day out?
I admit that I've become guilty of just shoving food into our shopping trolley without always searching the shelves for a cheaper alternative. Earlier the children came forth, I had more than fourth dimension to expect for bargains simply, when the boys are arguing in the shopping trolley, all I desire is to make a hasty go out from the overcrowded supermarket and get the hell out of there! One time I become domicile and unpack the nutrient, I can't believe how much money was spent and how little food we take to show for it.
See Anneliese's first food store receipt hither and this week's chiliad total
On that note I want to carry out a fiddling experiment to see if our family unit of iv can survive on spending just £twenty a calendar week on nutrient. Can we get to the finish of the 30 days well fed on such a small budget? I don't call back it would be good parenting to feed my children gruel for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and so I will be hunting out the cheapest but also the almost nutritious recipes I tin can find. And in terms of the food shop I will be doing one majority shop at the beginning of the challenge and smaller shops over the 4 weeks. My budget it £80 for the calendar month levelling out as £20 per week.
So hither's to 30 days of analysing every till receipt, counting out grains of rice and making every carrot count! At that place will be no room for waste material; every morsel of food we buy MUST exist eaten. Hopefully along the manner I can find like shooting fish in a barrel ways to make savings, crafty recipes which don't rely on expensive ingredients. We might even save enough coin to supercede our very quondam Television receiver!
Total of money spent and so far = £49.94
Calendar week 1: The good, the bad and the 'what was I thinking?'
The first week of my challenge has come up to a close. For the past seven days I have been counting my pennies and making certain that I make them go as far every bit possible. When shopping, I no longer notice the branded tins of broiled beans or chopped tomatoes and my mitt automatically reaches for the cheaper value option instead. Although I am simply at the end of calendar week one, I already feel I have learned so much. It's almost every bit if I am learning a new language, merely instead I'm educating myself on how to make savings on food. Information technology certainly is a large learning curve!
Go the recipe: Tomato risotto and garlic bread = £two.10
When I think about what has challenged me and my family unit nearly this outset calendar week, I immediately recollect of the colorlessness! The food is so repetitive. It doesn't take long to get off Cornflakes and I'm not sure that porridge in August is such a great thought! The daily snacks like biscuits and malt loaf are also wearing thin but, funnily enough, my boys seem perfectly content with what they are given. Maybe information technology's merely Neil and I that are being fussy! The evening meal is a saving grace every bit we don't feel as though nosotros are doing without. We've been making risotto, spag Bol, pasta salads and more! I'thousand preparing our usual fare and just making deductions, choosing cheaper ingredients and shopping in a budget supermarket.
Despite the monotony of some of the nutrient, the fizz of saving money at the greenbacks till more than than compensates! After our kickoff bulk buy we still needed to stock upwardly on things such as sausages, pasta and rice simply, by choosing the cheaper alternatives, we managed to walk abroad from the cash till with a bound in our pace rather than a heavy heart! Of course information technology was difficult to resist grabbing a packet of burgers or a pizza but nosotros institute ourselves tutting at the expensive price labels and walking away!
Get the recipe: Penne Bolognese = £1.60
Although my week was lacking in nutrient excitement, things were livened upward with an interview for BBC Radio Oxford. I went along to the studio to talk virtually my new claiming and to conversation on the telephone to a member of the BBC Proficient Food Magazine team and to none other than Jack Monroe. And I must say I was rather star struck to get to talk to Jack Monroe and to hear her great hints and tips.
Even though she no longer lives on a harsh budget of £10 per week, she can nonetheless recite the price of a tin of kidney beans and chopped tomatoes etc. I felt humbled to hear how Jack had to survive for 18 months on such a repetitive bill of fare and an incredibly small amount of money. I know for a fact that there are many others who just manage to scrape past.
See Anneliese's second food shop receipts here and this calendar week's one thousand total
From my time at the radio station I learned that there are cheaper poly peptide alternatives to meat, meals tin can be bulked out with beans and lentils or even tofu and swell bargains are to be had at local farmers' markets; but go at the cease of the 24-hour interval when things are being sold off cheap. I also learnt that frozen vegetables and fruit are often cheaper, last longer and are merely as nutritious as the fresh version. And if there's the possibility of growing your ain fruit and vegetables – go for it! I don't know what I would take done without my father-in-constabulary'southward home grown cucumbers…
Calendar week one circular up
- Best thing nosotros ate this week: We actually enjoyed hummus with pitta breadstuff and vegetable sticks. My younger son was particularly keen!
- Cheapest meal of the week: Bootleg tuna fishcakes (I made plenty fishcakes for 3 meals) with white potato wedges and broiled beans. £1.45 for the meal.
- Kids' favourite dish of the week: Tomato risotto with garlic breadstuff. Make clean plates all circular!
- Failure of the calendar week: Running out of milk and having to buy some from our village store. Ii pints of milk cost 89p instead of 95p for FOUR pints of milk at Aldi. That was painful and will not be repeated!
- Best thing I learned this calendar week: When making risotto save a lot of pennies by using basic white rice. I used 'normal' rice for my tomato risotto and no i could tell the difference. Thanks to Jack Monroe for such a great tip!
- Thrifty trick of the week: I usually throw away pastry offcuts merely not this time! There was a bit of leftover pastry from my quiche this week and I managed to make 8 mini jam tarts out of it. A swell treat for the kids (and Mummy and Daddy) and they only cost a few pence – result!
Quiche (£2.lx for 10inch) and jam tarts (15p) – made with the aforementioned pastry! Get the recipe: Broccoli quiche
Full of coin spent so far = £69.62
Week 2: Bargain hunting and lots of hummus
I'thousand at present at the halfway point of the challenge. It's very probable that, from now on, I'll be counting downward the days in apprehension of the end! We are not going hungry and are eating well, just I find myself hankering for the trivial extras I usually take for granted. Treats like a scoop of ice cream at the finish of a warm summer's day or even fruit salad are off the carte. Instead we settle for a slice of slightly stale malt loaf or a Rich Tea biscuit, which sadly practice piddling to fill the void!
Get the recipe: Hummus and carrot wraps = 24p each
This calendar week, our breakfasts were either crunchy cornflakes or porridge with honey.
I don't usually eat cooked breakfasts, but now all I desire is a poached egg, broiled beans, mushrooms, toast and lashings of ketchup. When it comes to lunchtime nosotros encompass hummus and employ it on anything and everything. My youngest, Oliver, loves information technology on toast, while the residue of usa relish it in wraps with grated carrot, or as a dip with pitta bread and vegetable sticks. Unfortunately, I doubt it will be long before I'm ill of it!
Making pizzas with Isaac – Go the recipe: Cheese and onion pizza
Nosotros are even so enjoying dinners, every bit we are managing to consume the same sort of meals we unremarkably have, such equally sausage hotpot, chilli with rice, and homemade pizza (now fabricated with tomatoes from my father-in-law'southward garden). When I started this challenge my biggest worry was hunger. We have big appetites and I was obviously anxious that my children might not accept enough to consume. However, nosotros all become to bed with full tummies then we really tin can't complain. I just wish we could have a little more than variety!
Chilli and rice = £i.90
At the weekend nosotros went into town to compare prices at several £i and 99p stores. I found some good deals on branded products, only they still worked out a little dearer than the value brands at a bargain supermarket. There might be only a few pence difference, simply every penny adds upward. After leaving empty-handed, nosotros drove a few miles to our local farm shop on a chase for potatoes. The shop was beautiful and in that location was plenty of delicious food on display. It broke my heart to but buy a handbag of muddy potatoes! Nevertheless, nosotros were pleased with the price equally nosotros managed to buy twenty for £ii.l. This meant we have enough money to purchase some hummus for adjacent week. Hurrah!
Our supermarket shop was very minor this calendar week – but a few essentials, similar milk and bread. I had to control an urge to throw packets of fresh pasta and tubs of ice cream into my basket. I feel increasingly grateful that I don't have to continue living on such a rigid budget once the challenge is over.
Run across Anneliese's third food shop receipt here and this week's grand total
Week two round upward
All-time thing we ate this week:
Bootleg pizza. I honey making pizza when I get the time, but this challenge made it a necessity. We thoroughly enjoyed preparing and scoffing it!
Cheapest meal of the week:
Jack Monroe'south carrot, cumin and kidney bean burgers with potato wedges and baked beans. £i.03 for the meal.
Kids' favourite dish of the week:
Homemade gnocchi in a bootleg love apple sauce, with a sprinkle of grated cheese on top, plus garlic breadstuff. My children barely came up for air as they polished it all off!
Failure of the calendar week:
Maybe the boys are hungrier than I thought, every bit I constitute them sitting on the kitchen floor eating breadsticks. Now we only have four left to last for two weeks. Eeek!
All-time matter I learned this week:
Cheese is expensive and I'm trying to employ as little every bit possible. Previously I would add as much as a recipe stated just now I add it to gustation. Making a cheese sauce, I added half of what I would usually just past ignoring the scales, calculation information technology little past fiddling and having a taste.
Thrifty fox of the week:
Instead of adding a whole can of sweetcorn to my sausage hotpot, I kept half dorsum and used the remainder in a pasta salad. You tin can practice the aforementioned with a tin of tuna or beans, saving one-half for another meal.
Week 3: Blackberries to the rescue!
It's the stop of calendar week three. Our fridge is looking bare and the fruit bowl now sits empty on our dining room table. Our boys adopt vegetables to fruit, just we normally fill up the bowl with bananas, oranges and apples to eat every bit a snack or after dinner. Thankfully nosotros are eating nutritious, homemade meals every solar day and no fix meals or jars of sauce have passed our lips. However, I am aware that, in this tertiary week, our five-a-day fruit and veg can't be reached. Virtually days we manage three or even four, but non v. When looking at the toll of fruit in the supermarkets and at the farmers' market, it's piece of cake to see how difficult it is to include fruit in your daily diet if you are on a tight budget.
To overcome our current predicament, a friend suggested we search hedgerows for blackberries, as they are currently in season. We donned our waterproofs and welly boots and headed for the field behind our firm. We got decidedly soggy in the pouring rain but had fun equally a family unit picking the blackberries and came back with a generous bounty, which we devoured with rice pudding!
Blackberry rice pudding = 15p for four servings
Nosotros are getting used to having the same lunches twenty-four hour period in and day out. My youngest, Oliver, was delighted to have some other tub of hummus to enjoy this week. He loves it on toast but enjoys dipping carrot and cucumber sticks into it, also. My elder son, Isaac, has never been great on sandwiches but adores pitta breads filled with cucumber and a trivial mayonnaise and he tucks into his lunch without whatsoever fuss – hurrah!
As for snack time, the boys are all the same happily tucking into malt loaf. However, I can't face it anymore and neither can my husband – nosotros would rather become without. My sweet tooth has been longing for something chocolatey so I made some chocolate cornflake cakes with Isaac at the beginning of the week. I was very glad that I'd bought some value chocolate at the start of the claiming, ready for such a moment! The sweetness crunchy cakes were delicious and we are going to brand another batch next week.
Chocolate cereal cakes = 38p full This third week as well proved to exist a social week. Get-go, the boys and I were invited to a friend's house for a play date; lunch would be fabricated for usa. At offset I wasn't sure if we should become every bit I was unable to contribute, simply I realised that I couldn't end my children from having fun and seeing their little friends. Nosotros were treated to delicious homemade carrot soup and Oliver couldn't go enough. I look forward to returning the favour one time this challenge is finished!
On Saturday we had friends over to our business firm for dejeuner and I had a massive panic about what I could feed them. Neil suggested bootleg pizzas. Information technology worked out perfectly – Isaac helped me and in that location was enough of pizza to become round so no one starved, every bit I had originally feared. This challenge doesn't exactly lend itself to social occasions but we managed to scrape through!
Sausage and mash = £2.24 total
There are nevertheless no complaints at dinnertime. We have been enjoying things such as sausages with mash and vegetables, a potato and chickpea curry, and spicy mixed bean tortillas. Sadly I just have a small slice of cheese left for the last week of the challenge. I will accept to be very, very sparing as I simply have no money left for more than!
See Anneliese's fourth food shop receipt here and this week's grand total
Calendar week three round up
Best thing we ate this week:
Nosotros love our weekly pasta salad. I chop upwards some boiled eggs, piece upwards cucumber and tomatoes and stir in some mayonnaise. Yum!
Cheapest meal of the calendar week:
Homemade tomato plant pasta sauce with pasta and garlic bread. £1.25
Kids' favourite dish of the week:
Sausages with mashed potato, carrots, peas and gravy. £2.24
Failure of the calendar week:
Finding a mouldy onion and having to throw it abroad. I bought two bags of onions at the beginning of the claiming; I should have purchased one at a time to avoid waste.
Best thing I learned this calendar week:
It's worth getting outdoors and scrimping for fruit. I can't believe I never thought of doing this before!
Thrifty trick of the calendar week:
For a inexpensive tomato pasta sauce, I gently fry a chopped onion in a little oil then pour in ii tins of chopped tomatoes and gently simmer for around 20 minutes until the tomatoes turn to a thick pulpy consistency. It'due south and so ready to eat with pasta and a grating of cheese!
Total of money spent so far = £79.92
Calendar week 4: Washed and dusted
The challenge is at present over and I am animate a sigh of relief. This concluding week was the toughest yet and I honestly wasn't certain if we could scrape by with what little food we had. Nosotros didn't go over our upkeep but the last few meals were far from exciting. My boys really bask my tomato risotto and have come to expect an obligatory slice of garlic bread to be served alongside. Imagine their disappointment when non only did I go out the cheese out of the risotto merely also that there was no garlic breadstuff to accompany their repast. I was out of coin and we had to make do with what we had. I but added more rice to the risotto and then nosotros still had full tummies; I think I was merely about forgiven!
There was also no money to buy staff of life so I made my own this week. I enjoyed venting my frustrations as I kneaded the dough. However the loaves I produced were non every bit big equally the loaves yous can purchase. They also do non go on well. This made me question what is added to store bought breadstuff to make it keep for longer, not a nice idea.
Carrot soup and homemade bread = 50p for four servings
We had lots of carrots in stock this week and I was keen to apply them upwardly so I decided to make a big batch of carrot soup. I admit that it wasn't the most flavoursome of soups, merely it was packed full of vitamin A and in that location was plenty for 2 lunches. Plainly soup wasn't enough to continue u.s.a. going until dinnertime so information technology was served with some of my homemade bread. I felt very virtuous to know that I had made both with my own ii hands. I have fabricated a mental annotation to effort to brand my own soup in future!
This week Isaac was keen to assist me in the kitchen once more. We made chocolate cornflake cakes which helped to satisfy my chocolate cravings and we also made a small batch of water ice lollies. A friend of mine makes lollies with merely banana and milk and they are surprisingly tasty. Isaac was perfectly content chopping up a assistant and pushing the push on the blender. He then thoroughly enjoyed his refreshing banana ice lolly.
Ice lollies = 35p for four
Although a few of our meals this calendar week were disappointing, mostly due to the lack of cheese, we did manage to enjoy a roast dinner. Nosotros had to opt for sausages. However I pushed the boat out and made some Yorkshire puddings, which felt like a existent luxury! On our concluding day we were completely out of nutrient apart from a tin of baked beans and some dried bread simply, instead of finishing off the challenge with beans on toast, I made a baked bean 'pie' equally suggested by Donna, who has been following the blog. It made a more interesting alternative and was much enjoyed. The baked bean pie was followed past a tin of peaches. What a classy way to end the challenge!
Sausage roast dinner with bootleg Yorkshires = £2.60 for iv servings
Week four circular up
Best affair we ate this week:
Sausages with homemade Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, broccoli, carrots, peas and gravy.
Cheapest meal of the week:
It has to be the broiled edible bean pie!
Kids' favourite dish of the week:
Tuna pasta bake
Failure of the calendar week:
Discovering that I take an unopened pocketbook of rice and pasta left over. Had I planned better I could take used that money on some fruit. I'm Then cross with myself!
Best thing I learned this week:
It's amazing how much soup tin can be fabricated from only a few veggies. It only costs a few pence to make a simple soup. I cooked upwards a big batch and put half in the fridge for another 24-hour interval.
Thrifty fox of the week:
It'southward amend to buy loose vegetables so y'all can weigh them on the scales and purchase exactly what yous need. No waste and will salve a little money.
Yard total of money spent = £79.92 – in budget!
*Download Anneliese'due south meal list and prices here*
Week five: Looking back…
My challenge has come to an terminate and in all honesty it couldn't have come soon enough! We have been eating either cornflakes or porridge for breakfast for 30 days only I may too have been chewing on cardboard. I do not rate the value cornflakes and volition be glad to be rid of them! On the other hand the lunches have been more varied and we will happily continue to eat salad sandwiches, pasta salad, pitta breads and hummus. I was surprised by how I could slightly modify our evening meals and yet put filling and nutritious meals on the tabular array. No one felt unsatisfied and nosotros never felt hungry. If I'm honest I wondered if might have lost some weight during the challenge but no, I didn't lose an ounce! I retrieve this shows that we ate well and didn't become without.
I believe we saved a lot of money by only switching our usual supermarket to a bargain supermarket and I am certain that this was the key to getting through to the stop of the claiming. However, when you just pay 15p for a tin of rice pudding or 29p for a jar of jam you start to question the quality. I checked labels and was surprised to run across that the value jam contained the same amount of fruit every bit a far more expensive brand and had less added carbohydrate! Sadly, my euphoria was soon dashed when I discovered that the tins of baked beans I'd been using contained 7g more sugar than the beans we usually purchase. When it came to salt I couldn't see much variation between brands so that helped me to experience a fiddling more positive!
Go the recipe: Spicy mixed bean tortillas = 68p per portion
I required a lot of chopped tomatoes for the claiming and, after eating our way through 15 value tins, I have no complaints at all and will definitely buy them again. The one thing I volition never buy once more was the sunflower oil spread; it was horrible. When spread on hot toast or a jacket white potato information technology left an oily layer and never actually melted.
The meat was a fair quality but the sausages were 'watery' and lacked flavour. My married man feels strongly nigh only using local and well reared meat so I'one thousand sure nosotros volition go dorsum to visiting the butchers. No one wants to spend ages checking labels but I practise think you get what you lot pay for when it comes to such things as baked beans, breadstuff and meat. Notwithstanding, don't be put off, as you can make corking savings on many other products such as stale pasta, milk, eggs, flour, chopped tomatoes, fruit and vegetables. The list goes on!
This challenge was to try to find out if information technology really is possible to feed a family unit of four for simply £20 a week. I realise it would be harder with teenagers but my children are still small; mayhap I'll have to repeat the procedure in 10 years time – or maybe not! Yeah, the claiming is just about possible, nigh things are, if you really set your heed to information technology or yous are without selection BUT is it an enjoyable experience? No.
After the showtime calendar week, I could already meet where I had previously wasted money, by the cease of calendar week two I was very grateful that I did not have to do this for longer than 30 days and past the end of the claiming I knew I wouldn't desire to do this again. Nosotros managed to eat well but this tight upkeep does non allow for much variety or the ability to regularly meet your 5-a-day target. Fresh fruit and vegetables come at a high cost, so cheap carrots, broccoli, apples and bananas are the order of the day. I don't know if I could have managed without my father-in-police's home-grown cucumbers and tomatoes. It is definitely worth trying to grow a few vegetables and fruit if there is space in your garden. We have strawberry plants but they were sadly out of season during the challenge!
Get the recipe: Pasta salad = 17p per portion (with homegrown veg)
If you are in a position where you only have a small amount of coin to spend on nutrient you have to brand choices. Would you exist able to worry about added sugar? Do you purchase a punnet of grapes for £1.25 or do yous utilize the coin to purchase ingredients for a main meal? The answer is that y'all have to make practice and, as long equally you lot are making the most of what you lot have and are putting food on the tabular array, you lot are doing well.
I have learned then much throughout these 30 days. I'yard able to buy certain foods far cheaper at a deal supermarket. I know that using white rice instead of risotto rice makes no difference and I realise that I tin brand satisfying family meals that don't cost the world. You can commonly have things out of a recipe or make substitutions and non observe the difference. It is certainly far cheaper to make meals from scratch than it is to purchase a ready meal, jar of sauce or a takeaway, not to mention healthier!
I walk away from this challenge grateful that I can indulge in a tub of ice foam this evening and feel lucky to be able to stop living on such niggling money. Yet, I am aware that we still have a budget for our food shopping and I am determined to continue to brand savings on what we buy. Certainly not £20 a week; £30 would exist far more doable!
Budget recipes from the claiming
How to feed a family of four for £20 a calendar week – our favourite budget recipes the claiming…
Tomato risotto Broccoli quiche
Penne Bolognese Cheese and onion pizza
Spicy mixed bean tortillas Cucumber and tomato plant pasta salad
Feeling inspired to the challenge? Practise you have whatsoever tips on how to feed a family unit of 4 for £20 a week y'all'd like to share? Caput over to our Facebook page to join the conversation!
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Source: https://www.goodto.com/food/how-to-feed-a-family-of-4-for-20-a-week-114543
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