Family Budgeting

Here are a few of my tips, for keep meals on the table while working to a very tight family budget. From saving money too being frugal. 


Like most family's in the UK, we are finding it harder and harder to keep our heads above water. Since changing to a vegan/plant based diet I have seen some savings in our weekly shop and we just feel better too. I've had way less colds, I feel much healthier. We haven't saved millions as many 'free from' products are more expensive but for less money our meals are far more healthier!


First thing write down all your outgoings and double check what is coming out of your bank, is it correct? I know of people who still have a driect debt coming out for a service or insurance which has long been cancilled! Best thing is to add all this to a spreadsheet, list all of the bills coming out each month and then add all the months for the next year.  Then go through each and see if you can reduce any. Call each one and ask if you are getting the best deal, when I called Virgin, I got it reduced from over 70 to 53, now its on direct debt! Going paperless can reduce bills too, you do have to keep on top of it but it will save you a few pounds a year. Get as much as you can onto direct debit, you can forget about it and save on late payment fees. I worked out how much all the bills where, opened up a joint account and then the right amount is transferred over to that account and left. Its so easy to see money in your account and forget that things can take some time to show!


One of the biggest savings is my husband now cycling into work each day. We have spent a fair amount on bikes (one fell apart!) and safety things. He likes doing and we are saving by just having one car. He bikes 22 miles a day! I don't know how he does it, am so proud of him! I know this isn't something everyone can do, but its worth looking into if its possible. In the summer holidays, I walked the children to the shops and used the car as little as possible, a small saving here and there but it does add up.

Check your electric bills! I changed from southern (been with them over 6yrs) to e-on. Went from 160 a month to 80!! Over a year this is a huge saving.


Where do you shop? If its Tesco, look into the Christmas club. My friend told me about it last year and am so glad she did. We have our mobiles with them now too, and e-on give you clubcard points or high-street vouchers at the end of the year, so its all adding up! They used to double up on toys and clothes, but their not doing that this year. If we can afford it, I want to use what we have saved up for ferry crossings for a holiday next year or to help us with the Christmas gifts shop! I know others who save with Salisburys, it really depends where you already shop. I know people say that Tesco is more expensive but I've found like for like its about the same for my shop, use by is longer and I get the points too. If I have something I want to buy, I check if they have it first. When we brought our little girls bed, I checked and they where selling it too. That way I got the points on top as well!

Being a family of five, we go through a lot of bread. I find that shop brought bread makes me feel really bloated and it often has milk in it. Our bread maker is on most days, to every other. It saves lots on our shopping budget. I also make really Yummy Buns  without the bread maker, cheap and yummy! Perfect for burgers or packed lunches. I have made these lots this week as they are great for hubbys lunch at work and a snack after school for the hungry mini people! 

Slow cooker, this is such a huge time saving tool, but also you can cook lots of cheap easy meals. In a batch and freeze down some at the same time. There are so many things you can make in a slow cooker, check out my Italian Tomatoes and Olives its yummy! They cost about the same as leaving on a light bulb all day and so easy to use. 

When I go food shopping, I always check the reduced section first. There are so many things you can freeze down, from bread to spinach! A load of reduced veggies, in the slow cooked and then blits, amazing soups. Soups are a great money saving meal, not only can you use up a bit of left over veggies but also they freeze really well, have a look at my Slow Cooked Soup. Think about where you shop too, I do our main shop at Tesco, and then I go to a car boot sale that has an amazing veggies stall! Sometimes farm shops can work out cheaper as you maybe able to buy bigger amounts. 

Car insurance, staying with the same company is easy, but make sure you shop about. Also call up your car insurance company and ask them if your getting the best deal too. Sometimes, adding on another driver brings down the cost, adding on our tow bar brought it down!

I buy from boot sales/charity shops, swoop clothes with friends. Children grow so quickly we swoop clothes back and fourth between children of different ages. Its really nice seeing something you little one was wearing and remembering how small they where! 

If you have a garden, get working on a veg patch. It's amazing what you can save with a little veg patch-when you peal your potatoes throw in the peels, almost each peel is a potato!! I always grab a herb plant in the reduced section, with a little love you can end up with a big beautiful plant! I haven't brought rosemary for over two years! As at last my herb pot is doing really well. You don't need much space at all for herbs, they can grow inside too. I mostly use mint and rosemary. 


Wild blackberry picking, this will save you money and also give you a great fun actively for all the family. Please read Blackberry Picking before you set off foraging for food. 

Make do and mend, I have a small pile of things waiting to be mended but it's worth it. You will be amazed at what you can do to alter or fix clothing very quickly. I use my sewing machine for work but it's also saved me a little too. Making cushion covers, Christmas gifts and dresses. I also make my little ones blankets too as I love to crochet. Often car boots and charity shops are selling off unused wool so keep an eye out. I find it really relaxing and love seeing the mini people snuggled up under something I've made for them. 


Think natural, so often the natural way is cheaper too. Take Soap Nuts, they are cheap, good for your skin and our planet. Also, way, way cheaper! Click here to see my review of them. I use lemon a lot, not just for cooking, but also cleaning! 

I will add to this blog, so make sure you bookmark it!

Click here for my blog about how to save money on your food shop!

The Food Shop

How to save on your food bill:

One of the biggest outgoings is the food shop, it's a nightmare. It's so easy to over spend, it's hard when you are working to a tight budget. I've been trying to get it manageable for ages, but am slowly getting some where. First I tried to work out, what our basics are, what things I need to buy each week. Once i started to work out the basics, I started meal planning. Now to really save, it takes time, meal planning. Working out a set meal plan for the week and not buying over what you need for those meals. Will save you lots of money, and save on wasted food. Meal planning takes time, but once you get used to it, and work out which meals work for your family, it does get quicker. 

So the basics, first there is nothing wrong with buying basics, smart price etc. I have big glass jars, so no one would know anyway. 

We have 3 kids 5 and under, and two come home hungry from school. So I work it out that the children eat a meal at 4.30-5 Monday to Thursday. (They go to bed for 6pm.) On a Friday, we all eat together at 6, when my husband is home, and the children go to bed a little later. This means Friday's meal is a meal which works for all of us like toad in the hole, spaghetti Bolognese or Mac&Butternut.

This way, I can plan meals for the children and meals for my husband and I.  

Most of the meals I make for my husband and I, are batched cooked meals. So I cook double and freeze down for later in the week or the next. This saves time and also money. 

Basics:

When you are really struggling or that last week of the month when you have run down pretty much everything, this is the basics. I've always thought, if I have bread and porridge, we will be fed. Making your own bread can be a scary thought but it will save you money and is much better for you. We used to go through loads and it really adds up! Now I bake most days, and I do have a bread maker. But you don't need a bread maker to make yummy bread for your family with ease. 

This is a very, very basic shop:

Loo roll £1

Oil 99p

Bread Flour 95p

Yeast 99p buy the pot not satchels, works out much cheaper.

Potatoes £1.29

Jam 25p (once you have eaten the jam, wash and keep the jar.)

Soya Milk 59p

Porridge Oats 75p 

Vegetable Grills £1 

Baked Beans 24p X2

Bananas (always buy the ones which you need to weigh, not the packaged ones, as cheaper.) Min one per day (it would be per person but depends on how much you have.) 

= £8.29

The loose bananas where £1.19, this very very basic shop was under £10.

(These are the current prices, so they may change. Tesco is my local shop, but you can apply the ideas to any shop. I find that even to much cheaper shops, it works out about the same price. Always compare the size and price, it maybe cheaper else where but a smaller packet. By the time you have worked in the extra petrol/bus costs to get to lots of different shops you may not have saved anything at all.)

When you are trying to make sure you can stretch your money and feed mini people, it can be hard to think about what meals you can make.

This is a mega basic shop, this shop means everyone will have porridge for breakfast (with a banana and a little jam.) Homemade sandwich rolls with jam for lunch. Home made chips, beans and a veg grill for dinner. Like I said basic but still filling. So this should cover 

Breakfast- 

Mon-sat porridge with jam for breakfast. (With a banana sliced up and shared, saving one for Sunday.) For the perfect porrage, half water/half milk, cook till almost at boiling. (Stiring too.) Then turn right down till thicken, make sure you keep stiring. (I love it with golden syrup, bananas and raisins.)

Sunday 'good morning dumplings.' Waiting a little later, around brunch time, can make sure they all eat and feels more like an early lunch. I try and do a roast around 3pm and a brunch is the way to go if a big early dinner is on the cards (this basic shop is not allowing for a roast.)

Lunch-

Mon-sat Jam sandwiches 

(If you can go blackberry picking for an afternoon snack.) 

Lovely Buns  These are mega easy to make, cheap, good for you and great fun to make with the mini people. 

Dinner-

Mon-Friday Homemade chips, a veg grill (there are 6 in a pack, so depending on how many children you have and how much they want to eat. As to how long these will last.) Beans (not throwing away any uneaten and saving in the fridge.) 

This should get you through at least 5 days, with yeast, loo roll and maybe potatoes and porridge oats left over. 

This is a mega basic shop, it's not got all the nutritional and vitamins but if you are really stuck at least you know they will be fed. 

You can build on this very minimum shop, add tins of smart price tomatoes. Add some porridge to the tomatoes a little veg and you have a basic pasta sauce. What about a can of chickpeas to make my Mega Cheap Chilli perfect with Rice or a few of the Lovely Buns. Add a can of coconut and a butternut squash (about 95p for coconut and £1 for butternut) and you can make 1-2 meals of Mac&Butternut or a Simple Curry. Veg fingers are £1.50 from Tesco are fun and cheap for the children. I know frozen chips look cheap, but get into making your own, you will save money this way. It really doesn't take much more time at all. Like me, you can mix up a few potatoes with a few parsnips cut the same way, some sweet potatoes and carrots. Great way of getting them eating veg, thinking their just chips! You can add seeds to them when cooking, for extra goodness too! You can make different sort of chips too, one night plain chips, other homemade wedges (just cut as wedge shapes and add over Homemade Breadcrumbs from any left over bread.)

We stopped eating meat about a year ago now and we have saved a lot on our shopping bill. The children have a multivitamin and am very hot on making sure they are getting everything they need. Since changing our diet we are eating much better, healthier food and cheaper. So don't be scared to try different things. 

When you are low on money, and you have managed to get a meal together and you child just pushes it away....it can be heartbreaking. So horrible explaining there are no yogurts today. It can easily make meal times very stressful and put added pressure on them and you. So I try and included them. They love making bread with me (youngest tries to eat the flour, middle son loves throwing it about but my eldest is getting really good!) they are much more likely to eat a meal they have helped to make. 

Basic spices etc to have are - chilli powder, Rosemary, thyme, mint and black pepper. Grow what you can as this will save you money but allow you to make cheap sauces. 

Tips:

Not only making your own bread will save you money, but things like Jams too. Check out how to make my Wild Blackberry Jam. Its great fun to go out with the mini people and pick free food, and nothing tastes better than you have cooked your self! (Make sure you read Blackberry Picking before you head out to pick berries.)

Make your own pastry. It sounds scary if you haven't before, but you can then make pies, pizzas and things like sausage rolls mega cheap. Use left over veg and a veg stock cube and you have a pie! half and onion and some tomato sauce and a pizza! Short Crust Pastry This is my mega easy pastry recipe, without eggs it brings the cost down even more. Today I had run out of butter so used some oil in its place, was still yummy. You can also wrap a nut roast in this to make it extra special. 

If you can, shop later. Most shops mark down things around 7pm, and you can get some bargains.

Don't throw away stale bread, make your own breadcrumbs! 

Porridge in your pasta sources, so good for you and thickens up a source. Also adding a teaspoon of marmite will beef up a pasta source. 

Always go to the reduced sections first when you go shopping. You will be surprised how much you can freeze, from herbs and spinage to onions! 

Check out your local farm shops, some things can be cheaper as you can buy in a bigger bulk. 

Look for bootsales, often the regular ones have a vegetable stall. Which is from a local producer, it's often much cheaper. 

When you go shopping, go to a big shop as many now give free fruit to children while your shopping. This not only makes the shop much easier but it's also a snack you haven't had to pay for.  

For things like loo roll, don't buy the expensive stuff. It's not worth it ;) 

Washing powder, you can spend so much money just on powder! Soap nuts are amazing, they are great for your skin, save you loads and loads and good for our planet! You can use them for assorts of things, from washing your clothes to your hair! Click here for my review on Soap Nuts!

Nappies, after trying almost every nappy out there, I like Tesco smart price nappies £1.41! They are fab but 90% of the time I cloth bum! Cloth nappies, am going to do a blog just about them, as well there are so many. They are well worth it and will save you money. 

You can make your own baby wipes, ladies monthly products and washing items. It's well worth thinking about what you can make or buy which will help you save money but also help the planet by you using. So many people spend a 3rd of their shopping budget on cleaning products. You really don't need too. I clean my kitchen sink with half a lemon, it's amazing! I will getting writing a few blogs about things you can make which will save, so keep an eye out :) 

Save all your jars, so you can make your own jams and chutneys. I will be sharing some Christmas ideas for old jars soon too. 

Don't throw away all your peelings! 

So many plants regrow from peelings! These are spring onions, just chop off the roots, pop them in water and watch them regrow. Once they have found their feet plant them! Same with potatoes peelings, they are fab at braking up hard ground too. I will be sharing soon how I made my veg patch, while your waiting, pop your potato peelings in a brown paper bag in the dark, watch them grow or just throw them on a patch of ground you want to grow beg in or in a big tub.

Make sure you check out my Family Budgeting blog too!

For a family of five, we spend between £60-100 a week on food. If I have meal planned to the letter it's closer to £55-60.  Meal planning is the way forward and the best way to save money. Click here for my blog about meal planning.

Learning how to make your own bread, Pastry and Pancakes will really bring your spending down. Ok it takes a little longer to make, but before you know it you will be quick. Also the kids love to help, making the batter for pancakes or kneeing the bread. You can make so many meals from one bag of flour (a few other bits and bobs but you get my meaning.) I buy the smart price flour, its fine, its cheap and the pancakes taste just as good.  


Best way to save money in the long term is to meal plan - click here for my blog about how I meal plan

Am adding to this blog, so make sure you save the link :) and if you have any tips please share :)