Live below the line - May

LBTL14 Sponsor me? Help me help others!I've been thinking, a dangerous thing I know!
This time next year we'll be lucky if we are earning the £1 a day per person. So I'm going to have to learn to put money by for the lean times.
I've managed to save £1000. If I can add a bit to that it'll give me around £20 a week for food for a year. Which is actually less than the LBTL challenge!
What if I take the live below the line challenge further? What if we do it for all of May?
Three adults gives me £3 a day for 31 days. £93. My mate will be here 4 tuesdays, so thats an extra £4. £97. Sounds alot more now, but still around half my normal budget.
So, lets start with breakfasts. We use 30g of oats a day. I hadn't realised it was so little. Wow, a bag of oats gives us 33 portions! Easily enough to cover a month. OH has milk with his, I don't. So, £1 of milk a week for breakfast. And a pot of 29p strawberry jam! And a bag of sugar :) for OH!
Breakfast - Oats - 75p
Milk - 4.00
Jam - 29p
Sugar - 79p
£5.83
Drinks - T bags - 1.99
sugar - 79p
squash x2 1.80
milk 8.00
£12.58
Now it gets complicated. We need 31 x 3 lunches = 93 plus 4 for mate is 97. And the same number of evening meals.
OH likes ham rolls. 13 slices to a pack. £1.79 x4 = £7.16 And 2 packs of rolls a week @ 52p a pack = £4.16 Plus marg x2 at £1.69 = £3.38
But if I make scones or rolls once a week I can use some of the ham for an evening meal :)
My goodness, I've already 'spent' £33.11.
So, baking marg 89p
plain flour x2 @45p 90p
baking powder 65p
eggs 1.35
bread flour x2@ 80p 1.60
cheese 3.99
lard 39p
£9.77But it gives me enough to make rolls 4 times, scones 4 times, and pastry.
Ok, evening meals.
Mince is 2.69 but will eke out with veg to 9 portions.
So 2 packs of mince (£5.38) will make -
spaghetti bolognaise - 3 portions
lasagne - 4 portions
Delias bolognaise bake - 3 portions
Shepherds pie - 3 portions
Mince and tatties - 3 portions
leftover pasties - 8 portions (DS always question if they actually have meat in them!) but to make the meals we'll need -
carrots - 69p
peas - 89p
lasagne sheets - 32p
pasta - 29p
spaghetti - 20p
p flour - 45p
2 pints milk - 50p
Tomato puree 35p
tinned tomatoes x2 62p
tinned mushrooms 41p
£4.72
Giving me 24 portions for £10.10
Up to £52.98 now, and still got to find another 73 evening meals!
4 packs of sausages @99p gives me 48 sausages-
Sausage and chips - 8 portions (24 sausages)
Scotch eggs - 12 portions (18 sausages, 14 eggs)
also needed -
eggs(15) 1.35
oil - 1.09
So thats 20 portions for £4.42
53 evening meals to find!
Omelette - 6 portions (12 eggs)
Eggy bread - 3 portions (3 eggs) from
eggs(15) - 1.35
bread - 55p
and some of the ham.
Thats another 9 portions for £1.90. 44 to find.
Creamy pasta - 3 portions
pasta - 29p
soft cheese - 49p
use the rest of the pasta to make pasta bake - 3 portions, with
soft cheese 49p
and passata 32p
Another 6 portions for £1.59
38 to go with £60.89 gone.
Lets see if we can have some veg shall we?
2 lettuces - 90p
2 tomatoes, whatevers cheapest - 98p
2 cucumbers - 90p
1 cabbage - 49p
carrots - 69p
Add some mayo - 40p
Use some of the flour and lard to make tortillas.
And maybe a whole (rubber) chicken@3.99
with stuffing made using asda 15p x2 mix and the leftover 6 sausages. Then we get:
Chicken dinner - 4 portions
Chicken tortillas - 3 portions
Add rice 40p
Chicken fried rice - 6 portions
Salad tortillas - 3 portions
Add SFC chicken 1.50
SFC chicken tortillas - 3 portions
Thats another 19 portions for £10.55
£71.44 with another 19 to get.
Beans!!
Bread x 2 1.10
Beans x 4 1.24
Thats a sneaky 6 portions for £2.34
beansprouts 85p
noodles x3 54p
sauce 45p
tinned mushrooms - 41p
chow mein treat for £2.25 for 3 portions
10 to find.
With the scone ingredients, a tomato and a mozarella ball, scone pizza and chips.
mozarella - 44p - 3 portions.
Do that again but we might need more flour
45p and mozarella 44p
89p for 3 portions 4 more..
Easy, baked potatoes, 4 portions,
cheese 1.49
butter 1.69
beans 32p
coleslaw made form the veg earlier.
£3.50 for 3 portions (mainly as I know we'll need the cheese and butter in other things too) £80.86
That allows for treats of -
4 packs rich tea 92p
4 packs fig rolls 1.80
2 packs pink wafers 98p
cocoa chocolate drink (tesco) 58p
sugar 79p
4 bar chocolate 1.20
cooking marg 89p
condensed milk 1.78
sultanas 84p = £9.78
to make brownies, a pie from our rhubarb, jam buns and rock cakes.
£90.64 leaving £6.36 in case I run out of anything like bread, eggs or flour.
I could add french fries @ 69p and some sfc chicken nuggets @ £1.50 for a takeout feel (3 portions) £2.19 or 2 asda pizzas for £4 but that wouldn't leave me with much! Or add a pack of streaky bacon for £1.25. Maybe OH will treat me! And theres always gratin, which is potatoes, white sauce and ham/bacon and onions!
We will still have our own potatoes and onions. Which helps alot. And there are salad leaves I've grown which are ready and radishes too.
Now all I need to do is make it all into a menu plan!
Breakfasts - porridge with sugar or jamLunches - week one
- thurs - rolls/sarnies
fri - rolls/sarnies
sat - rolls/sarnies
sun - rolls/sarnies
monday - rolls/sarnies
tuesday - cheese scones, leftover stuffing
weds - rolls/sarnies
thurs - rolls/sarnies
fri - HM rolls
sat - HM rolls
sun - rolls/sarnies
week two - mon - rolls/sarnies
tue - HM rolls
wed - HM rolls
thur - rolls/sarnies
fri - scotch eggs (3)
sat - rolls/sarnies, leftover lasagne portion
sun - rolls/sarnies
week three - mon - rolls/sarnies
tue - cheese scones
wed - pasties (2)
thur - pasties (2)
fri - rolls/sarnies
sat - HM rolls
sun - HM rolls
week four - mon - rolls/sarnies
tue - HM rolls
wed - HM rolls
thur - scotch eggs (3)
fri - rolls/sarnies
sat - rolls/sarnies
teas - week one
- thurs: Scone pizza and crinkles
fri: Ham, potato and onion Omelette and salad
sat: Fries!
sun: Eggy bread
mon: Roast Chicken, mash and veg
tue: Sausage and chips
wed: Spaghetti bolognaise
thur: Tortillas with leftover chicken and salad
fri: Chicken fried rice
sat: SFC chicken and fries
sun: Beans on toast
week two - mon: Baked pots, with cheese beans and coleslaw(2)
tue: Shepherds pie and veg
wed: Creamy Pasta with salad
thur: Scotch eggs and wedges (3)
fri: Lasagne
sat: Pizza maybe
sun: Eggy bread
week three - mon:Chicken fried rice
tue: Pasties, mash and veg (4)
wed: Ham, potato and onion Omelette and salad
thur: Delias bolognaise bake
fri: Chow mein
sat: Fries
sun: Beans on toast
week four - mon: Mince with veg and tatties
tue: Sausage and chips
wed: Scotch eggs and wedges (3)
thur: Pasta bake
fri: Baked potatoes with cheese, beans and coleslaw (2)
sat: Pizza maybe
snacks - week one - biccies, brownies, carrot ish cake
week two -biccies, buns
week three - biccies, brownies, pie
week four -biccies, buns
And I found out yesterday after working this all out that I can get 12 rolls for79p not the usual £1.56 when OH gets the rolls. I hadn't even noticed the 12 packs!
Some things I already have in aka enough for the first few day (the proper LBTL week), but taking things off the shelves will be classed as shopping and the apropriate money will be deducted from the budget.
　Wish me luck!
BBS x