The Thrifty Family Kitchen
A week-by-week shopping and cooking guide to feeding two adults and two children without wasting food or spending more than you need to.
Feeding a family can feel expensive, especially when food prices keep changing and busy evenings make it tempting to reach for something quick. This blog is a practical, week-by-week guide to feeding a family of four while spending as little as reasonably possible.
Each weekly guide will include:
- Seven family evening meals
- Seven breakfasts and seven lunches
- A complete shopping list with realistic quantities
- Ideas for affordable snacks and simple treats
- A plan for preparing and safely storing food
- Tips for using leftovers and reducing waste
- An estimated cost for the week
Breakfasts and lunches may be repeated. This is deliberate. Most families do not need seven completely different breakfasts or lunches every week, and using the same ingredients more than once helps to keep the shopping bill down.
A shopping plan that carries over
This will not be a meal plan that assumes your cupboards are completely empty every Monday morning. Each week will build on the last.
We will keep a running record of what should be left in the cupboards, fridge and freezer. This will include:
- Pasta, rice and flour
- Herbs, spices and stock cubes
- Tinned and frozen food
- Breakfast cereals
- Sauces and condiments
- Bread and baked goods
- Meat and leftover meals
- Food saved in the freezer
There may be a slightly larger shop at the beginning while we build a useful collection of basic ingredients. Over time, these cupboard staples should make future weeks cheaper and give us more flexibility.
Making the most of everything we buy
Saving money is not only about finding the cheapest products. It is also about using as much of the food as possible.
Don’t throw away strawberry tops
Cut off strawberry tops and throw them in a seal tight container. You could use an old jar, or a lunch box. Add sugar and water to make a strawberry syrup. I add 1 tablespoon per 10 strawberry tops. Leave them in the fridge and keep adding to the container. You’ll notice liquid starts to appear after a few days. Strain this into another sealed jar or container.
You can add your strawberry syrup to ice cream, pancakes, even make your own strawberry lemonade or milkshakes!
Throughout the series, we will also look at how to:
- Turn stale bread into breadcrumbs, croutons or pudding
- Freeze overripe bananas for smoothies or baking
- Use suitable vegetable trimmings to make stock
- Make soup from vegetables that need using
- Turn leftover roast meat into sandwiches, pasta dishes or pies
- Freeze spare portions before they are forgotten
- Plan later meals around opened packets and fresh ingredients
Affordable food the family will actually eat
The meals in this guide will be simple, filling and suitable for an ordinary family kitchen. You will not need specialist equipment or a cupboard full of expensive ingredients.
There will be familiar favourites such as pasta, jacket potatoes, homemade pizza, curries, traybakes, soups and slow-cooker meals. Some weeks will cost less than others, and prices will vary depending on where you shop and what you already have at home.
This is not about making every meal from scratch, never buying a treat or feeling guilty when plans change. It is about shopping with a purpose, making ingredients stretch further and gradually finding a routine that works for your family.
Choose a week
The complete challenge lasts for two months. You can open any week below, although following them in order will help you make the best use of the ingredients carried over from one shopping plan to the next.