A mum of three has revealed how she feeds her family of five for less than £65 a week using Asda's Just Essentials range. Jody Jones, from Bangor in Gwynedd, had become increasingly worried about how the cost of living crisis would impact on her family and decided to take action.
Using Microsoft Excel, the 37-year-old, who also works at her local Asda store, created four detailed shopping lists and four food plans, as well as a four-week shopping list for cleaning products, in an attempt to keep the cost of shopping down. Aside from the cleaning products, all of the items were from the new Just Essentials range, which was introduced by the supermarket earlier this year.
She had noticed that the new range, which replaced their Smart price range, had received mixed reviews, with some shoppers complaining that the bright yellow packaging was a "poverty marker" and was “embarrassing poorer families”. Eager to try it out for herself, Jody got to work and managed to get a month's worth of shopping for an average of £62 a week, as opposed to having previously spent in excess of £100 a week.
She told North Wales Live: "Shopping can get really expensive really quickly. It took a few hours over two weeks to finalise it all. First I got together a list of all the essential items available and the costs. I made a basic meal plan for a week and then costed it. I then did the same for the following weeks.
"I did it because the cost of living is so high I wanted to see what I could get for my money and to help others. I’ve read so much about people having to choose between food and bills so I wanted to see what the cheapest way I could feed my family would be. It’s not necessarily the healthiest but I’ve done my best to include plenty of fruit and veg where I can and I’ve based it on what my family - with some food fussy kids - would actually eat. At the end of the day with the cost of living, I see it as them eating something is better than nothing."
She added that her children, aged 12, 10 and seven, all have big appetites, which can get expensive. Having created the detailed plans she shared them to her Facebook page and various other groups. Jody said: "I just hope it helps people who are struggling. I’ve had comments from some people saying it isn’t a healthy balanced diet but I see it as my kids are fed, they have plenty of fruit and there’s veg in there too.
"And I’d rather they don’t starve and actually have food when money is tight. If it’s a choice between buying expensive “wholesome foods” and not having enough to pay the bills or eat myself, and all of us eating food and managing to pay the bills then for me it’s all about the second option.
"Asda has now brought in the three-item rule, which makes a couple of bits difficult, but if you plan it like this then you could buy one or two of the items the week before ready for the next week when you need them in the food plan. It's worked really well for us."
Jody also revealed that before she started meal planning and choosing the more cost-effective items in store, her family were spending in excess of £400 a month on shopping. Now it’s between £50 to £100 a fortnight because she plans ahead, and also puts any leftovers in the freezer for future meals.
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