A single mum-of-four has shared how she managed to slash her monthly food bill down to £121.
Kimberley Shannon, from Norwich, swears by thorough meal plans and bulk buys to ensure the entire family has enough to last them the month.
The 33-year-old says she dedicates an hour at the start of the month to plan her meals, saving her both time and money.
Kimberely, who is self-employed and on Universal Credit, says her income fluctuates month to month, depending on demand for her cake-making business.
But by planning ahead and budgeting, with some extra help from Healthy Start Vouchers and Tesco Clubcard points, the mum has managed to get her bill down to £121.
The Healthy Start scheme is run by the NHS and offers prepaid food cards to those who are more than ten weeks pregnant or have a child under four, and are receiving certain benefits.
Kimberley said: "Some months I'm better off than others, but the point of the monthly shop and plan is so I'm always prepared for the worst.
"My tips are for people who, like me, worry about coming up short in terms of feeding their family each month.
"It's organisation and planning that ensures my children have always got full bellies when they go to bed at night - no matter my financial situation."
Kimberly makes a productive start to each week by sitting for an hour to plan meals to cook for her young children, aged two and twelve.
Then, she heads to Tesco where she makes use of her vouchers and Clubcard points to save money.
The mum shops for all the meats, vegetables and carbohydrates to prepare all her evening dishes for the month.
She also allows some of her budget to go towards snacks for in between meals, as well as some breakfast items.
While she may have to do a few small top-up shops for essential items in between, Kimberly claims the main food shop comes to roughly £121 a month.
Kimberly said: "I do one big monthly shop to minimise daily trips, because it saves time, fuel and money. And, I keep my meal plan on my fridge and stick to it!
"I do a four week meal plan as week one and three, and week two and four.
"This way I minimise the amount I have to buy, by using the same ingredients in different ways.
"The £121 figure doesn't include toilet roll, toiletries, animal foods or sanitary products - I'm simply talking about a food shop."
Being on Universal Credit means Kimberely gets Healthy Start Vouchers worth £4.25 a week.
The mum said: "If you have more than one child under four, you should get at least that per child - it's worth finding out.”
A breakdown of Kimberely’s food shop shows that the mum spends:
- £27.71 on fruit and veg (frozen, tinned and fresh)
- £43.97 on meat and fish, including chicken dippers and fish fingers.
- £66.22 on snacks, other cooking ingredients such as pasta, rice, cereals, oats bread, crisps and drinks
The savvy mum says she likes to create simple lunches from any food she has left over.
She said: "The point of my monthly shop and plan is always to be prepared for the worst.
"If my electrics go out, or I can't fill up my car, I can work out ways round that, and we'll survive.
"But if my kid's are going hungry, that's a huge problem, so it's always my priority to make sure they go to bed full every night.
"It's not easy, and at the minute, times are tough, but I just hope some families read my advice and it gives them a helping hand this winter."
