Could you live on £25 per week for a family?

[Cyclone]

I spend more than that on wine, so no

 

Lol, and I probably spend more than that on lunches.

I expect I could survive, but that's not the same as living.

[Lex Luthor]

Lol, and I probably spend more than that on lunches.

I expect I could survive, but that's not the same as living.

 

And he pays much more than that on one breakfast.

 

Sorry, I meant 'we'.

 

The title is misleading as £25 a week for food is far from living on £25 a week, as it doesn't include bills, rent, etc.

 

I'm sure it can be done. I've seen programmes where even working families have less than that to spend on food for a week. On a regular basis, it is usually very detrimental to general health, oral health, etc. It's more 'existing' than 'living' isn't it?

Edited April 19, 2016 by Lex Luthor

[mossdog]

A lady claims she can live on £25 a week on food and freezes most what she buys which is already reduced. So their £25 on the table thats your allowance for the week could you do it and how would you do it?

Many people in the world manage it and some on a lot less.

[crookedspire]

The 'Mirror ' ran a story about a women who spent £25 a week on food for family. Perhaps possible to do at a food store like Fulton's or Herons or a market .

 

---------- Post added 19-04-2016 at 19:08 ----------

 

Many people in the world manage it and some on a lot less.

 

Very true it's down to prices .

[Cyclone]

Many people in the world manage it and some on a lot less.

 

In parts of the world where everything is a lot cheaper...

[RonJeremy]

In parts of the world where everything is a lot cheaper...

 

And so is the cost of labour.

[Mister M]

I couldn't do it - not just food, but I'd not be able to afford to have the heating on & I'd be in a constant anxiety about I was going to manage - that's not even thinking about the responsibility of looking after a child (bus fares to school, worries about when clothes get torn & tattered).

A miserable existence.

[andyofborg]

I would say you could do it especially if you bought to offer veg from such as lidl and cheaper meat cuts and such as beans and cheap bread wouldn't be an exiting prospect but could be done

 

not sure why you think it would be unexciting....

 

the cheaper cuts of meat tend to be the tastiest and lend themselves to slow cooking. make a basic meat sauce then you can ring the changes with different herbs and spices and a whole range of accompaniments such as potato, pasta, rice and if it comes to it then you can turn it into an assortment of pies and pasties.

 

you would probably be better off learning to bake your own bread, cakes and biscuits. you could have more variety and they would probably be better for you than the cheap stuff too

[tzijlstra]

And he pays much more than that on one breakfast.

 

Sorry, I meant 'we'.

 

The title is misleading as £25 a week for food is far from living on £25 a week, as it doesn't include bills, rent, etc.

 

I'm sure it can be done. I've seen programmes where even working families have less than that to spend on food for a week. On a regular basis, it is usually very detrimental to general health, oral health, etc. It's more 'existing' than 'living' isn't it?

 

If it is a question of 'can you eat for £25 per week for a family' than the answer is resoundingly yes. I used to eat (alone) for 5£ (around 23 guilders) a week as a student for 6 years. I used to cook two meals a week. One was a homemade pasta (canned tomatoes, celery, onion, garlic, mince-meat, salt and pepper for the sauce plus 1kg of pasta which would last for two weeks, total cost around 6 guilders a week, enough for 3 days with ease) and frozen chips, dutch deep-fry sausages (frikadellen) and peas for 4 guilders for two more days. the other two days I'd have steak (5 guilders) on bread, omelette on bread (1,50 guilders for 12 eggs, life savers) or left over frikadellen or indeed pasta sauce on bread. I'd spend about 4 guilders for 3 loafs of bread a week and 3 guilders for chocolate-paste/peanut butter to put on it for lunch/breakfast.

 

As soon as my monthly stipend came in I'd invest in several frozen meals to interject some variation or I'd splash out at the neighbouring Chinese toko and create a stir-fry that would last a few days. I'd also 'swap' meals with mates. I was good at pasta, they were good at potatoes/veg/meat or stamppotten or whatever. So the meals were quite varied over a month. I needed to do this because I got around 400 guilders in sustenance payment per month (so after rent and all that) and I spent at least 250 of that in the bar.

 

Of course, as RonJeremy says, as soon as I started supplementing my income with jobs (after some time) my spend on the bar rose significantly

[medusa]

If I was able bodied then yes, I could. Meat and veggies from the market, dried goods bought in bulk to reduce cost per unit, no problem. I couldn't do it now, but that's because I have someone bring me the food from one shop (and I have a bit of a taste for posh berries with my yoghurt and chia seeds in the morning).