Just to set the record straight there's no real fiscal issue i'm trying to solve. Just interested in a minimum spend figure - the origins of the subject are born from recent political events and so were left out of the topic.
What's the cheapest you could feed a family of four...
- Thread starter mountainm
- Start date
Sorry that was my poor choice of wording, I meant in terms of cost cutting and saving money with maybe a potential of financial difficulty in mind but didn't mean to imply you we're personally having difficulty!
Too many instance of lack of funds in my past and my typing ran away with me!
xylaria
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
As for sauces, we have a veg wholesaler just outside carmarthen. it does bargin boxes, you can get a few kilos of tomotoes for a quid. you have to sort through the moldy ones as soon as you are home, and cook up the rest into sauces very quickly. Curry sauce base is mostly onions you can also use auberines, squash or tomatoes that have gone past date. For people north of watford home bargins and B&Ms do cooking sauces starting a 10p per meal for chinese and 30p for indian and thai.
Living on a really tight budget is an important skill. I know people that 18months were running a buisness and year later had less then a £70 a month to live on after bills. They did get food parcels off freinds until things improved. Hardship can happen to anyone, it does well not to judge.
Living on a really tight budget is an important skill. I know people that 18months were running a buisness and year later had less then a £70 a month to live on after bills. They did get food parcels off freinds until things improved. Hardship can happen to anyone, it does well not to judge.
TurboGirl
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Top tip there, we have a wholesale market in Leicester... I used to pick up fallen foodstuffs in the market when I was struggling when pregnant- bless 'em, after a month or so, the traders stopped shooing me off and would save me bags of bruised stuff as I was getting too big to get down low enough
How about the WW2 ration system? It was designed to be balanced and nutritional. It might even be fun researching the old recipes and such
although I can't say how much it would cost, I assume it was not that expensive
although I can't say how much it would cost, I assume it was not that expensive
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Here is the list for an adults allocation per week
The meet allocation was equivalent to about 0.5Kg of mince beef or similar to give you a better idea
all found on a cracking little site HERE
This is the ration for one adult per week.
BACON and HAM ……… 4ozs ( 100g )
MEAT …………………… to the value of 1s.2d ( 6p today ). Sausages were not rationed but difficult to obtain : offal was originally unrationed but sometimes formed part of the meat ration.
BUTTER ………………… 2ozs ( 50g )
CHEESE ………………… 2ozs ( 50g ) sometimes it rose to 4ozs ( 100g ) and even up to 8ozs ( 225g )
MARGARINE ……………… 4ozs ( 100g )
COOKING FAT …………… 4ozs ( 100g ) often dropping to 2ozs ( 50g )
MILK …………………… 3 pints ( 1800ml ) sometimes dropping to 2 pints ( 1200ml ). Household ( skimmed, dried ) milk was available. This was I packet each 4 weeks.
SUGAR …………………… 8ozs ( 225g )
PRESERVES ……………… 1lb ( 450g ) every 2 months
TEA ……………………… 2ozs ( 50g )
EGGS …………………… 1 shell egg a week if available but at times dropping to 1 every two weeks. Dried eggs ----- 1 packet each 4 weeks.
SWEETS …………………… 12 ozs ( 350g ) each 4 weeks.
MEAT …………………… to the value of 1s.2d ( 6p today ). Sausages were not rationed but difficult to obtain : offal was originally unrationed but sometimes formed part of the meat ration.
BUTTER ………………… 2ozs ( 50g )
CHEESE ………………… 2ozs ( 50g ) sometimes it rose to 4ozs ( 100g ) and even up to 8ozs ( 225g )
MARGARINE ……………… 4ozs ( 100g )
COOKING FAT …………… 4ozs ( 100g ) often dropping to 2ozs ( 50g )
MILK …………………… 3 pints ( 1800ml ) sometimes dropping to 2 pints ( 1200ml ). Household ( skimmed, dried ) milk was available. This was I packet each 4 weeks.
SUGAR …………………… 8ozs ( 225g )
PRESERVES ……………… 1lb ( 450g ) every 2 months
TEA ……………………… 2ozs ( 50g )
EGGS …………………… 1 shell egg a week if available but at times dropping to 1 every two weeks. Dried eggs ----- 1 packet each 4 weeks.
SWEETS …………………… 12 ozs ( 350g ) each 4 weeks.
The meet allocation was equivalent to about 0.5Kg of mince beef or similar to give you a better idea
all found on a cracking little site HERE
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resnikov
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I meant in terms of budget - I'm guessing a lot of people grew there own. Fruit would be limited to apples, pears and berries in season - veg would be seasonal to for a guess?
resnikov
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
It would also be limited to what would grow over here. You might have got the odd one or 2 rare bits of fruit like pineapples or bananas but they would have been blackmarket mainly.
Asking my mother, almost everyone had an allotment, on pretty much any spare ground available, and often traded amongst themselves with produce. (1lb of carrot for 1lb of parsnips etc). She grew up in Hay Mills in Birmingham in the 1940s which was anything but rural.
My Dads family had chickens and pigs in the garden (posh folk LOL from Coventry) so eggs weren't a problem, and often traded for other stuff.
A real time of togetherness and inventiveness, but sadly also of harsh, and dreadful times. But as a nation we were never in better health, so got to account for something
My Dads family had chickens and pigs in the garden (posh folk LOL from Coventry) so eggs weren't a problem, and often traded for other stuff.
A real time of togetherness and inventiveness, but sadly also of harsh, and dreadful times. But as a nation we were never in better health, so got to account for something
TurboGirl
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Theres a nice book in the duxford shop called 'we'll eat again' which has lots of hints, tips and recipes... we've got a couple of family favorites based on war recipes, both desserts but not very homegrown
There a lot of veg varietys which grow well throughout england but have been 'lost' thanks to not commercially viable, the diversity of seeds they had available was probably a lot better than today... eating seasonally is a must for sustainable, cheap feeding Pineapple, melon and stuff are quite specialist to grow so I bet they'd been toff nosh only because of their value...
There a lot of veg varietys which grow well throughout england but have been 'lost' thanks to not commercially viable, the diversity of seeds they had available was probably a lot better than today... eating seasonally is a must for sustainable, cheap feeding
Pineapple, melon and stuff are quite specialist to grow so I bet they'd been toff nosh only because of their value...
Elen Sentier
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I can't otherwise comment as I've never been part of "an average family", always just the two of us, no kids, growing our own, foraging, farmer and hunting friends, markets, swaps and such like. I grew up this way too.
I've no experience of having to buy everything from supermarkets and shops, even when we lived in London although we used shops more then, but even then there were good markets and hunting friends and the garden. I know many, most probably, do live from shops and sympathise with their problems.
I've no experience of having to buy everything from supermarkets and shops, even when we lived in London although we used shops more then, but even then there were good markets and hunting friends and the garden. I know many, most probably, do live from shops and sympathise with their problems.
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Elen Sentier
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
My wife does the shopping and for years we fought over the glutton excesses of processed crap, now the poor moo is diabetic and things have changed for the kids sake, and not tempting fate but the best times were when we were skint and big pots of stew and home made soups, vegetable curries stuff that kept for a few days and improved with flavor, home grown rhubarb n apple pies (I still do em) it was so simple then and now all this processed stuff is labeled as convenient (did you know the microwaves affect WiFi I think thay operate on the same wave length ) god only knows what the real health issues has really caused! !!!!
All the best Stewart
All the best Stewart
Watermelons are a very common crop over here for even the homeowner. That said, they only grow on the same ground once every seven years at best.
Sadly here the climate is not suitable unless in hot house, last time i was in your part of the world; staying with friends, they had orange and lemon trees in their garden. it was great just to walk down the path to get them directly off the tree.
