Menu Plan for a Family of 4: Just over £1 Per Person – Per Day

For those on a really low budget deciding what to buy and how to plan can be a big challenge. Emily has done the work for you! Here are some printable shopping lists and full information regarding buying your “5 a day” for a very low cost.

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An extensive meal plan and shopping list by Emily Becca Lockwood

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Breakfast	Porridge	Cereal	Toast	Cereal & Toast	Porridge	Healthy Egg Scramble and Toast	Leftover day
	Adult = 60g of oats and 160ml of milk Child = 40g of oats and 110ml of milk	Adult = 125g of cereal and 65ml of milk Child = 100g of cereal and 50ml of milk	Adult = 2 slices Child = ½ slices	Adult = toast Child = cereal	As before	Adult = 1 ½ slices of toast Child = 1 slice of toast	Adult 1 = toast Adult 2 = porridge Child 1 = porridge Child 2 = cereal
Lunch	Couscous	Couscous	Cheesy chicken and veggie bake	Crustless quiche and salad	Pizza jacket potatoes	Leftover soup	Leftovers
						½ a slice of bread each	Couscous / bake / quiche / potato
Tea	Bolognese	Cheesy Bean Jacket Potatoes	Fish and Rice	Chicken wraps	Pasta	Chilli and Rice	Roast
	Serve with: – 300g of pasta – 320g of broccoli – 320g of green beans	4 potatoes 1 tin of beans Grated cheese		2 wraps per person	Use 400g of pasta and serve with 300g of broccoli and green beans	Serve with 300g of rice	Roast chicken breasts and potatoes with veg and gravy

Snack: Pick 1 from the following per person per day: banana, apple, easy peeler, kiwi, carrot and cucumber sticks.

Recommendations Per Day

I saw someone else had posted a meal plan for 98p per person per day so I thought I would have a go. I am single, but I based this idea on a family of four (two adults, and two children aged 10). The recommendation for adults and children over 10 is 400g of fruits and vegetables per day, so I have also tried to incorporate this.

Planning

I thought it would be useful for some people to know how I planned this menu to ensure 5-a-days. I started by looking on the ASDA website and finding the cheapest sources of fruits and vegetables. For the week, in total, this family would need 11200g of fruits and vegetables. I picked out the fruits and vegetables and noted their cost and weight.

Food	Cost	Weight
Frozen Mixed Peppers	£1	600g
Frozen Onions	£0.95	650g
Frozen Broccoli	£0.58	1kg
Frozen Peas	£0.66	1kg
Frozen Green Beans	£0.62	750g
Frozen Spinach	£1.40	850g
Carrots	£0.55	1.5kg
Chopped Tomatoes x3	£0.28 x 3	400g x3
Courgette	£0.42	280g
Parsnips	£0.42	500g
Swede	£0.50	500g
Bananas	£1	800g (8)
Apples	£0.79	600g (6)
Easy Peelers	£0.69	600g (5)
Kiwi	£0.67	400g (6)
Cheery Tomatoes	£0.48	250g
Cucumber	£0.45	400g
Iceberg Lettuce	£0.46	500g
	£12.48	12,380g

Following on from this, I counted the fruits and veggies that would be eaten on their own (as opposed to being cooked into a meal).

Bananas x 8; Apples x 6; Easy peelers x 5; Kiwi x 6

This totalled 25, so to make it easier I decided to use some of the carrot and cucumber to create 3 more portions of fruits and veggies which will be eaten alone. This means that I now have 28 single healthy snacks which I put in the snack section of the meal plan but could be eaten with the meals. E.g. ½ banana with breakfast and ½ an apple as a snack.

Next, I decided to plan the breakfasts as these tend to be smaller, more simple meals with fewer components. When I decided on an option, I would add the extra items I needed to a list.

Breakfast 1: Scrambled eggs with spinach and tomato on toast – whole family = 6 eggs, 100ml milk, 100g tomatoes, 200g spinach, 6 slices of toast (1 per child, 1½ per adult).

Breakfast 2: Porridge (could add fruit to this) – child = 40g of oats and 110ml of milk. Adult = 60g of oats and 160ml of milk.

Breakfast 3: Cereal – child = 100g cereal and 50ml. Adult = 125g cereal and 65ml of milk.

Breakfast 4: Toast – 2 slices per adult, 1½ slices per child.

Food	Cost	Weight
Eggs	£1.18	15
Bread	£0.49	800g (20 slices)
Oats	£0.75	500g
Milk	£1.15	4 pints / 2.272l
Malted Wheaties	£0.83	750g
Sunflower Spread	£0.79	500g
	£5.19

Then I added the breakfasts to the meal plan.

• Monday: Porridge
• Tuesday: Cereal
• Wednesday: Toast
• Thursday: Cereal for children, toast for adults
• Friday: Porridge
• Saturday: Scrambled eggs with spinach and tomato on toast
• Sunday: Cereal for 1 child, porridge for 1 adult and 1 child, toast for 1 adult

Next, I came up with a few ideas of what could be made, using the fruits and vegetables and taking into account recipes that were simple, with few ingredients and also recipes that shared ingredients.

Ideas

• Pasta dish
• Chilli and rice
• Chilli on jacket potatoes
• Fish with potatoes and veg
• Stew
• Soup
• Baked fish and rice
• Couscous
• Chicken wraps
• Beans on things

I used these to decide how to spend the rest of the money. I started with cheap grains and then moved on to more expensive proteins.

The meat and grains in Tesco were a lot cheaper than ASDA so I swapped to Tesco for this (I understand this may not be feasible for all).

Food	Cost	Weight	Calories
Spaghetti x2	£0.20 x 2	500g x2	3,552
Rice	£0.45	1kg	4,240
Couscous	£0.75	500g	1,885
Potatoes	£0.91	2.5kg	1,925
Wraps	£0.95	8 wraps	1,384
Chicken	£4.76	1kg	2,390
Mince	£1.49	500g	1,260
Fish Fillets	£1.99	520g	275
	£11.65		16,911

I then added extra things like tins that are needed or would be useful (also from Tesco).

Food	Cost	Weight	Calories
Kidney Beans (either)	£0.30	400g	267
Baked Beans x2 (Tesco)	£0.22 x2	420g x2	364
Stock Cubes (ASDA)	£0.39	12	–
Cheese (Tesco)	£1.55	220g	916.66
Chilli Con Carne Mix (ASDA)	£0.21	45g	–
Cheese Sauce Mix (ASDA)	£0.94	160g	–
Gravy (Tesco)	£0.30	200g	–
	£4.13		£1,547.66

Finally, I came up with a meal plan.

Healthy Egg Scramble

Scramble 6 eggs with 100ml milk, 100g cherry tomatoes, 200g spinach and a knob of butter.

Couscous

1. Fry 100g onion, 200g pepper, 1 peeled and chopped carrot.
2. Add the whole bag of couscous, boiling water, 4 stock cubes and 600g peas.
3. Cover and leave to absorb.
4. After 15 minutes check it (it may need gentle cooking to help the absorption).

Cheesy Chicken Veggie Bake

1. Chop up 2 carrots and 250g parsnips.
2. Boil in a pan for 5 minutes.
3. Add to a dish with 300g broccoli, 300g green beans, 300g peas, 2 chicken breasts chopped into bite-sized pieces and 4 defrosted cubes of spinach.
4. Seasonings can be added if you have them. Bake in the oven.
5. Make up the cheese sauce.
6. Add to the chicken and veggies 20 minutes before the end of cooking.
7. Add 50g grated cheddar cheese on top.

Crustless Quiche

1. Fry 100g onion, 100g pepper, 100g broccoli, 100g peas.
2. Meanwhile, whisk 6 eggs with 100ml milk and 100g grated cheddar cheese.
3. Mix in the veggies and pour into a dish.
4. Add 100g halved cherry tomatoes on top and bake in the oven until set.
5. Serve with iceberg lettuce and cucumber chunks.

Pizza Jacket Potatoes

1. Bake the potatoes and top with ½ tin chopped tomatoes, cooked chicken and 50g grated cheese.
2. Add mixed herbs if you have them.

Leftover Soup

1. Prepare the veggies for the roast on Sunday.
2. Chop us any leftover carrots, some parsnips, potatoes, the swede and add to a pan with 150g chopped onion.
3. Lightly fry.
4. Add water and stock cubes and boil until softened.
5. When cool, blend and thin out with milk or water, if needed.

Bolognese and Chilli

1. Fry 200g onion, 200g pepper and 2 peeled and chopped carrots.
2. Add the mince and brown.
3. Split the mince in half.
4. Into one add a tin of chopped tomatoes and leave to simmer.
5. To the other ½, add a tin of chopped tomatoes, baked beans, kidney beans and chilli con carne mix.

Fish and Rice

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/baked-fish-and-rice/

Chicken Wraps

1. Cook chicken.
2. Cook rice with green and a stock cube.
3. Serve the chicken in the wraps with lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber.

Pasta

1. Fry 100g onion, 100g pepper, the courgette and some defrosted spinach.
2. Add 1 tin of chopped tomatoes and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Add spices if you wish.

Grand Totals

Spent: £33.45
Fruits and Veggies: 12,380g

Leftovers

• 300g broccoli
• 3 eggs
• Milk
• Spread
• 300g spaghetti
• 600g rice
• Potatoes
• Stock cubes
• Cheese sauce mix
• Gravy granules

Removing Leftovers

Spent: £30.42
Fruits and Veggies: 12,080g