A THRIFTY mum-of-three has revealed how she feeds her family for only 97p a head by bulk buying her ingredients.
Emma Bradley, 43, from Gloucester, had to reevaluate her budget four years ago when she quit her job as a teacher to spend more time with her children – Erin, 9, Dylan, 15, and Chloe, 19.
Along with looking after her children full-time, the savvy mum-of-three runs the blog EmmaAnd3 where she documents her money-saving hacks.
Emma said that buying ingredients in bulk saves her an absolute fortune each week – and even allows her to send her daughter Chloe off to university with meals too.
As well as shopping in high street supermarkets, Emma orders her meat from musclefood.com to stick to her strict budget.
After spending £25 on supermarket essentials, the mum buys £27 worth of meat from the online retailer to cook up eight meal such as spaghetti and meatballs, shepherd's pie and sausage casserole for her family each week.
Emma continued: "It’s important that my family eats fresh and nutritious food every day, so I try to squeeze extra veggies into dishes where possible.
"Sweetcorn might not seem like a natural go-to for meatballs and pasta, for example, but my kids love it, so I just throw some in to pack out the meal a bit more."
While she used to bulk-cook meals for her children when they were growing up, Emma says her current system allows her to make meals on the day and teach her kids about cooking.
She said: "I like to cook fresh from day to day now – it gets the kids into the kitchen as soon as they smell something cooking, so they’re generally more involved and interested in the cooking process."
Emma's money saving tips
- Using cashback sites – websites like Topcashback give you money back when making purchases and pay you a return when you should through them
- The mum-of-three also urges people to check their bank accounts regularly to check on standing orders and direct debits they may have forgotten about
- Put a note in your diary to check your ultility provider every six months to ensure you're getting the best deal
That said, Emma still bulk-cooks for Chloe so her eldest child can still eat well at university.
She added: "The stuffed jacket potatoes are perfect for this – you can just pop them out of the freezer and heat them up in the microwave if you want a quick meal or snack."
In order to stop her children from racing through the household snacks, Emma also recommended divvying up treats by putting one in their lunchboxes every morning.
She added: "By showing them how to cook healthy meals every day, I hope they’ll be learning about basic nutrition and how to eat a balanced diet as they get older."
Meatball Pasta – serves 4
Meatball Pasta ingredients:
- Pasta – 49p
- Passata – 40p
- Tinned sweetcorn – 39p
- Musclefood meatballs – £2.63 for pack of 20
Total: £3.91, 97p per person
Turkey and mushroom mince with leeky potatoes – serves 4
Turkey and mushroom mince with leeky potatoes ingredients:
- Musclefood Turkey Mince – 64p for 200g
- Chestnut mushrooms – 80p for 250g
- Onions – 85p
- Celery – 65p
- Chicken stock cube – 20p
- Carrots – 15p
- Potatoes – 50p
- Cheddar cheese -40p
- Leeks – £1
- Cream cheese – 30p
Total: £5.49, £1.37 per person
Sausage casserole – serves 4
Sausage casserole ingredients:
- Casserole cooking sauce – £1.70
- Potatoes – 50p
- Musclefood sausages – £1.32 for 8
- Vegetables – £1
Total: £4.52, £1.13 per person
In more parenting news, mums should NOT pack school lunches for their kids when they turn EIGHT – as experts claim they should be doing it themselves.
And this A&E nurse has revealed how to use Haribo to check if your child has a broken bone in their face.
Plus this mum comforts daughter with separation anxiety using heart-shaped ‘hug button’ which sends her a cuddle at school and ‘charges’ when holding hands.
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