Savvy mother-of-11 slashes her food bill in half with essential ranges

2022-09-29

Savvy mother-of-11 reveals how she feeds her entire family for less than £4 per meal by sticking to supermarket essentials range and homemade meals

Michelle Bannon, 36, has managed to reduce her monthly food bill by almost half
The mother-of-11, from Rotherham, manages to feed her family for £4 per meal
Savvy maternity consultant shares her inventive, budget meals on social media

A savvy mother-of-11 has claimed that she’s slashed her food bill in half by sticking to a supermarket essentials range and homemade meals – and now feeds her entire family for less than £4 per meal.

Michelle Bannon was stunned when she managed to reduce her monthly £1,000 food bill for the family-of-13 by almost half to £600 by buying Asda’s Just Essentials range rather than branded items.

The 36-year-old, from Rotherham, decided to become more inventive when she started feeling the pinch due to soaring prices and now feeds her large family for under £4 per meal.

She said: ‘I used to spend £1000 a month on food before I was savvy. We go through a lot of food. We’d get brands and would spend quite a lot. I’d buy two big lasagnes for tea but now I can make my own.’

Mother-of-11 Michelle Bannon has revealed how she has cut her family’s food bill from £1000 a month to £600, nearly halving it. Pictured L-R: Joey, three, Craig, 38, Chloe, 18, Charley, 14, Jessie, two, Michelle, 36 holding Jorgie, one, Libby, nine, Ollie, eight, Lacey, 11, Emily, 13, Connie five, and Lottie Seven

Michelle, from Rotherham, has been sharing her savvy budget meals on social media. She has shared recipes including a cheesy bean bake (right), and sausage pasta (ingredients left)

The maternity consultant managed to get her food shop down to £130 per week for her huge family before prices began to rise.

She now spends £150 and posts her budget meals on social media to show other parents that there’s no shame in ditching branded items and buying the brightly-packaged value products.

EXAMPLES OF MICHELLE’S BUDGET MEALS

CHEESY BEAN BAKE

20 Sausages – £1.21
Four potatoes – 50p
Four tins of beans – £1
Cheese (250g) – £1.20

TOTAL = £3.91

FISHCAKES AND HOMEMADE CHIPS

2.5kilo potatoes – 99p
2 bags of fishcakes – £2.20
1kilo mixed veg – 72p

TOTAL = £3.91

SAUSAGE PASTA

20 sausages – £1.21
1.5kilo pasta – £1.05
Tomato puree – 50p
Stock cube – 60p
Leftover veg – N/A

TOTAL = £3.36

Michelle said that people can sometimes be judged for buying supermarkets’ essential ranges.

But she wants to prove that there is no shame in opting for these ranges.

Michelle says mechanical engineer husband Craig Bannon, 38, and children Chloe, 18, Charley, 14, Emily, 13, Lacey, 11, Libby, nine, Ollie, eight, Lottie, seven, Connie, five, Joey, three, Jessie, two, Jorgie, one, [all Bannon] can’t taste the difference.

The family’s hearty meals include fishcakes, home-made chips and mixed veg, all costing just £3.91.

Michelle said: ‘As long as you know how to cook, you can make anything form anything.’

For the fishcakes she used around three kilos of potatoes from a 7.5 kilo bag, two bags of fishcakes and a kilo bag of vegetables, and her children loved it.

They also enjoy sausage pasta, which according to Michelle you can make as cheap as you like.

‘Pasta is always a good one. Everyone loves sausage pasta and you can make it as cheap as you like.’

She managed to feed her family of 13 a sausage pasta dish that set her back just £3.36.

‘We get 20 sausages that cost £1.20 and if you slice them up it goes further, 1.5kilos of pasta some veg, tomato puree, a stock cube and you can add cheese depending on your budget,’ she explained.

Michelle and Craig spend the extra cash on days out as a family or treating the children to the occasional McDonald’s.

Michelle said: ‘We have a bit more money to do a bit extra and have fun, we’re comfortable. We let kids be kids, let them out and don’t keep them locked up so we have extra on days out or a cheeky McDonald’s or a treat.’

The family’s hearty meals include fishcakes, home-made chips and mixed veg, all costing just £3.91. She managed to feed her family of 13 a sausage dish that set her back just £3.36

Although she likes to support local businesses, she has ditched her weekly trip to the butchers and cut her milk deliveries down from three to one a week. Pictured: Jorgie, one, and Connie, five, helping their mother in the supermarket

Pictured L-R: Charley, 14, Lottie, seven, Libby, nine, Emily, 13, Ollie, eight, Chloe 18 holding Joey, three, Connie, five, and Lacey, 11. Michelle says that her husband and children cannot tell the difference since she has switched them to essential range food

Michelle explained how she was forced to become more inventive throughout the pandemic because she wasn’t able to get to the supermarket as often and there wasn’t enough food available for her large family.

Although she likes to support local businesses, she has ditched her weekly trip to the butchers and cut her milk deliveries down from three to one a week.

In addition, rather than spending two hours in the supermarket every week and filling up two trolleys, Michelle pays £6.50 per month for deliveries.

Michelle hasn’t always budgeted but during Covid she had to learn to be more resourceful, which has continued to be more essential as the cost of living rises.

Also, prior to Covid Michelle didn’t do much home cooking and instead relied on convenience foods.

For the fishcakes she used around three kilos of potatoes from a 7.5 kilo bag, two bags of fishcakes and a kilo bag of vegetables, and her children loved it

Pictured L-R: Charley, 14, Lacey, 11, Emily, 13, Ollie, eight, Libby, nine, Joey, three, Lottie, seven, and Connie, five. Michelle posts her budget meals on social media to show other families how they can cut their food bill without feeling ashamed for reaching for value items

However, because of restrictions she had to become more inventive if she was to feed her family-of-13.

‘We were trying to limit going out shopping but we couldn’t get what we needed,’ she explained.

‘I ordered eight tins of beans and they sent me one. What was I going to do with one tin of beans? It made me more savvy with money and really inventive.’

Super-savvy Michelle posts her budget meals on social media to show other families how they can cut their food bill without feeling ashamed for reaching for value items.

Michelle said: ‘I posted the fishcakes, chips and vegetables meal on social media and it got 3,000 likes. People might feel shame, but if I can show them it’s nothing to be ashamed of then I’m happy.

‘The kids don’t mind, they’re quite happy with the bright packaging, they love it. My delivery is just yellow, people can think what they think.’

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