Thrifty mum-of-three has won thousands of Facebook fans by showing how she feeds a family of five and her dogs for just £38 A WEEK
A THRIFTY mum-of-three has won a horde of online followers after wowing friends with her healthy budget meals.
Feeding a family of five and her dogs for just £38 a week, Danielle Ross has clocked up 22,000 followers on Facebook.
DANIELLE'S WEEKLY SHOP AT ALDI
- Large gammon joint - £4.25
- Medium British Cheddar - £1.49
- Fresh semi-skimmed milk - £0.95
- Breaded chicken steaks - £1.59
- Breaded chicken steaks - £1.59
- Chicken breast 300g - £1.79
- Beef mince 500g - £2.29
- Baby potatoes - £0.79
- White potatoes - £1.19
- Ready rolled pastry - £0.89
- Butcher's select pork - £1.29
- Butcher's select pork - £1.29
- Greek style yogurt 500 - £0.69
- Greek style salad cheese - £0.75
- Mushrooms - chestnut - £0.55
- Garlic baguette - £0.34
- Garlic baguette - £0.34
- Passata - £0.35
- Ready-to-serve custard - £0.49
- Specially selected grapes - £0.99
- Pork fillet (0.566kg x GBP 6.49/kg) - £3.67
- Squeezy mayonnaise - £0.75
- Chopped tomatoes - £0.25
- Chopped tomatoes - £0.25
- Pork baked rolls - £0.39
- Baked beans - £0.23
- Baked beans - £0.23
- Double cream 300ml - £0.75
- Cucumber - £0.39
- Asparagus - £0.55
- Iceberg lettuce - £0.42
- White seedless grapes - £1.45
- Soft medium white load - £0.45
- Fresh egg waffles - £0.75
- Digestive biscuits - £0.31
- 30 pack meaty crisps - £2.49
- Choc-chip cookies - £0.59
- TOTAL - £38.47
The self-described 'budget queen' is now saving hundreds of pounds a month.
Danielle, 30, is a host at a local spa, has three young sons and married to David, 35.
She said: "If I wasn't sticking to a budget I would be spending £600 a month. And my friends spend that much.
"For parents it's the snacks for kids."
Danielle set up a Facebook page to show just how cheap a packed lunch can be.
The Colchester-based mum explained: "You can just have sandwiches, carrot sticks, apples but really I don't buy more than one loaf of bread a week.
"A loaf is much more than a bag of pasta because that's 30p per bag.
"So they can have sandwiches but then they will get cold pasta for lunch."
Related Articles
Danielle gives £1 to eight-year-old Ollie and five-year-old twins Sam and Max when she goes shopping each week so they "learn the value of money" and work out how to budget.
Hubby David is banned from spending money on £3 meal deals at chain stores and must also bring a packed lunch to work.
The couple hope to eventually have enough money to buy a house and saving the £780 annual spend on meal deals could help them get there.
Danielle has always been a saver - despite her husband wanting to spend more - and has her mother to thank for her thrifty ways.
DANIELLE'S SAVING TIPS
- Cook with your kids. They're always much more likely to eat it when they know what's in it - or at least they think they know what's in it.
- Having said that you should blend your vegetables. If you blend or grate them into your sauces it's a great way to bulk out meals on a budget.
- Never deviate from the shopping list. Everyone has shopping lists but never ever deviate from it.
- Always set aside for splurges. Every one deserves a treat now and then.
- Stay away from deals. Deals are always encouraging you to buy things for £2 but the own store brand will be something like 60p.
- Packed lunches. You can always save using packed lunch rather than buying lunch every day.
She said: "At my local shop they used to sell 2p cans of beans but it was limited to five cans per person.
"So my mum would get people in the queue to stand there for her.
"So saving has always been with me - I'm just a budget queen."
Bringing children up to be savers means Danielle includes them in her cooking.
"My eight-year-old Ollie is really fussy but when he cooks with me he can try new things more readily because he's cooked it," she said.
"My twins, however, have been eating curry since they were really young. I just couldn't have another fussy eater."
Danielle tries taking her three young boys out as often as she can. But she refuses to go anywhere without a voucher.
The thrifty saver refused to take her three boys to Chessington World of Adventures until she found the best voucher online.
She said: "I have people on my Facebook page, Healthy Family Meals on a Budget, have people all over the world commenting on it.
"They ask for advice all the time for me but I'm not a nutritionist though but now there are so many people on there other people give advice to one another about gluten-free or whatever.
"I'm just a normal mum but it would be nice to start a movement I guess."
Danielle and her band of 22,000 followers, who she began to collect just before Christmas, have compiled six great super saving tips.
"My top tips to save money are these:
"1. Cook with your kids. They're always much more likely to eat it when they know what's in it - or at least they think they know what's in it.
"2. Having said that you should blend your vegetables. If you blend or grate them into your sauces it's a great way to bulk out meals on a budget.
"You can put lentils in tomato sauces.
"I never buy sauces outright so spag bol can always be made thicker with vegetables in them.
"3. Never deviate from the shopping list. Everyone has shopping lists but never ever deviate from it.
"I used to look up prices before I even went out but now I've learned more about vegetables and ingredients I don't need to because I can be flexible about products because I know what a £40 shop should look like.
"4. Always set aside for splurges. Everyone deserves a treat now and then.
"Thrifty people can always get a voucher online to treat their families even when they're saving money.
"I use but I always trawl the net. There's always a way to get a voucher.
"5. Stay away from deals. Deals are always encouraging you to buy things for £2 but the own store brand will be something like 60p.
"Don't be taken in when there is always cheaper things than the deal.
"6. Packed lunches. You can always save using packed lunch rather than buying lunch every day.
"It doesn't have to be just sandwiches, but you can alternate with pasta so easily."
We previously revealed how you can avoid paying full price for clothes again with these seven money-saving shopping tips.
And this is the amount of money you need to save each day if you want a secure retirement.