I’m a single mum of four on Universal Credit – I’ve slashed my food bill to £121 a month with easy budgeting method

A SINGLE mum-of-four has shared her top tips for saving money on her food shop - spending just £121 a month at the supermarket.

Kimberley Shannon claims a big shop each month and buying in bulk is the way to cut costs.

The 33-year-old from Norwich spends an hour at the start of each month meal planning for the following four weeks.

As a self-employed mum on Universal Credit, her income fluctuates depending on demand for her bespoke cake-making business.

But Kimberly says a bulk food shop at the beginning of each month, and in-depth meal planning means she can always feed her family - even if business is slow.

And she claims she's whittled her monthly shop down to just £121 a month, with the budgeting method, and by using Healthy Start Vouchers and Tesco Clubcard points.

The savvy mum said: "Some months I'm better off than others, but the point of the monthly shop and plan is so I'm always prepared for the worst.

"My tips are for people who, like me, worry about coming up short in terms of feeding their family each month.

"It's organisation and planning that ensures my children have always got full bellies when they go to bed at night - no matter my financial situation."

Kimberly has four children between the ages of two and twelve.

Kimberly sits down for an hour a week and plans all her children's evening meals for the month ahead.

Once she's made her plan, she'll go out to Tesco where she'll also use the vouchers and Clubcard points to save money.

Tesco's Clubcard loyalty scheme is a popular way to save money, not only can you shop reduced prices but the points you wrack up can be exchanged for vouchers at restaurants, on holidays and on days out.

But if Tesco isn't your shop of choice dozens of other supermarkets have similar loyalty schemes including Lidl, M&S, Sainsbury's, and Asda.

Make sure you have a look at what each is offering in return for points so you're getting the most for your money, we've compared them here.

Kimberley's shop includes all the meats, vegetables and carbohydrates to make each evening dish for the month - plus snacks for in between meals and breakfast items.

Sometimes, she'll have to do a few small top-up shops for essential items, but Kimberly claims the main food shop comes to around £121 a month.

Kimberly said: "I create a meal plan, just for evening meals - and shop smart and cheap.

"I do one big monthly shop to minimise daily trips, because it saves time, fuel and money. And, I keep my meal plan on my fridge and stick to it!

"I do a four week meal plan as week one and three, and week two and four.

"This way I minimise the amount I have to buy, by using the same ingredients in different ways.

"The £121 figure doesn't include toilet roll, toiletries, animal foods or sanitary products - I'm simply talking about a food shop."

She said that because she is on Universal Credit she gets Healthy Start Vouchers to help out, which gives her an extra £4.25 a week or £17 every four weeks.

And she urged other parents to check if they can get the help too.

"If you have more than one child under four, you should get at least that per child - it's worth finding out," she added.

Cheap doesn't mean rubbish

Of her £121 monthly food shop, Kimberley spends £27.71 on fruit and veg (frozen, tinned and fresh), and £43.97 on meat and fish, including chicken dippers and fish fingers.

The remaining £66.22 is split between snacks, other cooking ingredients such as pasta, rice, cereals, oats bread, crisps and drinks etc.

Then Kimberly minuses £17 worth of Healthy Start Vouchers to equal the magic £121.

One of her main rules is "don't live beyond your means - cheap doesn't mean rubbish".

She said: "Just because it's frozen doesn't mean it's not good for you, and sometimes filling a plate is the most important thing.

"In Tesco you can get 20 frozen sausages for a £1.36 compared to eight from the fresh meats section for £2!"

Kimberly has one fridge freezer in her kitchen, and one smaller chest freezer in her shed where she keeps a lot of her monthly shop.

She also keeps sealed plastic storage tubs in her shed where she stores tinned and dried food to help save space in her home.

Kimberly creates simple lunches from any ingredients she has left over from the night before, and says before you know it, pay day is coming around again.

She said: "The point of my monthly shop and plan is always to be prepared for the worst.

"If my electrics go out, or I can't fill up my car, I can work out ways round that, and we'll survive.

"But if my kid's are going hungry, that's a huge problem, so it's always my priority to make sure they go to bed full every night.

"It's not easy, and at the minute, times are tough, but I just hope some families read my advice and it gives them a helping hand this winter."

Around 143,000 families eligible for the Healthy Start Scheme in March this year failed to make a claim, so you could be making a saving like Kimberley.

Families eligible for help through the scheme now get prepaid cards to spend at a range of supermarkets and shops, replacing vouchers.

Healthy Start offers money to low-income families with small children to help pay for milk, vegetables, fruit and more.

We reported last month that according to the Local Government Association (LGA), which represents 350 councils in England and Wales, around one in three people who can get the cash are not claiming.

We've outlined what the scheme is and who is eligible below.

What is the Healthy Start scheme and how do I claim?

The Healthy Start scheme offers out prepaid food cards to women who are more than 10 weeks pregnant or women or men who have children under four.

They typically must also be on certain benefits, including:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Child Tax Credit with a family income of £16,190 or less per year
• Pension Credit
• Universal Credit with no earned income or total earned income of £408 or less per month for the family.

However, if you are under 18 and pregnant you can get the money, even if you don't receive any of the above benefits.

Families that qualify get £4.25 a week per child or double that depending on how old the child is.

For example, if your child is younger than 12 months old, you get £8.50 each week.

Women who are more than 10 weeks pregnant get £4.25 a week, and it's the same amount for each child between one and four.

The food cards can be spent at any location that accepts Mastercard.

That means you can use it at supermarkets, markets, petrol stations, butcher shops and more.

Some supermarkets which are part of the scheme include Tesco, Iceland and Aldi.

You can apply via email or phone on healthy.start@nhsbsa.nhs.uk or 0300 330 7010.

Other ways you can save money in the supermarket

Know when to shop

Heading to the shops when products are marked down and bright yellow discount stickers are applied can save you serious dough.

But each branch of a supermarket will have their biggest discounts at slightly different times of day.

We put together a handy guide to what time supermarkets including Aldi, Asda, Tesco and Lidl reduce their prices.

Make a list

One of the most common mistakes shoppers make is going out underprepared.

Making a list will help to stay focused on getting the items that you really need, rather than being drawn into impulse purchases.

Swap to own brand

Ditching items with labels like "finest" in favour of "own" or "value" can be worthwhile.

The Sun regularly tests supermarket own brand products to see if they can beat the big brands.

Here we carried out a Battle of the Brands to tell you exactly how much you could save on 15 products.

Don't ignore granny groceries

Modern items such as liquid soap, shower gel and washing capsules mean you’re paying more for added water.

Switch back to what your gran would have bought, such as solid soap bars and washing powder.

Ariel washing capsules for your laundry can cost up to £11.80 per kg compared to Ariel washing powder at only £3.08 per kg.

Making the switch could slash the average grocery bill by £350 per year.

Shop wonky

Strange-shaped fruit and vegetables taste the same but cost less.

For example, Lidl’s £1.50 Waste Not Scheme boxes contain a whopping 5kg of fruit and vegetables that may be slightly damaged or discoloured but is still perfectly good to eat.

Recently, we found out from a supermarket expert how you can get your weekly shop cheaper in every aisle.

We also revealed the cheapest supermarket in the country - and it's not what you expect.