With many of us still feeling the pinch after Christmas, everyone is looking for ways to make their money go further.
One mum has shared her tips and tricks for how she feeds her family for 78p per head every night - and her ideas seem pretty straight forward.
Speaking to MirrorOnline , Laura Light said: "When we first started living to a stricter budget, our monthly food bill was the first thing I looked at.
"Pretty much overnight I managed to reduce it by over half, simply by shopping around and planning the meals in advance.
“With two school age children, keeping that spend down but at the same time making sure my family eat a varied diet, cooked from scratch, with lots of fresh vegetables can be a challenge."
Laura now uses a combination of store cupboard essentials and ready mixed spice kits to save time - meaning she can put dinner together less than half an hour.
With her hacks, she still manages to cook meals such as chilli con carne, vegan shepherd's pie and Chinese chicken curry.
Once the menu is decided, she then makes a list and heads to the shops to fill gaps for the week's meals.
She uses dishes such as her vegan shepherd's pie to hide vegetables from her daughter too.
Laura added: "The vegan shepherd’s pie is packed with them – potatoes, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, celery, onions, tomatoes and garlic – and they absolutely love it.
"Little do they know just how much healthy stuff is hidden in it."
Laura's recipe for her Chinese chicken curry:
- 2 x chicken breasts - 65p
- 2 x onions - 16p
- Small piece of ginger - 15p
- 2 x garlic cloves - 6p
- 400ml stock - 3p
- 2 x tbsp low calorie spray - 10p
- 3 x tbsp plain flour - 10p
- 1 x tsp sugar - 5p
- 180g rice - 24p
- Chinese Chicken Seasoning - £1.59
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