How did you “Eke out” back in the day when hard up?

We had little money but did have enough to buy food. I did cheap nourishing meals as my mother was a good cook with not much money either, so I had learnt from her.

Middle 1960s with a home , husband and small child, I was given a small booklet. ‘100 meals for a shilling’. It was quite innovative and I wish I had it now.

Rose Elliot, meals for four for 50p. That booklet saved us. We mostly ate vegetarian too via Cranks recipes

I eked out a lot back in the day I made stovies with my left over mince and it was delicious, I’m afraid I had to use newspaper for toilet paper but then hey ho you did what you had to do. As they say I didn’t have a pot to pee in 😱😱 70+ years ago. Todays a little better I’ve a good final salary pension and a state pension amongst other sources of income which I use to buy food for those less fortunate.

I had three small kids and an unsupportive husband who liked to party ( in the 60 s) So mince (lamb was cheapest if I remember ) was our mainstay and chicken giblets lots of meat on them if you try I remember getting it all off the neck after it had cooked Offal kidneys and end bits of bacon ( they use to sell the cut offs ) Broken biscuits from Woolies packet of sweets only on a Saturday
All their clothes and toys that weren’t bought by relatives came from jumble sales and thrift shops I loved a Saturday jumble sale I was often praised at how well turned out my children were
We walked or biked everywhere (oldish bikes which were given to us) but they didn’t miss out on anything ..at one point after leaving the husband, me and the three kids slept in the same double bed Two up two down
They have all grown up to be outstanding humans with very good careers and my seven grandkids all have good careers too except the last one who is just coming to the end of school but she will too, I know, bright as a button

BlueBelle..... What an amazing story. You should be very proud of yourself and your children!

The Paupers Cookbook played its part and everything cooked from scratch. A friend showed me how to gut fish and deal with a rabbit! I didn’t do that on my own I must admit. A huge bag of onions was bought for £1.lasted all winter hung up. This is all around 1970/72

I married a soldier and our first two postings were foreign postings so we had excellent overseas allowances and lived a very good life. Then we were posted to Northern Ireland, where the cost of living was much higher than mainland Britain, and our salary went down with a bump. There was often more month left than money until we learned to trim our sails. It was then that I started to fall back on the things I had gleaned from the way my mother managed when things were tight. Fish was a lot cheaper than it is now, and we had an excellent butcher in the local village who was always prepared to advise on how to get the best out of cheap cuts. And yes, we ate a lot of mince in various incarnations, and offal which the children hated (still do!) but they ate it. It helped that DH got a good meal in the mess during the day so he didn’t need quite so much on his plate! After we left there, the government brought in what were called X factor payments to compensate for the cost of living in Northern Ireland and it seems we had been the Guinea pigs for that. As he moved up the promotion ladder we had more money live on, but I never forgot the lessons I had learned in the lean times.

For food, home grown vegetables and a 25kg bag of flour for baking, lots of mince and off cuts, bikes weren’t practical so an Austin Allegro ( yes it was that bad).
Habits havn’t changed, we dont need the calories now, so no pies and cakes but food costs peanuts.

Slightly off the point, but when I spend £5 in the supermarket on hardly anything I often think of my sister newly married on £5 a week housekeeping in 1963. And that was probably slightly above average. But a good local butcher, baker, dairy and fishmonger must have helped. I can't remember much about our early married years food wise although we had several good butchers in our town I must have used together with a fish shop, greengrocers etc, but that £5 has stuck in my memory.

One thing I used to cook when things were tight that I learned from my mother were slow cooked beef short ribs which were as cheap as chips. Cooked in a covered casserole with vegetables they were delicious. I still cook them but they are for high days and holidays. You need to take out a second mortgage to buy them now since they were popularised by certain celebrity chefs.

We had 5 children and a small income and were vegetarian.

We started a buying co-operative with some friends and bought all sorts of basic "cupboard" foods in bulk - rice, beans, oats, nuts, seeds, dried fruit etc.
We had a big allotment and kept bees
This meant we generally ate well - wholefoods and fresh vegetables but as the children grew of course it was cooking in huge quantities!

Just before a big delivery we ate quite a lot of what was left from the last one - millet porridge, miso crumpets, drop scones, lentils and rice, beany casseroles, dahl and various breads.

It was very exciting when the order arrived - a big lorry with sacks of grains, pulses, fruit and huge catering tubs of peanut butter... The children negotiated treats with our friends children - these might be apple juice, liquorice bars or fruit leathers, carob nuts or yogourt raisins. We would have a bit of a "party day" weighing out everyone's orders and stashing ours in the pantry alongside our pickles, beers, honey and so on.

We remember those days with a lot of warmth. They were very simple, but happy days.

On Wednesdays, when we were waiting for my husband to be paid the following day, I used to buy a tin of corned beef, a couple of carrots and a tin of peas. I'd make a corned beef pie ad we'd have that with mash and the vegetables. Sons are now 43 and 40, and still say how much they loved those pies

I had £5 per week in 1972 to cover food and any treats. The Paupers Cook book was great. Like many of us, I grew up with a mum who cooked from scratch and was good at making the Sunday chicken or more usually shoulder of lamb feed the family Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
The Cranks vegetarian cook book helped, my mum wasn’t veggie

We got married in 1977 and our shopping bill was usually £12 a week - that included cleaning items and dog food. Everything was bought at a new Tesco store on a Friday evening after work.

My Mum used to save her weekly magazines for me and there was always a budget cooking supplement which saved us on many occasions. I have an ancient cookery book in my collection and there are loads of these stuffed in there and they bring back memories.

Trusty slow cooker, more veg than meat and used little electricity when we were on a meter, I still use one regularly today.

This brings back memories. We went through lean times never forgotten. I rembered having £15 a week to feed two kids and us. Sausages and mince potatoes and veg. What I couldn’t do with that was nobody’s business. And I baked.

We weren’t yet married, but living in a country where virtually the only cheap foods were vegetables and bread, we virtually lived on assorted vegetable soups and bread. Protein was provided by some pretty nasty Australian processed cheese - we were too skint for any other.

Dh still loves my vegetable soups! Still a regular in winter here.

We always had a sack of potatoes from the farm shop and ate a lot of them!

When my children were primary school age one of their favourites was "sunflower pudding" which was a bowl of custard, finely sliced banana arranged around the edge and a shake of chocolate sprinkles in the middle.
I don't think they realised it was just a way to make one banana serve three children 🥹

What about now? As a pensioner I'm struggling with my bills right now. Often I have little money left for food.

I now shop in the reduced aisle, buy the offers, cabbage and other cheap veg and use up left-overs.

I draw out enough cash for the week and know exactly how much I have to spend on food every day and try to stick to it.

I used to do this when my kids were little too, but we didn't have inter-net banking then so I couldn't check my balance twice a day, which I do now.

HelterSkelter1

Slightly off the point, but when I spend £5 in the supermarket on hardly anything I often think of my sister newly married on £5 a week housekeeping in 1963. And that was probably slightly above average. But a good local butcher, baker, dairy and fishmonger must have helped. I can't remember much about our early married years food wise although we had several good butchers in our town I must have used together with a fish shop, greengrocers etc, but that £5 has stuck in my memory.

In 1963 £5 was worth (in today's money) £100.
So in no way a struggle to make ends meet.
In 1968, with two children we lived well on £6 a week housekeeping money. I could easily afford a whole rib of beef at the weekend.

I was brought up apart of a big family everything was home cooked by my mum and we ate ok. When divorcing my children’s father I really struggled money wise but my upbringing taught me how to cook with very little. A tin of corned beef went a long way with lots of vegetables peelings included. Rice pasta and tinned tuna were a favourite too everything was eaten not wasted. I always made jams chutneys and pickled I still do. There not expensive especially if the fruit is foraged which I still do fruit for free is abundant in the hedgerow.
I still make Scouse (a stew) with corned beef occasionally if there is any left over. My children don’t eat corned beef these days they told me they can’t stand it now!

We ate a lot of fish when the children were young, because although we were poor my husband was a keen fisherman and very good at catching them. It was sea fishing, onshore or in friend's boats. It was this that made us buy our first freezer.

For myself I have never had to "eke out" even when I was a student on a grant. My only recollection of this was when I was a child at home. My mother constantly whinged about not having enough money and her constant saying was "You cant keep a family on one man's wage". However my father was a proud man and would never "allow" her to work until I was about 14 and my sister was growing up and needing clothes.

My mother eked out by buying my clothes in the second hand market in Liverpool (known locally as Paddy's market). We often had scouse for supper (which my mother called tea) as it was a dish that could be made from cheap cuts of meat and leftovers.

My sister was the golden princess and never had to wear seconf hand clothes. Once I began work I used to think that every pound I gave my mother for my "keep" went straight onto my sisters back.