CREATING tasty meals on a tight budget might seem impossible, but one savvy mum shared how she manages to do exactly that.

She manages to dish up family favourites like carbonara, chicken chow mein and slow cooker peach chicken for next to nothing.

Mum-of-two, Laura Light spends as little 62p per portion for the tasty meals she makes for her brood.

But it doesn't end there, the mum's tasty recipes leave her with enough leftovers to enjoy the following day.

Laura, from Southampton, has been sticking to strict shopping budget for years, after bringing her weekly spend down from £215 a week to just £40 after she had her second daughter eight years ago.

Now she shops at discount retailers, relies on own brand products and uses meat in great value hampers from online food retailer MuscleFood.com to keep her costs down.

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The mum also makes a point to meal plan each week, always shops with a list and checks her cupboards, fridge and freezer to make sure she’s using everything with no waste.

Among her favourite family meals using meat from MuscleFood.com is carbonara at just 62p per portion, slow cooker peach chicken coming in at 67p each, Chinese beef stir fry at 99p per portion and maple and honey pork loin traybake for a pound each

Laura also rustles up tasty sausage rolls for packed lunches which cost her just 22p each to cook.

Laura who runs the blog Savings4SavvyMums said: “When we first seriously looked at our finances eight years ago, I was shocked at just how much we were spending. We went from two salaries to one so we had to make some serious savings.

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“I found that making small changes was the best way for us to cut costs. Small things like my husband taking leftovers for lunch saved £3 a day, switching to the budget own brand lines saved us a fortune and buying in bulk to keep costs down.

“Now, with food prices going up all the time, my strict budgeting and everything I’ve learnt over the last eight years is really helping us keep costs down.

“Buying our meat in bulk from MuscleFood certainly helps, I’ve always bought chicken in bulk and the quality from the online retailer means I use less meat than if I was buying frozen, essentials chicken from the supermarket.

“For example, I use two chicken breasts for the four of us in my chicken chow mein. That provides enough for all of us for dinner in the evening with leftovers for the next day. I’m making that for 77p a portion so it's a really cheap, healthy meal.

“My children love chicken nuggets and chips, just like all kids, so rather than buying them frozen, I’m making them from scratch and saving money.”

Laura continued: “Cooking from scratch really can save you cash and it doesn’t have to be as time consuming as people may think.

“When I recently made beef lasagne I compared making my own sauce to buying the cheapest, own brand sauces from the supermarkets. Mine worked out at 15p cheaper. Those 15p’s soon add up.

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“Cooking and eating on a budget is now more important than ever so I’ve put a few tips together to help people wanting to save a few pounds on their weekly shop.”

Laura's top tips for cooking on a budget

• Check your cupboards and freezer – always check what you already have before you go shopping.

• Tinned and frozen veg are great staples to have – you can use them in anything and they taste good too. There’s also zero food waste.
• Use the slow cooker – make the slow cooker your friend, If you’re short of time, throw it all in before you head out and cook on low for around eight hours.
• Eat own brand – always buy the cheapest own brand item and move up to the next one if you don't like it. Most people can’t tell the difference. This is a no-brainer with pasta, rice and budget vegetables.

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