Tik-tok mum shares Aldi hack to feed family for just £1 a day during school holidays - shopping list & recipes

A TikTok mum has revealed how she feeds her family of four for just £1 a day during the school holidays by shopping at Aldi. Beth Turbutt-Rogers is known by her 185k loyal social media followers as @budgetingmum for sharing her innovative budgeting hacks and handy parenting tips.

And now she has unveiled that she uses under £20 worth of Aldi ingredients to create five tasty dinner recipes that the whole family enjoy while little ones are off school. The TikTok video shows Beth whizzing together five dinners including a healthy three bean chilli and a mouth-watering Wagamama inspired katsu curry, complete with hidden veggies for fussy little ones, all for less than £20 at Aldi.

The recipe guide has already proved popular with followers, gaining likes and comments in their thousands. One follower declared “this will really help reduce the cost of my food shop!” and another said, “get me to Aldi – now!”

Beth, who lives with her husband and two young children, commended her Aldi shopping experience and said: “Aldi is the best place to get everything you need without breaking the bank.”

“As the summer holidays arrive, lots of families will be feeling the pinch when it comes to food shopping. Having the children at home might mean that routines are totally different and for this reason you might start to see a rise in the weekly cost.  But don’t panic! With a little planning and opting for low-cost ingredients, you can get through the summer holidays on a budget and still enjoy tasty and nutritious meals.”

Aldi £1 recipes

Recipe 1: Cheeseburger pasta bake with vegetarian mince

Recipe 2: Cheese and bacon potato pie with beans

Recipe 3: Three bean chilli with rice

Recipe 4: Katsu chicken curry and rice

Recipe 5: Bacon potato bake with egg and beans

Full step-by-step guides on how to create these tasty recipes can be found via Beth’s blog.

Aldi shopping list

Nature’s Pick Brown Onions (£0.95, 3 pack)

Oakhurst Smoked Bacon Lardons (£1.99, 200g)

Nature’s Pick Spring Onions (£0.50, 100g)

Nature’s Pick Salad Tomatoes (£0.85, 6 pack)

Ashfields Breaded Chicken Steaks (£2.99, 505g)

Everyday Essentials Penne Pasta (£0.41, 500g)

Four Seasons Taco Mixed Beans (£0.72, 395g)

Everyday Essentials Chopped Tomatoes x2 (£0.35, 400g)

Everyday Essentials Baked Beans x2 (£0.56, 420g)

Asia Specialities Chinese Style Curry Sauce (£0.99, 500g)

Emporium Mature Grated Cheddar Cheese (£1.99, 250g)

Ready, Set…Cook! Chilli Powder (£0.59, 40g)

Plant Menu Meat Free Mince (£1.35, 400g)

Everyday Essentials Long Grain Rice (£0.52,1kg)

Merevale British Medium Free-Range Eggs (£1.29, 6 pack)

Nature’s Pick Marris Piper Potatoes (£1.59, 2.5kg)

Four Seasons Mixed Vegetables (£0.99, 1kg)

Four Seasons Black Beans in Water (£0.59, 390g)

Total: £19.57 (approx. 97p per meal, based on five meals for a family of four).

Aldi shopping tips

As well as putting together this helpful school holiday dinner guide, Beth has also shared her top 10 hacks when budgeting for the weekly shop during the school summer holidays:

• Overlap: Plan meals with overlapping ingredients. For example, if you’re buying potatoes, buy a large pack which you can then use to make jacket potatoes one night and a potato pie the other. Or if you’re buying bacon lardons, buy a two pack which you can use for two meals!
• Meal plan: This is a guaranteed way to save you money as you’ll have well thought out meal ideas for the week. This is especially relevant during the holidays when the food shop needs to feed the whole family all day every day!
• Go frozen or tinned: Consider buying frozen or tinned vegetables for a great way to inject nutrients to food on a budget.
• Go plant based: Swapping to plant-based alternatives can often be cheaper than meat products – and more sustainable too.
• Buy in bulk: Bulk buying certain items, for example buying a larger pack of toilet roll, will work out cheaper in the long run. This is particularly important during the school holidays when we seem to go through household items far more quickly.
• Cook from scratch: Cooking from scratch – learning how to make things like sauces from basic ingredients such as milk, butter and flour can save you money. This is a great one to pick up during the holidays when we’re not so time poor!
• Divide and conquer: Try buying a whole chicken and dividing the meat into several meals throughout the week to make it go further.
• Batch cook: Batch cooking can not only save you time, but it can also save you money if planned well. This means more time to spend playing with little ones during the holidays!
• Freeze it: Utilising your freezer to ensure food doesn’t go off before you have time to eat it can reduce food waste and save you money.
• Enjoy family time: Eat together as a family! Doing separate meals for children can be expensive, so make meals that are suitable for all the family will help cut your costs. Particularly during the holidays, this is a great time to make the best of having everyone at home and enjoy eating together.