Thrifty mum shares how she can feed family for just £10 a week

A thrifty mum is helping others during the cost of living crisis by sharing quick and easy recipes that can feed a family for just £10 a week.

Grace Mortimer, 29, creates recipes that can feed up to four people at a time and cost as little as just 22p per person.

Not bad, eh?

Mum-of-one Grace post her recipes - alongside a photo of the finished meal - on her @_MyFirstMeals Instagram page where she boasts more than 170,000 followers.

Grace said she was deeply moved after she received 30,000 replies on Instagram when she asked her followers if a £10 meal plan would be helpful.

She came up with the idea for low-cost family friendly meals after becoming concerned about how people on low-budgets will cope this winter.

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Grace, a cook and author from Gloucester, said: "I’m very worried about the cost of living crisis for my own family, it's terrifying.

"Thankfully we can heat our home and eat but I know many people are having to make a choice between the two. That's just awful.

"It's very depressing, and isn't getting any better as it gets colder. I just want to help people who are on a really tight budget.

"I love cooking so it felt like a good way to help. People just can't believe how much food you can make for just £10.”

Grace and her partner Tom, 40, used to budget £50 a week to feed themselves and their six-year-old son - but they’ve seen been able to slash this.

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Grace first launched her Instagram page in April 2020 to share meal ideas for babies and toddlers with parents who may have missed out on groups due to the coronavirus lockdowns.

Now, she posts five meals a week which feed a family of four, with leftovers for lunch to get them through the working/school week.

For example, from September 27 to October 1, she posted five meals - which come to a total of just £8.89.

They were Bolognese Bake (£2.57), Cajun Rice (£1.69), Veggie Pie (£1.75), Chilli Con Carne (£1.66) and Veggie Pizzas (£1.22).

Grace said: "£10 is the lowest limit I think, or you start having to cut out important food groups like protein, or eating less, neither of which is a good idea.

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"I just wanted to encourage people on the lowest budgets. And it's simple, not too wordy and few steps, so people can do it and don't worry about making mistakes and wasting ingredients.

"Visual appeal is important, especially for kids, but cost has to be the priority now.

"I haven't extended it to the weekends yet: this just felt like the best I can do right now.

"I would love to get these recipes on school newsletters, and I wish the government would promote things like this through public messaging."

You can check out her Instagram here.