First foods on a tight budget

Planning out your meals for the week and writing a shopping list can be a good way of saving money. It stops you buying things you don’t really want. Most supermarkets have a range of fruit and vegetables each week that they are promoting and selling at a reduced price. It’s also cheaper and good for the environment to buy fruits and veg which are locally produced and in season – and they usually taste better!

They are a cheap way to get your baby eating great food. Make sure the eggs you use have the British Lion stamp. Pulses and beans are also on the list and are very nutritious. They're great to add to stews and soups if you're vegetarian and also make meat meals go further.

The Best Start benefit enables you to buy fresh, frozen or tinned fruit and vegetables. Make sure that tinned fruits are in natural juices and the veg is in spring water. Buying frozen fruit and veg is cheaper than buying fresh. And you can select the amount you want to cook, so no waste!

It’s easy to make a healthy family meal from just tins - have you tried tuna fishcakes? Mash tinned potatoes and tuna together, then pan-fry to make fishcakes, and add a side of tinned green veg – delicious! Or try defrosting some blueberries and mixing with full-fat yoghurt for a tasty dessert.

Try cooking meals to enjoy over the course of the week or batch cook and freeze the extra portions. Chilli and tomato pasta bakes are all good batch cooking meals. It might take 30 minutes one day to make, but only minutes to reheat in the microwave!

Pop leftovers in the freezer and defrost on a day when you haven’t got the time to make a meal from scratch.

Making the same meal for the whole family isn’t just quicker and cheaper, it will also let your baby see you all eat together, which will help them to eat up too. Just make sure that your baby’s food doesn’t have any added salts or sugars.

Check the sell-by dates when you’re shopping to make sure food won’t be going out of date straightaway!

They may look really easy to give to your baby, but they are very pricey compared to what you can make at home. They are also likely to have cheaper ingredients and be less tasty and nutritious than your homecooked foods.

Porridge made with full-fat pasteurised cow’s milk and added fruit is a tasty breakfast for a baby. Own label oats are cheaper than branded ones and often contain less salt and sugar.

If you have yoghurt that’s near its best before date, try making this delicious frozen yoghurt recipe.

1. Line a small baking tray with cling film.
2. Smooth the yoghurt over the cling film.
3. Decorate with any fruit you have around the house (could be frozen fruit).
4. Pop in the freezer.
5. Remove from the tray and cling film.
6. Cut into fun sized triangles.
7. Pop in freezer bag and freeze.
8. When main meals are being served to baby, pop a triangle out the freezer so it is a little defrosted (and easier to eat) for your baby’s pud. Yum!

You’ll find other recipes that don’t break the bank or need fancy cooking skills right here.