Thrifty mother-of-five who wrote 'Feed your family for £20 a week' cookbook reveals how much her recipes cost to make NOW thanks to soaring inflation

Daily Mail​

16-07-2025

A Scottish mother-of-five who wrote a best-selling book six years ago on how to feed her family for just £20-a-week says soaring food prices means it would now cost almost double to do the same recipes.
Lorna Cooper, 48, from Paisley, Renfreshire, who has three children of her own and is step-mother to two, wrote the cookbook, 'Feed your family for £20-a-week', after sharing her tips on Facebook and winning more than half a million followers.
However, with inflation defying predictions again to rise to 3.6 per cent, the thrifty mother says food and drink prices have soared so much that her original £20 weekly shop budget could now only be used in 'an emergency situation'.
The headline CPI rate had been expected to stay on hold at 3.4 per cent in the year to June, but instead skipped up to 3.6 per cent.
The increase heaps woe on the Chancellor Rachel Reeves as she struggles to balance the books and get the economy going, casting doubt on the prospects for the Bank of England cutting interest rates quickly.
Speaking to Radio 5 Live breakfast, family cook Cooper said increased prices 'across the board' in supermarkets meant the dishes she once cooked were now nearer to £35 to £40-a-week.
The Scot originally created the Facebook page after struggling to meet her brood's £100-a-week food bill after a back injury left her unable to work in 2014.
Failing to qualify for sick pay, she was forced to tighten the purse strings, and through savvy shopping, buying in bulk and batch cooking, she managed to slash her food bill to just £20 a week.
On her original list were a combination of fresh, freezer and store cupboard foods.
However, now she says the same food to make the same dishes that she created six years prior have shot up by 71% in that time.
She told 5 Live presenter Rick Edwards: 'Every time you go into a shop, you pick something up and it's ten pence more than it was the week before.'
She said eight weeks' worth of shopping that would once have cost £160 would now be priced at £272.38.
The food blogger explained: 'Instead of £19.96 a week, it's now £34.05 - it's a big jump.'
She said she calculates the price of her menus list every six months and in January this year it was recorded at £30.90, going up by more than 10 per cent since.
'I made an emergency shopping list last year that came in at £21.50 [a week] but it's such a basic list that it's not sustainable.
'It's literally for an emergency - it will do you for a couple of weeks but it's not a sustainable healthy menu or meal plan for a family at all.'
Lorna's tips for feeding your family on a budget
1. Go shopping at the end of the day
2. Cook in bulk
3. Be adaptable - use ingredients reduced or on special offer
4. Shop in less obvious places - don't rely just on major supermarkets
5. Buy super-size for bigger discounts
6. Use your leftovers
7. Stop buying treats and make your own
8. Don't be scared to substitute
9. Stop throwing food out
10. Grow your own food
Cooper added: 'There's so many tips I could give - but you're not feeding your family for £20 these days.
'People used to need help to get through a tough spot - the odd month - increasingly now it's every month.'
The inflation increase heaps woe on the Chancellor as she struggles to balance the books and get the economy going, casting doubt on the prospects for the Bank of England cutting interest rates quickly.
Fuel was the biggest contributor, while food prices were rising at the fastest pace since February last year.
Worryingly for the Treasury, closely-watched CPI core inflation - excluding energy, food, alcohol, and tobacco - was up from 3.5 per cent to 3.7 per cent.
Ms Reeves did not directly address the increase in a statement, saying she 'knows working people are still struggling with the cost of living ' and is determined to 'put more money into people's pockets'.
ONS Acting Chief Economist Richard Heys said: 'Inflation ticked up in June driven mainly by motor fuel prices which fell only slightly, compared with a much larger decrease at this time last year.
'Food price inflation has increased for the third consecutive month to its highest annual rate since February of last year.
'However, it remains well below the peak seen in early 2023.'
Ms Reeves said: 'I know working people are still struggling with the cost of living.
'That is why we have already taken action by increasing the national minimum wage for three million workers, rolling out free breakfast clubs in every primary school and extending the £3 bus far cap.
'But there is more to do and I'm determined we deliver on our Plan for Change to put more money into people's pockets.'
Shadow chancellor Mel Stride said: 'This morning's news that inflation remains well above the 2 per cent target is deeply worrying for families.