Single mum slashes food shop bill to £70 a week for family of five and makes living sharing budgeting tips on TikTok

A woman who slashed her family’s food bill from £200 to £70 a week after becoming a single mum is now a full-time content creator, inspiring thousands on TikTok by sharing her budgeting tips.

Charlene Woracker, a 34-year-old content creator from Sheffield, became a single mother in 2023 and made “drastic changes” to her lifestyle, cancelling every subscription and making almost every meal from scratch.

She also began cutting her own hair, doing her own nails, batch cooking and stockpiling essentials every six months – even managing to make Christmas dinner for just £10.

Charlene also buys most of her family’s clothes second-hand, plans free days out for her children and refuses to buy coffee while out to keep costs down.

While studying to become an accountant in 2023, she started sharing her journey on TikTok under the handle @mummybudgets and, within a year, had turned it into a full-time job.

Now with more than 38,000 followers, she hopes her children will grow up confident with money and that she can inspire others to cut their own costs.

Charlene, whose children are aged two, eight, 14 and 16, told PA Real Life: “When I became a single mum I knew I had to make a change quickly, I was so worried about money.

“Now I just plan in advance and love helping others – I would say you’re not alone and everyone has some kind of money worry.”

Charlene said she has always been “relatively careful” with money, but after becoming a single mum she had to make some “drastic changes” to her lifestyle.

She started doing her own nails instead of having them done professionally, as well as cutting her own hair and fitting her own extensions.

She began by writing down every outgoing, which revealed that her food shop was her “highest expense” at around £200 a week.

She then “strategically” searched for deals at different supermarkets, comparing prices to secure the cheapest shop and planning meals in advance.

As a result, she reduced her grocery bill to £70 a week to feed herself and her four children, largely by making the most of buy one get one free offers.

Charlene said she also relies on “staple meals” that ensure she “stays within budget”.

She explained: “On a Sunday, we have a Sunday roast and then in the week we have spaghetti bolognese, fajitas, and then just something relatively easy, like pizzas.

“Especially if you’re making the dough from scratch, it can be very cheap.

“I would say, just try and make everything from scratch as well, even chips, I’ll just buy potatoes.

“We grow our own herbs and potatoes too, it’s so easy.”

For breakfast, she makes homemade granola using seeds, nuts and oats, pairing it with “cheap apples” and supermarket own-brand yoghurt.

For lunch, she often prepares beans on toast or a jacket potato with beans, using non-branded products.

Every six months, she spends £300 stockpiling dry, long-lasting foods to cut costs further.

“I try to buy things like oil, salt and things that don’t really expire, but you’d be surprised how much it does reduce the cost of your shop,” she said.

“I do that when there’s a really good deal – if there’s a really good deal on pasta, I’ll tend to stockpile on pasta.”

Even on special occasions, she focuses on keeping food costs down – her entire Christmas dinner for the family costs less than £10.

She also saves where she can on clothing, with around half of her family’s wardrobe bought second-hand.

She has even found hidden gems, including Adidas T-shirts for 50p in a bargain bin.

She prioritises “quality over quantity”, reading labels and choosing 100% cotton items where possible.

Charlene often shops at brands such as H&M and George, as she believes they offer “durable” pieces at a “reasonable price”.

During weekends and half term, she takes her children to free parks, museums and historic buildings.

Charlene also hosts film nights at home, buying a DVD from a charity shop and making her own popcorn, as she said a cinema trip for a family of five can “easily” cost upwards of £50.

Charlene added: “Half term is an exhausting time for parents so I make life easier by using paper plates so I don’t have to do as much cleaning and I can prioritise spending more time with the kids.

“I’ll do arts and crafts with them and I won’t put pressure on myself.”

She refuses to buy coffee while out, instead making it at home, and has cancelled all subscriptions, such as Spotify, as well as her gym membership.

Since exercising at home using YouTube videos, a £10 exercise bike from a charity shop and cooking from scratch, she said she has lost four stone, going from 11st 7lbs (73kg) to 7st 7lbs (47.6kg).

Charlene plans ahead across the year, buying gifts in advance – particularly during Black Friday and the January sales – to avoid large, one-off expenses.

Her monthly bills include £150 for electricity, with appliances always turned off at the switch, £10 for her phone sim and £40 on petrol.

In 2023, she began sharing her money-saving tips on TikTok under the handle @mummybudgets, and has since gained more than 38,000 followers.

When she launched the page, she was studying to become an accountant.

However, after posting for around a year, she was able to turn social media into a full-time job.

She said: “I wanted to post to help other people in my situation because I know how hard it is, and I see people struggling and it gives me so much joy to help others.”

One of her videos went viral in December 2023, receiving more than three million views – it showed the presents she had bought her children for Christmas Eve.

The following year, a video explaining her budget Christmas dinner also received more than two million views.

She said: “That spread quite quickly – people were really shocked how little you can spend on a Christmas dinner.

“There were some people saying that you should really be spending more because it’s a special occasion, but generally, I think it changed people’s perspective on how they see Christmas.”

Charlene hopes her children will grow up to be confident and mindful with money.

“I do teach them not to be wasteful with money and to use it wisely,” she added.

“My younger kids, they’ve got Monzo cards for their pocket money and it really teaches them how to manage money at a really young age.

“I put money for things like haircuts, and they budget their allowance from there.”

To others hoping to save money, she said: “I think start by looking at your income and outgoings and cut as many subscriptions as possible.

“I think planning in advance is the most important thing and don’t be afraid to talk about it.”