....to ask what you buy if you manage a weeklyAldi shop for £50-60

[coffeemachine]

I keep reading on here that many manage a weekly Aldi shop for £50-60.

I have to reduce spending and try to cut back but no matter what, I tend to spend about £100 there each week. We are a ffamily of 4 (DC are 6 and 8). I tend to buy lots (and I mean lots) of fresh fruit and veg. Some meat/fish/chicken. Cheese. Household stuff & toiletries. We don't buy ready meals, pizza etc and also no alcohol.

How do others manage on so much less?? I really need some ideas as to where to cut back.

[coffeemachine]

should maybe add that mine and DH's lunches are made at home and we very early eat out. so the shop really covers us for a week but I think it is still way too much.

[coffeemachine]

rarely eat out

[Beth2511]

Do you throw away much?

[switswoo81]

I spend around 80-90 euro so nearly the same as you. There's only 3 of us but we buy nappies and wipes. I'm off for sumner and dh comes home for lunch. Don't buy any ready meals but I buy fish from local fishmonger and once a month spend 80 euro in wholesale meat market. I do buy lots of nice fruit though melon and berries.

We buy lots if basics, eggs yoghurt, beans, cheese etc. I Base lots of meals on their super 6 offers in meat and vegetables. Every Friday night use their pizza dough to make pizza and dough balls.

[mrgrouper]

I spend only £30 a week, but there is only me and my son. We eat a lot of beans on toast, soup, sandwiches. I am vegetarian but buy sausage rolls and ham for son.
We also buy the value cat food and feed the cat and dog with it.

[Scarfmisuseissues]

I meal plan around the super six veg offers and weekly meat offers. Swap fresh veg and fruit for tinned and frozen where appropriate, aldi do really nice frozen berry mixed for smoothies and porridge. Is all the fruit and veg you buy getting eaten or is it wasted?

[pocketsized]

We also buy frozen fruit and veg, it's perfectly nice and doesn't get wasted/cost as much.

[Donthate]

We are a family of 4. Dc are 6 and 8. I buy chicken, steak, etc and it is never more than £60. How much fruit are you buying? Would have to be a hell of a lot to add up to an extra £40! Do you have any cheap meal nights eg pasta? That should help.

[Freshprincess]

He adult and 2 teens here as manage on that amount.
I don't buy much meat just chicken breasts and some fish. We have 2/3 veggie meals a week.
No alcohol either.
The only ready meals I but are the 3 pack of pizzas, we usually manage 2 between us with chips and salad.
I buy tons of fresh fruit, because i don't want to economise there. Veg is usually frozen high is a bit cheaper, and there's no waste.
I meal plan down to after school snack level, which stops me filling up the trolley it's random biscuits/crisps etc.

[coffeemachine]

We do not through away at all. today I got fruit wise: 4 packs of apples (I eat at least 3 / day, DH too). Water melon, 2 x honey melon. peaches, strawberries, brokkoli, cauliflower, aubergine, tomatoes, cucumbers, salad, mushrooms, onion, garlic, spinach.... we go through loads

[MouseholeCat]

Currently spend £25-£30 for 2 of us, but have done £50-£60 for 4 adults before in the past.

Try to get a handle on the most expensive items you're currently buying- processed foods, snacky bits (cheese strings etc), and meat / fish.

Then gradually change 1 thing at a time, I found it overwhelming all at once.

My big ones:

Another one who plans meals around their big offers wherever possible.

Agree with pp on frozen fruit and veg- better value, esp for spinach, broccoli and cauliflower.

I try to plan at least 1 meal based on pulses every week- this week it's a chickpea and borlotti bean curry. Very cheap!

Make things from scratch, much cheaper! I spend an hour on a Sunday afternoon making pasta sauces / curry sauces / stir fry sauces ahead for the week.

Plan your snacks, it's cheaper and will go further- this week we're having Lidl Turkish yoghurt with nuts and sliced nectarines.

[coffeemachine]

DH and one of the DC have a severe gluten intolerance. so beans on toast and other cheapish options out for us.

[Sleeplessinmybedroom]

We spend around £50-75 in aldi then usually £20 in tesco for a family of 4 with one in nappies and who drinks formula, a cat and 2 rabbits.

[YorkieDorkie]

I buy really similar stuff but I make bulk foods like spag bol, curry, paella, casserole but I make them with absolutely heaps of veg so the meat that would usually go 4 ways actually goes 6.

[Sleeplessinmybedroom]

I cook most meals from scratch with the odd conveniece meal chucked in. We meal plan and take a shopping list.

[witchofzog]

Mrgrouper please don't feed your dog with cat food. I used to as well as my dog absolutely loves it but it is not good for them long term nutritionally as a few people pointed out. Aldi dog food is good too though. My dog eats it ☺

[Passthecake30]

How much fruit/veg do you actually eat a day? I know it's good for you...but surely there comes a point when it's too much sugar and snacking on a few nuts would be preferable...

We like fruit and veg too but the cost was getting crazy. I now only get strawberries once a week (unless from the garden) and one or two punnet of grapes a week (portion them out so dp doesn't eat the lot in one go 🙄). we do eat raw carrots and celery as they work out cheaper, plus bananas, apples and melon/nectarines if on offer.

[BlackeyedSusan]

less meat.

grate cheese and use thinly. (also because it is salty and fatty. )

I use lentils to make stuff tht require mince.

you are buying a lot of expensive fruit. look at the price per kilo and go for cheaper things and a few of the more expensive stuff to supplement.

their 37p bread is fine. (for those who can eat gluten)

I get rice and lentils from morrisons. I think chicken are cheaper per kilo in morrisons if you get the value ones.

I manage three of us on about £45 per week and we also eat a lot of fruit and veg. bulk out meals with carrots and onions which are cheapest per kilo.

[topcat2014]

We spend £60 in Aldi, with 1 10 yr old DC. Seems to be sufficient, apart from milk etc.

We could afford more, so I don't think we deliberately restrict ourselves.

Includes some cheap beers etc /

[ConfuciousSayWhat]

We do a weekly shop in aldi for £40. We stock up on fruit, veg, meat, bread, sandwich fillings (all fresh) plus all wash stuff, bin liners detergent etc we avoid the centre aisles, and don't get much from the freezers and get nothing from the alcohol bit

[wheresthel1ght]

I tend to spend around £45-50 using Morrisons online shopping. I find I spend more in aldi as their offers aren't usually on things I buy. They're are 3 of us full time and then my Dsc 2-3 days a week and fil once/twice a week.

3 for £10 meat offers are very good, slow cooker meals are excellent.

As everyone has said, meal plan and buy frozen veg where you can. Look at what fruit is on offer rather have an the fancy stuff. Although the amount of fruit you are buying you might find it cheaper to find a good market/greengrocer

[calzone]

Breakfasts tend to be cereal or eggs here. Both from Aldi.

Packed lunch stuff from there too. Only simple stuff though.

Dinners

Roast chicken
Turkey mince for meatballs or lasagne
Jacket potato with cheese and beans
Pasta with pesto and Parmesan
Pasta with broccoli
Spicy chicken rice
Salads
Soups

Soft drinks
Yoghurt
Fruit

Definitely go veggie for a couple of days.
Eat from the freezer so it doesn't stack up.

[DoWhat123]

It's a shame that fresh fruit and veggies are so much more expensive than crap processed food. I think really the answer is you spend more because you are buying wholesome food. Sad but true.

[PhoebeGeebee]

There's only two of us (at the moment!) but we can make a £60 shop last a few weeks with the odd fruit and veg top up from Tesco across the road.

We stock up on chicken, lamb, turkey mince, quoin mince, fish, fish cakes, pasta, gnocchi and with added veg, this makes most of our weekly meals.

[chanie44]

If you eat a lot of fruit and veg, try getting it from the market instead. I know that aldi supersix is cheap, but if you buy lots, it's not that good value. LIdl recently had punnetts of strawberries for £2. I bought a punnet from the market which was double the size for half the price.

Cleaning products. I buy multi cleansers like star drops and use that to clean around the house. I can fill up a bucket, wipe the surfaces and mop the floor. Much cheaper than buying multiple products.