Have you changed your shopping/cooking habits because of the credit crunch?

on shopping more generally - I saved £15 a month by pulling my finger out and changing my mobile phone contract to one that actually suited how I used it.

Last week I used potatoes that were practically taking root in the fridge. They were the creamiest spuds ever! and I didn't add anything to them! Normally, I'd have binned them.

I'm going to start shopping at 8pm in future too...heading for the reduced cabinet.

I'm digging at the back of my freezer and using stuff that has been there far too long. I've cut down on amounts I serve and if I think Dd 21months may not eat two weetabix(well ~ the basics equivalent), then I only put out 1 and give her more if she is still hungry. The bargain I set with Ds about these basic weetabix was that he could have 4 as they are slightly smaller...I've cut him down to three now. I often only have 2.
I'm making home made soups again now and using up left overs with more conviction. Catering for my family on just £25 a week has done it for me. Not sure how long I can make the freezer contents last and once it's all gone, it'll get so much worse for us

The arguements have gone up in our house because I find myself berating DH when he has seconds of anything now..his seconds are another meal for me of the kids later on if put in the fridge.It used to be an argument about DH's health but was only light hearted.Now its a more serious argument about finances and making things stretch further

On the upside the credit crunch coupled with my ever expanding arse inspired me to do a month long detox in September, no booze, chocolate, crisps, low carbs and mostly eating salad, steamed veg and sometimes steamed fish or chicken.This saved me lots of money on food (and my daily Starbucks)and also have lost nearly a stone I feel much better and am going to keep it up (if not quite so stringently).(Also except last night when we went out and had a few too many..but that was a one off )

Yes, now we have a very careful planned menu in which we aim to get 3/4 or more meals from every meat purchase and never throw away anything from the veggie box.

Still go to our brilliant butcher as meat is better value over the whole week than Lidl - but I did check them out and they are only worth it if you want flashfry type meat - but see above

Mutton chops! a great bargain.

Making own cleaning products

Reusing foil and clingwrap, and freezer bags. No more wipes; much washing of dishcloths.

Much more mending/darning of uniforms.

All biscuits/puddings are now homemade and as freegan as possible -eg we've all been out in the hedgerows harvesting the haws, blackberries and crabapples

I make bread for us all, buy flour in sacks (cheaper that way)

At least two veg only meals every week, and many others where meat is almost a flavouring.

No eating out at all. Anywhere. No drinking out either, not even coffee.

No holidays for the forseeable

All this has cut the food and household bill by 30-40%

We've just moved back to London from the US and I am currently revelling in the delights of a British supermarket - so no, not much has changed for us (if anything we are buying more, as we're so excited about seeing British brands again).

We do a weekly shop at Sainsburys for the basics and heavy stuff, then I often pick up the protein part of that night's dinner from Waitrose on my way home.

I can't see us ever having veggie meals on a regular basis as we're both dedicated carnivores...and still plenty of wine being drunk here too.

This recession I have been mostly shopping at Aldi - it's fab. But do top-up shopping at Morrisons (it's near where I work) and the co-op corner shop at the bottom of the road.

I used to do a weekly Ocado/Tesco shop.

God you're getting nosy mnhq.

I revert back to my thread yonks ago about how much information you keep about us and how you use it?

still shopping at waitrose but have cut down hugely on brands - buying the basic own brand stuff instead; cut down meat - not in terms of regularity but quantity - packing it eg with lentils as per the OP. (pleasantly suprised at the meat-lentil hybrid spag bol. dds didn;t notice and it was very nice and healthier.), cutting the amount of organic but won't cut free-range. have always used bogofs and offers on non-perishables(mainly because I do the self-scanning thing and it bleeps at you to tell you about them)

given up on high-end dept store type toiletries and cosmetics (but was never that big on them and I think that's an age/coming to my senses thing)

cut down on cafe treats - we have two afternoons where one dd has a school club and the other doesn't - used to regularly spend a fiver on coffee for me and hot choc and cake for said dd. again I think that's down to coming to my senses - I always knew it was ridiculous and just the general atmosphere of prudence has made me stop taking the path of least resistance on that one.

We do still spend quite a lot on food in spite of being veggie and wasting very little, and I think it's all a question of balance: we still buy organic and get our main shop from our local wholefood shop (that delivers free of charge). We continue to drink organic milk - from the milkman. I know it would be cheaper to get milk from a supermarket and our fruit & veg eg from the market, but we've not stopped being concerned about pesticides and feel it's important to have food that tastes good. We also have no desire to see the wholefood shop go out of business, and we're keen to do our bit in helping the milkman keep going.

I always take a pack up to work (and dh does if he can be bothered to make it!), but the dc's continue to have school dinners - in spite of complaints about "mush". This is because neither of them is keen on sandwiches (whenever we go on holiday & have regular picnics they complain after a few days) and we both consider that we don't have the inclination to put our energies into making varied pack ups as well as a daily meal from scratch - except when we're eating up leftovers (eg today, when I eked out some leftover stir fry with the addition of some fresh sweetcorn, marrow, extra mushrooms and cucumber).

And we don't exactly plan menus but buy seasonal food, which tends to be cheaper and tastier, and use up what we've got so that by the end of the week we're often scraping the bottom of the barrel to put together a "sensible" meal.

It has to be said that we're eating out less too - and drinking less wine, which is a great shame...

Still shopping with Ocado but choosing bogofs and cheaper menus (we were pretty frugal anyhow). Taking packed lunch in to work now with marmite and cottage cheese featuring prominently
Contemplating fattening up dd for Christmas

Now I do take advantage of BOGOF offers, or 2 for £2 or whatever. Rather than have a set shopping list, I tend to shop by broad category and then look for things on offer. Then I'll build meals around them. Kind of meal planning in reverse. We hardly waste a thing so it does work. There's nothing wrong with BOGOF as long as you buy instead of something else and not as well as.

Buying far more from Lidl, have cut shopping at Waitrose right down (although we still get fruit and veg from there - look for discounts though). I love Lidl for cleaning products, loo roll, squashes, dairy stuff.

Do a regular shop at Wilko's for pet food, cleaning stuff, tolietries etc. Rarely shop at Boots now; use Superdrug/ Bodycare/ Savers instead.

I still don't meal plan, as I just don't have the time (or the inclination tbh). Shop almost daily, therefore hardly any food waste.

We drink far less wine - gah.

I freeze more stuff now.

more and more own brand foods,
meal plan.

don't fall for the bogof, because it aint necessarily something you would relaly want anyway.
eggs from local suppliers - free range and loads cheaper.

definitely find i am wasting less.
keep apples in the fridge. none are now thrown away.

we never have takeaways anyway.
i always take a sarnie to work, as does dh and dc have packed lunches.
home baking.
search here for good advice on cheap meals

I agree it's not about the credit crunch (which still sounds like a bankers breakfast to me) . Personally in the last six months I've started to look seriously on wasted food and making sure we do use up the leftovers instead of chucking them - it's terrible that we throw away one in three bags of shopping as a nation.

PS by doing this I've cut our weekly bills from £100 to £60!

I have a planned menu, which means we end up eating everything we've bought and have a near-empty fridge by the end of the week: so less waste.

I also go straight to the bargain aisles at supermarkets; shop at times of day when there are bargains to be had, and buy as much as poss from local greengrocers/ markets instead of overpriced Mr Sainsbury's .

I still buy lots of dark choc though - except that I buy it in bulk when they have lots of good reductions !!

I haven't read the whole thread so no doubt someone else has said this, but I'd like to remind the Press Association, the Conservative party and anyone else who continues to perpetuate the myth..

Rising food/fuel prices have nothing to do with the credit crunch. Unless you have already lost your job or you funded day to day living from credit cards, your rising bills are not caused by the credit crunch!!

But in answer to the question, we are cutting back on everything currently, but that's because I've taken a pay cut in return for a permanent job and our heating costs have gone through the roof just before winter - nowt to do with the credit crunch. We now have less than £200 a month to spend on our food, toiletries and household stuff and it's a challenge.

Meal planning- makes a huge difference to how much you actually need to buy- can't believe we didn't do it before

I have started planning an entire month's menus and then bulk buying online - I only buy vegetables and milk locally now, apart from the stuff I buy from the health food shop. This has less to do with the credit crunch (hasn't affected us at all yet TBH) but more a general feeling that there was too much wastage and not enough saving in our household economy generally.

Switched from Waitrose to Sainsburys. Tried Aldi once and it was dreadful, especially fruit and veg, so haven't gone back. Meal plan more. Never buy lunch, always make it. No coffees out.

Lidl sausages were a pleasant surprise, 95% pork and about 50p a pack cheaper than the finest/ extra special etc ones.

I also always buy my hotdogs from Lidl, the bockwurst in jars contain 85% pork compared to the rubbish in tins from the supermarket that are mostly mechanically recovered chicken.

Other stuff like cured meats and cheeses are good from there too. I also buy my orange juice cartons (5 for 89p) and bottles of water (6 for 109p) there for packed lunches.

We're buying more from the basics ranges.

No wine. (or at least trying to buy no wine.)

Not buying steak for a Saturday night.

No takeaways anymore.

I try to meal plan a bit more.

I'm thinking of trying Lidl or Aldi.

yes

just watching the pennies really (fewer takeaways etc.)

Meal planning. Bulk cooking and freezing. Packed lunches.
Also simpler teas midweek - scrambled eggs, mushrooms, soups, beans etc all in there somewhere. We prob only have meat once a week so I try and make it something decent however some weeks it will have to be chilli or shepherds pie as mince is cheaper. Try also to have fish once a week, usually white fish or prawns, as prawns are cheeeaaap-oh here (I don't feel bad gloating as they are the only cheap food thing we have really!).
On a shopping day I'll go to the "eat it now before it shrivels" shelf and pick up something for tea that day and hopefully lunch next day too.

Am using lots of moresoup traditional recipes too, as they are good at bulking out basic ingredients with storecupboard stuff, and can usually be multiplied up to make extra for freezing eg crumbles, stews, casseroles, soups, hotpots, etc.

And any veg kicking around at the end of the week makes Mummy's Special Miscellaneous Soup.