Weekly/Monthly Shopping bills?

[M24L]

Just looking for some advice/tips in regards to shopping bills.

After a discussion with DH about how we feel our income isn't lasting the month (full time and part time) I have sat down and made a list of our incoming and outgoing bills.

Most bills are fine in terms of gas, electricity, internet, phone bills etc but after going through the last month of bank statements to check how much has been spent on shopping i have came to the realisation that we spend almost £700 in the course of a month.

The £700 is mostly on the food shop with the odd £20-£40 spent in home bargains or BnM on cleaning products.

We are a family of 3 soon to be 4 so the reality of spending that amount of money has shocked me.

Looking for any sort of ideas, tips or advice on how to cut this down.

We love home cooked meals, not really a family of snackers so chocolate etc is very rarely bought although DH and DD both have sandwiches, rustlers burgers, crisps, fruit and yoghurts for lunch at work and school, I on the other hand tend to have noodles or toast for lunch at work. So it does seem that the biggest bulk is spent on dinners/teas.

What do you spend on average weekly or monthly for what size of family? Also meal ideas or anything would be great 😀

@Bul21ia our shop is mostly done in Morrisons as its close by and very handy for us.

@Bobbots he does have access to a microwave but heating up leftovers then trying to wolf it down in 15 mins would be a bit of a task, he also isn't a massive eater so if he was to eat leftovers at work he would probably feel quite groggy the rest of the day and not want any tea at night just snacks.

Average weekly shop consists of milk, 2 loafs as both DH and DD take 2 sandwiches each (8 slices of bread daily), cheese slices, cold meat, fresh fruit, yoghurts (normally purchased in packs of 5 where possible), fresh meats which is typically 2.2kg of chicken breasts, 1kg of diced beef, steaks, 6-8 lamb chops, beef roasting joint, 500g mince, potatoes, 3 rustler burgers, stock up on juice so 2 litres of coke, 2 packs of lucozade energy, 10-15 energy cans for DH (sometimes get them on deals like 4 for £4), beers for DH for the weekend, ice creams which is normally a tub and pack of lollies, crisps, frozen veg for slow cooked meals, fresh veg like carrots, broccoli, asparagus, corn, sugar snap peas, large onions, fresh Yorkshire puddings (have made my own but they just don't taste the same). Also depending on what we are having for tea that week I may pick up an old el paso kit like taco or fajitas. That's as much as I can recall at the moment, will be doing to weekly shop on Sunday so I can double check the receipt when done.

@Puffalicious I haven't tied aldi's meats as aldi is quite a bit out of our way and with both working and trying to squeeze in the shop morrisons has always been handier for us although maybe we can organise a day to do a shop in aldi and compare things.

@Passthecake30 with the chicken I normally do a diced breast of chicken curry, a sweet and sour chicken and either use the chicken for fajitas, have a full oven cooked breast with lots of veg and rice or a chicken caserole which is perfect for slow cooking while we are at work and school.

We spend around £1000 per month but that includes a takeaway/restaurant meal at least once a week. We are 2 adults and 3 young DC - still buying nappies etc. Based on that I'd say £700 per month for 3 is slightly high although you've included other shopping (ours would be much higher if we included other shopping too).
I know most of ours goes on fresh fruit and veg and meat. We don't want to shop at Aldi so have just accepted that our food bill will be high, which isn't an issue for us.
If you want to cut back I'd start by stopping going into shops like B&M - because everything is so cheap you but loads of unnecessary stuff. Things like the energy cans sound expensive.

We usually spend around £60-£65 a week just for me and OH. One of my adult kids has moved back in with us temporarily so it has probably gone up to around £75 pw for 3 of us.
We cook everything from scratch so don't buy any ready meals etc and we're not really take away people as we like to eat healthy. We do occasional trips to the local farm shop (every 3 or 4 months) when we might spend £100 on meat but my daughter is a vegetarian so we've been eating less meat recently.
We buy occasional bottles of wine (6 bottles every few months) but otherwise don't buy any other tinned or bottled drinks. We always seem to have enough food in the house.
We don't actively aim to budget for our food shopping - that's just what it costs. I think the major factor may be that my OH does the food shopping so there's no browsing or impulse buying just in and out with his list :)

It seems to me that you are eating a large quantity of meat for example a 500g pack of mince used to feed my family of 5 when we were all at home. Sometimes I mix a few lentils into a mince dish and use less meat which can save money.

So in one week you are eating typically 2.2kg of chicken breasts, 1kg of diced beef, steaks, 6-8 lamb chops, beef roasting joint, 500g mince, is that right? That seems a hell of a lot of expensive meat to me - must be at least 8-10 meat-based meals there? Could you cut down a bit, either by bulking out the meat with veg or by having a few meat-free meals?

I eat a lot more vegan/veggie food these days, but even with meat-eater ExH, we would only have bought the equivalent of one or two of those meat items per week, as it would have done two of us and one DC at least 2-3 meals, so I'd suggest trying to cut the meat right back. I bulk things out with veg/lentils, so if I were to use 500g beef mince for a bolognese, that would make approx 3-4 meals for 3 people due to the amount of extra bulk from veg (I actually only use lentils and occasionally vegan mince now as it's a lot cheaper!). You're also buying cold meat on top of that - could you use any cold chicken/beef left over from dinners?

Other things I'd look at are an old el paso kit like taco or fajitas - way more expensive than buying the component parts, and it sounds like you're getting through a lot of sugary (addictive) drinks which aren't cheap - could you cut any of those down a bit? I also noticed you specified large onions... might be reaching here, but that sounds to me like you are buying the 'nicer' veg, when tbh a bag of value onions really isn't much different. Likewise cheese slices tend to be a bit more expensive than buying a block.

For comparison, our normal weekly spend varies between £50-100, as a 'big shop' tends to cover at least two weeks of the basics, so we are on about £300 a month for 2 adults, one bottomless pit DC and a cat. That includes drinks and most toiletries. One way of spending less is to do an online shop if you can - less temptation!

Definitely try an Aldi shop OP, I find their meat good quality- free range chicken and beef available and here in Scotland local, Scottish beef always available. We get milk delivered but their milk and butter and eggs are also local- something which i really like. Saying that, mine is a 3 minute walk, so if further you should try it at least once.

Old El Paso kits are an expensive convenience if you pay full price.

You can save a lot by only buying on special offer, buy Aldi own brand version or buy wraps, spices and sauce separately.

Plus you're spending a huge amount on fizzy drinks, the amount you've said looks like close to £100 on that alone . That's not groceries, that should come out of personal spending money for whoever's buying it.

You're surely not eating all that meat between the three of you every week are you?

The meat would be broken down into chicken - 3 different family meals
Beef - 2 different family meals
Steak - 1 family meal
Beef joint - Sunday dinner
Lamb chops - 1 family meal (i use the chops in a slow cooked hot pot so works out around 3 chops each with veg and potatoes although the lamb pretty much disintegrates hence why we have 3 each)
And the 500g mince does 1 meal split in to 4 (1 portion left over)

Works out overall 9 meals we only have 1 meal per night so 2 of them meals will do the start of the following week but the weekly shop still pretty much consists of the same meats.

That's still an awful lot of meat especially if DC is a preschooler.

Beef 4 nights a week and chicken the other 3 days? Don't you have leftovers from the Sunday joint? Lamb is expensive and 750 g chicken for one meal for 2 adults and 1 child is a lot.

If you want to cut down you could half the amount of meat you eat and replace it with more vegetables and pulses. Put a lot of veg in your mince meals, eat a lot less beef as very expensive, maybe consider lamb or pork shoulder, much cheaper, put a lot of pulses in a chilli or casserole - eg pork shoulder, beans, tomatoes, peppers, onions and a bit of chorizo.

Lamb chops expensive, steak expensive, lamb shoulder cheaper that is.

OP if your slow cooking the lamb anyway (to the point that it falls apart) it would be a really easy swap to chose a cheaper cut of lamb.
Also maybe one/two nights a week try something without meat- veg based. Like a lentil Dahl, veggie pasta bake or even omelettes and salad, or jacket potato etc
Also on a Monday could you use the leftover meat from your Sunday roast to make another main dinner?

Morrisons used to be my supermarket too OP. Since the pandemic I switched to Aldi and I notice how expensive it was. Morrisons is all branded and that is what your paying for things like cereal.. big price difference.

@M24L

The meat would be broken down into chicken - 3 different family meals Beef - 2 different family meals Steak - 1 family meal Beef joint - Sunday dinner Lamb chops - 1 family meal (i use the chops in a slow cooked hot pot so works out around 3 chops each with veg and potatoes although the lamb pretty much disintegrates hence why we have 3 each) And the 500g mince does 1 meal split in to 4 (1 portion left over)

Works out overall 9 meals we only have 1 meal per night so 2 of them meals will do the start of the following week but the weekly shop still pretty much consists of the same meats.

I think the recommended serving size for red meat is (70g cooked), so it would seem that your servings are very meat heavy which is reflected in the higher spend on groceries.

We spend 350-420 a month. This is all food, toiletries and nappies. That’s for 2 adults, a toddler (who eats like a teenager) and a cat. I am veggie though but DS and DP aren’t. We buy a big meat box once a month from butchers, I portion out and freeze. Most of the shopping after is from Lidl/fultons or the local veg shop. Found it so much cheaper to asda/Sainsbury’s/tesco/Morrison’s

Having a jacket potato and/or omelette night would save you a fair bit on your meat expenditure. It sounds like you have large meat portions, we would probably use 2 between 2 adults and 2 preteens for things like fajitas/pasta meals. You’ve also listed expensive veg (asparagus, sugar snap peas), broccoli, cabbage, carrots are cheaper.

Also, have you tried griddling turkey steaks, they would be cheaper than some of your meat options? Also using some stronger flavours like chorizo in pasta/jambalaya, then you need less meat over all.

I think the issue with bot having meat free days is what to cook, DH can be fussy when it comes to eating so If I was to suggest a vegetable lasagne for example he would turn his nose up.

I do try do a pasta dish every second week which consists of pasta, diced onion, bacon lardons all oven cooked in a cheese sauce other than that thought I would say that's about the closest to a meat free dish we have.

Always forget about baked potatoes and its definitely coming into the season for a lovely baked potato with a side of salad.

In terms of veg my DD isn't at all a fussy eater but she tends to ask for me likes of sugar snap peas which are her favourite and because it's veg I've never really looked on it bring the more expensive veg im always just glad that my DD enjoys a portion of veg with every meal.

So yet again, it's a DH problem.

Fizzy drinks, Rustler burgers, beer and very large portions of meat are all expensive ways to eat so all this is going to be taking up a good portion of your spend and unless you cut down significantly in this area, it's not going to change.

What's the detriment, financially? Can you afford it, or do you need to cut down? If he sees it as 'if we cut back, we can afford a holiday or buy a new car without borrowing' would he be more willing to eat a cheaper, diet, and one that's healthier and more environmentally sustainable?

After all, if you cut down to £500 pm, it's still above average for a family your size and the £200 pm saved is £2400 per year, so would pay for a holiday, or over five years is £12k, which would pay for a very decent second hand car.

Is it the veg that puts dh off veggie food?
How about quiche, macaroni cheese griddled haloumi?

OP does your family like fish?

We spend £40-50 per week for two adults and one 10 year old. We eat well, includes packed lunches for the three of us, cleaning products, toiletries, cereal and all dinners.

Morrisons wonky veg is really good. I would cut down the meat by upping the veg so bulking everything out with more veg

Even if you bought the same stuff but from.aldi or lidl you'd save money because you can buy their own brand equivalent. you must spend a lot just on the drinks let alone all the meat.