Overspending on food shopping

Get a Starling bank account. Decide what a reasonable amount to spend on food is, put it aside in there each week. Once it's gone, it's gone. Bulk buy loo roll/cleaning stuff etc.

Plan a menu and stick to it.
Make a shopping list from that menu.

Favourite budget meals in our house:
Bean chilli
Omlettes
Risotto
Pasta anything for toddler

Check out Jack Monroe for budget recipes.

Can you make the takeaway a monthly treat? Ours is a payday treat.

Cook from scratch as much as possible.

Also don't go shopping hungry - my DH is terrible for this

I have a separate (mobile only) bank account for food and non-essential purchases. X amount goes in on the 1st of the month and once it’s gone, it’s gone. I can open the app in 2 seconds so it’s checked very regularly. I keep track of how many big shops/top up shops I still need to do, and then cut down on takeaways or something else, if the money won’t be enough.

Obviously you have to be flexible the first few months if you can afford it, and figure out what’s the reasonable maximum you want to/can spend on food each month. Then be completely strict about it - unless there’s an emergency of course.

After a week of peanut butter sandwiches and bananas, I learnt not to spend it all in the first 3 weeks of the month. It helped that I was still a student when I started this, but I’m so happy about it now because I don’t overspend.

Try just doing the shop online only.
Less chance of temptation.

Can I ask if you get through it all or whether there is a lot of waste? Food planning is a great idea. Maybe a meal recipe box to start?

Just back from food shop with DH. He doesn't usually come shopping as I do it in the week but it was an eye opener for him. We spent £200 between Tesco and Aldi. Did incl pet food (2 dogs, 4 cats, 2 fish) My dd and her 6 year old ds have moved back in with us for a few months so there were things added on that I wouldn't usually buy. Washing powder etc. I would love to do my whole shop at somewhere like Aldi but I find it such hard work at our store. Tesco scan as you shop then just pay at self service till really helps me with my arthritis, fibro etc. I do feel bad spending that much and wish we could live cheaper so looking forward to reading the replies x

Oh and we also have a Gousto box delivered once a week for £47 which I'm going to cancel. We have myself, dh, dd 15, dd 23 and dgs 6 plus pets x

Food planning. May seem a chore but it's the best way to stop buying random those random groceries that can cause your food bill to soar and it reduces waste. And have a takeaway once a fortnight rather than weekly.

I food plan and still spend £200 a week for two adults and 3 DC. We could eat cheaper probably but I buy a load of fruit and veg and free range. Not much meat though

i always check through my weekly food shopping receipt - partly to check its accurate but also to see what the biggest spends are and whether they are worth it or not

We are 2 adults, 2 DCs (1 toddler, 1 early primary school age). We spend £400-500 per month, which includes all food eaten at home, nappies, and cat food, but not takeaways (maybe monthly) and not eating out (if we want to buy the odd work lunch, we buy that from personal accounts and we don’t often eat out as a couple or a family at the moment).

What works for us is meal planning, batch cooking, online delivery/a weekly shop (with the odd top up for bananas/milk type stuff), balancing cheaper home cooked meals like chilli/bolognese with more expensive convenience meals, and really keeping an eye on things like soft drinks, ice cream bars and so on. As soon as we pop into shops on a daily basis, our bill goes up a lot.

Meal planning is a big one as you plan round what you have and what you need, eg if you only need half a cauliflower, you think of something else that needs half a cauliflower for a second meal (or make double). Sorry, that’s a really random example but you get the idea!

Batch cooking is good if you’re busy as then you can just pull something out to defrost on busy days and all you have to do is cook rice/pasta when you get home. Half my problem is the thinking part of meal planning rather than the doing.

I also keep a note on my phone of what we’ve spent so far that month, which helps to keep things on track.

Cheaper meals that work well here include:

• vegetable curries
  
• sausages, mash and beans/veg
  
• pasta anything
  
• lasagne
  
• cottage pie
  
• chilli
  
• anything with mince
  
• bacon, cauliflower cheese, fried/roast potatoes and green veg

I changed to online with Sainsbury from my regular weekly Aldi shop with a few bits from Asda/Tesco. I am saving easily £25-£30 per week and we have a much more organised meal schedule. Always have everything I need for the full week. I've just started pushing it to 8 days instead of 7 to save save shop every 6/7 weeks, again saving another £100. We have honestly never eaten so well and I had been shopping at Aldi for 10 years thinking I was being frugal but my weekly bill started topping £110 and one week I was forced to buy online due to isolating and now I won't go back. I'm saving time and I'm not tempted by things around the shop.

Following!

Miguel Barclay's £1 meals books are great, his recipes are really tasty unlike Jack Monroe's.

Make a list of all the meals your family eats regularly and then calculate the total cost of each one. I found some of our meals were only a couple of quid, while others were £15! We still have the more expensive ones every so often, but we think twice about it and choose the cheaper ones more frequently now.

Like others have said, we shop online and meal plan, but we try to do it based on what's on offer that week. And anything non-perishable, I try to only ever buy when it's on offer (i.e. get enough to keep us going until a deal comes round again).

How much food waste do you have, OP? How much of the restaurant food you buy goes to waste?

Can you afford it? We spend around £600 a month for two adults, one DC and a cat. We buy higher welfare where possible, like to eat fresh fish etc. I've lived on much tighter budgets and can do it if necessary but we save a good amount, bills are paid, we have no debt but mortgage so we don't scrimp on groceries. I'd cut down takeaways before grocery budget

And we don't waste food, if I've got some veg in the fridge starting to go a bit limp I'll make a roasted veg pasta sauce and freeze portions and so on

We are just two but I tried this for £30:-

www.morrisons.com/food-boxes/box/5-meals-to-feed-a-family-of-4-box

It was good value and came with recipe cards which you can adapt to suit you.

Aldi

Definitely meal plan. I know it’s sounds a chore, but I just write down 7 meals. Then I’ll double check if I need anything extra for the recipes, then do an online shop and add the ingredients I need, meal by meal.
If I have spaghetti bolognese, I’ll double the quantities and freeze the extra for the next week.

We are the same sized/aged family as you. I put £500 into a separate account to cover food and petrol for the month. Its a great idea but it always runs empty by about the 20th and I need to top it up arghh. Just can't get a handle on the food shop either, I spend about £100 on a weekly shop then do top ups through the week. It's annoying because we all eat very different things, we're quite often making 4 different meals on one night. I've got no tips, but I feel you.