Money worries - help :(

[Name234]

I'm struggling for money. I know lots of people are in the same position at the moment. I'm trying to see where I can make cut backs and I think one might be my food shop. Whats the best value supermarket? I live alone. Please hit me with your tips for shopping and cooking on a budget. This month is going to be EXTREMELY tight.

I can't seem to link but there is a long running thread called frugal living in the money section, cost of living bit. Some really good posts on there and very supportive.

It depends what you want to eat and your budget but I found Tesco overall cheapest. They price match aldi and their own range is fantastic.

Perhaps if you advise budget and duration we can suggest some ideas?

Different supermarkets can be cheap(et) for different things. Some things are cheaper in Tesco or even M&S than they are in Lidl. I think the best thing is to stock up on food you can keep for a while when you see a good deal, and take advantage of reduced fresh food.

I actually find Waitrose to have best yellow sticker items. Much better than Tesco etc. but you do have to get there at the right time. I usually buy and freeze.

If you don't do it already, write your shopping list and stick to it. List the meals for days you are shopping and stick to those ingredients. I'd recommend a slow cooker as you can do something like chicken, carrots, potato with stock cube and cook it all up and use it over 2/3 nights, delicious, inexpensive and saves you cooking every single night. Of course I'm aware you'll have to buy a slow cooker to begin with (doh!).

When I was younger and struggling, I'd often forgo the odd meal for a bowl of cereal a night or two a week. The usual suspects of beans on toast, omelettes, spag bol, rice, noodles, all cheap. I don't profess to know what exactly I'd do on the cheap with rice and noodles but they are filling and a good base for something.

Find out when your local shops put out their yellow stickers and go shopping then.

Jamie Oliver currently has a programme whereby he is making meals for a pound.

First, eat the food you have. All the random freezer leftovers, packets and tins - it might be basic or strange combinations but it’s something.

Then as pp have said PLAN and include some v cheap soup (so cheap to make) or eggs to have a couple of nights. Baked potatoes, beans and cheese is a meal that includes all the necessary food groups!

And of course look of you can increase your income either through work or benefits

A rough estimate (sat trying to work out my budget as we speak) would be 100 pounds or less for the months food. For one person.

We saw this on Gogglebox and the chicken thighs alone for 4 would have been £4 so no, he's really not!

Totally doable - this is a typical student food budget

Could you make soup? I make a different soup each week using sweet potatoes ,leeks,carrots and adding red lentils and herbs.lots of healthy recipes on line.It really fills you up and will give you lots of portions.Vegetable stew with rice again will last a few meals quick to heat up saving energy.Tinned fish and eggs are useful and baked beans with grated cheese.Hope you find recipes that help you.

Things like corned beef hash, if you like corned beef, are cheap, and filling. Served with baked beans, or whatever veg you can get on a yellow sticker, would cover at least two meals. Egg, and chips, omelette, chips, and beans. Spaghetti, with a tomato based sauce, some cheese, and veg.

Thanks everyone. Feeling so anxious and worried about money :(

I'd say £25 a week for food is doable if you are happy eating predominantly veggie with some repetition. Is that 3 meals a day? Does it just need to cover food or is it really your 'supermarket budget' ie includes cleaning materials, loo roll, toiletries etc?
What cooking facilities do you have and are you trying to limit fuel usage? For example not using the oven. What supermarkets are available to you? Do you have time to visit multiple shops?

Sorry, lots of questions!!! The first thing I alway recommend in you situation is a really thorough stock take. Go through all cupboards, fridge, freezer etc and write down everything you already have, even if it's something that's been sat in the cupboard for ages because you don't know if you really fancy it. It may well come in handy for something. Do the same for toiletries and cleaning products. I did this after Christmas and found that with the exception of deodorant and tooth paste, by using up all the little bottles from gift sets etc I had enough toiletries to last a year. Had I not done that stock take I would have spent all year buying more shower gel!

Once you know what you have start meal planning to incorporate all those things. You may have some odd combos but at least it's food! There's an app, I think it's called trolley that allows you to compare prices for branded items so you know where's cheapest but it's still usually cheaper to buy own brands. Do you have a freezer?

• Jacket potatoes
• Pasta
• Stuff on toast - eggs, mushrooms or tinned tomatoes (world food aisle is cheaper than tomato aisle for some reason)
• Porridge
• Bananas (not packaged, they're cheaper if you buy the ones you weigh rather than the ones in a bag)
• Homemade soups with seasonal and root veg - leek, potato, onion, carrots. If you want to add meat use chorizo or diced bacon pieces, you get a lot of flavour with just a small amount of meat so you can stretch it further.
• fruit go for seasonal, tinned or frozen.
• eggs are a really good base for a meal they're healthy, filling and adaptable - omelette, fried with chips, eggy bread, frittata.

Do a thorough list of all the food and seasoning you have in the house already, what can you make from that, and what can you make with just small additions.

Oh and check any loyalty cards/bank rewards you might have lurking around.

• Tesco/sainsburys/Asda
• boots advantage points could be used for any toiletries you need
• my NatWest basic current account has a rewards thing which can be traded in for gift vouchers.

I spend £50 a week on food for me, DS and the cat. To be clear that's breakfast and dinner as he has free school meals but we don't go without and includes monthly spends on loo roll, cleaning stuff and washing liquid. I'd be more than fine on £25 for just me. You have to meal plan and batch cook and look out for reductions. For example I got a big bag of Maris Piper potatoes for a pound the other day. I will bake them all and freeze and reheat. They will cover around 10 days as an accompaniment or main meal. I freeze everything. It stops waste and you can use as you need. I will buy 500g of mince and cook with lentils and whatever else is hanging around and that ends up being a large amount that can be turned into spag bol, chilli, stuffed in flatbreads etc. I portion it up and freeze. A slow cooker is a brilliant gadget to have and is great for creating casseroles etc. I also buy a whole chicken each week to have on a Sunday and then strip it off and make a casserole, curry or pie with the leftovers.

I rarely go to any of the big supermarkets because I spend too much and often end up throwing it away; if I do it's to stock up the store cupboard or the freezer and will probably spend £80 every 6 - 8 weeks. I usually go to Lidl or Asda.
Otherwise I use the village Co-op or Spar shop for fresh stuff probably every 5 days and spend about £35.
There are two of us.

Do you have a Bread and Butter van in your area? They usually have an allocated day and you sign up, then pay, I think it's £7.50 for about £35 worth of shopping. It's designed for anyone to use, stops food waste and you receive a variety of food that will make meals (rather than just what's near expiry date like the Too Good to Go bags). I haven't used it but we had an email from school about it and it looked great.

Try the apps to good to go and olio.

Also some good suggestions on "feed your family for about £20 a week" fb page.

OP, I'm a single mum and money is frequently tight. In terms of food, the following are good value.

porridge with water and a sprinkling of sultanas or chopped apple for breakfast
I buy wholemeal bread/pasta/couscous because it is more filling and healthier.
I add lentils or soup mix to stews and home made soups.
Any veg that are slightly past fresh are turned into soup for lunch, with cheese or bacon.
Some supermarkets do 'cooking bacon', packs of offcuts that are fab in soups and stews.
I have a freezer and it is cheapest to run when full, so I make good use of it, buying larger packs of chicken thighs or pork steaks and split and freeze them. In the autumn I chop and freeze neighbours glut of runner beans or cooking apples to eat through the year. Nothing is thrown away.
Frozen fish and frozen mussels are good value and quick to make into risotto etc.
Veggie food is generally less expensive, beans, lentils, peas, sweetcorn are all high in protein and fibre, and taste good.

Microwave & slow cooker are the least expensive ways to cook.

Have a search through you tube. There are lots of frugal cooking threads. Some of it’s nonsense but some are really interesting and I can see how they would work well in real life.
You might find you get better value for money if you think about it as a monthly budget. Economy of scale etc. cook and r freeze batches….

Hi - it’s flipping hard at the moment - pls stay strong 100 a month is totally doable. I find pasta / pesto good and I do noodles with cheap fro zen veg chucked in.

id actually say also keep look out for cheap McDonald’s meals for a treat.

you would also suggest the following:

• too good to go - unused food app in ur local area. The food bundles are mega cheap.
• Market research - lots of apps that pay you. I would also sign up to in person / online focus groups.Just be ‘open’ let’s say. They pay serious money like 50-100 a pop. You can pay for a months shopping by this alone.
• open a chase account you get 1% cash back on everything and round ups
• if you work for NHS or are a carer in any capacity check discountforcarers.com. We are spree card you can get 5% cashback i think
• round my way there are open fridges for people in your situation maybe search google. You don’t need to queue just open a door.
• you can also put clothes on Vinted or get free stuff on Facebook marketplace e then sell

I do hope this helps and you can do it I promise

Sorry last thing I’m now finding deodorants and toothpaste etc cheaper on Amazon than supermarkets

What do you have in your kitchen right now?