What are you guys doing with food and groceries

[Stonebag]

I find that the cost of groceries has really jumped and climbed and can be expensive.

I am buying much less for more it seems. Also stuff like chocolates, sweets and other snacks has reduced a lot.

I did a grocery shop last weekend. This morning I had to go to the local shop to get something for lunch.

My mother is now badgering me to book another grocery shop and I am not too keen about that because we only got a shop on Sunday and tomorrow is Friday and she wants another shop.

I just think groceries has gone up so much and I am not overly keen on doing more shopping and getting my bank account hammered and at this stage if my mother is looking for more groceries maybe shop locally and just do one big grocery shop a week.

How are you all managing with grocery shopping?

I think if I was to give I was to give into my mother's request to book a shop today for tomorrow, there will only be another request come Monday or Tuesday and then the same then again later next week and it's just too much on my bank account.

I think maybe one big shop a week with maybe a small local one later on.

This sounds familiar. Do what works for you.

Do you live with your mother?

Why is your mother's shopping coming out of your bank account?

Didn’t you post this last week? You can’t afford it and have food in the house so just say no to your mother.

We are signed up for the Tesco 10% off scheme where you pay a subscription (loyalty) fee to get 10% off your in-store shop twice a month. With Tesco Clubcard offers too, I usually do two massive shops per month in store and save £40 to £50 on the discounts each time. For people who are loyal to Tesco this scheme is really worthwhile.

In between weeks, I do a smaller weekly shop for fresh food at Lidl or Tesco, and we top up fresh fruit and bread once a week also (and any yellow stickered items).

To manage costs, we eat some cheaper homemade meals like chickpea curry or tomatoey pasta, and that frees up cash for treats. We try to buy fruit not biscuits! It’s expensive but obviously healthier

To answer your question, I think most of us don’t buy our parents food shopping, especially multiple times a week (Tesco is a minimum spend of £50).

Is your mum unable to get to the shops at all due to transport or mobility issues? If yes, I think you need to sit down and make a weekly meal plan and shopping list with her and get everything in one go. Ideally also show her how to order it herself. Unless she’s 95 or very disabled, she should be able to do an online order herself.

If accessibility is not an issue, I think you may just need to say no if it’s becoming an issue.

Same as I’ve always managed, one delivery a week, usually on a Saturday. Will top up with essentials like milk and bread if we run out before the next shop. Why are you paying for your mums shopping? Do you live with her? In which case you do the grocery shopping when it suits you.

Stick to what works for you.

It doesn’t matter to me if I shop daily or once a month - the cost would be the same ?

Can’t see how you can spend more unless you end up overeating or wasting food? Both of those you should be careful about !

food has gone up a lot but I am aware that compared to much of the world we have good supply of food and a relatively low cost

Food has got a lot more expensive. It comes down to meal planning and budgetting, and if you are short of money for food you might have to make some tough choices and/or eat more boringly. It sounds like you and your mum are on different pages with that. What is your set up, does she live with you, do you pay for all her food?

My biggest tips to keep costs down are to have a couple of really cheap meals scheduled in every week, as per PP, and to eat the same thing at least 2 nights in a row. This cuts down your list of ingredients which I find saves money.

Family of 6 and 4 pets fortnightly Tesco delivery around £245 just top up with milk,bread but same cut down on snacks in fact make my own now. And we now get a lot of basics brand which we didn't use to

We do an online shop once a week and then top up with milk and bread if needed.
We meal plan and take an inventory the day before the shopping is done which helps keep the cost at a average per week.

If there's food in your mother's house then what is she asking for and why are you having to pay for it?

A weekly shop.

I meal plan for every evening, generally

1 x (frozen) fish,
1 x chicken,
1 x pork,
1 x beef (mince/burgers/meatballs)
1 x veggie mushroom risotto with cheese etc
1 maybe omelettes & oven chips
Friday is ds' pizza night. I normally have a veggie meal.

I buy a stack of fresh fruit, salad and veg to last the week. Milk, eggs & butter. Some lunch things like sausage rolls & cornish pasties for the freezer. Some tins & frozen veg. Snacks for DS. Cleaning stuff and basic toiletries. That's about £60 for 2 adults.

I make my own bread.

I don't top up shop unless there is absolutely no alternative.

I get a delivery pass from Sainsbury’s so I get as many free deliveries as I like. I used to do one big shop on a Friday, but found I’d get to wed or thurs the following week and have no fresh food and a lot of the meat would be out of date. I’ve swapped to a smaller delivery twice a week. It helps me plan better, I don’t throw out as much food so ultimately I’m spending less.

I buy all meat for the week, freeze it and then take something out of the freezer each morning before work, so it's ready to eat that evening.

Is it just you and your mum @Stonebag?

Because we have a household of 2 adults, 2 teen boys so it’s not going to help that much.

What do you cook? Do you prefer convenience? Do you have a fully stocked cooking pantry?
Have you got a pressure cooker, air fryer, bread maker?

On the cheaper end of the scale potatoes, onions, carrots, cabbage - ore expensive salad bags, avocados, decent tomatoes

If it wasn’t for my meat eating household I reckon I could virtually live on brown rice and dals, which could be easily cooked for pennies a day with ingredients that keep all week.

We get an online shop once a week mid week
How it works is we eat the food with a short shelf life first (bagged salad and fresh coriander), strawberries etc and work backwards so evening before next delivery it’s frozen fish.

We have a bread maker so make what we need that day
we get milk delivered twice a week (which saves us money because you don’t pop out for milk and come back with a French stick and houmous)

But we make most things, coleslaw, houmous, potato salad, bread, pizza dough, chips, ice cream, iced coffees, so if you have this set up and a cupboard with flours, tinned/dried beans, oils, spices etc the fresh food isn’t that much.

Labour is expensive, the more food you buy which involves labour, so flour and sugar v bread and biscuits the more expensive it will be.

I plan meals for the week & only buy what I need to make the meals on my weekly meal plan.

Do you live with your mother so this is the family shop, why are you paying for it all, she must have a pension/pension credit.

Ask Chatgpt for ideas on managing your budget - give them your household size and preferences and ask for a budget meal plan.

Are you the poster whose mum said no man woud ever want you etc and is all round abusive? If so I would get her to pay for her own food

Fine. Discount supermarkets are the default. I use everything I buy. There have definitely been some increases but food remains cheap in the UK. I appreciate some families feeling squeezed will have found price rises difficult.

Why are you paying for your mum's shopping? And has she actually run out of food?

I have a big grocery shop delivered roughly every three weeks, and then usually need to do a top up once a week or so for fresh fruit and veg. Things like carrots, potatoes and onions will keep, but if I want beansprouts, salad, bananas or melon they don't keep.

Do you live with your mum? Is there a reason she can’t do the online shop?

Yes I live with her. She gets me to get online groceries and pay for them out of my account because she is not able to use the internet or doesn't have a card. She usually does pay me back in cash but sometimes I have to wait a few days. However it's still my bank account taking a hit. I am not a huge fan of cash and it's better in my account than in cash.

Also we have family from abroad living at home now too for now and they are adding a list onto this and it's all just adding up and up and up and up.

I spend over 200 pounds on last sunday (6th July) a shop for all of us. One couple paid me back 50 pounds and my mother paid me 45 pounds. The rest was just household stuff that I was expected to get.

This is just too much.

I can't be spending this kind of money twice a week.

I think it would be better if we do one big shop a week and anything else - they get it until the next shop. I can't be going in like this every 4/5 days spending chunks of hundreds out of account on feeding the family that are not babies or my own.

It would work better for me if people, if they need stuff, from the shop and to spend their own money.

I also find a particular behaviour from my mother - is there's something on offer she will want me to add 2 or 3 of them stocking up for a few weeks.

There is food in the fridge and press. It is getting low but because we have a heatwave they want more and they don't want to go to the shop.