Just had to put a food shop on the credit card, fed up!

[whatsausername]

We don’t get paid until next Thursday. I’d ran out of essentials like coffee, hand wash, toothpaste, chips etc. Needed the usual packed lunch stuff too. £78 in Asda. I have £82 in the account until payday but need to keep it in as direct debits due day before payday.

I just feel bleugh. We both work full time and having to put a weekly food shop on a credit card is just soul destroying.

anyone else feel like this?

Still around now. We have a ceramic one

@whatsausernameI feel for you with your DS. I am a SEND teacher and parents often tell me how challenging it can be, not only with very restricted eating but their children can absolutely tell the difference between different brands of the same food items and won’t acccept others because it may only seem very slightly different to us but for them it’s huge. I had a pupil who went though a phase on only eating frazzles, then they became really hard to source for a while and the poor mum was driving miles each day while he was at school stock piling them otherwise she knew he just wouldn’t eat.
Also coffee and handwash are essentials for sure but I would 100% just buy loose jackets and oven cook, so much nicer than frozen ones. Good luck, we are all feeling the pinch, it’s bloody tough!!

Ah yes, I wondered how long it would be before a UPF evangelist came along to spread the word about how the weight will fall off and you will save £££ if you make everything from scratch and avoid seed oils.
All the latest fad and complete and utter nonsense.
You only have to look at any UPF thread on MN to see the brands recommended to see this is NOT an economical way of living for the average working family.
As I have said upthread, cooking from scratch is not as cheap as people think either. Even the pp who was trying to prove her point about salads, soups and sandwiches all costing around 50p posted her (presumably) most economical soup at 62p a portion.
To be clear, I cook from scratch, I use ingredients, I make my own jam, marmalade and cakes etc, but I don't deluded myself that it is necessarily the cheapest way to eat, with the caveat that obviously it's probably more 'wholesome' but cheaper? Not all the time

Eating actual food is hardly a fad. There is a reason that stuff has to be called a ‘food like substance’.

But that's not at all the point of this thread.
Are you saying that cooking from scratch is inherently cheaper? Because i don't believe that is necessarily the case. Do the maths, you might get a shock

Our weekly shop is often that amount - for 3 adults, 2 male, 1 female.

@Katypp , that's not what @springtimemagic is saying.

Cooking from scratch can be cheaper.
OP buys a fair amount of UPF and the fruit she buys is expensive.

No, they're not all obese.

Um, refilling in the supermarket toilet is theft. HTH

We're not really in hyperinflation.
It can be done for that amount for a limited time period, but repeatedly week after week might be hard for some.
I can get our 3 adult shop for atound 60 to 70, but I do spend a bit more sometimes to make it more interesting. We waste very little though.

@Katypp yep - I posted earlier dieting and eating very healthy the majority of the time, I don’t doubt what I eat is much better quality and very good for me, but it certainly isn’t cheaper , considerably more expensive, but in my case it’s only 2 of us - I certainly would struggle to feed a family with say teens as well as I feed myself at the moment - unless we went totally vegetarian , I eat a lot of fish, chicken breast ( don’t like legs or thighs) Greek yoghurt, berries etc

Just don’t get caught. HTH

It's still theft.
HTH

Snap!
I was probably a bit harsh tbf but I do get fed up with the narrative that 'cooking from scratch' and avoiding not UPF foods is somehow a magic bullet for everything wrong in our lives.

You really do have to spell out if you are being sarcastic on literally anything.

Please can you share what you eat?

Loo Roll....go Roman

So, someone can tell us it's not good enough? No thanks. If you're looking for tips there are loads of useful websites out there.

There was no indication of sarcasm. HTH

No, because I'm interested and broke. But never mind. Thanks

Fair enough, sorry if that sounded snippy.
Money Saving Expert forums are a great place to find help and suggestions for cheaper meals. I tend to do what other folk here have suggested - bulk out meat with veg, buy cheaper cuts of meat (and cook in slow cooker), buy in season/on offer fruit, re-purpose leftovers, eat veggie options, make hearty soups, make own pizzas, quiches, fritattas etc, eat more potatoes than chips or other prepared potato products, have weird matched meals if that's whats in the fridge.

Probably doing most of that @GleisZwei I find everything tastes the same somehow.
Thanks

I'm not sure what age you are, but I find that things don't have as much flavour the older I get, and I do prefer foods with more intense flavour - a well stocked spice/herb/seasoning cupboard helps, and any time I've leeway in my budget I pick up something to add to the pile I have! I also do shop in Lidl mostly, the app gives discounts and freebies, and I try to get the best value freebies that I can (going back in and using voucher to only buy that thing, so I don't end up getting a cheaper item free).

I'm old ha ha. I think it's a combination of that, trying to lose weight and buying economy stuff. Mince...yuck. Sick of eggs

Might check out Lidl.

Minced beef, cooked properly, can form the basis of many decent meals. Low and slow is the trick.