To think that DH is being totally unrealistic about the weekly food bill!

[goingeversoslowlymad]

Am getting a bit stressed out about my DH and the grocery shop. Our weekly bill is usually between £80 to £100, we would do a top-up shop of about £20 midweek, so max £120 all in for a family of 4. We do not use nappies, this includes everything including toiletries and cleaning products.

Money is pretty tight at the moment and I can appreciate he wants to try to cut down a bit but I seriously can't seem to get it much lower than this, there are no luxuries in this either i.e wine, magazines etc. Everyone I talk to in our situation seems to spend a similar amount but DH seems to think it excessive.

I'm going to give a veg box and meat pack delivery a try. Also going to order online to avoid being seduced by the offers instore. I don't see it being much cheaper but hopefully he'll stop moaning if I prove he's being unrealistic! What does everyone else spend?

And I would like to point out that my DC are all skinny, and DH and I are on the thinner side of average.

Cleaning products

It really is worth cutting back as they can be ££.

I buy this:
Domestos or Tesco thick bleach
own brand washing up liquid- usually get 2 for £1.20
dishwasher tabs, rinse aid & salt ( from wilkinsons often if cheaper)
mr muscle for baths

I clean worktops ( granite) with soapy water and diluted bleach if necessary.

Bleach cleans the loo.

I don't do anti bacterial sprays as there is some evidence they are harmful /useless.

I don't use fabric conditioner as we have allergies and eczema so keep products like that to a minimum.

At a pinch, washing up liqud could also clean the bath, shower and basins.

I use a metal pan scourer and buy cheap as chips cleaning cloths. Boil/hot wash my dishcloths.

Ok... Just to prove I'm not lying.

Mince - 2.99 for 1.5lbs from butcher
Carrots - 40p worth
Onion - 8p
Half a big bag of potatoes 1.00
Frozen peas and handful of some other veg
Tablespoon or 2 of gravy granules

Fills a massive Pyrex we eat half and freeze half. There's 2 adults and one child eating that. So say it serves 6. Not unbelievable is it?

"Baked potatoes with tuna or egg or cheese and beans" - now this is where I am going wrong.

Today we had baked potatoes with cheese beans, but we also had coleslaw and cucumber and beetroot and corn on the cob, and carrot sticks and humus. (And I had some guacamole) Now if we just had baked potatoes with cheese and beans it would have cost a lot less. We then had apple, pear and mango crumble and cream.

You don't uses bin bags? :-) what do you use? Do you use carrier bags?
Tin foil is essential for roasts, well a tender one :-)

It all about how people eat, i like to serve three types of veg with a meal.

Yorkshires don't cost pennies... Flour eggs, flour and milk..they cost nearer to a pound. Not sure the list covers the ingredients. Not picking on you sorry

Home made yorkshire puddings DON'T cost pennies to make - eggs are expensive now! It's actually cheaper to buy the ready mixed box for 49p and just add one egg and water

x posted with rainy

Sorry just saw your post...they all add £ to your shop

Sounds lovely Lynette.

You're not going wrong. If that's what you like to eat and the price isn't a factor or a concern then great. People are doubting that its possible to spend less than 50 a week. I'm saying how I do it.

Or the 9p Tesco value batter mix. There you go I've saved you 40p already!

Alice, she might be. Are you from Sheffs? :-)

lynette you are eating massive amounts of what you have stated.a fiver on bread? 3 quid on cereal? 6 on milk that would last us 3 weeks

Meant to add my potato was served with a handful of bagged salad!

I don't use bin bags. I use carrier bags pp. hook, and Jane bin for paper and box for food waster

I spend 11 pounds every the months on bread as I get my floor from local mill and buy yeast and useolive oil, this saves a lot of money and I get better bread, the floor is sold in twelve kilo bags for eight pounds much cheaper than supermarket floor

OP going back to your first post...:)

£80- £100 is reasonable IMO as food prices have rocketed.

If you are getting up to £120 then i think you could maybe cut back a bit.

Hovis wholemeal 66p a loaf in Aldi lasts us the week. We don't eat masses of bread.

We just don't use bin bags, everything goes in the bin/recycling/compost etc.

We either roast chicken which doesn't need tinfoil imo or pot roast cheaper cuts of meat normally so no need for tinfoil.

Some people's suggestions are downright silly.

What if the entire population tried to buy reduced food at the end of the day? There wouldn't be any reduced-priced food, then. If thousands of people busted in the door of a supermarket at 3 minutes before closing time I think the manager would change tactics.

Meal planning is useless unless your routine never changes, week in, week out -you never have a meal out and never have guests. If this is the case you night as well go and drown yourself in Smash and save the trouble of eating at all. Reminds me of the bloke my sister met on Dateline, who said he couldn't meet for a drink the following evening as he had already got his piece of brisket out of the freezer...

Tesco bakery will give you fresh yeast for free if you ask for it :-)

:o at the brisket Gramercy!

You can get a bit silly with it. I do accept that needs must for a lot of people though.

That's a bit extreme game. Meal planning works perfectly. Our routine changes.

Meal planning to me is listing 7 evening meals and shopping for them. Making sure there's enough for lunches breakfast etc. I don't spend anytime at all on it. At most 5 minutes in the car with my pen and paper before going into the shop.

Maybe brisket boy just didn't want a date!

We are a family of 5 and easily get through 12 pints of milk a week,probably 14 in the school holidays.I don't
Buy eggs because we keep our own hens ,I buy Budgens £1 loaves which are really nice and we probably get through 4 a week.A big bag of plain flour is 53p in Tesco which would make an awful lot of Yorkshires.

I am coming to the conclusion that I am maybe being abu. My aim now using some of the fab suggestions on this thread is to try initially to get it to £80 all in. DH will of course need to physically help instead of just moaning about it :)

A loaf of bread lasts about a day here :-)

Honestly when i was a twenty something i lived on fags, wine and toast...way cheaper.

One other point is buy fruit and veg in season eg it's stupid paying £££ for spanish strawberries in winter, and ditto courgettes etc out of season.

And presumably anyone trying to save money doesn't buy veg already washed and chopped?

Ther eis also a huge difference between veg weighed and wrapped in cellophane trays- and veg you pick & weight yourself- eg cellophane wrapped broccoli is oten twice the price per kilo of loose.

I am always [shocked] when I see people choosing ready wrapped and not giving a fig about the cost difference.