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?

I'm so jealous of you Aldi shoppers! Ours was burnt down in the riots so now have to find other ways to save money. I popped into sainsburys after working late one night last week and couldn't believe my luck. Diced lamb reduced from £5 to 99p, wings down from £2 to 49p, cumberland sausages 19p, rump steak 99p - we ate like kings that week! But thanks to the tips on here I will be checking out mysupermarket to help wean myself off tesco

nothing dried herbs are fine in normal family cooking and will last alot longer than one of those plants that dies within a week.

I spent a fortune on herbs and spices for morrocan food, but they are still going strong so I can buy a load of random reduced veg and make an utterly gorgeous veg tagine for very little. Serve with couscous and its a lovely meal.

Herbs and spices are a bit of an investment I find, because althouhg they cost to being with, they last ages and can turn and unappetising pile of veg that is on its last legs into something that everyone wants seconds of!

I think one of the reasons that I struggled to lose weight was that I was brought up to believe that a meal wasnt a proper meal with a pile of stodge on the side! But by serving less potatoes, rice, pasta etc and more veg and pulses you get a healthier meal.

yes my chickens live in a lovely enclosure with a very nice hutch ( in the garden so i want it to look pretty) also needs to be roden and fox proof. They eat very well, chicken pellets, corn and shell. They also need red spider mite powder, flea drops etc.
They are pets so i look after them well.

Of course people live on £50 a week, i'm sure people live on less its how you define eating well. If you think that asparagus and peaches, goats cheese and parma ham are eating well then £50 will not cut the mustard. If you have children\ husbands with huge appetites then again you will struggle. As previously stated some families buy only one loaf of bread a week.

My 3 year old eats as much as i do( very slim, fast matabolism)

I would think a trip round farmfoods would supply you with a weeks food for even less. They key is the difference between £120 shop and that would be vast.

Allgood you must live near me! Who burns own a lovely Aldi, but leaves a Sainsburys?
We call them the world's stupidest rioters..

Farmfoods do good vouchers too, sometimes we "live on what's in the freezer", and I'll do a week's-worth of shopping there (money-wise). It used to be next door to Netto which I loved, but damn Asda took over the Netto so I don't go that way as often any more

Apporoved food is great for bulk-buying (flour/bread-mix/pasta/juice/pesto/noodles creme eggs/random snacky things for ravenous OH/ 99p 5 litre washing up liquid) again, I'll forgo a weekly shop to orer from them. Anything too heavy/bulky for me to get home in my shopping trolley (no car here)

It is almost a job in itself: pouncing on the best bargains, but it fulfills my hunter gatherer needs

The trick is to have enough dry/frozen/tinned stuff that if you ever see a bulk bargain you can nab it (Even if it means a week of hotdog casserole/ Tuna layer melt, rice and dhal etc)

"A week of hotdog casserole" I'd sell the dcs rather than have to face a hotdog casserole for the 5th day in a row.

1 loaf a week? We get through one loaf a day, and dont get me started on loo roll :o

I agree that its how you define a good diet that affects what you spend.

Also, there is some snobbery involved with own brand/value stuff. For example, I wouldnt dream of buying finish dishwasher stuff. I buy Sainsburys value tablets for about £1.60 ish and use cheap rinse aid and have the dispenser set a bit higher. The pots come out just as clean and shiny as if I used the premium brand. I use Aldi laundry liquid which has a been given an awared by ..... cant remember their name, the Good Housekeeping Institute? ....over the big brands.

Aldi chunky tinned tomatoes are 33 p and as good as the more expensive brands but the same price as supermarket value ones which are mainly liquid ime.

bogey we easily use a loaf a day - and four pints of milk, and about 20 loo rolls

OP I think your DH is being unrealistic. We easily spend what you do and more, although there are five of us - one of whom is a constantly hungry teenager. We could probably spend less, but to me, good food is a priority.

We don't have the regular nights out we used to before the DC, so at the weekend particularly, it's nice to have a blow out and have some really lovely food. It's not that I'm snobbish about value brands - I do use them for some every day stuff, but if we're having meat for instance, I buy the best I can get.

Ds takes 2 rolls to work so does ds - 4 wholemeal rolls from Tesco are a quid that's a fiver on rolls a week, which isn't bad considering how much ready made sandwiches are.

See I have looked on approved foods, and there is nothing there that I buy except perhaps loo roll.

I agree - but even the loo roll isn't that cheap, when tesco sell 9 rolls not budget rolls but own brand for 1.99.

I haven't read the whole thread so I expect someone else has already said this but here goes anyway,

look carefully at your attitudes towards food do you think well I'm not poor so percive none branded goods to be for poor people - this could be a saving lots of none branded goods are just as good as branded some are better for you (think preservatives salt levels ect)

do you not view a meal to be compleate unless you load your plate with carbs or have to have seperate things on your plate often things can be perfectly good healthy stand alone foods but for some reason we rarely use them as such without understanding this is better for you and cheaper,

do you have meat with every meal, lots of people belive a meal isant a meal without it there is nothing wrong with not having meat a few times a week you will save money and possibly feel less drained iykwim

how many cooked meals a day do you have nobody but nobody actually needs more than one a day you can save a fortune (and be healthyer) by having a sound breakfast then one cooked meal and one lighter meal.

The average human being tends to eat about twice as much as they actually need the only way to stop this is by thinking about how you view food ect

Also tackle the things you may concider to be little treats an item costing 99p is no biggy but if you bung 15 of these into your cart each week then it adds up to over £750 a year

Ofcourse you could get him to do all shopping and all meals for a month and keep reciepts Just to see if he can do it better

I've just looked too - nothing we'd buy and most of it is the same as in the 99p store or Tesco when it's on special offer, which is most of the time.

I get those loo rolls too ivy

I can't believe how expensive bread costs - I used to buy a loaf of bread, a quality loaf for about 55p but that was getting on for 6-7 years ago. I buy ready made pitta breads for 60p and I suppose I thought bread had stayed the same price - flour has stayed at 8 pounds for 12 kilo for the last 4 years, so why has the price of bread increased?

We only really use bread for ds's lunches and the odd bit of toast. Can easily use 2ls of milk a day though! Dh drinks it by the glass as does ds and we have cereal a lot.

I think the two easiest ways to cut spending are batch-cooking with ingredients bought cheap because they're near the end of their shelf life, and cutting down on meat.

We probably spend £80 a week for me and DP, including cleaning/household products (but not toiletries as I insist on Dermalogica). We get an organic fruit and veg box delivered and base our cooking around that; lots of our meals are Indian or North African-type stews with lots of vegetables and spices, and a good filling grain like quinoa.

If we do have meat it's free-range/ethically reared from a trusted local butcher. We alternate between sausages and more expensive things like a lamb joint or a whole chicken, but they are quite occasional treats.

I haven't read this thread properly but saw Aldi mentioned, I too would recommend. Went to Tesco the other day as couldn't get to an Aldi and was appalled by their fruit and veg prices, felt like I was being ripped off!

You can't get absolutely everything there and if you have a special diet could be harder but I'm sure me and DH save about £20 a time.

I can't believe how cheap bread is! Compared to when I try to buy similar where I grew up (a country otherwise famous for cheap food).

every week the till person asks if i am having a party, due entirely to the sheer amount of food i buy, not due to lots of booze etc!

we have kids with food allergies, so many foods we simply cant buy. most of our stuff is pretty low processed stuff.

we are also a large family.
to get all the stuff for my kids to have the basics means visiting 3 supermarkets a week.
I now use my bread maker as thats been a problem.

we have a lot of meat and two veg meals, as we cant use beans, milk and other foods.

this means weekly food bill for 6 tips over to £200.

because my kids are not coeliac, we dont any prescription foods or help with finding safe food. However, due to the life threatening aspect of one of your childrens multiple food allergies, we have NO choice in our food.

I spend that for 5 people, two are on specialist diets that create extra expense, and I have to include nappies and tins of dairy free formula at £14.28 for 400g too!

You need to allow less meat per portion and pad out meals with things like cannellini beans, lentils and pearl barley. Buy cheaper cuts of meat and cook them in a slow cooker. Meal plan. Set aside time each week or month to look at offers in different shops, and plan your meals around the offers. Bulk buy when you can. Swap to own brand stuff if you buy branded, swap to value stuff if you buy own brand.

Eragon you make me feel better from a spending POV, I also think without DD1's milk intolerance I wouldn't need goats milk, cheese, butter in everything and would be able to buy a lot more ready made food. We can't buy ready made pizza, chicken nuggets etc which it would be cheaper to buy made than make from scratch.
Bread maker also great for pizza dough thank goodness :)
I need leeks, biscuits, bananas, milk, grapes and Persil (or similar) today. Thinking Lidl??

I wish i could buy own brand stuff every time.

cant pad out meals with beans as thats one of the allergens to avoid.

use my slow cooker for the cheap cuts of meat.
meal plan as much as i can.

i buy the big bags of rice and pasta and buy big packs of the 3 safe cereals we can eat.

during half term we went through 9 loaves of bread!

Offers Offers Offers

Todays Dinner -
2 chicken breasts - 1.50 (pack of 4 for 3 pound on offer)
Mozzerella cheese - 19p (reduced)
New Potatoes - 1.00
Bacon 1/2 pack - 50p (Value streaky)
Veg - 40p

3.59 for 2 people to eat very well. DD is eating at a friends so don't need to feed her but even if she wasn't it'd only add about 75p extra onto our costs of dinner. Lunch is sandwiches and breakfast was reduced bagels at 19p for 5.

Again its just a case of going with whats on offer and whats reduced. We don't meal plan til I get home from shopping with whatever happens to be cheap and then meal plan around that. Its less rigid and allows for bargains to be had.

I check the price of everything before I buy. I shop in Morrisons and spend about £70 and feed 4 adults (youngest is 13) and 2 dogs for that.And thats on a bad week.Often its cheaper. I only ever go to Tesco or Asda if I am forced to.I hate Asda as their roll back offers are nothing of the sort, and Tesco is a rip off.I also shop in Aldi/Lidl.

I always have contingency money for special offers :o Oh I work full time as well, but I check the prices of stuff before I even enter the shop.

SecondComing -
stock cubes - I buy in bulk from Approved Foods, they usually work out at 1p each or less.
olive oil - only buy a bottle every couple of months and then whatever is cheapest, for normal use I buy a huge bottle of veg oil in with the shopping when I need it.
bisto - don't buy it, gravy from stock cube, cornflour and water
peppercorns - usually buy cracked pepper in a huge tub online which lasts about a year.
tampons - dd and I use Asda's own brans 3packs for £2 or something like that which comes in with shopping
salad cram/mayo - seldom buy it because the kids don't like it. Buy from Approved Foods occasionally, usually 3 jars for £1
HP - again don't buy very often as only I like sauce in here
plasters - buy as needed, surely people don't need these every week?
calpol - don't need it, but used to get equivalent from pharmacy free under Direct Care
paracetamol - costs about 20p in the supermarket
jam - make my own with foraged fruit in the autumn to last all year.
Spices come in huge packs from either online or the ethnic food aisle.

Honestly, I promise that you can keep shopping bills right down. It takes a lot of planning and changing expectations to begin with but the longer you do it, the easier it gets because you are used to it.

What I buy from AF other than crisps/biscuits - A while ago I bought enough beans/lentils/chick peas to last about a year, they were on offer at 4 packs for £1 and keep for ages. Recently I bought a load of polenta: a load of bulghur wheat; tomato ketchup and HP sauce; mayonnaise; huge tins of plums, mandarins, peaches, different beans and tomatoes; stock cubes; poppadoms; hazlenuts and peanuts for nut roasts etc; tinned crab 12 tins for £5; tinned lentils 12 tins for £4; spicy tomato pasta sauce for DH 6 jars for £2, stock cubes 5 packs of 20 knorr veg cubes for £1, 1kg of beef bouillon powder for £1, 2 cases of those tubs of tropical fruit in juice for £1, instant custard 10 packets that make 1litre each for £1 ... Last year they had 5kg bags of pasta for £1.50, so I bought some of those, also 3kgs of semolina for £1, things like that.

It all depends what they have. Obviously, I also buy some snacks from there because they are much cheaper, but it's a once a month thing and when they are gone, I don't buy more.

OP, AF do deliver to Ireland but there is a similar site called Food Bargains that is actually based in NI that is always worth a look.

ruby my closest Aldi was in tottenham before the dumbass rioters got rid. I know. the farmfoods you mentioned, great deal on hovis sliced bread the other day, 4 loaves, £3. But am now going to find out where another Aldi is. I'm genuinely surprised at how many mners can't abide Tesco or think its expensive, maybe its time I gave Morrison a go