to ask how i can cut our food cost?

[pimsandlemonade]

I've seen posts about people managing with a food shop under £100 per week and I just want to know how?? What's the secret?
Do you only buy unbranded value stuff? Offers?

Our food shop is about £200 per week, i usually go to Tesco twice a week, roughly £100 per shop, sometimes less, sometimes more. I don't buy any ready meals, make all meals from scratch but i do mainly Tesco finest or organic. We are 3 adults, 1 pre-schooler , 1 baby.
I'm open to ideas how to cut the cost but without compromising much on the quality.

It's mouldy on the shelves in our lidl.

We have we chicken breast each in this house.

Op of you like organic op I would give muscle foods a very wide berth. Drop down a level of what you buy - if you normally get finest get normal own brand, if you get normal drop to basic for stuff like tinned toms / kidney beans.

We spend £90-£100 a week, 2 adults, 2 four year olds and a dog. I don't budget that's just what it comes in at. I meal plan 7 nights and include lunches for DH. Kids have school meals. Shopping online cut my bill massively as not tempted to chuck random things in I fancy.

Someone up thread asked about low carving cheaply - I never managed it and one of the reasons I stopped.

Eugh. Where's that? Mine's not fancy but it's clean and well maintained.

We are currently on a very very tight budget as DH has been unemployed for longer than I care to remember . I spend probably about £50 per week for me, DH & 3 DSes under 8 (DS1 & 2 have free main meals at school every weekday).

FarmFoods is good for cheap basics, although I don't rate their fresh fruit & veg. You can get Nicky loo rolls (quilted & scented, great quality) for something like £5 for 15, a bag of sugar for 38p, 2 loaves of bread (Sunblest & I think Allinson) for £1, 2 x 4 pints milk for £1 (although not organic). Also things like cat food, washing powder, dishwasher tabs are cheap.

Find out when your local Tesco (or other supermarket) reduces fresh food & buy stuff then. I get most of my meat, fruit & veg, bakery stuff etc for 10% of the original price. I go roughly once a week & spend £10 on these fresh items (for 2 adults, 3 boys 7 & under) then top up on other bits as needed.

Agree with going meat-free at least once per week, or just use meat as a flavouring eg a tiny portion of chorizo, a few scraps of chicken left after the roast, a couple of rashers of bacon. Also, when you do eat meat/fish, try the cheaper cuts - we had lambs' hearts recently (38p for 4 from the reduced counter) & all loved them, including the DC. I use kippers in fish pie rather than smoked haddock as they are often on the reduced shelf.

Also, watch what you drink. Buying bottles of wine in this country really adds up, ditto branded fizzy drinks & posh tea/coffee. I buy coffee when it's on offer & we don't really drink any more as we can't afford it. With meals we have either water or value squash, DC have value juice/milk/water.

I agree with lots of posters saying to cut down on meat meals.

I only do meat once a week, not for money saving I just don't like the texture of most meat. There really are so many tasty veggie meals you can do.
When I make a chilli I will use 150g butcher brought mince and the rest is kidney beans, tomatoes, peppers sometimes lentils that will do 2 proper dinners & 1 baby portion for ds that night and freeze another 4 portions.

For fruit and veg, could you use a local market? I use a farm shop and fruit veg is always good quality.

When you do buy meat, try a local butcher? I always go to the butcher and it often works out cheaper than supermarkets plus your supporting local businesses.

Could you get a milk man to drink you milk in the week to stop your second shop? My aunt has the milk guy deliver bread as well.

Deliver not drink the milk fgs!!!

Aldi is definitely your answer and meal planning. I had already reduced my bill by about £50 per month by planning and I've just made the switch from Tesco to Aldi and I'm likely to save another £100 per month.

family of 4
we spend about 90 a week

• look for offers and plan around them
• freeze leftovers and have leftover dinner when enough
• less meat by only meat/fish 3x a week we save loads
• freeze perishables so they last (like fresh chicken)
• look for veg in the freezer section, often cheaper and better than fresh and less waste

I would also say that the freezer is your friend when it comes to staying out of the supermarket midweek. We buy all milk, bread etc for the week, and the vast majority gets frozen. A 4 pint bottle of milk thaws overnight perfectly if you start it off in a sink full of hot water, and a loaf of bread or pack of rolls for lunches thaws overnight simply left out on the side.

Similarly we buy big packs of meat, split it instantly into meal size portions and freeze it. I have planned meals for many years, so automatically have things early in the week that need perishable veg, and later in the week those that use those like carrots that are perfectly good after a few days in the fridge. Equally, big packs of frozen spinach, peas and sweetcorn stop me having to 'run iout for something extra' midweek. We shop online for one delivery per week.

The only thing I wouldn't cut down on is meat quality. I won't buy unless it is free range. Everything else you can down-trade.

My weekly shop is approx £50-£60. This ks for me,dh and our 3 year old - the other one hasnt started on solids yet. We do an online Tesco shop (mainly because I have 2 kids under 3 and can't face a supermarket shop with them) or one of us will go to Lidl alone and top up at Tesco as needed. I don't buy Finest or organic and rarely buy branded goods unless on special offer. I am not brand loyal (with the exception of Fairy Liquid!). Nappies are supermarket own brand. We also get quite a bit in bulk via an Amazon subscription e.g. toiletries such as shower gel, deodorants and big kilo bags of coffee beans. Much nicer and cheaper to buy your own grinder and grind your own beans, especially when you compare it to the cost of a small bag of ground supermarket coffee. We aren't big pop drinkers but we do have a soda stream for tonic water etc. Cheaper in the long run and more eco friendly.

I also meal plan for 7 days. I usually start my week on a Weds or Thursday.I cook from scratch and keep the freezer stocked with batch cooked meals. I will try to aim for one pasta meal, one veggie, one fish and one meal that I will get leftovers from so it covers two nights. DH and I usually have take away night on a Friday so we either order out or I'll buy a supermarket take away or a Dine in for £10 offer. So my week this week looked like this:
Weds: chicken enchiladas + salad (made with leftover chicken from Sunday roast.
Thurs: 9p bean burgers (Jack Monroe recipe) + homemade coleslaw + corn cobs
Friday: steak, green beans, stuffed mushrooms + potatoes.
Saturday: take away night. 3/year old will have pasta and eat earlier than us.
Sunday: roast beef, Yorkshire's and veggies
Monday: cottage pie made with leftover beef and.veggies. beef joint is large so.should be enough for two.pies so that one can go into the freezer.
Tuesday: vegetable frittata + salad.

It can be done.but you need to step away from the branded stuff. There is a programme called Eat well for less with the rather annoying Gregg Wallace but it is worth a watch and very often illustrates that people can't actually tell the difference between a more expensive option and the cheaper one.

OP I get my milk in glass bottles and I love it! Also second the slow cooker suggestion, and chicken thighs in curry etc instead of breasts. I make everything from scratch too. I'll make for eg shepherds pie with sweet potato topping to do mon/Tuesday, then later in week I'll have something with sweet potato wedges, or make sweet potato soup or curry. Ditto for chicken- roast chicken one day, next day make a big curry (enough for 2 days, or eat half, freeze half), and make soup with the carcass.

Rorty, that's what we do - buy free range meat and eggs and god-quality fish, use less of it and don't eat it every day.

We spend between 80 and 90 per week, all organic, free range meat and dairy, organic veg on the whole. I get all meat and dairy from one farm shop and veg from another, tins etc from whatever supermarket I am passing...aldis is great value.

I meal plan for the week but the dinners can swap around if needs be, and before I shop I check for ingredients in the cupboard. We tend to stick to: home made pizza Sat night, roast on Sunday, something with roast meat (shepherds pie etc) on a Monday, soup on Tues, something with mince or whatever on Wed, veggie (pasta jackets, whatever) on a Thursday, fake take away (or a real one!) on a Friday. All home made from scratch. We have hens for eggs and I make bread, flapjacks, cakes etc.

We don't buy squash, biscuits, crisps etc on the whole...kids drink milk water or juice. Neither of us drink alcohol.

We don't have to stick to a budget, but that tends to be what we spend. Breakfast is a full English at the weekend, then either oats, porridge, home made granola, toast or eggs of some variety. Lunches are leftovers for DH if he works out of the house, or omelettes, pasta, sandwiches etc. I always take packed lunches and snacks, fruit out when I take the kids out, have reusable bottles so don't buy new ones.

We are two adults, two kids and a dog.

Lots of good suggestions, thank you!
But how big are your freezers? Ours is not small exactly but still find it hard to make space for anything.
Also those who freeze lots of meat - how do you thaw it? Do you put it inthe fridge the day before of counter or what

It's worth knowing that you can save without compromising on animal rearing by swapping for cheaper cuts of good quality meat and slow cooking or casseroling them - eg free range pork shoulder is great.

We spend about £100-£120 a week for two adults, two teens and two infant school children.
We eat meat nearly every day, is almost all free range. I hardly buy any own brand stuff it's all branded. We have loads of fruit and veg, I cook mostly from scratch.
We shop at Costco once a month, butchers once a month and have a Morrisons delivery pass. Top ups if I need them are from M&S or Waitrose and I buy frozen bits and bobs from Iceland or Heron foods.

meat we often cook from frozen.
the chicken filets you mention for example cover with sauce and direct into oven. just make sure it's cooked through. I woudn't cook bigger pieces from frozen.
or put into fridge 24 hours before cooking.

Two adults, 1 hungry toddler here. Weekly shop is about £65.

We're vegetarian which helps as (good) meat is expensive. One pot meals generally do two dinners (e.g. make a curry on Monday, eat it on Monday and Tuesday.)

I do meal plans for the week and go shopping at the weekend. Breakfasts are always cereal or toast, lunches are usually pasta / jackets / leftovers / sandwiches, and dinners planned in advance. Add £20 for a takeaway on a Friday though!

(and I usually forget to take lunch with me to work so I do spend extra on sandwiches, but that's not from the household budget.)

Re: defrosting meat. I leave mine in the microwave or cupboard to protect it from greedy cats usually overnight and then put it in the fridge or while I am at work.

I would probably not do this in very hot weather and have never had any problems doing this but many posters will probably tell you that this is guaranteed to lead to food poisoning. If I try to defrost meat in the fridge it takes about 2 days which I find inconvenient.

I sometimes put the bag in a sink full of cold water and it will defrost in about an hour or so. Again, I have done this many times safely but others will probably disagree.

I don't think food waste has been mentioned up to now - do you use everything you buy or do you waste things. If you do, thats another area to look at when trying to reduce what you spend.

We have a microwave that does 180W and 360W settings. I find these brilliant for meat. Usually microwave on one of these very low settings until almost thawed and then just leave on the side while I'm preparing the rest of the ingredients.

Or, if i get home early I microwave it a bit less when I get in, and leave it on the side for a bit longer.

Low carbing cheaply is this any help?

Swap potatoes for Aldi's sweet potatoes.
Swap rice and pasta for veg, try Aldi's courgettes sliced and steamed or spiralised with a couple of their carrots grated for bulk, finely shredded lettuce plus any herbs and flowers of choice. Grow pot marigolds and herbs and cut and come again salad and seed sprouts on a windowsill.

Add flavour and variety with Aldi or Lidl herbs and spices. Aldi and Lidl cheeses are a lot cheaper than other supermarkets.

Check out Aldi's frozen tuna portions. www.aldi.co.uk/tuna-steaks/p/050547004279200 usually 5 portions per bag, that's about 50p for the protein element per person per meal. Serve with cooked veg and/or salad. Aldi again to keep costs down. Check out their large bags of unwashed spinach, 2 of us have a job to eat one of those in a week, I wash and freeze any remainder.

Frittata is a very large omelette made with fresh or leftover veg. I use Aldi's organic eggs. For bulk add sweet potatoes. For crunch, scatter with Aldi or Lidl mixed nuts and seeds.

For the family members who can't entirely drop floury carbs, I make 'scone mix' instead of bread, pastry and crumble using one quarter freshly ground nuts and seeds of choice (Aldi or Lidl) with three quarters oats, all whizzed in the food processor to a fine powder and used like flour. It rises with baking powder. It's more filling than bread so you don't need to eat the same quantity. Bind with fat of choice, add Aldi organic eggs.

Do you make soups and stews and casseroles from cheaper cuts cooked slowly for hours to blend flavours?

The thing with low carbing is you stop the endless up and down sugar-spikes so because you negate that yoyo effect, you're not as hungry as you are on a carb heavy diet therefore tend to eat less anyway.

I can't get along with meal planning at all, what if you just don't fancy X that day?

The way we do it and try to save money is we go to Aldi and then see what there is a good offer on/looks good quality (for veg, no point insisting on buying Y if all the Ys go off soon)

I'm sort of low carbing (tummy issues) and I just fill up on veg with my meat/fish, iceberg lettice is super cheap as are carrots and green beans. I just dress them nicely to make them interesting.

Strawberry, I have 7 meals for the week (well, 9, because i also plan lunches at the weekend) but the order is generally flexible. Less so by Day 7, of course, because by then the fridge and freezer are largely picked clean, but if I don't fancy what I planned for Tuesday on Tuesday, i might just cook Friday's meal instead IYSWIM?

We throw almost nothing away (very rarely do more than quarter to half-fill small food caddy for food waste in a week, though we do compost veg peelings), and there is nothing perishable left by the end of the week!

I bought a small chest freezer to put in our garage. I got an Ice King make as it's designed to work at -10 degrees and our garage is a single wall construction, not attached to the house! It has been the best thing I've bought. I freeze milk, veg, bread, as well as the usual meat. It means I can buy things close to their use by date and also slow cook in bulk and freeze. Whenever anything is looking like it's not going to be used before it goes off I google the best way to freeze it. We waste very little now. In fact I bought a leek for a pie and have cut it up and frozen it as we didn't use it. I freeze all meal leftovers in plastic tubs (written on so I know what they are).

I don't do it every week, and mostly do it at the end of the month when I want to use up food we already have, but I basically plan our meals so I know what we're eating on what days. This includes using up frozen meals I've already made and also eating up meat in the freezer. It means I don't have random things going funny at the bottom of the freezer. BBC Good Food website has lots of great recipes.

I currently have a chilli cooking in the slow cooker, it will feed us tonight and for two more meals (for two adults and a 6yo). It's mainly a big packet and small packet of mince, 3x carrots, an onion, tinned kidney beans, tinned tomatoes and a jar of bolognaise sauce. Plus a bit of chilli powder. I think that makes it very cheap per serving.

Finally, I weigh out rice, pasta etc so I don't over cook. We don't scrimp on portions but I don't waste any now either.