Food is expensive

[goldenorbspider]

Went to aldi got few bits for the week and not a big shop for me and one infant. Spent £40 and it's not even a big shop. What do people do to save money on food? I can't imagine spending much less. I know it would cost waay more at other supermarkets.

But you got nappies and toiletries too so the amount you paid was not all food.

Toiletries
Toothpaste
Nappies
Sensitive shower gel -> try bar soap, cheap and lasts for ages and is often better for skin. plus less plastic

Turkey mince
Chorizo
Frozen chicken fillets these two to make jambalaya try chicken thigh meat, cheaper and more flavour
Salmon fillets

Quick fry steaks you already have 3 meat items, that's plenty for a week
Ready made quiche

Veg
Cherries out of season&expensive. try frozen
Lychees try tinned
Blueberries out of season&expensive. try frozen
Salad mix get a whole head of salad
Frozen broccoli

Milk
Almond milk
Eggs

Carbonara sauce easy and cheaply made at home
Tinned tomatoes
Lasagnas sheets
White sauce lasagna easy and cheaply made at home

Posh fruit and loads of meat. There’s your easy answer.

That's a lot of meat

^^ pretty much all our meals include meat, I usually take quiche and salad or something for lunch. Toddler eats at nursery. So every evening meals meat based. Breakfast porridge and fruit or eggs if I have time

Food is cheaper than it ever has been. But other living costs have gone up so people have less to spend on food.

Buying ready made sauces like white sauce seems like an expensive habit to me.

How much was the steak & fish? £12?

All out of season veg and jars of sauce are expensive OP.

It would have been cheaper and more worth your while in the long run to buy butter, flour, milk to make the carbonara sauce AND the white lasagna sauce!!

That is a weeks worth of food though isnt it? At least 5 main meals there. Which doesnt seem too bad for £40.
The obvious place to cut back here is not to buy salmon and steak, but cheaper meat or alternatives

Start growing your own fruit and veg, you'll soon realise how cheap food is!

I tried to grow lavender last year and the cat pissed all over it most cats go in other gardens but not mine

Also I find the easiest way to cut costs is to meal plan, write a list and stick to it. No impulse buys. And stick to seasonal fruit - cherries will be expensive and tasteless at this time of year.

You bought steak and salmon, this is hardly a budget shop lol

Our food shop this week is 50, and that's for 3 adults and a preschooler. My shopping list is a lot longer. On an average month, we spent 300 which I think is pretty good.

To save money i do a BIG shop once every 6 weeks and batch cook LOADS.

Il spend £50 on several large packs mince, chicken ect.
Carrots, bag of peas, curry sauce, barbeque sauce, tinned tomatoes,pasta.

I make cottage pies, lasagne, chili, spag bol. With the chicken i do hunters chicken, curry and some mini roasts (2x chicken breast,stufing ball, sausage in a foil tray ready to roast) i will also pre make roast potatoes and freeze in portions and portion up the wedges for the hunters chicken. I bought loads of takeout tubs from the £1 shop but wash and reuse them each time.

its only 2 adults and a 2yr old though so not exactly a family of 4.

Not only does this saves money on the actual meals themselves... and also means its almost NEVER that i would need to nip to the shop for a top up. Other than say a load of bread or milk.

I used to shop lidl but never saved me any money as oftrn have to buy vegies in larger packs than i would need. So i swopped to the free click and collect at ASDA. This saved me even more-money and time. I cant remember thr last time i had to do a physical food shop. I probably spend £30-40 a week and includes fresh fruit ( veggies are frozen bags)

Online shopping means i plan meals better and dont add in yummy ££ extras!

To defend the lychees, they are on offer in Aldi for 69p.

then there’s no hope

You're right there it's my pleasures in life. Dont drink or smoke but just love salmon. Wish I could find contentment in chick peas

Nothing wrong with salmon OP, I get salmon every second week and my shopping for a family of never goes over 65...it can be done!! Please start making you own white sauces though!!

The Lidl frozen salmon fillets are very good, just FYI... Don't know if Aldi has similar, but I'd suspect so.

How much was the steak & fish? £12?

Aldi's fairly cheap they were both under £3 each. Has anyone bought meat in bulk? From muscle food or anything similar? I just can't imagine anywhere being cheaper than aldi/Lidl

That is a lot of meat.
And the fruit is probably air freight.

Cut back on meat and air miles and you'll save money.

Make somethings yourself, eg the white sauce and carbonara. Both are very easy. Eat less meat, make eg lentil bolognese, frittata.

@hula008 It's not a lot of meat really. I buy at least double that amount of meat each week.
We eat meat six days a week, the husband has meat twice a day due to a daily cooked breakfast.
Except on a Friday when it's fish for the main meal.

All that for you and an infant?

That's fuckload of stuff, and expensive for what you bought.

Also cherries? at this time of the year?

You’ve bought a lot of meat and a lot of expensive out of season fruit.

Also, white sauce? costs pennies to make.

stripeypillowcase has it perfectly. Jar sauce & expensive fruits/berries.

If you're open to frozen fish (which in my opinion tastes just as nice), you can get 3 bags of 4 fillets of salmon for £10 in Iceland; so you get 12 pieces and they're quite sizeable, nothing added. You can microwave in 3 mins or cook in foil in the oven. I tend to do a shop there now and then to stock up, they also do frozen meat 4 bags for £10, and there's nothing added so it's still 100% meat, and 5 bags of frozen veg for £4 which tastes nice steamed. Once the freezer is full of bits and bobs like that I just top the cupboard up, quite often the own brand sauces etc actually have less salt and sugar in and taste just as nice.

Basically I shop different places for different things, and try the economy brands to see which ones we like.