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.

Goldenorbspider

Sunny D was the best! And there was always that story about that kid went orange 🤣 smarties were practically little buttons of speed with their e numbers and illuminous colours! The days of a club bar, penguin and a kit cat and a panda pop from the school tuck shop too!!

I mean I'm a healthy adult, I'm a size 10-12 and we eat a balanced diet. I don't really go along with the nanny state now, I see parents struggling to meet the requirements for the lunch box police and I say to them fuck it off and give them a packed lunch you can afford, they will survive if the have two portions of veg with their tea, a portion of calcium and 2 portions of fruit a day tinned or fresh.

What they going to do, report me to the social for giving him a kit kat 3 times a week 🤣

do you notice yourself not actually eating half the pastry that comes with the quiche? - using squished white bread to make the base is not half the effort of making pastry. Just googled it for reassurance that I am not menkle - and found this recipe that even bother squishing the bread.
www.thriftynorthwestmom.com/simple-quiche-recipe-use-bread-crust/
If you do end up buying jus rol, cut it up into portions and freeze them.

I recently tried to eat really well - only organic, local, in season veg, pasture fed meat etc. THAT is not only expensive but the amount of food I got for my money was quite a bit smaller too. I’ve come to realisation that in order to eat well I have to eat very little. Maybe food is so expensive because we eat mountains of it..

If you like what you buy and don’t particularly need to cut your food budget then don’t. If you do then there are some simple swaps/cuts you could look at which could help if you want.

That is my conundrum! I moan about costs but at same deep down don't want to change how we eat.

I go to Aldi, it's amazing how much you can get! I don't see that as a high bill at all.

I think you shopped well there, and got a lot for your money

Please don't buy almond milk! It's incredibly destructive to the planet and hardly an essential for anyone

Making your own muesli works out expensive because health food shops charge an arm and a leg for wheat flakes and rye flakes.

The cheap supermarket tastes like sawdust because they put in too much wheat flakes to bulk it out.(the obviously don't source them from Holland n Barrett)

Solution - buy a bag of cheap porridge oats and cheap salted nuts (bear with me) and a handful of sultanas

rinse the nuts to get the most of the salt off them and let them dry well

mix shop into shop bought Swiss style muesli

jobs a good un.

Why the bougie lunches

^^ I love that my lunch is bougie it's just quiche and salad. We don't have a microwave it's sooo fricken annoying so anything I take in has to be cold.

I always think of Aldi as a bit of a voyage of discovery. There’s always something a little bit different to try. Sometimes we like a new choice, sometimes not enough to consider buying it again. We have no loyalty to any supermarket, like to mix it up a bit, and with local specialist shops and markets.

I love this thread.

It's the definitive MN how little can you spend on food but make great meals for the week.

I do my main shop in Lidl. Every time I get to the checkout I am delighted to find the total cost is way less than I expected.

This never happens to me, I'm always aghast at the cost! But looking back at my list of what I've got I know I need to Lower expectations

Look for bags of frozen blackberries, raspberries etc - it is nice to have berries from time to time - not quite as nice as fresh but still a treat and they are better price and hopefully picked in season

You buy food and then it gets eaten? Um, I hate to break it to you OP.....

I can't hear my mothers voice! Not buying Ribena cause we drink it all 😂

The reality is that food has never been as cheap as it is now. Your list is also full of very expensive items, the price you have paid is actually really good value:

Toiletries, Nappies etc - Always add a good slug of expense

Chorizo - Expensive
Salmon fillets - Expensive
Cherries - Expensive unless tinned
Lychees - Expensive unless tinned
Blueberries - Expensive
Salad mix - Expensive if pre-bagged

Almond milk - Expensive - Is this for ethical or dietary reasons?

Carbonara sauce - Make your own
White sauce lasagna - Make your own

Also maybe you might need to be less hard on yourself - yes you are buying calamari - but a takeaway fish and chips for would probably cost more than that - so compared with eating a takeaway, the calamari might be good value - unless you are skint of course

Alternative milks are often terrible for the environment and expensive. If you aren't using dairy just go without.

They're all much better for the environment than dairy, though. Even almond milk. They just affect it in different ways. Meat is even worse.

the sad thing is that we'd rather scrimp on the most essential things - good healthy food - and spend on on non-essential tat, clutter, toys, "beauty" crap

We have very sad priorities

environmental impact of dairy substitutes

That's not expensive for what you bought!

That's a lot of food for £40, reckon that would be £55 in sainsbury / tesco.

I'm going to defend the jarred sauce, I'd rather pay more and just dump it in than have to make it from scratch while simultaneously dealing with 2 kids who've decided they need me right that second. Maybe when they're older I'll stop buying the jars, but for now cooking dinner is a speed challenge and I'll take any shortcut I can get.

I'm going to defend the jarred sauce, I'd rather pay more and just dump it in than have to make it from scratch while simultaneously dealing with 2 kids who've decided they need me right that second

That's a perfectly valid viewpoint, but if you choose to outsource the making of the sauce you can't then complain it costs to do it!

do you have salmon alot.have you tried the frozen goldenorbspider fish is often more for your money.and sometimes getting a whole side of salmon then portioning it yourelf is lots better on the money front.
food is shockingly expensive but dont be hard on yoursel.looks like youve done a good shop there for the amount.

Washable nappies would probably be cheaper as would less fancy out of season fruit.