Desperately need tips to reduce almost £800 per mth food bill.

[Mumof3almost4]

I am stressing about mat leave pay and how low it is.
Just going through my income/outgoings and my main drain is on food. We are a family of 5, two adults, DC 18, 15, 13.
I am spending between £700-£800 a month on food. Is this ridiculous?!
I do cook mostly from scratch but will use a few pasta jars etc. I shop at local market for fruit and veg and the butchers for meat. We all like a big evening meal usually with meat or chicken and I always make sure there's salad or veg on the plate. I shop at home bargains and Asda for cupboard stuff, mainly use the freezer for left overs and don't like to waste anything.
I do try and plan meals but I think I've got in a habit of not doing this properly and then money gets frittered nipping to the shop. I then spend £30 easily feather than just getting what I need.

Reading this back I know I need to get much much better organised but really need your tips on how??
How do you plan meals without getting bored of it being repetitive?
We all eat well, no fussy eaters apart from a dislike of cheese and eggs.
Any advice for me to save a massive chunk of money please??

Also I hate Aldi. I'd never get a full shop in there

Why cancel the butcher? Presumably his meat is high quality and a reasonable price, or else no one else would shop there and he would close!

We spend a lot on food. Two sporty older teens means huge meals and constant beans on toast etc.

We menu plan and shop online. I sit once a week with a couple of cook books, and plan a week of meals that includes about 60% easy meals (gnocchi, pesto, broccoli) and 40% more complicated. So when we finish work we can choose an easy or complicated meal depending on how tired we are, how busy etc. I also plan to use up ingredients so if there is something random partly used in one dish I will plan a 2nd meal that week that uses up the rest of that ingredient. I also usually plan for 1 less meal than needed, and that ends up being fridge leftovers.

Frozen chopped onion, peppers, sweetcorn etc. saves waste and easier. Works really well for most meals.

We are currently (family 2 adults, 2 primary-aged DC at home 24/7 due to isolation) spending £150/week on grocery shops, including some but not all cleaning products, toiletries etc. It's more than before (£120) but then we are now all having lunch at home. We use Ocado and buy mainly the cheaper/basic ranges, using better brands when necessary.

Key difference from you is we only have meat/fish 1-2 times a week, though I do buy ham and salmon for sandwiches. When we buy meat/fish we buy decent, free range, organic etc. I think you could see an immediate cost reduction by reducing your meat consumption.

We're a family of 4 adults (2 large teens!) and honestly, £200 a week is not that bad. You are doing a good job I'd say! Ive managed to cut back a bit by going veggie for 5 days a week. Any chance they would consider that?

Serve soup before most meals.

I'm in the process of getting our food budget back under control at the moment. 2 adults and a 16 year old plus cat.

I started by going through the cupboards, fridge and freezer and making a note of everything we already had in. I don't like over buying, but I do keep a store cupboard, so if I open a jar of jam, I have an un opened one in the cupboards and when I open that one I will buy a new one.

I do a monthly shop where I buy store cupboard stuff, freezer items, toiletries, cleaning products, pet food. I use a combination of aldi, tesco and costco for that. £120-£150 per month. I then do a weekly shop for fresh stuff £40-£50 per week. I try and buy seasonally as much as I can.

I do a loose meal plan, so this week is
Sun- sausages
Mon - pizza
Tue - curry
Wed - savoury mince
Thu - pasta bake
Fri - fish
Sat - burgers.
Everything has plenty of salad or veg added and appropriate carbs be it potato, bread, pasta or rice.

I freeze any leftovers for freezer tea, we take lunches to work / school.

One thing I do try and do is make sure portion sizes are right. So I allow 100g of meat per person and ensure that I portion it up before it goes in the freezer or in the meal. I bulk things out with veg and lentils to make it go a bit further and if a recipe is for 4 people, when I am dishing up I serve 4 portions. 3 on plates, one for the freezer.

We do not really snack here, crisps and cakes are part of a meal and we have fruit and yoghurt most times for dessert. I always have baking stuff in so if ds or dh want something they can always rustle something up.

I track the price of everything, the act of writing down what we are spending helps me to keep on track and also allows me to see how supermarket prices are moving. (Increasing at moment)

Our bills are starting to come down again now and my grocery bill including toiletries, cleaning and pet stuff is around £350 per month, which works out at just under £30 per person per week. I could reduce that if I needed to, but at the moment I don't!

2 adult , 4 dc here (17,12,5 & 3) ours is about £400 pm.
we shop at Aldi.
We eat well, mostly meat and veg dishes,freezer meals a few nights a week, so much fruit and cupboard food used too.

I would say, meal plan is the way and look at supermarkets rather than local as unfortunately, they do cost so much.
Maybe shop online so no so tempted by extras ....

It’s not much, but definitely aim for one or two days eating meat free. It will save you a bit and you can claim it’s for the sake of the environment and your children’s future.

If you don't waste or toss out food then I don't think it's that high. I have 3 teens + preteen + 2 exercise-freak adults & our food bill is similar. We buy a lot of £7 for 25 kg bags of potatoes. We like lots of veg & our meat portions are small.

God, I'm hungry now!

@lljkk Oh god yes!

I'm one of 7 kids and mum ALWAYS had a huge sack of spuds on the go. I used to sit on it with a cushion at the xmas table when we had guests over as I was the smallest

OP. Also get a huge bag of onions as well if you can. I have an Asian shop near me and get mine from there at this time of year and during winter as I make a lot of onion soup.

I would cook pasta and pesto at least one night a week. Then if I were you i would do jacket potatoes beans and cheese with side salad another night.
You've five adults and 200 a week isn't too bad but to cut down I would shop in Lidl/ aldi. The washing powder etc is excellent

Have you looked in the reduced section in the supermarket? I get so many bargains from there and freeze or batch cook. Today I made soup for lunches for the week and a full evening meal from a pack of £1 chicken legs I got half price first thing in Iceland. Have a look at the yellow sticker family cooking Facebook page for ideas, tips and inspiration.

I spend £25/week for 4 people with this method, www.facebook.com/Yellowstickerfamilycooking/photos/a.105993091118463/127328025651636/?type=3&theater

Hi,

I don't think you are doing badly at all. Our food bill shot up when DC reached their teens. you are cooking for five adult appetites. No more children's portions.

I definitely spend that much on four adults (both DC in late teens now.)

But at a push could spend less.
Meal plan - but check on line first for weekly offers. Don't buy expensive snacks. Shop around. Maybe split the shop between two places and take advantages of loss leaders and deals in each one.

Always meal plan to take advantage of left overs. A large roast chicken stripped down to the bone will make a second dinner of chicken noodle soup or chicken and mushroom risotto. A big pasta bake will have left overs that make lunch for a couple of adults next day.

Balance cheap main meals with more costly ones. I do pasta or gnocchi or rice based dinners three or four times a week, and meat or fish and two veg style dinners twice or three times a week.

Buy fruit and veg in season. Have left over days where everyone gets to choose which left overs from the last couple of days they want for dinner, or raid the freezer and actually eat the portions you saved rather than throw them away five years later when the freezer breaks down or you finally defrost it

Bulk buying from Costco can be a lifesaver. We also get our meat from muscle foods and £50 does us for a month - easily. I then do fortnightly shops of about £120 plus £20 at the veg market on the weeks in between. That's for 2 adults and a toddler so I wouldn't say you are far off! We cook from scratch and pack up our freezer but I naturally buy to have "back ups" (even pre Covid) to avoid last minute dashes for the thing you don't have where possible (as this often means you buy more than the one thing you needed!) so I buy to backfill the backfill - if that makes sense - on most cupboard items.

Watch out for VAT price hikes on food. Anything that has been prepped goes up a level, so fresh veg is 0% while coleslaw from the salad bar (yuk) is 20% VAT.
All money leaving your pocket and going to the government, not coming back as food!

During lockdown I was feeding 3 adults and 1 teen for €6 per person per day, eating well but with the luxury of time on my hands to cook from scratch using basic, unprocessed ingredients. I do draw the line at homemade bread, though. Mine is baaaad!

Individual desserts, bought cakes, crisps and pop or takeaways (and eating out in general, although it was the thing I missed most in lockdown) should be avoided if you want to cut your bills.

I feed a similar sized family for around £170 a week. And I have noticed that it isnt actually the "main meals" that cost a fortune, it's the constant bloody snacking!
Look at what extras you are buying.
We are mad for pistachio and cashew nuts but they are not cheap. Also for breakfast my DC really like things like almond croissants, ridiculously priced premium cereals at £4 a box (gone in one day) and the full cooked English. I rebelled, told them it was toast and egg/cheese/ jam/nutella or weetabix and they ate it just the same.
I have also stopped buying premium fruit juices and smoothies as it's probably only the same nutritionally as a glass of water and a blimmin apple, possibly worse!
Dont even get me started on the condiments! They all like different sauces/salad dressings/pickles and we were spending a fortune just on them and the Magnum ice creams.

£800 a month for essentially five adult appetites is not really unreasonable

To cut back I

To cut back I would try a few meat free main meals each week, and when you do have meat stretch it out with extra veg or pulses. Choose cheaper fruit and veg most of the time, apples and bananas instead of berries, etc

If you drink alcohol (although you probably don’t at the moment, but the others or you after you have the baby) cut it right down.

Meal plan and stick to it

Buy things on offer or in bulk if it’s something that will keep and something you would buy anyway. Check the price per kilo on different pack sizes, Bigger isn’t always cheaper especially if there’s special offers on the smaller size.

But don’t buy stuff you don’t like just because it’s on offer or cheaper, if you all hate it and end up replacing it you don’t save anything.

We spend this exactly and it's just two adults and a 2 year old! I share my portion with my DC as well. Been tracking for months and cannot get it down 😱

Your butcher is sadly probably more expensive than a supermarket.

Sit and write a fortnightly meal plan on a Sunday evening; it’ll ensure you plan enough variety in your food that you won’t get bored, but you’ll also take note of what you’re spending and cooking.

The BBC did a good tv programme a few years ago, I think it was “The Great British Budget Menu”. If you Google it the list of recipes still comes up, on BBC Food or BBC Good Food I think. Lots of ideas there for cheap but healthy family meals.

Soups and veggie chilli would be fine! Would you use quorn? Is that cheap?

Asda/Tesco soya mince usually comes in at around £1.75 for 450g bag. We eat it all the time. DH isnt keen on the texture of.it though so he eats proper mince yet another extra pan to wash while me and DC eat the soya mince

I second not buying juices and smoothies. Such a waste and it does not fill them up like eating the oranges or apples.

Plan to have three 'economy', meals each week.
Mine are: mushroom risotto - costs three pounds for four portions
omelette and veg/salad - costs the same (as above portions)
tuna pasta bake - costs four pounds (as above portions)
Home made cakes/biscuits/bread and you'll save a small fortune. Buy the Jack Monroe recipe books and you'll save a small fortune.

Am spending about the same and think it's far too much - though agree that stuff is really expensive at the moment. Got two adults and two teenagers and ultimately aiming to get down to £400 per month. My plan is ...

Meal planning.
Swapping supermarket from Sainsbury's to Lidl.
Cooking from scratch (do that anyway)
Cooking double portions then freezing. DD is vegan so I make extra portions of any vegan dinners and freeze them so she can have them if we're on a meat or fish night. Don't know that this will save money but will reduce the amount of shopping, wastage and faff.
Cutting meat down from 6 nights a week to two/three. Eating veggie x 3, and fish x 2.
One night a week is hearty soup and sandwich (or something on toast)
Doing a big batch of veggie soup and having that as a starter so main courses don't have to be so big. Thinking I'll do this on meaty nights so I can reduce meat spend.
Thinking about how to eat meat. So rather than have a piece of meat each, having stuff where the meat is only part of the meal. For example mine love steak but if we have steak in a baguette with salad, I can get away with two fillets instead of four. Same with chicken in a wrap/pasta bake - two fillets instead of four if they were having a fillet each with veg etc.
Giving my teenage son a budget to spend at Iceland on lunch stuff for himself. He's home at the moment and a bit of a fussy eater. He fills himself up on fish finger sandwiches, meat balls and mash etc. It's not going to win any nutrition awards but if I give him something with veg at dinner time then I hope it will even out and not cost me a fortune.

Good luck OP. Let's see if we can do this!!