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

Have you done the obvious stuff like come down a brand? So if you buy brands, try the shop own brand and if you like that, go down again to value brand? This will save you money without a doubt. There is a huge variation in prices for the same stuff. Do the same with cleaning products, loo roll etc.

Also re Aldi, I’ve shopped there for years. I used to have to go elsewhere but now get 99% there. They’ve introduced so much now so if it’s been a while, try again.

@lougle I have done, yes. This is through necessity, not choice though

I find the cuisine and culture of Northern Italy completely inspiring. On the budget but also the healthy eating front.

I picked up on your pasta jars thing.

This is not a criticism as there are too many of mothers out there, but I firmly believe that everyone on this planet and most particularly young people need to leave home and school being able to make a basic pasta sauce.

Jamie is brilliant actually as he tries to keep an eye on budget.

So try to ditch the process foods and as others have said batch cook.

Spagetti bol for example jamies recipe you can ditch half the meat for lentils and noone notices. Really. Good luck

jamie oliver that is

[quote Mumof3almost4]@vanillandhoney I already do the random freezer teas, me and youngest DS had frozen cod fillets with a tin of condensed mushroom soup as sauce with left over veg, sounds grim but we loved it 😂[/quote]
Hey, whatever works

I often have very odd combos - but never had anything unpleasant!

I don't think it is a ridiculous amount to spend at all if there are five adults (effectively) You could probably reduce your bill quite a bit by eating more vegetarian food and perhaps shopping at Aldi or Lidl.

And you will find that as others have said shopping around switching to unprocessed foods and you will still have some left over for a glass of red to make the whole thing jolly...or make your own wine

I used to use Fairy non bio but buy Aldi’s now and a big box is under £3 I’m sure and nobody has noticed, same for their softener. Lots of their stuff has won Good Housekeeping awards, it’s good quality. Buy their ‘ Tresemme’version of hair products and shower gel and jo Malone dupe hand soaps. I love Aldi!

Oh also, the single thing that's made the most difference to us is that we think about ingredients more and plan to prevent wastage. So for example, I know that I want mushrooms in my pasta, but I won't need a full box so I'll have X dinner the next night which also needs mushrooms.

Everyone raves about Butchers on MN, me included and ours is fab. BUT cheap they are not. It’s far superior quality but you pay for that. Shoulder of lamb from butcher - £13, frozen shoulder of lamb from supermarket, £7.

It's seems like a lot to me. We are usually about £100 (Inc cleaning products and household etc) for 2 adults and 2 young children, but we only vaguely meal plan, have mostly branded things, eat lots of meat and have a snacking habit.

I'm not quite sure how you are managing to spend so much if I'm honest.

Just realised your about to have a baby so will be family of 6 soon, and all the expense that entails, nappies etc...

@Babyboomtastic

You spend £100 a month?!

Single parent of two primary here and the material point of that is primary aged children. I remember those days.

OP I have two teenage sons 17 and 14, so basically I am shopping for 4 adults. I think people with young children just don't understand that preteens eat an adult sized meal. Ds2 at 14 is taller than me, in size 9 shoes and men's jeans 30w 32L.

The 80p a day quoted above is just ridiculous. Is this the famous MN chicken that can last 6 meals too?

For absolutely everything including all cleaning, toiletries, washing powder etc and food we spend £140 per week. You can bulk out chillis and bolognaise with carrots (Annabel Karmel recipe) or add in diced courgette to make any mince go further. We don't buy our meat from the supermarket either.

The main thing is meal planning. You just brain storm all the meals you make then work out which ones require fresh veg and those are made just after your shop, ie roast dinner. I have "freezer" meals that are things like frozen salmon with rice (cupboard) and roasted veg but the veg is bought in bulk, roasted, bagged up and frozen. My green Thai chilli is also frozen chicken, frozen veg (green beans, peppers) onions, ready made thai paste in a jar, coconut milk served with rice, so again freezer/store cupboard.

Pizza, homemade is very filling and can be made veggie if you want.I don't do a mid-week shop, I only nip in to get a couple of items of veg and nothing more.

@JoanJosephJim

If you read my post - my point is I spend £500 a month
So not far off OP but for considerably less stomachs and appetite!

Buy your meat in Aldi or Lidl.

I know you said you don't like Aldi, but they are really great for some things such as:

free range chicken
cheeses
meats
snacks/crisps
frozen section

But tbh, I don't think your food bill is insanely high - teenagers are a bottomless pit

Sorry, pressed too soon.
Soap powder tablets, it always says use 2 on the box, one is fine with a scoop of cheap soda crystals. Fairy liquid really does last longer than other brands.
Avoid named brands where possible (Fairy liquid excluded).
Buy some reusable food bags instead of plastic bags (if applicable).

We have recently moved to quite a rural location and the only supermarket which delivers is Tesco. So we've switched from Sainsburys, and oh my goodness i cannot believe how much cheaper it is. We are 2 adults and a toddler, and our weekly shop has gone from 70 quid plus to more like 45. We don't buy much booze at all as I'm pregnant, but I still think that's pretty good.

What I'm saying is you might be surprised if you shop around a bit!

Good luck!

And that £500 does not include toiletries (my shampoo alone is £15 for 250ml!)

I do think this is a huge amount to spend on food.

During lockdown I have been doing click and collect once a week, I find it has cut my spend down a lot because I don't have those impulse trips to the supermarket to buy milk or something and then grab another £10 worth of stuff I don't really need. I buy Cravendale for the second half of the week so it keeps well.

I do think it is worth going to Aldi for some of your shop, you can top up in the big supermarket.

Have you watched Eat Well for Less, I think the episodes will still be on catchup since it has a lot of good ideas for people who are in the same position as you.

Could you base the occasional meal on eggs, something like an omelette or fritata is really cheap. I also make one meal a week using red lentils instead of meat.

One tip is looking in the Asian aisle of the supermarket, you can buy huge bags of basmati rice for a fraction of the standard prices, also chick peas and tomato are a lot cheaper.

I spend similar, and have 2 teen boys with massive appetites and a DD. They are always hungry.
I suggest cheapening the meals, so Aldi chicken pieces in stew rather than butchers chicken, baked potatoes (or 2 for big eaters) with beans, Only cheap fruit like apples, bulk stews out with cheaper veg like carrots.

@Benjispruce2

I used to use Fairy non bio but buy Aldi’s now and a big box is under £3 I’m sure and nobody has noticed, same for their softener. Lots of their stuff has won Good Housekeeping awards, it’s good quality. Buy their ‘ Tresemme’version of hair products and shower gel and jo Malone dupe hand soaps. I love Aldi!

I am waiting impatiently for the one that is meant to be opening near to me. Love Aldi but it is too far at the minute.

I’ve been trying to reduce our monthly food bills too. There’s loads of good advice on here already but I’d also recommend you check your cupboards about what you actually have in stock. I am lethal for buying tinned and packet goods not only if on offer but to replace ones used. But on having a good sort out realised I have so many spares - there’s never going to be a week where I need 8 tons of chopped toms, 3 bags of pasta and 9 tins of beans. I’m about as bad with the freezer. So my plan has been to eat out of the cupboards and freezers for a few weeks to eat some of the stored items and our bills have already reduced to £50 a week from nearly £100