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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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

455 replies

Mumof3almost4 · 01/09/2020 16:02

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

OP posts:
Peachy1381 · 01/09/2020 17:18

It has to be proper meal planing with a corresponding shopping list and an online supermarket. Tick the items off as you put them in your basket. Include things you'd normally pick up in a 'top up' shop so you've got enough to last the week. Maybe swap a meat meal for one with with quorn or a vegetarian meal a couple of times a week. Having veg in the freezer is pretty useful too - frozen spinach, green beans etc.

PickwickThePlockingDodo · 01/09/2020 17:20

Family of five here and our weekly shop comes to around £60, so £240 a month, and that’s when I’m not being particularly careful. I can half that easily if I need to
@Itsjustabitofbanter

You can do a weekly shop for five for £30 if you need to? How?

We're a family of six and spend £160-180 a week and that's tightening our belt as far as it goes Confused

BlusteryShowers · 01/09/2020 17:21

For ideas, I use BBC good food a lot.

I also keep a list in the notes on my phone of meals I've enjoyed or fancied making which really helps when I need inspiration. If there's a particular recipe that was a hit I save the link there too so I don't have to waste time searching for it.

A couple of pizzas on standby are also a lifesaver when you've planned to cook something proper but can't be arsed or run late. Much better to have something easy like that in the freezer than order takeaway or do a supermarket run when you're hungry!

CrunchyNutNC · 01/09/2020 17:21

What are you buying at the butcher's?

I8toys · 01/09/2020 17:22

We are the same its about £170 per week for 2 adults, 2 teens 17 and 14 and 2 cats. I am hoping that it will go down once everyone gets back to school and work. I can't be bothered to actually go into a shop so shop online and just fall back on old favourites. I also eat differently to them due to constantly dieting. I am also hoping the alcohol consumption decreases now that we are coming out of lockdown.

Schmeebles · 01/09/2020 17:23

Before lockdown we spent £800-900 per month for 2 adults and 2 hungry teenagers. Because I was originally classed as vulnerable we switched to a once a week online shop, and I was amazed at how much it went down. We now spend between £130-150 per week, plus a £40-50 top up "bargains" shop from another supermarket (all the bogof offers) once per month.

So reduced from about £800 - £900 down to about £680.

I realised it was because we used to go into the supermarket at least once a day, without a list, and would buy loads that we didn't need that would then be wasted.

Also, as has been pointed out already, when you review the online basket you suddenly see all the stuff you don't really need. And you don't miss out on the bargains, most of them have an "offers" section, but I have found it allows me to really stock up when the offers are on stuff I use regularly.

My next plan is proper meal-planning.

blarrr · 01/09/2020 17:23

Yes that does seem a lot. I spend £between 70-80 per week for a family of four in Aldi. When I swapped to Sainsbury's over lockdown, it was £110-20 a week (I've always said, Aldi is about £30 per week cheaper!).

I don't buy expensive joints of meat. If you make a bolognaise, buy a big 1kg punnet of 5% fat beef mince, but cut it in half and only use half of it in your pasta sauce. Make up the sauce with tinned toms and other veg. You don't need loads of meat in it, just enough to give it flavour.

It's cheaper to buy a large whole chicken and make it stretch two meals, than other chicken joints. On the second day, use the scraps in a stew or soup (or even a curry if you have enough).

I don't use any stir in sauces. All sauces can be made with tinned tomatoes, garlic and herbs (oregano or mixed italian herbs, or smoked paprika and cumin for chilli), or milk flour and cheese for a creamy one.

If you slow cook a big gammon joint, you can save the juices and use it to make lovely sauces and soups. You don't need as many gammon pieces in your dish either to give it great flavour.

I make an 8 egg omelete with a tin of chickpeas or butterbeans whisked in. Can also add spinach, mushroom, etc. It has a thicker consistency, but my kids don't notice the difference and it gives them more veg.

You don't need loads of topping on a jacket potato - even a bit of bolognaise gives enough sauce, with veg on the side. Do a jack night and you could even do tuna mayonaise or cheese on top.

Big bags of frozen veg like green beans and sweetcorn cost less than fresh.

I don't buy any unhealthy sugary treats - they are unnecessary and often expensive.

Hope some of that helps.

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland · 01/09/2020 17:24

Butchers are nearly always much more expensive than supermarkets.

Chicken & pork are cheaper, lamb & beef are expensive.

VintageStitchers · 01/09/2020 17:25

Reduced price bargains are my staple.
Why don’t you like Aldi?
I buy about 40% of our food from Aldi with about 40% from Supervalu and 10% Lidl plus a local butchers.
Our Aldi is great, not busy first thing and good reductions on food nearing its sell by date, between 30% - 50% off.
Supervalu reduces stuff at 50% and there’s usually at least a couple of days or more on the sell by date. I buy loads of stuff and bung it in the freezer if I’m not using it straightaway.

Proudboomer · 01/09/2020 17:25

I would look at the non food items to see if you can cut costs there.
Kitchen towel and wipes can be replaced by a cloth
Replace branded cleaning products and laundry with super market own
Same for toilet roll and toiletries.
Fresh juice replace with squash
If you buy bottled water replace with a filter jug
Then look at what branded food items you buy and see if you can swap for non branded.

JoanJosephJim · 01/09/2020 17:26

@Decentsalnotime ooops sorry, I see that £500 was you and you were quoting someone else saying they fed their family on fresh air Grin

I would genuinely love it if someone who spends hardly anything would upload a video of their shopping and then all the meals they actually make with their tiny spend shopping bill so I could see portion sizes. My teens have hollow legs, it isn't even junk food or snacks, just meals!

chestnutshell · 01/09/2020 17:26

@PickwickThePlockingDodo you'd be amazed what you can do if you have to. I think £30 is doable but miserable and probably not as healthy as you'd like.

Proudboomer · 01/09/2020 17:27

Even if you don’t like Aldi food you could use them for cleaning products and toiletries and save about 50% on supermarket prices.

Okunoshima · 01/09/2020 17:27

I've found upping the carbs is a good way to keep costs down. DP would happily polish off about twice as much meat / fish as me (hollow legs!) But it's just too expensive! Reduce the portion size of protein and bulk out the meal with cheap veggies like carrots, brocolli and carbs. .
We're two adults and spend about £200 a month on food.

I think with teenagers, if they want lots of extra snacky stuff like crisps, biscuits, soft drinks etc they should buy it themselves out of their own pocket money/wages. Be quite strict about snacks being cheap filling options like bread, bananas, carrots. The same goes for desserts, it can really add to the cost if everyone's eatting ice cream a few times a week.

Babyboomtastic · 01/09/2020 17:28

@Decentsalnotime

£100 a week, not a month. Sorry.

pinkbalconyrailing · 01/09/2020 17:29

Family of five here and our weekly shop comes to around £60, so £240 a month, and that’s when I’m not being particularly careful. I can half that easily if I need to

30£ a week would be loo paper and washing powder alone in my house...

chestnutshell · 01/09/2020 17:30

And I think if the reason you don't like Aldi is that you don't like the fact you can't always get everything from there, I think at some point you have to accept the trade off for a really big saving is the minor inconvenience of popping in somewhere else too.

CrunchyNutNC · 01/09/2020 17:30

I don't think you're spending excessively now and it sounds like you are fairly sensible about what you buy, using freezer etc. However if you need to cut costs then you'll need to accept some reduction in quality/'nice-ness'.

Frozen veg is a good one, things like green beans are good from frozen. Carrots are also fine from frozen.

Lidl and Aldi are good for meat.

(i know you don't like Aldi but we save approx 25% by shopping there compared to Tesco and 25% of your food bill is a big saving. )

Fatty mince is another good tip, it's cheaper but it will be really tasty and fat fills you up well (help stop DC grazing!) - great for making burgers, lasagne etc.

Avoid soft fruits. You don't 'need' fruit as such and alot is pretty sugary. Apples, bananas are fine.

LakieLady · 01/09/2020 17:30

Teenage boys are bottomless pits where food is concerned imo.

I used to work with a woman who had 4 teenage boys at home. She used to do a massive shop, loaded her big Volvo estate to the gunwhales at the weekend and had to do it all again midweek. At one point, she was convinced she was feeding everyone in the village. They family would get through a packet of cereal and 4 pints of milk just in one breakfast!

Try Lidl or Aldi. Both are good for cleaning stuff and laundry and cheap as chips.

Eat less meat. Sneak meat substitute into things like cottage pie and make them fill up on veg. Stuff them full of carbs, which are filling and tend to be cheap.

Maverick66 · 01/09/2020 17:33

That is similar to my bill for 5 adults which includes all lunches
Meat and two veg dinner 4 days per week.
Pasta dish one day per week
Take away on a Saturday.
Roast on a Sunday.
I buy all my biscuits fruit and veg from Lidl plus chicken sirloin steak, lean mince.

Babyroobs · 01/09/2020 17:34

I don't think it's a ridiculous amount, we can easily spend that and have 4 teenagers, 3 of them boys and the dd can eat a lot too and demands frozen fruits to make endless smoothies etc. I try to buy in bulk and pretty much always on special offers and from the bargain bin. I've started baking my own stuff a little more. We have a take away once a week which sets us back about £30.

Benjispruce2 · 01/09/2020 17:36

I think it’s a teen boy thing. I have teen girls and they don’t eat that much.

Benjispruce2 · 01/09/2020 17:36

Demands don’t equal gets in this house!

keeganface · 01/09/2020 17:40

I think everyone has mentioned the key things such as meal planning, online shopping etc. Cooking from scratch as much as possible.

I like online shopping as I have a budget that I try to stick to each week. I go through the cupboards and check what I need and then go through meal plan and add ingredients. If I'm over budget I go through and see if I can change a meal to something cheaper or something that's on offer.

Once a month I go to home bargains and top up on snacks, toiletries, cleaning products etc.

I also try to nip into the supermarket once every couple of weeks near closing and pick up reduced bread that I can freeze.

There are three of us. 2 adults and a teenager. My budget is £300 a month. Some months I spend more but can spend a lot less if I need to.

minnieok · 01/09/2020 17:40

I was spending more than that for 4 I'm ashamed to admit!

I now spend £60 for 2 people by planning better, shopping in Lidl and cutting the junk

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