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

Jacket potatoes with beans and cheese.
Sausages, mash and veg
Roast chicken with veg (Sunday)
Leftovers from roast
Spaghetti bolognaise x 2 nights. (First night and leftovers.)
Pasta carbonara with white sauce, cheese and bacon

Above is £15/20 per week on 7 evening meals. As opposed to £200.
£15 left for breakfasts (cereal, fruit, toast), lunches (sandwich and bag of crisps and piece of fruit) and toiletries.

A lot of people live on £800 a month for everything including all bills and mortgage.
How the other half live!

Meal plan. Buy meat from a wholesaler and freeze it in small portions. Eat more vegetarian meals, e.g. vegetables chilli, jacket potatoes, pasta and potato curry.We only eat meat twice a week because meat is too expensive for us.

oh yes to pork!

We get Tesco pork loin steaks (720g for £2.84). Very nice pan fried or I make stir fry (with LOTS of veg) or pies/ stews.

Also remember to check the price per kilo. You may get more bang for your buck that way.

Also if a large cut of pork or beef is cheap get it and cut it up to use in dishes likes stir fries/ stews/ soups etc. Pre-cut up stuff is always more pricey.

Also to save time if you need to boil spuds/ veg do a larger batch and use them the next day.

Tonight is cheap pork loin chops, spuds, cabbage and carrots.

I did double the veg as tomorrow I'll be making up as I go along a corned beef hash with spuds, cabbage and carrots :)

To cut down on takeaways and boredom we now do:
Monday mince.
Tuesday fish.
Wednesday wraps.
Thursday pasta.
Friday curry.
Saturday fakeaway.
Sunday cupboard/freezer nightmare/Ivejustgivenupbythispoint.

I find it's sufficient structure that I don't have to think "god, what should we have for tea?" yet again, but flexible enough that we don't get bored.

• Meal plan monthly, shop weekly.

• Meal plan breakfast. lunch, dinner and snacks to see where the money is actually going. It might be snacks that are eating up your budget.

• Plan six days in your meal plan not seven. Have a ready meal in the freezer. Then on the unplanned day you can, or make a leftovers meal, get take out/eat out or eat the ready meal. It takes the pressure off sticking strictly to the meal plan.

-Have a vegetarian day at least once a week.

-Frozen vegetables, especially for oven dishes or pasta/curry dishes.

Sorry another post.

OP does your family like curry? Like chip shop curry or Katsu curry?

If so get GoldFish concentrated curry stock. They do a normal curry, a spicy one and sometimes a Japanese one. I get mine from Tesco at around £2.75 for 400g.

Ignore the directions, you just need about a tablespoon as it goes a LONG way and lasts ages. Just start off with a little bit and add more if you like it thicker.

Stop shopping at the butchers for a start.

I worked out that the butcher is about a 3rd more (at least) than the supermarket for meat.

Chicken thighs instead of breasts are cheaper and tastier IMO.

Buy the Richmond frozen sausages for e.g.. sausage and mash.

Fish pie/bolognese/cottage pie/Swedish meatballs are all easy to make and will feed a family.

Similar roast chicken. A roast chicken should be able to be made into chicken pie the next day. I’m not one who thinks the chicken should serve a family for a week, but two meals at least.

£800 a month on food absolutely is extortionate. People manage on far less than that and generally don’t go hungry.

@Boatonthehorizon

Jacket potatoes with beans and cheese. Sausages, mash and veg Roast chicken with veg (Sunday) Leftovers from roast Spaghetti bolognaise x 2 nights. (First night and leftovers.) Pasta carbonara with white sauce, cheese and bacon

Above is £15/20 per week on 7 evening meals. As opposed to £200.
£15 left for breakfasts (cereal, fruit, toast), lunches (sandwich and bag of crisps and piece of fruit) and toiletries.

A lot of people live on £800 a month for everything including all bills and mortgage.
How the other half live!

That sounds like £15 per week per person though? Not £15 in total for a family of 5. How is roast chicken with veg going to feed 5 and have enough left for a further round of 5 portions,

I concede that 1 person could very easily live in £30 per week grocery budget, but I think it’s a huge stretch for 5.

Why don’t you like Aldi? I have saved loads shopping in there.. I shop once a week, and I also stock my freezer monthly when I get paid with mince, chicken, garlic bread, chicken Kiev’s, prawns etc.. meal planning helps loads, but I find it hard to stick to.. but I know if I was better at it I could save more. I’m a single mum now and my 15 year old eats like a horse, the 11 year old not so bad. Look at what you throw away each week, mine tends to be salad stuff and stale bread etc..

I think you are doing brilliantly. You are feeding five adults with varying schedules and food requirements, and you are working (I'm presuming full time, plus commuting). I cannot imagine leaving the house at 6 and returning at 6:30 every night and ordering milk from a milkman (it would be off when I got home), pottering about at multiple food shops in whatever spare time someone imagines you have (butchers where I am cost a fortune and are not even vaguely comparable with the supermarket), or batch cooking (when? Dear Lord when would this happen??). There are some gems in this thread but I cant help but feel that a lot of people are being a bit unrealistic about what is possible.

Also try frozen veg, so much cheaper and no waste. I only buy fresh now for our Sunday dinner x

(And feeding five adults a roast on a Sunday and using the leftovers for another meal is a fantasy!)

Meat free Monday’s.

Meals that are easy to bulk up and then freeze eg I make a chicken curry but add loads of lentils (or sweet potato if you don’t like lentils. You can make double the quantity then with the same amount of meat (obviously would need to increase quantities of spices/chopper tomatoes etc).

Strict meal planning and do not deviate from the list. I buy snacks etc but once they are gone, they are gone until the next shop.

It might not work for the numbers in your family but I found getting Gousto boxes delivered really cut down on extra trips to the shop as all the bits we need for the evening meal are already in the house.

Have you looked at other area to save
Cut back or cut out?
Utilities subscriptions cheaper car or transport costs?

We are a family of 6
One teen and 5 adults who all eat a lot .
My bill is the same as yours op.
I’ve tried and I can’t get it down
We are vegans ,so no meat expense
I’d be happy at £150 a week ,but even that seems out of reach

Tesco sell an extra large chicken so approx 2.3KG for £4.75. Once you combine that with potatoes/veg/Yorkshire pudding/stuffing if you want there absolutely should be enough for e.g. a chicken pie or at the very least chicken soup the next day.

Also things like stir-fry. You can buy a pack of stir-fry veg cheaply, do it with chicken thighs and some noodles/rice depending on your preference, and it goes a long way.

We spend approx £100 a week for four of us including alcohol. We meal plan and shop at aldi and either tesco/asda/morrisons. The bulk is from aldi and then a few bits from other supermarkets I switch between the three as they all have a few things we like. I make use of the freezer, buying things that are reduced eg mince or other meat also making things like, basic mixed veg sauce and bolognese in bulk. I also like pp plan around what we are eating, so I'm making a meal using courgettes and I'll put another so I'm using the full pack. Or use half a cabbage with one meal and then the rest a few days later.

We also bulk buy chicken breasts from the local butcher, both better quality and cheaper than the supermarket.

We don't buy loads of drinks eg cordial/fizzy drinks. We probably buy one or two packets of biscuits a week if that.

You are effectively feeding 5 adults not 2. So £40 per week per person is not OTT imo

@CharlieBoo I'm not OP but I know what she means about Aldi. I love it as well, but as someone who cooks from scratch a lot I often struggle to get everything I want from there. If I'm cooking a Chinese recipe for instance, I wouldn't expect to find rice wine, sesame oil etc. If I can't be arsed going to more than one place then I'll go to one of the bigger ones.

Some amazing tips and ideas thank you all.

PP asked why I don't like Aldi, I just don't think the veg is great and went off quickly I preferred the market. I also don't like having my shopping thrown at me

There is absolutely nothing left on a roast chicken after one meal. Nothing. I do boil the carcass for the base of a soup though and throw any left over veg or anything lurking in the fridge in it.

@Ragwort

Lou what size chicken are you recommending that would do three separate meals for a family of five people ? the infamous MN chicken

This is like MN bingo. Was waiting for the magic chicken to make an appearance.

And then person who can get 7 evening meals for 4 or 5 people for less than £20pw. The potion sizes must be toddler-like.