AIBU to ask for help to get groceries down?!

[Chihuahuacat]

I keep reading on here how people spend about £300 a month on groceries for a family of four.

There’s just 2 of us and 2 cats and this month we’ve spent £460!! I don’t know where I’m going wrong...

meals have been (these are split between me and DH):

Today -
Bottle of red wine
Chicken and roasted veg / potatoes
Avocado and egg on ryvita
Baby bell
Snack a Jack
1 Aldi moser Roth chocolate (I’ve had one of these each day to save me listing it out).

Saturday:
Fish finger brioche sandwich (Aldi brioche, fish fingers from the freezer so no spend in the £460)
Half a pizza express margarita pizza
Bistro bagged salad
Sun dried tomatoes
Parmesan (from the fridge)
Bottle of Prosecco (Aldi £7).

Friday:
Turkey burgers (homemade) in the Aldi brioche buns, Sweet potatoe wedges
Lunch was leftovers from Thursday night.

Thursday:
Lunch: homemade chicken pie and veg (leftover)
Dinner: chicken breast with quinoa, broccoli (Nando’s flavour bag).

Weds:
Lunch: leftovers (the salmon as below).
Dinner: chicken pie as above.

Tuesday:
Lunch: leftovers (sausage and mash)
Dinner: tinned salmon, lettuce, eggs, green beans.

Monday:
Lunch: cream cheese bagel
Dinner: sausage and mash

I don’t really eat breakfast (maybe have a baby bel), husband has cereal. We bulk buy cat food / litter and buy about 8 bottles of wine a month (from Aldi, probably under £50). No alcohol in the week. Share a bottle sat / sun.

Laundry detergent etc is bulk bought so it’s not that. No real waste as we always have leftovers for lunch the next day.

We do buy nice instant coffee from not being in the office, but that’s about £3.

Will buy things like Diet Coke, mini eggs but not much at all, maybe once a week. A packet of snack a jacks.

Am I going horribly wrong or is this just what it costs? We obviously try and eat fairly healthy but nothing excessive I don’t think?

Any tips? We can afford it but I’d love to get it down, it feels like such a waste. We probably get takeaway a couple of times a month on top of this as well!!

I’ve attached a pic of my spending!

@ElephantsNest thanks for the recipe! Looks good I’ll give that a go :)

There's two of us in the household and we spend about £50- 60 per week on food. For weeks where we buy toiletries, washing powder - it'll be more but we often bulk buy when there is a discount. Appreciate that some people can't. We also have a freezer so if there is a discount on meats we buy more. some people would think £50-60 is a lot as well.

We usually get crisps but no other snacks and we don't drink so that really helps. We actually cook extra for one meal and use the rest for lunch leftovers quite often. We eat meat most meals but am trying to cut down.

My tip would be meal plan, bulk buy, and use store brand products - bread, pasta, cheese, grains like couscous.
And use online grocery shop often. That way you can see exactly what you are buying and you're not adding a quid or two of things in your basket. Meat meals can be bulked up with lentils and veges. For example, a 300g pack of mince covers two meals at least ( made into meatballs for pasta, we do some Asian recipes as well where we season with soy sauce). We feel generally we eat well.

I think cutting down on non food like snacks flowers and having a meal plan will make a huge difference. Good luck Op!

My tips would be...

Go shopping once a week with a meal plan and a budget. It looks like you are shopping when you fancy rather than working with what you have already got. Ban yourself from going the shops more than once a week

You are adding ££s to your bill in treats (alcohol and chocolate or sweets) not saying that's a bad thing but obviously adds up

Similar to my spend but 3 of us and we eat very well including £30 a week on hello fresh, veggie ready meals for the fussy one, coffees out etc, I know we spend a lot

Why don't you try click and collect and meal plan to give it a try?

The budget amounts don't include alcohol or lots of treats. 8 bottles of wine is £60-80 straightaway

It might be worth you popping over to The Oldstyle Moneysaving board over on MSE and having a go at the Grocery Challenge.

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/old-style-moneysaving

Tnh I think it is quite simple. You go shopping too often and eat cooked lunches. If lunches were leftovers or simple things like, dips, soups and sandwiches you would be spending less especially if you made your own sandwich fillers. You also shop at a range of supermarkets some of which are expensive. I spend about £280-300 a month and we are a family of 4, 2 adults, two preschoolers. I buy meat in bulk and freeze, lunch is leftovers, or simple foods that don't need to be cooked as such. Dinner is varied and homecooked and leftovers can be eaten for dinner the next day rather than lunch so I don't need to cook everyday. We also have at least two to three days a week that are meat free. I do a meal plan and change it up often but will stick to my budget otherwise it could easily get out of hand. It is all about choices.

Easy wins:

• don't buy pouches of rice. Very expensive. Boil your own, it only takes 15 minutes.

• avoid expensive unseasonal imported veg or choose frozen or tinned so things don't go off and get wasted. We eat loads of carrots, swede, potatoes, onions, apples, tinned fruit etc at this time of year.

• Build meals around meat, fruit and veg you can get cheap, rather than pick a meal plan and then buy the ingredients at whatever cost

• you are frequently eating meat twice a day because of eating up leftovers. Cook just enough meat, once a day at most

• designate two days a week as vegetarian

• make a large batch of something cheap like bolognese sauce and freeze. Bulk it out with cheap protein like lentils. Batch cooking is good value and you won't need the regular top up shops

• Learn to enjoy simpler lunches: cheese and onion toasties, beans on toast, tomato sandwiches, hummus and lettuce in pitta, jacket potato and grated cheese