Not enough money for groceries ?

[Cupcakejamlover]

Since having a baby i’m a stay at home mum so we are only relying on my husbands income which is getting a bit tough. (I dont even receive maternity pay). Because of our situation, Dh has set a monthly budget of £300 for groceries. This includes all food, drinks, desert, cleaning equipment, sanitary items, baby wipes etc. To give a little back story: its just me, my husband and 6 month old baby at home who is breastfed so only needs nappies and the odd item from the grocery store and minimal food as we are introducing solids now.
We have implemented this budget a few months ago however i fail to stick to it every single month… i always end up going £30-£40 above, and thats TRYING not to.. now i’m wondering is this an unreasonable amount for a couple with baby? Or am i just not planning/ budgeting correctly? Does anyone have any tips as to how to budget? We live near a large sainsburys so tend to do all our shopping there except meat/chicken.
How much do you spend if you are in similar circumstances?

We live near a large sainsburys so tend to do all our shopping there except meat/chicken

so where are you getting your meat/chicken - if it's from a farm shop that is laudable but expensive.

unlike others, I wouldn't' tell you to rush off to Aldi or Lidl because they don't have the range that Sainsburys does. And it also depends how far away it is, people always forget to factor in petrol. I have a 15 minute drive to my nearest Lidl and can walk to my nearest Sainsburys (and M&S and Waitrose, but they're even more expensive!)

But if you can get everything you usually buy in Sainsburys in a Lidl, then it does make sense to shop there instead. Or get the things you can get in Lidl and then a top up in Sainsburys, which is what my mum does.

Because of our situation, Dh has set a monthly budget of £300 for groceries

Is this a budget one that you agree with your DH and is it reasonable given your household income and outgoings?

I think it's a tight budget. If there were other unnecessary outgoings I'd cull them first and add it to the food budget.

Sainsburys is ££ I'd be looking to shop elsewhere. Is there no way you can return to work sooner if you are struggling to afford basics?

We started off at £500 which was enough for dh, I and dd1. Then dd2 came along and it went to £700.

We spend less than that and we're 3 adults.

I buy the ginormous box of surf that lasts a few months for £10.

Other than that it's just cleaning sprays and bleach. Maybe £3 a week max.

Try aldi nappies and wipes, I don't have a baby but my friends swear by them and they're lots cheaper.

Aldi and you will be fine

Also just read Sainsbury's is nearby.
That is really useful as it saves bus/taxi/fares and fuel.

Are you aware that there are certain times of the week in such supermarkets where prices are drastically reduced. Thursday night?
Or Sunday night?

Often it is possible to buy stuff and put it straight in the freezer. Especially if you don't live far away.

If that were me I would tend to pop in there for a little outing, but check the special offers before hand, be really strict with myself and only buy those, or 'yellow stickered' items.

Also there is an app called 'Too Good To Go' which offers heavily discounted bags and boxes of groceries which are perfectly fine but which the supermarket wants to get rid of quickly.

Quite possible that your sainsburies branch might come up on that and easy to fetch the stuff if you are next door...I don't use it as the shops that do it are too far away, but if it is close I probably would.

I spend £40 a week in term time and closer to £70 a week in school holidays but the £40 is just me and the cat. Weeks I have cleaning stuff I can spend £50-60 easily.

DDs year 3 but still FSM so I don't pay for her meals, so in term time I still pay for her to have sandwiches or beans or something at home.

Definitely not enough for Sainsbury's. Switch to Aldi and non branded products and you'll notice a huge difference. What drinks are you buying? That can bump the weekly cost up. Also nappies will be a large part of it so try switching to cheaper ones. Feed your family for £20 a week has a page on Facebook and you can save money by batch cooking and freezing. If you can afford more and it's just your DH being 'tight' then YANBU.

Terrible, we get 450g of cheese for £2 in Tesco standard range. I’d call that a large block, but perhaps you call it medium.

Re meat quantity per portion of something like bolognase, yes I imagine some people include more. But our bolognase is cooked with top quality mince, lots of veggies and a rich passata and slow cooked for a good while, which makes it a rich sauce. The portions of sauce to go with pasta or lasagne sheets and white sauce are decent amounts.

Given this is a thread about saving money, one really simple way for people to save some is to have slightly smaller meat portions. It doesn’t have to make a meaner or less pleasant meal. Plus it’s probably better for us.

I shop at Tesco. It might not be cheapest but I have it delivered and that prevents lots of impulse buys and saves me time.

I think lots of people could shave £10 per week off their shopping fairly easily…not everyone of course. And for lots of us it would also mean we eat more healthily, in terms of a bit less meat and probably slightly smaller portions. These are both things most of us adults could do with, even if it’s not so relevant to the kids.

Maybe he should do the shopping then.

Are you near aldi or lidl, or tesco they are cheaper. If you shop in the evenings you can get yellow sticker offers. Buying larger packs of own brand is cheaper. Iceland, Wilko and Savers are better for household products and you only need 1 general household cleaner. Local churches to me offer free unused packages goods at the end of each day. Does dh get a meal at work. Why dont you get mat allowance or other benefit help.

@Cupcakejamlover

Since having a baby i’m a stay at home mum so we are only relying on my husbands income which is getting a bit tough. (I dont even receive maternity pay). Because of our situation, Dh has set a monthly budget of £300 for groceries. This includes all food, drinks, desert, cleaning equipment, sanitary items, baby wipes etc. To give a little back story: its just me, my husband and 6 month old baby at home who is breastfed so only needs nappies and the odd item from the grocery store and minimal food as we are introducing solids now. We have implemented this budget a few months ago however i fail to stick to it every single month… i always end up going £30-£40 above, and thats TRYING not to.. now i’m wondering is this an unreasonable amount for a couple with baby? Or am i just not planning/ budgeting correctly? Does anyone have any tips as to how to budget? We live near a large sainsburys so tend to do all our shopping there except meat/chicken. How much do you spend if you are in similar circumstances?

I got it down to about £60 when coming to end of mat leave and there was not more pay for 3 months. This was lockdown with a newborn and 2 children under five at home all day.

I bought from Lidl, they give cash back of £2 when you spend £100, and £10 when you spend the next £100 to amount to £200.

I planned my meals loosely. We are meat eaters, so I bought one cheat meal, say pizza, for dinner, in Lidl's, that 's £1.50 or something. They often had pasta and a topping for lunches, or rice and topping, toast and topping - you get the drift. I bought LOADS of fruits for their snacks, and vegetables to fill tummies. I would buy 2 types of meat for family dinners that kids would eat (chicken/mince), and 3 fish that would be eaten with sides. I would have one other veggie meal. I cooke large so there would be some leftovers. Breakfast was cereal and oat milk each morning. I didn't buy alcohol as I wasn't drinking then due to breastfeeding, and we don't tend to drink at home.

Each month I spent the £200, but only just, maybe £20 over.

Meal planning works.

I did a shop at Sainsbury's around this time out of convenience, it was £80. same shop, really.

If you meal plan and go to cheaper shops you'll do it easily.

Breaking it down into £10 a day shows that it’s not a lot of money for all the family’s daily needs IMO.
Cooking from scratch can be time consuming and a small baby’s needs can easily throw everything off schedule. I can just imagine dinner time and things only half ready because the baby needed extra care that day. Enough to send anybody into PND.
I think DH needs to lower his expectations and settle for easy meals that HE CAN MAKE, TOO. Surely a dish of pasta and some cheese can be made in 15 minutes by anybody.

So Iceland delivery, batch cooking and double portions whenever you do cook. Dried pulses made up to go into more than one dish (lentil salad, lentil curry, sausages and lentils, all tasty) and a variety of things to go with salad like tuna, microwave baked potato and cheese etc. Cheap meat is unethical but beggars can’t be choosers.

Now is also the time to cut out alcohol (DH obv) and takeaways.

16 years ago I used Lidl nappies and they were still a large part of the weekly shop. I’ve tried to like Aldi but it always disappoints (half empty spray cans, veg that goes off, meat that shrivels in the pan) so I prefer Lidl.

@WombatChocolate

Nothing wrong with less meat. We eat veggie meals 3/4 nights a week but I make sure there are protein sources in the meals giving us enough protein. If you're only protein source in the dish us meat, and you cut it down to small portions and bulk out with veg then you might not be getting enough protein.

@SunshineCake1

Maybe he should do the shopping then.

I agree with this. He's set the budget so therefore he should do the shopping for a month. It has to be a month.

Then have another conversation at the end.

What are these "cleaning supplies" that I see all the time on MN budget discussions. A bottle of bleach a month is less than a quid. What are people buying (and using)?

Do you have any friends who are better off, or family? Lots of people stocked up a bit too much for Brexit and have slightly out of date stuff still - get your courage up and ask them to send this your way when they have a larder clear out.

@GurtBusty you need to get on TikTok or Instagram. There’s cleaning fanatics on there flogging all sorts of cleaning products for every job you can think of

@GurtBusty

What are these "cleaning supplies" that I see all the time on MN budget discussions. A bottle of bleach a month is less than a quid. What are people buying (and using)?

Expensively marketed and priced things for every occasion with pseudo-science bull claims in spray bottles.

On a monthly basis we buy:

• washing up liquid, less than a quid
• bleach, less than a quid
• new pack of sponges, less than a quid
• £6.50 on clothes washing liquid
• 10p max a day on dishwasher tablet

Definitely shop at Aldi/Lidl and not at Sainsbury !

Plan your menu every week and then only buy what you need for those meals (best to try to utilise the same veg or meat for more than 1 meal so it goes further e.g Roast chicken on Sunday and chicken stir fry on Mon, so 1 chicken does 2 meals. Then use the leftover raw veg e.g potatoes, carrots and broccoli in another meal on Tues)

Don't buy premium brands e.g Kellogs/ Tetley/ Robinsons/ Gillette etc, buy Value or supermarkets own brands (nappies/ wipes too )

If you're not so good at using all the fruit/ veg you buy, and throwing some out every week, then switch to buying frozen. That way you'll never need to throw any away, because you only need to defrost what you need at the time.

Don't buy ready made baby food (e.g jars/pouches), because it's easier and healthier for them if you give them the same food you have (But cooked without salt), and blend it (or put cooked veg through a sieve and add finely chopped fish/chicken/beef etc as they grow and can tackle some lumps) Processed baby meals have unnecessary additives and preservatives, and they can also give babies a 'taste' for 'processed' type foods.

You can also freeze these homemade baby meals, just get some small lidded tupperware type containers.

Once you've got your meal plan items and your essentials, you'll know exactly what money is left for the luxuries i.e Desserts/ treats.

Don't buy your H the premium brands of razors / deodorant / shampoo etc either. If he want you to stick to a budget, then you all have to do without 'favourite' items.

I think that’s entirely doable

Reusable nappies. No brand foods.

You might have to shop around. I’ve got a friend who feeds 11 people on £150 a week. She shops daily. Make lots of food from scratch. Lots of pasta rice dishes.

Can be fine.

@GurtBusty

What are these "cleaning supplies" that I see all the time on MN budget discussions. A bottle of bleach a month is less than a quid. What are people buying (and using)?

Don't disagree with you at all but it's still Washup liquid Dishwasher tabs Laundry stuff Bleach Kitchen cleaner spray Bathroom spray Binbags Cloths or scourers or what have you

So if you're paying Sainsbury's prices for those things rather than Wilko/Lidl prices there's probably a tenner a month difference. Brand loyalty is a thing too isn't it, I'll buy whatever is on special offer but other people have to have Mr Muscle or Flash or whatever.

Aldi, b and m or home bargains are the best shops. My budget's £60 a week for 2 adults and 2 schoolkids. Meal plan, where you can buy bulk if it's cheaper. (Sometimes it isn't).

I’ve got a friend who feeds 11 people on £150 a week. She shops daily. Make lots of food from scratch.

Whilst breastfeeding a 6 month old baby and laundering all these reusable nappies?