To not be able to food shop for cheaper?

[cheesetriangles]

I’ve tried all the supermarkets possible but can’t manage to get our weekly food shop for less than £100.

(£100 is inclusive of all food, toiletries, cleaning products, detergent, vitamins, kitchen/loo roll, tin foil etc)

It’s only two adults eating but we do have to buy some free from products in that. We don’t buy alcohol. I’ve been to all the supermarkets and just can’t do it for cheaper at any. We eat very little meat, maybe the weekly shop includes two meat products that’s it. I wish I could save on this but maybe that’s just not practical with the cost of living? AIBU?

This is a bit of a weird thread now as the OP has gone AWOL, but people are still giving her advice!

I am gluten free. I'm intolerant not coeliac.
If someone is coeliac, I though they got free prescription items?

Most of the FF foods are crap, TBH.

They are ultra processed (using millions of emulsifiers and gum to replace gluten).

The most that I buy is a loaf of FF seeded bread and I eat one slice every other day either as toast or an open sandwich. The packs of cakes and biscuits are £££ and very sweet/processed.

If we have cakes or deserts, I used Dove's Flour to make my own.

I tend to have Greek yoghurt and fruit for breakfast, sometimes eggs and have oat cakes instead of bread, home made soup or a salad for lunch and a cook from scratch dinner.

I've been doing this for years and it's not hard or expensive. What IS expensive is paying £2.50 for a pack of biscuits or gluten free cake.

Rice pasta is quite cheap and lentil pasta is nutritious.

OP can't be bothered to engage or post a receipt, but if you are reading @cheesetriangles maybe you can get some ideas here!

@Takeaminute that's how I do it. The only GF specific things I buy are gravy granules, crispbread and oat cakes

Maybe you've found some cheap beans that have no wheat — I have no idea, perhaps most bean brands are gluten-free, but I only know about Branston because they're the ones I like.

But that's not the point, at least how I look at it. To me, the issue that's not often obvious, at least to those who don't deal with this or similar restrictions, is the reduction of choice.

Say you want Klingon f'baq sauce. A normal person can choose to buy

• a not very authentic cheap jar for 50p
• a standard own brand jar for £1.50
• a branded jar for £1.79
• a fancy brand jar for £2.60
• an imported jar for £2.95
• a giant catering jar for £6.99
• a premium own-brand fresh pot from the refrigerated section for £3.99
• frozen cubes in trays of a dozen for £2.80
• or all the fresh ingredients to make it themselves at home.

F'baq sauce might be one of those things where every brand is pretty much always safe (though you still have to check), or one of those things that's always unsafe. But with a lot of products, you find that while some brands are fine, most have "may contain" notices, or small amounts of gluteny ingredients.

Maybe all of them are no good, and you have to go and buy ingredients, and I don't care how much people claim otherwise, that's almost never cheaper, and risks fucking up and wasting food (money). Maybe only the refrigerated one is safe, or only the catering pack, or only the manky cheap one, or (most likely) only the premium ones.

Very often you get funnelled into having to buy something that's more expensive than you'd ordinarily choose, not because it's from the free-from section but because tiny ingredients or manufacturing practices render a lot of the choices unsafe. Not always the cheaper ones, but often.

Heinz baked beans do not contain gluten.

I've never ever seen Branston beans.

I don't live in the UK, so of course I can't comment on particular shops etc.

But, do you have factory shops? Shops linked to a certain manufacturer where you can buy in bulk or possibly even because there is a small fault with the product.

I never buy cleaning material in a normal supermarket. As these I always get in bulk and they last me 6 months or even more sometimes. Like for an example I have in 15l of fabric softener in right now, which is the wrong colour, so it was on clearance in 5l containers. It is a bit of an outlay at the time, but it cost so much less than supermarket prices. I actually get quite a shock when I see the prices of washing powder, and just general cleaning items in the supermarkets. The same with toiletries. Shampoo/ soaps etc are all bought in bulk. Also when there is a really good offer, then I will for eg, get 3 deodorants, which then can be off the normal shopping list for a while. In the meantime I look around for other bulk deals and keep a bit of a stockpile going. So when I do go to the shops (I only shop every 2nd week), then all I need is food, and not all the other things that really cause the total to add up.

Also, do you have the cheap shops that sell off the items that are close to their sell by date, or actually just passed the date? I don't get too upset if I can get shampoo or body wash that is due to expire within the next month, as how off can it really go?

And I am really not too brand fussy now. I have tried most brands and if I decide one is a no go, then I won't buy it again, but tbh a lot of the time, the in store branded items are not terrible. Talking things like tinned food, cereal etc.

I used to just have a habit of buying the same thing. But I don't shop online, I go into the shop and then am able to pick and choose better, rather than just repeating the last order. Not sure about for you there, but a lot of the time in the in store specials are much better than online ones. It is a good way to experiment with new things, different brands, but you have to use them... no point getting something new to try and then not incorporating them into a meal.

Say you want Klingon f'baq sauce.

What is this sauce?

Is it an essential we all buy?

Never heard of it.

If someone is coeliac, I though they got free prescription items?

Not me. I asked about it once or twice and was brushed off.

And when I found out what it would actually cost the NHS each time to provide me with e.g. a single loaf of crappy bread, I felt too guilty to get all militant with them about being entitled to prescription food. (I even have to buy my own vitamins, despite being instructed by my gastroenterologist and GP to take certain ones.) Besides which, most areas have been trying their damnedest to reduce food prescriptions for coeliacs as much as they possibly can.

It's OK imo if OP has cleared off now.

Lots of useful information on here for others to take away.

Only if you care about your Klingon cuisine being truly authentic.

I also did not know there was Star Trek foodstuffs.

But I will live long and prosper regardless.

There aren't, @isthismylifenow, I just made up an imaginary product so I could illustrate my general point (which applies to a greater or lesser extent across most packaged foodstuffs), and not get sidetracked into "Well I make my own using wallpaper paste and acorns and you can't tell the difference" or "Actually, there's a really cheap and really good brand of this that's gluten free (that you can only buy in three branches of an obscure supermarket in Devon, and which has no allergen info online)".

If you want a real example, crisps will do. All Walkers are out, which includes lots of things that aren't obviously Walkers like Doritos or Wotsits. Also no Pringles, most KP are out, etc. My choices are limited to own-brand or (mostly) premium brands. It's not particularly consequential, being crisps, which you can always just not buy, but less choice gives you less budgetary flexibility.

Same (100-110£) for 2 adults and 2 dogs, but we are working from home full time (so it is 3 meals a day) and both are into fitness with quite a lot of protein (meat/fish/eggs/tofu) with every meal. South West coast, online groceries delivery - no impulse buys, planning meals ahead.

If someone is coeliac, I though they got free prescription items?
Nope. Some areas of the country don’t prescribe gluten free food at all. Other areas do but it’s very limited, and you have to pay a prescription charge like you would for any other medication.

In my area you can be prescribed two gluten free items per week, for which you need to pay an annual prescription charge of £111 per year. Then you have to order your gluten free items from the pharmacy and wait up to a fortnight for it to arrive. Then either collect it from the pharmacy or pay them £4 to deliver to your house. Then you end up with 8 loaves at once and have to freeze and defrost it. Or I can buy a loaf of free-from bread from the supermarket for £2.75 (way more convenient and I can get it fresh, as and when I need it).

I can see how the prescriptions would be good for people who get free prescriptions because they’re on pensions or benefits. But everyone else is better off just buying gluten free bread from the shop.

Completely unreasonable. That is 400 per month on food for two of your without alcohol.

Meal plan and budget better.

For instance:

Make a huge pot of ragu/bolognese. 10 portions. Freeze. Mince/onion/carrot/celery/mushrooms/ tinned toms/herbs/splash of wine. Could make cheaper if you use lentils.

Make a huge pot of chilli/veg chili/jackfruit chili. Again, aim for around 10 portions. Feeeze. You can eat this with rice, couscous, on jackets, in wraps etc.

Repeat with a stew/goulash/curry/shepherd's pie/daah/cacciatore/soups/pasta sauce etc.

Soon you will have stores of healthy, home cooked meals in your freezer, even if you batch cook one meal a week.

Then look at lower cost meals. Buy one chicken, roast and strip the meat. From this you could have a roast dinner, chicken stir fry, casserole, soup for little money.

Shop smarter. Don't eat what you want, rather look at the offers for that week and plan meals around them.

But with a lot of products, you find that while some brands are fine, most have "may contain" notices, or small amounts of gluteny ingredients.
I sometimes find that a product I’ve eaten safely for years has, for no apparent reason, suddenly had gluten added.

Or the gluten label is in an obscure place and I didn’t see it in the supermarket.

Or half of the tins are made in one factory which is gluten free, while the other half are made in a different factory which uses gluten - and the labels are identical apart from a tiny “gluten” word. And I’ve bought ten so I have a mix of both types.

Or I buy the product e.g. milk and don’t check the label because there’s no way there’s gluten in milk - except there is.

Then I end up with ten items that I have to give away because I can’t eat them. It pushes my food bill up a lot.

Or I buy the product e.g. milk and don’t check the label because there’s no way there’s gluten in milk - except there is.

Then I end up with ten items that I have to give away because I can’t eat them. It pushes my food bill up a lot.

Can you explain how there is gluten in milk please @Spirro

Do you have coeliac?

Make a huge pot of ragu/bolognese. 10 portions.
10 portions is going to be about £20 of beef mince. Firstly most people can’t fork out for £20 of meat all at once. Secondly how is it cheaper to make 10 portions and freeze it, rather than just cooking two portions at a time?

Can you explain how there is gluten in milk please @Spirro
Yes I have coeliac. Beats me how there is gluten in milk! But Aldi almond milk contains gluten. So do Morrisons prawns. How the hell there is gluten in raw prawns, I don’t know. But there is. I had to give away a £6 packet of king prawns that I’d bought as a treat.

10 portions is going to be about £20 of beef mince.

Of course it's not.

You can get 4 portions at least out of a 500gm pack of mince. (Tesco £2.49 or their better quality £5 for 500gms.)

More if you add some brown or green lentils.

A portion of red meat is supposed to be around 60-70gms per day, max, if you're trying to eat healthily.

We rejigged our food budget to increase it.

Food is one of the few joys we have, we dont drink, smoke, spend money on hair or fancy clothes. We ry and compensate with a couple of beans on toast or tomato pasta dinners during the week.

I cannot imagine anything more depressing than rinsing tinfoil or living on pulses and beans,

Almond 'milk' is not milk though is it? @Spirro
It's a plant milk-sub.
The gluten will be in to thicken it.

By 'milk' I assumed you meant cows milk.

Prawns? Did they have a coating of some sort? Normally frozen prawns are just prawns and sometimes salt.

@Spirro Morrisons prawns don't contain gluten. Out of interest I've looked. One sort has an allergy alert on the packet that they may contain a whole range of allergens, from wheat, to soy, to milk etc.

This is not an ingredient, but means they are possibly prepared in an environment where there may be some slight cross contamination.

Obviously for anyone with coeliac, reading all the small print is a must!

Agree the majority of gluten free products from the supermarket are rubbish with the exception of pasta and even then depends where its from! I don't bother with gluten free bread, cereals.
The May contain is often because its used on same production equipment but some things that contain gluten are bizarre like yogurts, (sometimes used as a thickening agent) sweets, even drinks!

If the OP is still reading then yes it's definitely cheaper to cut your bill. I cook 2 large pieces of meat a week (1 whole chicken then either pulled pork or stewing beef). It serves our family of 4 I just strip it down or use it in multiple recipes. For the chicken it does 6 meals of 3 dinners and 3 lunches. Beef or pork are 2-3 dinners.

For vitamins only buy when on offer!

Again back to what I said about living on cheap carbs and developing diabetes. It’s not healthy to have 100g of meat and 300g of pasta to fill you up cheaply.

A portion of protein should be the size of your fist. You should be having a 200g portion of meat and maybe 50g of pasta. Not cheap white pasta either - good quality whole grain pasta. And not cheap fatty mince - the expensive 5% fat mince which is a fiver for 500g.

A “may contain” label means you have to treat it as if it contains the allergen. If the packet says “may contain wheat” then it basically contains wheat, and anyone who can’t have wheat can’t safely eat it.