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?

I get 20% fat mince and drain the fat off once I have cooked it. I'm not convinced that it's much worse for you that way than the 5% mince

No I am in SA.

Due to droughts and other factors the large potatoes are not in vast supply, and if you do find them, they are just ridiculously priced. But baby potatoes are easier and quicker to grow (I assume) so that is what we have right now. Up until quite recently, we couldn't even find frozen chips. Those that are available, are imported.

I eat very much seasonally, so have to adapt to what is around and available at the time. We can get all year round produce, but the price is just ridiculous, considering we are in a country where fruit and veg is quite cheap compared to other countries usually.

My very worst is when it is not avocado season. Then I can have a proper sulk as to me, a salad is not a salad without avocado.😀

we are a family of 4 and don’t spend £100 a week on shopping. What are buying?

I also shop for 6 in that budget too! A mixture of Lidl/Asda/Tesco.

My typical weekly shop is around £80, but we do occasional top-ups of fresh stuff, so I would estimate around £100 for 2 adults, including the detergent etc as you say. We do t buy any Freefrom, but we do use a lot of prepared foods.

So I’d be interested to see a receipt and do a comparison.

we use lots of tin foil every week!
pack lunches, lining the grill pan, wrapping left over food in!

@Bertiesmum3 , why don't you use re-usable containers?

@DumboHimalayan Yep- I forgot that- I did know it- I've had them before and I was fine- I am not coeliac though, but am intolerant it seems of anything that involves a lot of gluten, pastry, pasta etc - so I tend to eat about 90% gluten free.

@Bertiesmum3 if you want to cut down on tin foil then there is no need to line the grill pan. Just wash it after use instead. I also have a set of non-stick silicone baking mats which are great for cooking pizza and other items which might stick

I have no idea what you’re buying but last week our shop (2 adults - and I’m pregnant so eating more than I normally do) came to £27!! That covers us for the whole week

£27 for a weeks worth of food - bullshit.

500g mince does me 5 portions of cottage pie
But I add onion/carrot to the mince then serve it with extra veg and pickled red cabbage on the side
Same with pasta - I don't bulk it out with the pasta but tend to add more veg
You're going to get less portions out of mince doing a ragu as opposed to cottage pie because the ragu is just that but the cottage pie you can add to
If that makes sense!

'You're going to get less portions out of mince doing a ragu as opposed to cottage pie because the ragu is just that but the cottage pie you can add to
If that makes sense!'

You can still go for it with the bol sauce with more tomato, onion, lentils, or I don't like mushrooms but people could maybe put mushrooms in it. Some people do even put carrot in it.

@isthismylifenow Blimey, virtually a potato famine. Avocado is slimy and flavourless, isn't it?

@nokidshere It's probably technically possible to eat that cheaply, but what you can get is quite restricted.

To the PP that said you food shop for 2 for £27, could you possibly list the items you got? Would be interested to see. I did work out what the lowest possible budget to eat nutritiously was a while back, and I think I did get it to £12.50ish, but I wouldn't necessarily want to live that way if I could avoid it.

If you can get together with other gluten-free cooks, then bulk buying will save you an awful lot of money.

Just as an example, Infinity Foods sell many different g/f products and also many g/f raw ingredients - flours, pulses etc etc - in bulk packs. Their website has very informative data sheets about many items. (I don't work for them, and other wholesalers are available .) They deliver to most of the UK. They have minimum order sizes depending on location.
https://www.infinityfoodswholesale.coop/how-to-order/

Freee Foods (that spelling; part of the Doves Farm group) also sell bulk packs of various g/f flours and other cooking ingredients:
https://www.freee-foods.co.uk/

Yeah I'm a bit precious about ragu
I'll make other stuff but then call it mince and sauce

I've just reread my post, and realised it could've come across as aimed solely at you personally, and your post; on coming back to it after a break, I can see that the tone I intended didn't come through in my writing. I do apologise and hope you didn't feel targeted — I probably shouldn't post when I've not slept (meaning the bits of my brain that can sometimes make things politeish and clearish are completely offline 🤣)

It was just that your post was a great opportunity to show one facet of why it can be harder to do a frugal shop that's truly safe for those with trace-sensitive food-related medical conditions. It was aimed mostly at those who may be under the impression that if you're coeliac and struggling with food costs, it's as simple as just choosing rice and potatoes instead of spendy GF bread and pasta.

Although the precooked pouches of lentils aren't in themselves a budget option, your post showed how — even for people who have a good awareness of (in this case) gluten, what it is, and where it's most likely to be — products that seem like they must be fine can actually be a total no-go, requiring people with some conditions to make different, sometimes more expensive choices on almost every aisle in the supermarket.

Ooh no, avocados are really tasty. But you do have to zoosh them up a bit. Even just salt and black pepper works well, straight on their own can be a bit bland. We get quite a few different varieties, each are slightly different from each other.

It's one of my favourite pizza toppings. But onto the pizza after it is cooked though. Next up, on toast with sliced tomato.

As for the potatoes, yes a bit of a famine but I've even impressed myself at how many ways you can have some baby ones 😂

Some people are doing bit of Jack don't they.
"My weekly shop is 20 for 3" but it turns out it's just like small top up for fully stocked larder and freezer.

@nameXname
Thank you so much for those links. This coeliac didn't know about those companies.
Being coeliac is expensive - especially if you hanker after the gf Tesco gf chocolate ginger biscuits. They are £2.25 and there are only 8 small ones in the packet!

As for the potatoes, yes a bit of a famine but I've even impressed myself at how many ways you can have some baby ones

@isthismylifenow I love the buttery herby potatoes you can buy here, that'd be nice.

And you can have mini baked potatoes, https://veggiedesserts.com/mini-baked-potatoes/ those can be very moreish. I could just eat them as they come if they were cooked with enough butter/oil/salt.

We have a strict budget of £100 per week for 4 of us (one adult and 3 teens) including all toiletries, kitchen roll, loo roll etc.

We also buy some free-from products.

Depending on what the free-from are, could you do without these? For example, meat substitute stuff is v expensive but lentils are not.

How? How do people do this?
I need £300 PW for 2 adults and 2 children incl cleaning products, loo roll etc.
3 meals x 4 x 7?
How is it possible on £100?
id love to see your shopping receipt.

This is insane! Ours for 2 adults (1 meat eater and 1 veggie) 2 children in nappies is always around £75 per week! I shop at Aldi, ONLY buy set meals, doesn’t include alcohol. You must be buying things you don’t need. I don’t just chuck anything in the trolley either it’s all for a set meal / purpose.

@DumboHimalayan not at all- I didn't take it that way xx I'm lucky that I can eat bits without too much of an effect- I choose not to, rather than medically 'have not to' and I agree that it is a nightmare and expensive if you have to be incredibly careful -

I do an online shop of up to £70 once a week for two adults and buy odds and ends if I need them. We eat meat (usually chicken), some fish and quite a lot of eggs.
My mother was coeliac and didn't like GF bread so used to eat alternatives: porrige for breakfast (GF oats aren't that expensive), brown rice with meals or with snacks, potatoes in various forms, there are so many alternative carbohydrates. She used to knock up pancakes, griddlecaks and scones from potato, grains and GF flours.
There are so many everyday alternatives to expensive free from products, they're nicer and probably more nutricious too.
Honestly, if GF is essential for you I suggest you avoid Free From, it's just an expensive marketing exercise.