to ask how to get my food and grocery budget down?

[undercoverPrincess]

I have read posts on here about £35 pw grocery shops, how???

There are five of us, one in nappies, and I struggle with £150 pw. I do try and buy healthy food and cook from scratch as much as possible.

I'd use a lot of mince. Eggs. Peas store well in freezer - keeps their vitamins. Buy fruit and veg that are in season. Sometimes they discount fruit that they get a bumper crop of. Use tinned tomatoes for sauce rather buying ready made pasta sauce. Use lightly fried diced onions and a little bit of sugar if using sauce for fish or chicken, use the salt and fat from mince if making bolognese to get rid of the slightly sour/tart taste of the tomatoes. Wait for the nappies to go on offer -eg discount on a box of about 100, then bulk buy several boxes (but make sure you plan for when they need next size up).

Hi there
We have moved your thread
Thanks MNHQ

Really look at the branded stuff you buy, always try the cheaper ones until you find one you like. I remember when DD1 was a baby I thought she needed branded nappies and always bought them, eventually I realised that Asda's own brand nappies are much better than both brands and cost a lot less!

Do you meal plan? Because that saves a lot of money as you are buying specific things for meals, also stops impluse purchases.

My DD's packed lunch is mostly fruit, veg and a sandwich and I make her jelly in individual pots, costs 34p for the entire week and is a nice treat in her lunchbox.

This week I spent £35 on food shop including £5 on nappies, but I do spend an extra £10-15 in other shops getting cleaning products, shampoo etc and wipes, all very cheap in home bargain. Shopping around helps a lot.

I usually spend about £80-100 per week for family of 6 (one in night time nappies). I meal plan, go to Aldi, farm foods and just stock up in Asda for bits and bobs can't get elsewhere. Try and do a couple of really cheap meals like corned beef hash/tuna pasta bake/egg and chips twice a week and loads of things like chilli, bolognese that can be bulked out with veg, tomatoes or pulses then half frozen for next week. Also, try to buy a joint that can do for 2 meals. So roast chicken one day followed by chicken curry or pie or something. Have found that frozen veg for casseroles, stir fies etc is much cheaper and easier but only have that about once a week. We don't really have loads of luxuries but having said that there's always plenty of bagels, crumpets, crisps and yoghurts etc for snacks and it seems to be enough! Don't think I could do it for any cheaper though.

AnnaFender I don't know when your dd was a baby but Asda's own brand were abysmal when I tried them (2001). Sainsbury's were ok.

Shop at Aldi.

I did most of what we needed for a week the other day, apart from milk as we buy organic and they don't stock that, and it cost me about £30. The choice is limited but that's good as it means you don't buy too much random stuff. things liek baked beans (not heinz but fine!) and tinned toms are sooooo much cheaper, also fresh fruit and veg, it doesn't last as long IME but that's OK.

Cut down on your meat - we try only to buy organic/free range meat but in fact I am cutting that down to 2-3 times max per week, one chicken breast used in a risotto with leeks and mushrooms etc.

Buy things like soap powder, loo roll, pasta, tins in bulk when on offer.

£150 is a lot for a family of 5 I think, even with all the bits we do (that £30 Aldi shop to be fair didn't include lots of things we don't buy every week like pasta, washing powder etc) we only spend £100 max. Oh just read yr second post, if it includes lunches for all then that makes a difference, school lunches cost me £30 a week for my 3. Still you could cut the processed stuff liek crisps and cheesestrings, I imagine they all cost quite a bit.

Buy fruit and veg at markets rather than supermarket, fresher and much cheaper.

Look for promotions in the supermarket and bulk buy. I shop in Asda, they have 90 wash boxes of Surf on offer at the moment for £7.50.

I also go in late afternoon and pick up reduced meat to freeze. My freezer is rammed too but I take off the packaging, cut off the label and shove the meat and label in a food bag. I also do buy reduced bags of veg and freeze them.

Home Bargains, if you have one are great for toiletries. Ditto pound shop, brand name toothpaste for instance.

Dont buy cheestrings and frubes, they are expensive crap. I rarely buy anything that isn't on offer or reduced thinking about it and our cupboard, fridge and freezer are always full.

Marking thread

We only spend £30-35 a week for both of us on food, thats 3 meals a day and snacks. This is what I do.

Personally I would buy some little plastic tupperware tubs in asda, they would hold enough yoghurt for a child sized portion for lunch and then they wouldnt know what brand it was. It would be better for the enviorment too if you bought one large tub of yoghurt and used that.

I use sains basic bio powder, basic cleaners all round in fact. I only use fabric softner on sheets and delicates. We live in a hardwater area and I havent noticed a difference. I only use 3 tablespoons of powder per wash, I use washing up liquid as stain remover for coloureds and bleach sprayed on for whites. Things like colour catchers, whitener and colour run remover I use homebargains for. Their own brand colour catchers are really cheap and work as well as Dylon ones.

For delicate washes I use Alur from homebargains, only 89p a bottle compared to woolite at £4!.

I use mainly frozen basic vegetables from asda or sainsburys. Much less waste.

Aldi meat is actually really good, I am currently addicted to a rectangular italian salami. We have the frozen roasts too, the gammon one is fab. I havent tried the pork as it has cows milk in and I have an allergy to it.

For potatoes I use a local farm shop, 5kg of Wilja pots are 60p. They taste better than supermarket ones too. I have to wash them but it's not great hardship. All potatoes came like that when I was little.

If you want branded stuff I second Homebargains, or the pound shop. They do tuna, anti pasti stuff is only a £1 a jar and it tastes great. B&M is a similar chain but I dont have one near by.

Have you tried sains basic tea bags? they taste really nice, we have had them for the past 15 months and DH hasnt noticed at all. I bought 15 boxes for £4.50ish and they will last me pretty much all year. We used to have PG Tips from Costco but I decided I wasnt paying a penny a bag for tea.

I use tesco daisy powder for the dishwasher, one tablespoon per cycle gets everything clean and the whole box should last me a whole year. I use pound shop rinse aid as it has the same active ingredients as Finish.

I think with the basics ranges it really is a matter of trail and error. I prefer sains basic pasta to asda purely because it is made from 100% duram wheat. dont like the pasta sauce but aldi passata is so cheap and with a few herbs from homebargains thrown in you would not know the difference. I have smartprice soya milk now because Aldi put theirs up by 6p and again I cant tell a difference.

If you have a farm foods near they do 8 pints of milk for £1.80. You can freeze milk too.

It's all about shopping around and seeing whats out there, I dont mind going in to town every so often and bulk buying whatever I need. Parking in the free 30 minute on-road parking of course.

If you live in a hard water area try using vinegar as a kettle descaler, you pour it in cold, leave it overnight and decant it back in the next morning. I use the smartprice one and descale 2-3 times a week.

If you don't drive, get a bag on wheels. Seriously. You will feel a fool the first couple of times, until you realise that you are buying a week's shopping and not getting backache/having split bags/cutting your fingers off with bag handles. Then you will stop feeling a fool and start feeling smug :)

Ooh, and Iceland deliver. You go in, do your shopping like normal, then give your address at the till and they deliver for free. Quite often within an hour from my local one - you choose a slot.

I used to live in Preston, and the veg stall in the market that I used would deliver too. Very useful.

OP You sound exactly like me a few years ago

^Only about £20 of budget is meat / fish I used to be veggie but we now have chicken breasts and salmon fillets 2-3 nights.
We have cereal / toast for breakfast and the kids have a cereal bar too. Lunch is Sandwiches for us with lunchbox things for kids (cheesestrings, frubes, fruit, crisps, drink), and dinner - I do the same for us all most nights.
The toiletries / detergent etc bump the £ up as do all the cheese / ham type sandwich fillers^

that is a good idea but my house is tiny and my freezer is full!! I have veg in the bottom drawer, chips / potato products / frozen fish in the middle and pizzas / bread / ice cream in the top

Also my children don't eat stews or cottage pie type meals

I could have written that then. There is myself, dh, and ds who was then 2. I spent near enough £100 a week on our shopping which includes the little midweek trips to the shops for bread, milk ect. I thought that was ok!

Then one week, the bank stopped any money coming out of our account and we had nothing. It all went bad, luckily we have some brilliant friends who helped us out until we got back on our feet! I had to bring the budget right down because I didn't have a choice. Now we're sorted and spend a total of £60 pw on everything!
I'm not saying by any means that you will be in this position but cutting your budget down helps in anyway, its worth it!

1.Chicken and salmon are among the more expensive meat and fish. try cheaper things/options you will be surprised
2.Make your own cereal bars. Shop bought ones are a complete rip off!
3.Kids lunchboxes. They don't need cheesestrings. Buy them very occasionally for a treat. Frubes are also expensive for what they are. Big pot of yoghurt and mix your own flavours. Kids will probably like them more because 'they made them'
4.Chips/bread/potato products take up a stupid amount of space in a freezer. Buy bread as and when you need it.. Buy pots and make chips from scratch. Much nicer! Ice cream? Necessary? Also a takes a big space!
5.Only buy toiletries that are on offer. Dont' stick to a brand. Its all the same stuff anyway. Same with cleaning products.
6.If you have to go to a shop for bread. Take £1.50 with you. A loaf of bread will not cost anymore than that, it will stop you buying crap!
7.As for your children not eating stew like meals. Turn hard! They will when they are hungry! Don't give in.

Sorry if I have repeated anything, but it does sound to me like you think you can't do much more when you really can. I was shocked at how little I could do a decent shop for when I really thought about it and stopped buying "treats" every week. I do all of the above, no one feels hard done by!
£60 a week is a comfortable shop for us now, if we have a tight week I can knock it down to around £40 probably less if need be!

Good luck!

Sorry about the long post ^ Me rambling!

On cheesestrings/frubes: We currently have both in our fridge, but because they happened to be cheap - the cheesestrings were 3 packs for £1 and the frubes were about the same. The week before I got 10 of those small bottles of water (like fruit shoots) for £1. The week before that it was ten of those "elevenses" oaty biscuity things for 50p. So we still have treats, and they are more exciting because they are different each week.

Cottage pie: My mum reckons that cottage pie is expensive, but for four people she uses two packs of mince, an entire packet of bleached (ie no soil) potatoes, an entire pack of branded cheese, and then chucks anything not eaten away. I probably go the other way - for four trays (so enough for all four of us - but the DDs are small - twice and just me and the girls another two times) I use half a pack of mince, three handfuls of lentils, two onions, some frozen peas, some carrots, some celery (chopped up tiny tiny really enhances flavour) and some bits of bacon (makes the whole thing taste meatier while having less meat in it) then potatoes from a big bag, bit of proper butter (more expensive, but a little goes a long way) some milk and some grated cheese from a huge cheap block that I divide up and freeze for use in cooking etc. Then I freeze all the stuff we are not using immediately or for lunch the next day. More flavour, healthier, cheaper and doesn't sit like a brick in your belly.

Interested in yoghurt making...

Downtroddenabby i make mine like this though I use the aircupboard/top of radiotor other times of year

airing cupboard/top of radiator. I really must learn to check before sending

I think Lakeland do youghurt making kits, you could see what is needed then buy it cheaper off eBay. There is bound to be someone selling one cheap because they lost interest in it.

Damn cows milk allergy spoils all my fun.

YY to lentils, I had red lentil and bacon soup for lunch, I didnt really need dinner.

Thanks - I am googling now...

We started shopping at Aldi after a particularly expensive Christmas! We still shop there now.

I absolutely LOVE Aldi!! I get a real kick out of saving money there and so do alot of other people, its constantly busy there now.

I spend roughly £70-80 a week on food for a family of 5 (including a perpetually ravenous 14yo!)

Typical meals for us during the week are:

Spag Bol (tho have to admit we do this with quorn which you can't get at Aldi so I buy at Tesco 2 packs for £3)

Chicken casserole using chicken breasts, a couple of peppers and a jar of pasta sauce with rice

Haddock fillets (4 breaded for £2.49, v good quality, lots more fish than batter!), mash and broccoli

Toad in in the Hole with fried onions and jacket potatoes

Pizza, chips and baked beans (well, it is Friday!)

The fruit is lovely and excellent value, as is everything else actually!!

I used to shop at Asda but would always get distracted and buy clothes, a magazine etc, this is another plus point at Aldi, its very small so you only get what you need.

We saved approximately £100 a month by swapping to Aldi.

Our aldi has quorn mince in the freezer.

Bronze that chocolate yoghurt looks seriously good, I will be trying that! Reading through this thread it seems like I can't do much more to reduce our food bill, except, erm, maybe eat less . Made a goulash big enough for 6 according to the recipe tonight with a view to freezing half, and me and DP have yomped 3/4 of it .

ooooh Fluffy maybe I'm not looking in the right place, tho I do think my Aldi is quite a small one. Small and perfectly formed

8ducks, if you feel that you are eating too much try having a large glass of water about 20 mins before you eat.

8ducks we used to do that too - I'd cook a meal thinking there'd be enough for two days and we'd just eat most of it in one. Not good for weight or budget! The thing that worked for me was to separate the next night's portion before sitting down for dinner so we couldn't have seconds.