Shopping bills out of control

[Banana7]

Hi,

I can't seem to manage to bring my weekly shopping to under £100. There's 4 of us : 2 adults with reasonable appetites, a 7 years old and a 3 years old with little appetites but who like their snacks.

Just today, I bought (from Tesco) :
-mince beef
-2x tinned tomatoes
-2 x kidney beans
-soured cream
-2x bread loaves
-1 grapes punnet
-1x6 crisps pack
-1 pack of fruit juice lollies
-1 hummus pot
-1 breadsticks pack

That came to a total of £19!

I can't seem to pinpoint where I'm going awfully wrong because all of the above will be eaten, there won't be any food waste. I plan to do a chilli con carne with half the mince pack and freeze the rest for a bolognese next week.

I spend about that a day(either as a daily shop or combined as a bigger shop supposed to last us a few days) so that's almost £150 /week and that doesn't include cleaning stuff, alcohol, some of the kids treats, milk and toilet roll, that sort of things.

I don't understand how the average spend for a family of 4 per week is under £100.We don't even need nappies anymore!

Any enlightened thoughts?

Shop at Lidl for as much as possible. Adapt your meal plans to exclude things that you can't get in Lidl. For things you must have, that you can't get from Lidl, buy from Tesco or elsewhere but if non perishable buy a few at a time to limit the times you need to go to another supermarket

Other tips. If you use coconut milk, use block coconut, which is about a quarter of the price. Buy canned goods, toilet rolls, laundry detergent in larger packs where possible, the price per item is often significantly cheaper the more you buy. Unless you are very tight on space or spare money, it makes no sense to buy one item a week when you could buy a 4 pack every month if the price per item works out cheaper. Once you get going with a system like this, you find that you get into a rotation of buying laundry detergent one week, toilet paper the next, beans and tomatoes the week after that, etc etc.

Also be aware of how much of an item you use. People on here talk about using what looks to me like alarmingly high amounts of bleach, laundry products, shower gel, cling film etc etc. This is something we only buy every few months, but on here it sounds like some are buying these things most weeks.

Meat is the main culprit for us. With mince we're down to half red lentil half meat and we buy the £3 chickens and either roast three and freeze the meat or break them down and freeze. They are tiny but it works out cheaper and you don't serve as much when it's on the bone. Agree about pack sizes it helps me if I shop online to work out which is better value.

Shop at Lidl for as much as possible. Adapt your meal plans to exclude things that you can't get in Lidl. For things you must have, that you can't get from Lidl, buy from Tesco or elsewhere but if non perishable buy a few at a time to limit the times you need to go to another supermarket

I already do this :)

In fact. I already do all of that.

That's all good then. You use the cheap supermarket and Tesco if you need to. No need to travel elsewhere.

The problem comes when people only have access to Tesco/Sainsburys/Co-op/Waitrose, but I think people overestimate the cost of travelling further afield.

Eg, if your nearest Aldi/Lidl is 20 miles away, that's 40 mile round trip, which will cost under a tenner in fuel in most cars and many people will be far closer than that even if its not the cheapest supermarket. Most people would save more than that on a week's shopping for a family, or you go less often and stock up, or combine with other trips out.

Of course, it's more difficult if you have to pay for public transport to get there, unless you are already paying for a bus pass. If you don't have a car, and have a cheap shop in walking distance, but not shopping carrying distance (eg up to a mile or so away) get a shopping trolley and walk to the cheap shop instead getting delivery or shopping at a closer but more expensive shop.

I'm on disability benefits so I have to be very careful with my food bill.
1adult, 3 teens. 1 with allergies, 2 with AFRID.
I stick to £40-45 a week (nearer £40 the better) including cleaning products, laundry and hygiene.
Shop on line so no impulse buys. Meal plan every meal and all snacks. Bulk buy (so I'd buy a bag of 30 packets of crisps will last a month). Batch cook. Cook from scratch as much as possible. Bulk out meals with veg/beans/lentils. Buy when things are on offer. I use baked beans to bulk out chilli but use the really cheap stockwell ones but then when I do beans on toast I'll use own brand tesco. Fruit is what ever is cheap (eg consider buying a melon when on offer at a £1 that's several days worth). Snacks/meals are at set times and no picking at food between or grazing. Own brand products.
Typical breakfast choices - toast, fruit, cereal, porridge.
Lunch - beans/egg on toast, sandwich meat/salad, fruit and crisps. Left overs from Evening meal or soup.
Evening meal- chilli/curry with rice, spaghetti bol, shepherd's pie, chicken in pasta sauce, jambalaya, chicken or gammon, veg and mash (use left overs for lunch.
Snacks crackers, rice cake, fruit, yoghurt, biscuits.
It becomes a habit and does get easier.

Here me out - we have found shopping in M and S more cost effective.

Things like egg and breads are actually CHEAPER than most supermarkets.

The fruit and veg is better quality, bigger and lasts through the week and always eaten. Meat goes further as its not pumped with loads of water.

There is much less choice so its much harder to impulse purchase. You go to Asda and are bombarded with a billion options especially for snacks etc.

And def aim for three cheap and easy dinners - beans on toast, jacket potatoes, breakfast for dinner, tomato pasta etc.

I know this isn’t the point of the thread, but just to maybe make you feel better.
I was recently in America, a weeks worth of groceries there came to £200! In the UK it would be about £70. I couldn’t believe how the cost of living out there has spiralled.

Walmart was more expensive than M and S- a cucumber was £3, a loaf of bread £3.50 for a tiny shit loaf, a normal box of cereal was £4, I was pleased to get back to the UK!

I am trying to cut down on tje amount of meat we eat for environmental reasons. I would pad the mince out. I make a kilo of mince do 4 meals for 4 of us (husband 6'2, 1x15 yo, 1 x10yo) I add in green lentils to bulk out the mince.

Or was that the terrible exchange rate we have £ to $?

I just added all the above items into Asda.com and it was £12.76. If you are doing daily shops I think it is likely to cost more. We are a family of 4 two adults a 7 year old and a 5 year old our weekly shop costs around £100. We meal plan and only eat fish or meat twice a week.

Tesco cooking bacon is good. 85p because it doesn't look all lovely and sliced but for adding to pasta, soup, favouring a Bolognese or chilli it's brill. It's not thin so you need to open it and portion before you freeze it's more like the old bacon chops.

I agree. We get all our eggs from M&S - 15 for £2 or so and bacon, sausages and chicken. Bread and milk also good value, as are some canned goods.

Also good reductions and special offers that make a nice treat meal as an alternative to a takeaway such as the recent £15 Italian deal for 4, so probably about half the cost of a takeaway and likely healthier and minimal prep.

Are you buying branded or expensive versions of products? We're a family of 4, two adults, a 3 year old and 1 year old, even when we were buying formula our shop was under £200 a month, now it's roughly £150-170 a month and that's including snacks, alcohol, cleaning products and toiletries plus a top up shop in the 2/3rd week of each month for things like milk, fresh veg, nappies...etc.

@NightOwl101 this week and next:
sweet potato and chickpea curry x2
chorizo, potato and pepper tray bake x2
home made pizza (base and sauce made from scratch)x2
toad in the hole with mash and peas
sausage and mash with peas
Roasted pepper tomato pasta x2
corned beef hash x2
baked potato and tuna/baked beans x2

not always so meat heavy and we switch it around to include different things each time we shop.

lunches are tuna mayo sandwiches, egg on toast, beans on toast, cheese sandwiches and that sort of thing. Home made soup if I’m feeling adventurous. Always served with at least one piece of fruit. Simple stuff mostly.

It’s not an exotic diet by any stretch but it keeps us going!

Local butchers often do deals for £20 eg, chicken breasts, mince, bacon - even buying two deals would only be £40 - check out your local FB pages usually thru advertise on there

For kids snacks
jelly - buy little pots and make up jelly to give as a snack

porridge oats so cheap. Use them to make little tray bakes flapjacks. Add frozen raspberries too

also mini wraps roughly 60p fill with peanut butter, grated cheese

only but crisps that are on special- 6 for £1 or now more like 6 for £1.50

I find Asda cheaper than Aldi or Lidl. I buy veggie meals for half the week. Kidney bean tins black bean etc.

I still have to top up at local Home Bargains or BnM. Savers etc.

Prices are mental. £1.95 for light soya milk! I cannot cope with Asda's own brand so have to get Alpro.

It is frightening that things are jumping up and up. We do not buy alcohol or nappies etc. Just me and 17 year old ds.

I agree. If you compare prices M&S comes in cheaper or level on some items!
They do a big 2.5kg of potatoes at the moment which are great quality for £1 and last at least 10 days.
We get Tesco deliveries on a Sunday and I'd be lucky if the potatoes delivered would last until Friday. This isn't a once off this had happened a few times

Stop buying crisps, juices, biscuits etc. Personally I never did even when mine lived at home apart from special treats. Apart from being unhealthy they all add up on your weekly food bill. Make toast the go to snack, it is very underrated. Mine liked pancakes as a sweet treat, so cheap to make and filling.

groceries.aldi.co.uk/en-GB/p-everyday-essentials-porridge-oats-1kg/4088600021102 70p

groceries.morrisons.com/products/morrisons-porridge-oats-215168011 £1.49

www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/essential-porridge-oats/001224-164-165 £1.40

I still find Lidl and Aldi cheaper overall though - I cannot get my head round the oats being over twice the price in Morrisons as in Aldi for same amount. The Morrisons oats used to be about 75p during the lockdowns.

I am vegetarian and that makes such a difference to food prices - yes am still paying more but meat and fish is such an expense especially if you have to have it 7 days a week as some families do.

Does anyone know if Lidl have permanently stopped stocking their excellent and cheapest soya milk? Had to get Morrisons own brand while out and was twice the cost. I'm very lucky as I have three supermarkets within a mile. I generally favour Lidl but drop in to Asda and Sainsbury's for great reductions and variety. Had a great vegan haul recently in Asda, after 6pm, nearly all freezable. Started making my own falafel recently, pressed into coins rather than balls as easier to quick fry or grill. Cheaper and better and less plastic. I did use veggy mince for a while in shepherd pies, did the job. I do batch cook but havent nailed meal planning.

Not everyone wants to get a frying pan out someone fancies a snack though.

Crisp and biscuits are pretty normal things to buy on a shop.

I find Tesco really expensive, always have.