Food shopping/meal planning

[Namechanger355]

Hi

Im on Mat leave with my second baby and thinking about (and concerned) the costs involved when I return to work later this year and have two lots of childcare and our mortgage payments increase (double whammy)!

one thing we are really bad at is meal planning. Post lockdown we haven’t done weekly shops in a while and instead have gone to our local Sainsbury’s as and when needed

my husband is coeliac which means we need a good free from range.

but what do people do in terms of meal planning and shopping to keep costs low?

we have access to most of the supermarkets (and online ones too). Aldi looks great but i suppose a weekly online shop would be easier - but seems expensive?

Any tips welcome!

I'm on a very tight budget and also disabled so shopping in store can be difficult.
I meal plan every meal and order from tesco.
There's no impulse buying. I also have a coeliac in family so use free from section (although try to buy items that are naturally gluten free).
I batch cook. Can see online when my favourites are on offer and can order them which saves money in the long run.
I have the after 3pm deal for tesco delivery because that's the cheapest. I also shop every 8 days rather than 7.

We use Tesco click 'n collect, so I can keep an eye on spending. I usually look at their '3 for €10' offers on main ingredients - mince, chicken fillets, cod steaks etc. - and start by putting 2 of those (so €20) in my basket, then shopping for the additional ingredients needed - buns for burgers, sides for chilli, chips and mushy peas for fish, and so on. After that I add the usual dog treats and dog food, and then see how much wriggle room is left for treats and special items - this week I've gone for a meal deal - €10 for 2 pizzas (I usually make my own, but hey ho), a bag of Finest chips, and a tub of Magnum ice cream. That'll make DH the other adult in the household happy, and it gives me a night off cooking from scratch. Win win. Shopping bill for next week now stands at €100 for three adults and two dogs.

Thank you

it’s interesting you both use Tesco - for some reason I didnt realise Tesco delivery was that popular.

Also use Tesco here. I have found delivery means I don't impulse buy. Shopping would be cheaper at Lidl in theory but

1. I'm rubbish at sticking to a list and do too much impulse buying
2. I find I often can't get items on my list so end up with a trip to Tesco anyway- double impulse buying!

Delivery eliminates that mostly.

I book a delivery slot over the weekend for the following Friday, then meal plan on Thursday evening and complete the shop to be delivered the following day.

I'm trying to plan to do 1 item of baking a week for my DD's snacks- she is 1 and all the pre prepped toddler snacks are so expensive.

However I do an occasional Lidl trip for a couple of items I much prefer there. And an occasional Aldi trip for baby wipes.
I paid for off-peak delivery saver with Tesco as it works out cheaper than paying for delivery every week.

Our household have switched to the supermarkets own brands on most food. We buy a lot of our meat from our local butchers as they have deals like 6 different meats £30 (think chicken fillets, whole chicken, diced beef, pork steaks, beef mince, 6 burgers, 8 sausages, etc) or 3 platters for £15 ( think chops, steaks, drumsticks)

Also when going into supermarket check out reduced/ yellow sticker.

Also things that have gone past best before date (dry goods mainly) as it's still legal for shops to sell at a reduced price but clearly marked too....

I meal plan by sitting down each Saturday and looking at what we still/already have left and what meals I can make out of it. I then just write all the meals down for the rest of the week and do a list for what I need to top up those bits we already have to make meals.

Take packed lunches to work, make a tea/coffee at home for the commute so you don't buy one. My BF takes in a packed lunch but I prefer to go to Aldi near work and buy a pack of pita and filling and crisps to keep there, then I have no excuse.

Personally I would just make sure to make dinners from scratch so you don't have to buy free from ranges or as little of that as possible, if possible but then again I don't have allergies.

I cook meals in the week I wouldn't give the kids on weekends, cook one meal for us all on the weekends.

Get a slow cooker if you don't have one, great for cheap healthy meals on the weekend to feed all the family.

We do our shop in Lidl and I pop in to Aldi in the week on my lunch break if we need anything.

I batch cook for a few nights at a time, and make soup for lunch for the week. Could you eat more potatoes and rice to cut down on expensive free from items? If oats are okay then porridge for breakfast?