£100

[IveGotToGoToMeDads]

Want to cut back on the food shop and spend only £100 a week between now and december.
2 adults & 1 child, is this possible.
What should i buy already started buying unbranded beans etc...

For me, the key is meal planning and sticking to it. Online shop, so you can just purchase the things that you need - but also search for deals on specific products.

If you haven’t got one, get a 6+ litre slow cooker that has a timer and batch cook. Pop everything in, in the morning and leave it to cook on low.

I knock up chilli / Spag bol / fajita mix / beef stew / jambalaya / sheps pie mix / butter chicken / biryani / sausage casserole / meatballs etc and just freeze portions. The top 3 shelves of my freezer are filled with takeaway pots of home cooked food.

It sounds like a faff, but once you get into a routine, it really works.

You need to look at what your money is going on because £150+ is absolutely loads for a small family of vegetarians. You could be eating extremely well for half that because vegetarian food like eggs, seasonal fruit and vegetables, pulses, grains and spices are the cheapest foods available so you must be spending a lot of money on something else.

You've said you shop at Tesco but don't use a Clubcard, which is literally throwing tens of pounds a week away. Modern day definition of more money than sense. Stop it. Use a Clubcard or shop at Aldi or Lidl (are these shops an option?

Are you buying prepared processed vegetarian alternatives to meat? They can be expensive so look at alternatives or only buy on offer.

For fruit and veg, buy the cheaper ones. Seasonal specials, normal broccoli not sprouting, carrots and cabbage not asparagus, bananas instead of berries, or buy frozen ones.

Eggs - all supermarkets do boxes of free range mixed size eggs for less than the other kinds, much cheaper.

If you buy spices, get the Asian branded packets, which are much cheaper than Schwartz or spice blends/meal kits etc.

Don't waste any food. Be careful what you buy, use up leftovers, freeze things that are going out of date if you won't have time to use them.

We spend around £120 / week for 2 adults and two teens who are bottomless pits. We could spend more but don't need to. Shop at Tesco or Sainsbury's.

I live on my own so I plan to use leftovers. Eg if I have a baked potato I cook 2-3, eat one hot and use the others to make gnocchi.

If you have an Asian / Indian supermarket go there for spices, aubergines and mangos.

When you make a family meal divide whatever it is in 4 and freeze one so you have home made ready meals.

I shop at Sainsbury's and Iceland on line and Lidl and the community shop in person.

Iceland deliver for free if you spend £40. Sainsbury's I have a delivery pass, it costs £4 a month for mid week deliveries, it's £7.50 for delivery 7 days a week.

The pass belongs to the person not the address so I can visit my dad and have shopping delivered there.

Don't buy convenience, home made Yorkshire pudding is much nicer than Aunt Bessie's and is cheap.

In your meal plan have a couple of simple meals, cheese and beans on toast, toad in the hole, eggs on toast.

Use all of the vegetables you buy. So if you buy a head of broccoli cook the florets as a veg but use the stem to make a soup or chop to put into a lasagne / shepherds pie. The same with cauliflower.

Use veg peelings for stock. Someone mentioned a slow cooker, they are ideal to make stock, just save your peelings and add water, seasoning and I usually put an onion in. I also put chicken bones in but I think you said you don't eat meat.

If you don't have enough peelings then keep them in the freezer until you do.

I actually have a replica of a WWII booklet issued by the government to help people use their rations. https://shop.nationalarchives.gov.uk/products/replica-booklet-ww2-cookery

It has quite a few tips for making food go further.

I know you asked about shopping but if you can cut food waste then you will save. If you do have food waste that is.

What are you buying for £150? We spend about half that weekly with tesco for 2 adults, 2 adult sized teens. Meat eaters. Alcohol maybe £10 per week extra, treats etc from other shops may take it to £100 if money permits.
I order online, so can easily keep an eye on what we are spending. Lots of things like chicken and rice bakes/currys, pasta and veg, chilli, soups, salads, sandwiches. Emergency frozen chips and fish/veggie burgers for nights we can't be bothered. Eggs, greek yogurt, dried and fresh fruit, cheap cereal for snacks.

Added bonus... just been to France and paid £12 towards ferry crossing as cashed in £30 of vouchers to get £60 of p and o credits. Also had free rail cards for 2 teens this year too.

We spend £170 a week at Waitrose for four people, only eating high welfare meat and including wine!

Shop online, write a 7 day meal plan and it’s easy to stick to budget.

I spend around that for a family of 6! So definitely manageable! (But I do cook from scratch a lot.)

I need to try this. We spend at least £700pcm on food for two adults 😢

For breakfasts just have porridge and for lunch just have a sandwhich or soup and dinner can be pasta or something like that

I have recently drastically cut down my working hours (hit 60 and had enough) so have been doing far more of a budget. Click and collect really works because I'm quite an impulse buyer. I also have more time now so stick to what we've bought rather than nipping into M and S on my way home and buying a Gastropub meal deal because I'm shattered. It's been between £50 and £60 inc household/basic toiletries for dh and me over the past few weeks, all home cooked decent quality food. I reckon I could feed us pretty well for £30 if needed. Four adult dcs and partners will be here next weekend so obviously the budget will go out of the window then!

I’d like to reduce mine we spend £110 or under a week me and my oh we have a cat also this is for food for all week plus food for work so we don’t go out buying extras

thismummydrinksgin · 26/09/2024 20:37

This threads amazing me, we are two adults two teens and we really struggle to keep it under control£700 a month

Why is this? a lot of families have no choice to keep it under a certain amount. Not everyone can afford 175 quid a week on a food shop!! I sometimes think people on mn are living in a different world.

Try a few different products at a lower grade and see what you like. I buy Kellogs Cornflakes because I don't like Tesco Cornflakes, but I buy Tesco Coco Pops. Buy eggs that are middle ranged, so not the best but not the worst.

I buy Tesco bleach, it's often on offer too.

Buy larger sizes of products if you won't waste them as usually saves money.

Definitely get the Clubcard, a lot of the prices shown are only for Clubcard holders, and also, you can use the points for other things. I use mine each year for top level RAC cover and Railcards, magazine subs, days out.

Start buying Christmas food/treats/alchohol now, when it's on offer and put it away.

If you shop in Tesco, it might be worth upgrading your Clubcard to Clubcard Plus. It costs £7.99 a month, which you can cancel at any time, and the first month is free. You can also cancel after the first free month if you wish. It gives you 10% off two shops in the store and you get two coupons for these which you choose to use on whichever 'big shops' you want. I have been doing two big shops a month for stuff which keeps, like cereal, tins, packets etc. and then the shops in between for the fresh stuff. You also get F&F, the baby Fred & Flo, the Tesco pet range and a couple of other Tesco lines at 10% off on every single shop you do. All your shops have to be in the store for the discounts.

You could do this cheaper if you made your own sauces too.

We spend £45 and never go without just 2 adults so I think £100 is definitely doable

For two adults and one child we average £100 a week at Asda. It could be nearer £80 if I had to. This includes meat for every dinner, some specialist diet products, a couple of treats per shop and any cleaning supplies