Trying to only spend £100 a week on food and petrol and use up what we have in the freezer

[BlueJellycat]

Luckily I'm not totally broke. But I need to pay off some things I put on the credit card. I'm not a massive overspend generally but I want to try to be strict for as long as I can and in turn pay my card off.

I'm going to spend £100 a week max food and petrol and see what I can use up.

I filled the car up today and bought the milk in the garage. If I stay away from the shops/ supermarket or only take cash to the supermarket I think I could manage for a few weeks and use up my freezer food. Any other ideas? I wish I could walk to the corner shop with £5 everyday but I'm very rural. Shop is two mile round trip and expensive.

Like I say it's not dire times. I just need a reset really. At some point I need to check my freezer and meal plan

I shop every 5 ish days (food gets delivered). Find it works better for me in terms of no waste etc. only need to spend £40 which is not much at all these days!

I had a reset a few years ago. Wrote down every spend, reused or repurposed things instead of buying new, used up food in the cupboards and meal planned (fairly loosely but very rarely ended up thinking what’s for tea tonight and buying something random) Basically did a year of very low spending combined with doing a proper budget that made allowances for things like Christmas, birthdays, bills etc. Cancelled subscriptions and all marketing newsletters. It was really quite eye opening and I had a lot more money left at the end of every month. Started the year with credit card debt and ended up with savings….

I would review the costco spend tbh. Is it really good value? I buy (laundry) washing powder off Amazon - the really big cardboard boxes with 125/130 washes. I use less than directed and it lasts just over a year (usually doing 5-6 washes a week on average) and costs about £12. When the current box starts getting low, I haunt Amazon for a good deal - prices do fluctuate (especially for the mainstream brands - fairty, persil, ariel etc). I buy washing up liquid and handsoap in bulk containers and refil the smaller bottles (smaller bottles last longer in my house). I bought a 5 ltr washing up liquid August 2024 for £8.99 and I'm almost halfway through it (using it for general cleaning and floors as well as dishes). I use a splash of white vinegar (buy a giant bottle from ethnic food supermarket) when washing towels, otherwise I don't use fabric conditioner. But a quick look on Amazon shows 160wash bottle of comfort for £5.94 and off brand bulk bottles are cheaper.

But this is more for going forward. For now, do the freezer inventory!

I can't remember. They're as thick as steak cut chips.

I have raided dd wardrobe for outgrown things to sell on Vinted. I don't tend to get much interest though it's a saturated market.

I just presumed Costco was cheaper, didn't think to check on Amazon. Will do that too. We get all the loo rolls, blue roll for kitchen towels etc there then a few bags of 1 kilo frozen things like nuggets but I'm not sure that's cheaper.

Just made a big spaghetti portion to freeze and lasagna from yesterday's mince. So that two more meals sorted. But I have no cheese for the white sause. I will get that tonight but take £30 of cash and aim to spend no more than £15. Need red top milk, cheese, plain yoghurt and brown onions.

I have just made three over night oats with watered down fruit yoghurt pot with some milk and freezer berries for the kids after school. My 13 year old have severe SEN and tries to cook a meal otherwise - I have no tinned tomatoes left as he does tinned tomatoes and pasta.

Just remembered half the fridge is also a freezer too! Full of random goodness knows what.

Defrosting some chicken for something tomorrow to break up the mince based meals.

I have at the bottom shelf of my big freezer i have.

Reduced scallops I had good intentions of making fish pie.
12 pork chops
A bag of frozen garlic I forgot I had.
Two reduced beef burritos also bought reduced.

Next shelf up

40 sasages
1 kilo of nuggets
A few yourkshire puddings
Peas

Third shelf up

Cheese cake
Spinach
Two bags of part used Chinese dumplings
Half a bag of meatballs

There are three more Shelves and the the fridge freezer and the food cupboard. I'm writing it all down.

Far more meals than I realised. I just throw more food on top without thinking.

So off the top of my head I have options there for over a weeks meals alone. I will plan out the meals as I check the other shelves

Why not use tea towels instead of blue roll? Just chuck them in the wash.

Sounds like you have tonnes of food already, you can easily feed your family with what you've found on your fridge freezer. Seems to me it's planning that's letting you down. Why take £30 of youre only intending on spending £15? Take £25 and stick to it.
Also, it really seems you should online shop. Popping to the local garage for milk is expensive.
I bet you could get away with spending barely anything for a couple of weeks, if you meal plan.
Good luck!

Spent £23.72 in Tesco getting only the things I need except for a meal deal as ds was with me which is a pita. I don't think it even went through as a meal deal. I should have scanned that first. Never mind. Spent a few quid on sweets for dd after school. Told all the kids I'm saving pennies so we are cutting back.

The person in Tesco before me bought £46 bottle of Wisky some milk and potatoes and left the receipt. Makes my haul very dull

So I have 30.03 left.

Hmm. Might be more tricky than I thought! But I don't need petrol next week. So I might be OK. I need to keep £10 back in case the kids need something. So £20 for whatever I need at Lidl this weekend. Should be fine?

If I realise something is 'wrong' on my receipt & I'm charged too much - even if I've gone home - i keep the receipt & ask for a refund the next time I'm there.

Also, buy sweets in advance / have mini bags in your bag or gloves compartment.

Take less cash so that you have to prioritise and CAN'T get the meal deal next time!

Yes I had intended to scan the meal deal first to check it was correct but ds started to scan the shopping. Definitely intended to take cash. Didn't do that either!

I did only take in one bag and picked up a basket so that was a small win. I have the uht milk as a back up in the cupboard so it's a learning curve. I'm going to challenge myself to improve next week.

Re the sweets. Part of it is walking to the shop after school so the whole experience is the treat. I told dd that next week it's only Tuesday or Friday as her treat day. Explained why and she was fine with that. She had gymnastics tonight so dh will have bought her a little treat three too. Said two treats in day is too much. I could buy a multitasking of treats then give her one and give her less cash to choose her other one? I did do a sweet shop at home once with treats from Lidl. I had a price list and the kids paid for them. Could start that again.

I might give her cash next week and she can work out what £2 will get her. She has a very sweet tooth but she is extremely active.

Hopefully this will feel better when I start winning at it? I know I can do this until my freezer is empty and that could take a long, long time. Then I can continue with good habits. Feels a bit daunting today. Seeing how much money I have left. However we are in no danger of starving which is a privilege so not sure why I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable? Maybe it's because it's dawning on me how much I normal buy but don't account for? Like sweets and treats if the kids come to shops with me?

Also I checked and Tesco minium online order is £50 which doesn't fit with my budget unless it's two weekly / 10 days. Who does delivery for £40?

Me too am trying to use the food in cupboards fridge and freezer and end up buying the little bits over the weekends such as bread and bilk for example. Need to go shop to get cheese as we’ve just run out for sandwiches and probably in need of chips for the kids too!
my normal shop is £125 for the month but top up on weekends £20 so I guess we spend £200 on food for the month family of four. But since not doing a big shop 2 weeks ago we’ve only spend maybe £35 so far

Ive done the no-spend thing a few times and always been amazed by how much I can save.

If I were you I would try and have a couple of days when you don’t go to the shop at all, that always helps. Especially if you do it over the weekend, when you usually spend money in the shop, it’ll be a great saving.

You’ve got your lasagna now, and looking at the list above you’ve got sausage, yorkshires and peas which makes a second full meal. Do one pork chop each with a veg and a carb, using what you’ve got in your cupboards for a third meal. If you’re worried about lunches do some extra sausages and let people have sausage or cheese sandwiches.

If the kids like a sweet treat why don’t you get the cheesecake out of the freezer. It’ll be easier to say no to sweets if the reason for the no is we’ve got cheesecake at home.

It sounds like you need a MUCH better grip on your shopping list and your meal plan - you’ve got a freezer of food, you’re doing lots of top up shops , you’re throwing out tinned food and have potatoes going off.

The problem with buying stickered food is that you buy random stuff and end up shoving it in the freezer.

We invested in a A4 dry wipe board which we stuck on the wall.

On the left hand of the board is where o write the meal plan. Before the weekly shop, I visit my fridge and freezer and work out what is been hanging around, I also ask the family for any meal requests AND I check the family planner so I can see what events are coming up that mean I’ll need a quick meal or a double/triple dinner sitting, or noting if dc2 is at a weekend party so won’t need lunch for example.

Then I sketch out the meal plan for the week - obviously there will be some gaps until I shop but I can work out some cheap staple options too (eg chicken bone soup or tomato-lentil soup or macaroni cheese)

Finally I count the meal gaps so I know how many main meals I need to buy in the supermarket.

On the right-hand side of our dry wipe board we keep the shopping list. I can take a quick photo so I know what I need to buy.

So now I’m armed for the weekly shop - I’ve calculated the number of meals I need to shop for and I’ve got a shopping list of extra bits I’ll need or things that ran out during the week. I can now take advantage of special offers to fill up my meal plan or freeze ready for next week. My freezer is rarely totally full because I don’t let anything linger.

When I unpack the shopping I fill in the meal plan. If I am doing a top-up shop and I see a great deal, I will only buy it if I can easily swap it into the meal plan OR I can freeze it for the next week’s plan.

Iceland and Morrisons are both £25 min delivery iirc.

I would carry on as you’re doing op, leading with what is in the freezer. If it isn’t already in the house, don’t go out and buy it until the next day you’ve designated for shopping. Otherwise you’ll spend more than you’d planned.

Then once freezer is run down work on a few ultra cheap meals - in this house weekday breakfasts are always porridge with jam or fruit, one dinner a week is a “jacket potato and beans” type, another (in winter) is veg soup and garlic bread.

I use Asda and its £40. Delivery pass is about £7 a month, anytime. I tend to get deliveries every 5 ish days. I am recently single and unsure of amounts of food as my kids aren't always hear so it is helping me reduce waste.

Like you, my freezer has food on top of food, i also did an inventory and I'm reducing it down. For me I want a more organsied process for food and portions of actual meals so I can batch cook more. It will also be nice not to play freezer tetrus!!

Yy to pp suggestion of staying out the shops. Just don't go. Leave your wallet at home when you leave the house = sorry kids forgot my money, let's have something fun at home (and remember you have a treasure trove of riches in your freezer). I found that having milk delivered saved me money (despite the mad cost per pint) as I stayed out of the shops. If I really urgently needed one thing (or extra milk), I could add it to the next delivery in the app. Later on I acquired a massive freezer, so freeze milk instead. I have one online supermarket delivery a week. I make sure I buy plenty. Don't stint on the one true delivery - buy the multipacks of snacks, and the emergency pizzas for the freezer. Think long and hard about what you will actually need (not what you think you can get away with because you're in frugal-mode). The price at first will shock you. But the little top-ups here and there are deceptive. You think you have grocery costs nailed because your main shop is under a certain amount and your cunning brain doesn't count up all the extra little purchases here and there. You are at war with the supermarkets - they are not your friends! You are Leningrad being sieged by the nazis! Use what you have in the citadel. Maybe you can spare one brave troop of soldiers to sneak out once a week to gather supplies in the dead of night, but you can only take that risk once a week or your defences will be breached.

If you don’t normally online food shop it’s worth doing a one off to get a deal/money off for the first one and you can sit and think what will fill your cupboards for a while.

It's harder to do on rural roads, but if you don't already consciously drive economically, you can probably make your petrol go further. Basically, accelerating more gradually, braking sooner and more gradually, always being in the highest gear possible for the road. Take anything out of the car that you're driving round with but don't need. Don't run unnecessary air-con, keep windows closed as much as you can, don't have a roof rack or roof bars on the top of the car if you're not using them. And check your tyre pressure as low tyre pressure also kills your fuel economy. Anything you can do to optimize the driving will really save you cash.

I'm confused as to how £50 is too much for a shop order, but you will happily spend £25 buying a few bits at the corner shop? Surely it's better to order £50 of food that you need, rather than £25 of bits that you dont really need?

Im a fan of tesco as I save the points them use them against hotels, ferry's abroad, rail cards etc.

But really, wherever you buy from, you need to meal plan.

Bought this a few weeks ago in the works so I had better start using it I guess.

I don't shop in my corner shop. It's a two mile round trip to walk. I only buy my dd sweets there once a week as it's in the opposite direction from school to home. All the shopping is in Tesco, Sainsbury's or Waitrose and this week I have tried going to these my way past to a kids club. But that's not been a great idea. I'm just trying to find a rhythm this week. Find what works.

Normally Tesco deliver on Monday and if my shop is under £50 I top it up with Tesco own brand cola etc then do a main shop in person in Lidl at the weekend. Where I just tend to buy the same things on autopilot. I've had ten bottles of Tesco cola stacking up in the past.

I also reload the last weeks shop then or subtract things until the delivery deadline.

I'm going to go back to Tesco online at some point but for the next few weeks I don't want to spend £50 a week on food. I'd need to top up my basics with main meals to get up to £50. I want to use up what's in my freezer. I need £28.65 worth of food to do next weeks meals I'd need to buy another £20 to avoid the £5 minium spend basket charge.

Realistically I need to ditch Lidl as my main shop maybe? I don't know. Thinking is a lot of effort which explains why I'm here. I have costed this weeks shop via my lidl receipts so that's goiod right?

The way I keep the bill low is not to buy what I want but to buy what's affordable

So my meal planning works around what I have bought, what's already in the house

I can often be seen beside the reduced section looking at my phone - Im looking inspiration for a meal to make with piece of meat or fish Ive found there

So say turkey mince, I ask google for recipes , then have a look through and check out the ones I fancy and look at the ingredient lists . If the one I fancy the idea of means I then need to go buy 3 or 4 other ingredients , I ditch it, and move to another where I know I have the ingredients already , or I can swap something out or if I need to buy one thing, the rest can be used in another meal

I also repurpose. So we have had a lot of rain and temps have plummeted , and Tesco was left with vast amounts off BBQ foods - all reduced . So the good beef burgers, for example - turned into meat balls, the marinated chicken fillets - went into stirfrys and wraps

After Christmas I know the cocktail sausages will be reduced to pennies - like a 60 pack will be going for a £1, I buy a few, split them and freeze them. Excellent to use in sausage casseroles - Hairy Bikers have a great recipe, it's so flavourful that it doesn't matter that the sausages are bland . Also good to use in toad in the hole

So I always shop with out a meal plan , I plan as I go so I always shop in person

Why on earth are you having a Tesco delivery on Monday if you have done a main shop at the weekend?

I think you need to reframe, use up your freezer and don't shop until it is at least half empty.

I'm not. I dont think I'm explaining myself very clearly on here.

Monday night delivery is what I normally do. I'm not doing my normal thing right now

Im wondering whether going back to Monday deliveries but saying no additional supermarket spend might actually work best for you.

You say that you need £28.65 of food for the meal plans for the week. So I would sit down and try and work out what you usually buy as top ups (bread, milk, fruit, sweets?) and add some extra on.

If you still have spare space to get up to £50 spend the money on long life tins or jars which make a meal. Eg soups or stews or beans or veggie chilli ingredients or tinned tomatoes etc. That will help towards next weeks target.

If you spend £50 a week on food with no top ups you’ll be doing amazingly towards your goal.

Yes that would probably be more sensible actually @Namechange822

I haven't been to the shops yet to get the stuff for the week. We have a roast on Sundays and have a reduced chicken in the freezer but needed some bits for that meal. Then decided to double them so we have enough for next Sundays roast. Then we needed some ham etc for lunches and bin bags.

In the perfect world we would eat what we have and not do the roasts and use whatever we have. But we'd still have two chickens to use up. We had chicken noodle soup yesterday made with everything we already had.

I think I will go back to Tesco deliveries in a weeks time. I have this weeks meal plan but I need to do a inventory of the rest of the freezer shelves and do the week after too. The freezer is so packed. It's very eye opening doing this.