How can we get our food bill down

[worldwidetravel2017]

We have a 50 gbp a week food budget
Female - 38 & pregnant
Male - 35

We shopped at asda 1 week
And lidl the next..

Yet this week hasnt ended yet - & food budget has been spent so eating from what we have

And would ideally like to get it down to 40 gbp a week

We are having pasta 4 tea.
My partner with sausages 4 protein..
I will most likely have fish fingers. .

Thurs i can have soup for lunch, and sardines on toast 4 tea and snack on carrot / strawberries / blue berries / satsumas

I do like / need my 5 a day etc. .

Fri we will use some eggs we have already, we have cheese , cereal etc

Just even shopping in lidl - it soon adds up

We bought lidl own brand choc moose - not dairy milk

Do any of you spend more like 40 gbp a week
And if so - how please

Thank you

@Pokotho I agree with your post - issues for me would be ( and I don’t need to do it) if I was on my own I could live like this quite easily, but there is no way my H would accept this level of nosh on anything more than an odd week of belt tightening . I think OP has to ask herself is her OP expecting high tea on lemonade spend ? or is he prepared to accept very low spend and a life of omelettes, jacket potato’s, dhal and rice etc? And if he is , is she too prepared for a rather dull diet on an ongoing basis ? Some people are but you both have to be on board. There’s a huge space between weekly £130 Ocado shops and living like penniless students.

I'm surprised how many people think £40 is a ridiculous budget. We're not trying to economise at all, eat plenty of luxuries, and we come in at around £60/w for 2 adults. I could easily cut back (but don't choose or need to).

OP could easily feed 2 healthily for £40. Should she have to, when there's plenty of money available, absolutely not!

Anyway, the following weekly meal plan comes in at £36.72 at Sainsburys.

Breakfasts. Porridge and frozen berries or yoghurt with frozen berries or overnight oats with frozen berries.

Dinners.
Roast chicken, roast potatoes, carrots, cabbage and peas.
Homemade chicken and bacon pie, carrots and leeks.
Homemade spaghetti carbonara, roasted tomatoes
Feta cheese omelette, homemade coleslaw, homemade wedges.
Black bean barrio, with avocado (basically a Mexican style bean and veg stew)
Spaghetti and tuna in tomato sauce with spinach on the side.
Chickpea and vegetable curry and rice.

Lunches. Homemade leek and potato soup or hummus and veg sticks or cheese on toast or baked beans on toast or egg on toast or spag hoops on toast or crumpets.

Snacking: apples, pears, pineapple, easy peelers, tinned peaches.

I assumed oil, spices, stock cubes and a squirt of mayo already in store cupboard. This shop contributes rice, spaghetti, frozen spinach, frozen peas, half a tub of hard cheese, half a sheet of puff pastry, most of a tube of tomato puree back into stores.

Generally he will buy whatever i suggest -, ie we are having well cooked steak monday 4 my iron

He asked me if i wanted eggs and soldiers 4 b fast but i had saltana bran and will have eggs 4 lunch

He doesn't not buy what i ask for

Thank you
I do like simple stuff like soups and jacket potato
Had jacket potato with beans , cheese and side salad last night

He is highly likely to be promoted early next year - if so - things will be a bit easier

He does stress / worry / have an element of anxiety

Thank you , much appreciated

Lotsa good ideas

I cant eat avocado - makes me squirm

I dont know if im allowed feta

And wont eat black beans

But lotsa good ideas , thank you

We have consultant next week
So far baby is doung my very well
And my feretin levels = over 100

So nice to not have heavy periods

I don't know why your choosing to live by a tight food budget when you don't need too especially when your pregnant.

You should be eating nutritious meals not pasta and fish fingers.

I would start buying my own food etc and ignore him trying to control a food budget.

I hope your on the pregnacare vitamins

So how does this stack up with the tiny grocery budget?

£40/50 pw isn't going to buy many steak dinners or other meals that cost a similar amount.

You seem to be excusing/minimising his behaviour. But be mindful that it could be controlling behaviour and it is quite common for this to get worse when a couple have a baby.

Is his credit card on an interest free deal? He needs to do this and then he doesn't need to worry about paying it back quickly - he can always do another balances transfer if he's not out of debt when the interest free period ends.

Dont get me wrong - it saddens me that he checks bank bal daily, & stresses over money

And yes it would be nice if he was less stressed re that - he is very supportive in many ways - .
.
He ' works ' / thinks differently to me - for example - on his individual acc - he doesnt have an over draft facility - never has - never will
Whereas i have a small od facility as imo it does no harm

I dunno the terms of his cc - i just know he wants it paid off

When he gets paid - he has money go to student loan, and money to car loan - he doesnt want cc debt too .

He paid for moses basket , hes paying for cot for main bedroom / ours ,
And for cot for nursery etc

Yes ive bought lots for much wanted baby. My friend has an ivf baby and gives us clothes bundles after as shes def 1 & done .

Yes ir would be nice if he wasnt so into tracking spending but when theres an incoming extra human - its a bit wise too

We will get child benefit and il get stat maternity allowance.
And he has some money due next March that hes giving me to use as i wish for baby and me etc
And we have baby fund budget every month

He has a tiny hobby budget of 25 gbp a month that is not a thing from January etc

Thanks for this I’m going to screen shot and use some of these. I’m already having overnight oats and frozen berries. Sandwich for lunch. Now it’s getting chilly definitely soup and things on toast.

Use the apps and I agree with checking out your local area for a community pantry or shop. My council has one in each ward.

My local community shop does try to have a £40 shop that will feed a family of four.

I would suggest watching some of Atomic Shrimp or Weary Wolf Adventures, they both give themselves food challenges limited by budget or other criteria.

Meal plan for the week and include a couple of cheap meals, beans on toast springs to mind.

You mentioned rice and peas, that's quite a good option if it is the proper one with coconut milk and some veg.

You could base a couple of other things on that, so add in some tinned meat or fish, change the pulses to different ones and add in spices.

Stop buying fruit yoghurt, gets some frozen fruit and buy a big tub of yoghurt. Just stick some frozen fruit in it.

Explore any local shops that might have cheaper options. There are several Indian grocers where I am (and a supermarket) Packets of spices are huge and cost less than the supermarket, lots of fruit and veg are very good value and things like coriander comes in huge bunches for not very much.

So depending on where you are try Indian, Polish or other shops.

If you can, buying a whole chicken and joint it yourself rather than buying breasts / thighs etc.

Good luck with it.

Thank you

Lots of people here are concerned about nutrition, but actually nutritious food is often cheaper than less-nutritious food.
A low budget does not mean less nutrition. It just means more effort put into mindful shopping and cooking.

Meat - usually unnecessary, although in OP's case she needs to watch her iron and tablets don't work for her. Green leafy vegetables are where you get vegetarian iron.
Fruit - mostly an expensive waste of money, especially berries. it is basically sugar and water. Your "five a day" should be 95% vegetables. Take vit C tablets if you are worried. But again, green leafy vegetables are where you get vit C.

If you don't like eating plenty of salad, cabbage, kale, raw spinach, chard, etc., then you may have issues.

The most expensive foods are ready-made upf crap.
Cutting out crisps, biscuits, ready-made deserts, fruit, processed meat, processed bread-products (e.g. bagels, crumpets), ready-meals, etc. will save an absolute fortune.

@worldwidetravel2017
The way to eat more cheaply is (paradoxically) to put more money in up front.

Consider a second freezer in the garage. Fill it with stuff that was on offer, or things like soup made with seasonal veg.

Stock up your cupboards with things bought in bulk, or again things that are on offer, e.g. get 15 packets of something that are going cheap - but only if it is something that you normally eat.
You do have to keep on top of stock rotation and use-by dates.

e.g. I use about a jar of peanut butter a month. When it is on offer, I check the use-by date of the batch, and if it is only 6 month ahead, I can't buy more than 6 jars. If the date is 18 months ahead, I might buy 10, if I have room in the cupboard.

Have you thought about using a local community pantry? This isn’t the same as a food bank - it is an environmental thing. Supermarkets donate the left over food produce to safe it going to landfill. My local one charges £2:00 a visit and where my son goes it is £5:00 per month. We get a lot of fruit and veg from there and often they have meat and fish and frozen foods. Worth seeing if you have something similar in your area

I always buy frozen fruit (depends how you’re eating it but I make overnight oats with it so works well) I get the misshapen mixed berries from tesco, about £2.75 for a large bag.

Have you downloaded olio? You can pick up food that’s close to sell by date locally, they have “little helpers” who collect it from supermarkets and distribute it.

Also look for a local community food fridge/food bank initiative, we have one locally and it’s great. You don’t need a referral and you can fill a bag for £3. They have loads of fresh fruit/veg.

Have a look and see if there is a Bread and Butter Club near you. They redistribute surplus food and come to local centres once a week. For £8.50 you get a bag of dry food, a bag of fresh food and a bag or fruit & veg. Anyone csn join.

I think you really need to get advice on nutrition. There are online sites with lots of information. You may benefit from Ai, because nutrition must surely be one of the most popular questions.

It is difficult to manage on £40 a week for groceries. I think you could, though, if you take some time to study nutrition and diet. By diet I don't mean reducing.

It isn't always how much you eat, but what. Unless you make your own pies, you will not get much nutrition from the pies you buy. Frozen chicken and vegetable pies will not give you so much nutrition as buying fresh chicken and making up a chicken and vegetable casserole and freezing some of it for later.

If you like pizza, you can get a very similar taste by cooking a chopped tomato in the microwave, adding grated cheese and putting the mixture on toast. No hidden extras.

Lambs liver is just about the most nutritious food for a pregnant mother. It is less than £5 a kg even in pricey Tesco, and pigs liver even cheaper. Compare that to a lamb chop at £20 a kg. It can be made into a very tasty meal for you and your unborn. Buy fresh food as much as you can. Cook it and freeze it if it is a cheap offer. Buy plain yoghurt and put jam in it. That is how the fruit gets into it in the factory. They call it fruit puree! Make sure you get the yoghurt with probiotics. The thicker ones are more satisfying.

The cheapest breakfast is porridge oats, and the cheapest of those need to be soaked overnight and cooked in the morning. Work out if it is worth it or the microwave version.

Buy fresh vegetables. Make them into a soup with the addition of meat bones or a very cheap meat on offer and an oxo cube and herbs. If you don't have a slow cooker, you can still cook it slowly for hours. You can cool and freeze some for later, or do what half the world does, and put something new in it each day and make it last. It is the most universal dish, and can be made as tasty as you like with the addition of a can of beans, whatever meat is cheap. It will serve you well in the coming months.

Study the ingredients in the cheaper things you buy. There are probably lots of extras like preservatives. I am not saying they will mummify your bodies, but you can make up similar dishes and know everything in them is good.

There is nothing special about nutrition, diet, vitamins and so on. There are lots of recipes out now, because the whole population is having the same problem you are.

It is a pity there are no BOGOF any more, because two people sharing is always a saving.

I think you would do better to spend the money monthly and top up fresh in the fruit, veg and bread products from a community pantry. Buy uht whole milk in the monthly shop.

Not sure if your Lidl do them, but if you can visit ours early (no later than 8.20am at latest), they do a £1.50 box of fruit and veg weight 5kg. Obviously you'd want to buy one or two other items, but it goes a long way, Last box had five bananas, nine apples, four peppers, pot basil, one onion, nine shallots, cabbage, absolutely loads of tomatoes (great for homemade pasta sauce, then in a salad), two little gem lettuces, four mini cucumbers, deep breakfast bowl of baby carrots.

I have had a very similar budget before, particularly when on maternity leave. Even now we tend to average £80 per week at the supermarket for two adults and two children. So it is doable but I'd be trying to stick to the £50 a week budget rather than £40.

We eat mostly vegetarian meals and I usually only buy fresh meat if it has a reduced sticker. This week I got two large trays of chicken drumsticks on yellow sticker for £2 each and they went straight into the freezer to use as we need them.

I make huge use out of our freezer and have a second one in the garage. I prioritise freezing meat and fish, bread products, fruit and vegetables.

Most of our vegetables are frozen. They are often just as nutritious as they haven't been sat in a warehouse for weeks. It also means I can have lots of variety without any food waste as it's easy to grab a handful of frozen carrots, broccoli, spinach, leeks, green beans, sweetcorn, peas etc and put them in a meal. Our fresh vegetables tend to be cheap ones that last a long while e.g. potatoes, onions, cabbage, peppers etc.

For fruit we tend to stick to the cheaper varieties. Bananas, apples, satsumas, pears, plums etc. I would only buy berries frozen as they're much cheaper that way and again no waste as fresh go off quickly. We have three rhubarb plants in our garden that I planted years ago and give us plenty of rhubarb between April and July that again I chop up and freeze. We also pick blackberries every year.... I must have at least a kilo of blackberries in our freezer at the moment as there are loads that grow round us. So that cost me nothing other than a bit of time.

I freeze most of our bread and toast it straight from frozen to avoid wasting anything. If you see a reduced loaf or anything like hot cross buns, slice them up and put it in the freezer.

Breakfasts tend to be a rotation of porridge with fruit, greek yoghurt with fruit, Weetabix (own brand) or a slice of toast with peanut butter.

Lunches are things like soup, omelettes, tomatoes on toast, mushrooms on toast or crackers with cheese, hummus etc.

Some of the very cheap dinners we have are jacket potatoes, three bean chilli, casseroles, lentil daals, egg fried rice, stews with split lentils and pearl barley, pasta dishes, stir fried noodles etc.