Food shopping tips appreciated!

[Strugglingmama1]

Hi all, I am fed up with expensive shopping and its not the meals that is the problem really - its the snacks.

I have 5 kids that are always hungry for snacks and I’m wondering is it actually cost effective to go to places like B&M and stock up on crisps, choc etc once a month for example, Or does it work out the same to just get it from the supermarket? Not just food but toiletries, cleaning products etc?

Does anyone have any tips on saving on the weekly food shop?

sometimes i go to the food warehouse thinking its cheaper but I don’t think it is. I can’t help but wonder if its better to just stick with aldi and be done with it?

I would consider going to the supermarkets for yellow sticker but I’m rural and the nearest supermarket is a 20 minute drive.

I’m also happy to make snacks but if you have fussy kids you’ll understand that that can be a waste of time and money too!

thanks in advance!

M&S at Ocado - I don't think other supermarkets are much cheaper

M&S Oak & Beechwood Scottish Smoked Peppered Mackerel - Ocado

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/ProductDisplay?storeId=10151&productId=1220710&langId=44&deeplink=true&gclsrc=aw.ds&&cmpid=cpc&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=20333793068&utm_content=shopping&utm_term={sku}&utm_custom1=&utm_custom2=759-449-0952&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19663891335&gbraid=0AAAAAD17J_AWvmtBYLNDI69gfr7FTZSeu&gclid=Cj0KCQjw7IjOBhDyARIsAFzrWQwpFkvwVFKABSNBREJkrfmSx-ED111im7lJuxfNAO68J1JlOn69lLMaAn-FEALw_wcB

https://www.ocado.com/products/m-s-collection-hot-smoked-mackerel/626580011?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=22848902551&utm_content=non-brand&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22845072428&gbraid=0AAAAADi6iHlfVhfRkknVhrpy-rlzvK4Sg&gclid=Cj0KCQjw7IjOBhDyARIsAFzrWQykVgUuyVkNGwdf9BSGEeejLXuF9HtGxifYHhwOaX2zEp6Zfbpk0loaArQTEALw_wcB

https://www.asda.com/groceries/product/9183910?cmpid=ppc--pmax_google----google---_-dskwid-_dc&s_kwcid=AL!11432!3!!!!x!!&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23320599798&gbraid=0AAAAADuzMyi_v-EbuORsUe9vidH2bIh3q&gclid=Cj0KCQjw7IjOBhDyARIsAFzrWQyygW0PyKMIgpXk60lU0i6DvM-9c5Y6sUfK9Ee6Sgo7DqiTThT26NgaAv_xEALw_wcB

Urgh, I dont know how to do good links sorry

But half the price virtually

And tinned is nearly always cheaper unless you go for posh tinned

This is how people spend literally thousands of unnecessary pounds a year in supermarkets.

When my children were all still at home, once the fun snacks had gone ie crisps, biscuits and chocolate it was fruit,sandwiches ,toast and crackers for snacks .
Thinking back though they were not in the cupboard and eating regularly.

@likelysuspect , if you hover on a link in your post you can change the text that shows in your post.

e.g, Here's the Asda link changed

Thank you for that - I'll check out Asda.

I was an incredibly poor single mum of five kids. They would eat anything in the house. I'd buy food for packed lunches and they'd clear out the fridge in one day if left unattended.

So I bought bread so they could always have toast if they were hungry. Toast and apples pretty much got us through, because if they moaned about it being toast or an apple, they clearly weren't that hungry. Loads of veg with meals helped too, because veg was cheaper, better for them and went further than whatever they were having with it.

If I was feel flush I'd buy peanut butter or jam to go on the toast, otherwise it was just butter.

asda mackerel

thanks, bit of faffing, did it wrong first of all

Youre right about the snacks tbh

I'm wondering where my money goes - it really is those after school trips to lidl 😤

I would say lidl/aldi for bulk buying crisps - or b&m/Iceland for branded ones

I will do a monthly shop for snacks and that's it. The after school trips have to stop!

See also: grapes

You're welcome. At least you linked.
(I don't shop at Asda or eat fish but I like helping people)

I think you can't change the snack habit now tbh - they're too old. Just do one big shop - can you join Costco?

Thanks and just in case its not clear from my terrible links for others, I posted a
Sainsburys mackerel and Ocado tin of mackerel, which per kg is much cheaper than the M+S one

I used to make mine a mahoosive platter with more substantial stuff - cold sausages, sticks of cheese, alongside lighter things like carrot & cucumber sticks, olives, cubes of other cheese, nuts, houmus, boiled eggs alongside little squares of bread & butter or peanut butter or jam. If I presented it as a massive platter, they’d never question it & considered it a treat. If I let them loose on cupboards they ignored little snacks & went for massive bags of things each time. You kind of have to make it nice!

Once mine were teens they loved making toasties in my old uni toaster & theyd make their own pasta or noodles. They do need a lot of calories if they’re active & sometimes it’s just best to present another meal/tea in between the 3 standard ones.

Weirdly mine didn’t have much of a sweet tooth so rarely asked for biscuits or cake but yes, if I bought pre-packaged snacks like sushi they’d devour them in one go (tbf, as would I!).

I’ve just literally had this argument with my kids! 15,13 &9. Said if you eat the snacks your losing what would go in your pack lunch the rest of the week as when it’s gone it’s gone! Ones given up choc for lent so eldest is hell bent on suddenly wanting all her non choc things I bought! They never stop eating. For mine it’s sheer laziness

Cut out the junk food snacks. Just don't buy them.

SIL has 4 teenage boys all with hollow legs and snacking was costing her a fortune. She has moved them all onto more protein and carb based meals/ snacks - chicken wings/ drumsticks, cheese, eggs, fish, potatoes, rice, pasta ect which keeps them fuller longer. She has also increased portion sizes and makes sure to bulk out their meals with cheaper things like rice, potatoes, beans and pulses.

She often uses food warehouse/ costco/ or discount supermarket places to pick up bulk packs of chicken wings/ drumsticks, big meat packs, big blocks of cheese, sheets of eggs, sacks of potatoes, sacks of rice and pasta ect.

I have a big tub I fill with snacks that last, uhm think penguin bars, cheese bites, those fruity bakes that come in a box of 5 for £1.50, flapjacks, those nature valley bars if they are on offer, party rings, long shelf life croissants and shit like that.

I also like to buy cheese strings, yogurts, those horrendous stinky chicken packets, pepperamis and stuff for the fridge. + the crisps tub.

When it's gone it's gone though. But I found it cheaper than going out to buy after school snacks all the time.

I reckon I spend about £60 to fill it all up, and I do this once a month and it lasts most of the month, most of the time. I buy them from aldi/iceland and tesco.

those horrendous stinky chicken packets, pepperamis
Why would you buy that crap though? Surely it would be healthier for the kids to eat just apples or a yoghurt or god forbid go a bit hungry??

Don't buy snacks!

Make some flapjacks - dead cheap and easy - get the kids to make them!

Aldi and more meal prepping.

load them up with a high protein breakfast - eggs are healthy and super filling.

The platter is a good idea OP, you could get something like this and top it up with bits to nibble on, either keep it in the fridge or if its not fridge stuff just keep it on the worktop

platter thing

Of course they eat apples and yogurts too. Well, not my middle child, fruit dodger and can't eat dairy.

You never eat nothing from quick and easy from a packet?

I buy it because they like it and nothing is off limits in moderation in our house 😀

I would say this too. I have 6 children who are nearly all adults now, without a high income.

I found in the early days that whenever children were offered fruit, having complained of being hungry, they suddenly weren't! Nevertheless fruit is always available. This is satsumas/oranges, bananas and apples.

The other thing that is available all the time is bread/toast and pasta.

We also boil eggs once a week as snacks.

I also think kids can be dehydrated rather than hungry.

We don't buy sweets and chocolate although the kids can do that with their own money.

I bake a lot but we try and pace it!

Breakfast didn't always seem to fuel bodies for long and at different points we have changed it up. What particular helped was adding in protein like bean and eggs

Oh yes and a pot of plain yogurt which they can have with a bit of honey. We made it at one point!

@Vodka1
No, we don't eat highly processed meats like those - we never have, the health risks are just too high for me.

I tend to buy multi packs of crisps, from Lidl, but I do tend to sometimes buy from Heron, as it's near where I work.. I tend to look for offers. 2for x. I do the same with most of our snacks.
We all tend to like the occasional treat ( skinny wipp bars. ) I have noticed these have gone up in price so I shop around. Lidl do knock offs of Mars and Snickers, the Lidl app, gives you 10% off your shopping if you spend £250 a month. We tend to do this, with 3 of us. Shopping weekly .