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!

And as I said upthread, it's nice to have a treat - children's lives shouldn't be cheerless

No one is doing their child favour or bringing 'cheer' to their lives if they help them along the way to obesity.

Snacks can be fruit, plain yoghurt, wholemeal toast or nuts.

The current obesity epidemic is partly because of snacking.
50 years ago people rarely snacked.
This.

There seems to be constant grazing nowadays.

I go to the shops and people and children are eating junk as they walk around. The number of overweight children and teens is shocking.
They aren't puppy fat chubby, they are obviously obese.
They're not eating apples or bananas, they are eating pringles, pies or burgers.

Snacks can be fruit, plain yoghurt, wholemeal toast or nuts.

Yes, I know that - have I said otherwise?

You said No one needs snacks if they are having decent meals

When I was at school, I ate breakfast at home, lunch at school, a jam sandwich when I got home, then supper (light evening meal). The other kids didn't have snacks either.

That was it. I don't recall being hungry other than just before eating.

There weren't many fat children other than some kids went through a phase of puppy fat before a growth spurt.
There was one fat kid at primary school - she lived across the road from school and went home for lunch.

Most of the kids would look skinny compared to kids nowadays.

We rarely had pop or sweets. We didn't live near a shop.

I buy quite a few stock cupboard items from Amazon - often much cheaper.

I don’t know about OP but I have a teen who will not eat anything unless it’s something she likes. It’s usually junk food and we just need to get the calories in her as she’s so skinny. If she loved noodles and sushi which are reasonably healthy I would spend anything I could afford to get it for her

Whats changed in the last 50 years then

Im sure there will be a chorus of 'we did have snacks in the 70s', but me and my friends didnt, we werent that different from the norm.

Yes we had the odd apple or orange, crisps in the lunch box but werent eating all day long

Whats different now for children?

@likelysuspect , society has changed.
Meals were eaten as a family sitting round the table.

Most of the mothers were at home during the day.

We lived rurally and didn't go to the corner shop or supermarket.

We very rarely got a takeaway or ready meals. We never ate out unless we were on a long car journey or on holiday.

I don't think snacks like noodles were around.

The only energy drink was Lucozade, and you only had that when you were ill.

Well thats rather my point

When someone says 'growing teens need snacks', I disagree with that apart from apples/oragnes/pears, toast, cheese and biscuits perhaps

But snacking on noodles, crisps, chocolate, cakes, having to have regular intakes of food outside of meals. Thats a choice not a requirement.

And there are always outliers, Im one of them, I cant eat in volume so personally I do have to eat regularly to fit a days food in but most people dont.

I understand that several small meals suit some people better; the elderly, for example.

I don't think anyone needs snacks like noodles, crisps, chocolate, cakes. I eat those but not very often.

If the children were genuinely hungry, they'll reach for something quick like an apple.
If they're eating out of boredom or something, they'll not be interested in the fruit bowl - they'll go for something like crisps, biscuits or chocolate. I find that the fruit bowl doesn't generate food noise but a cake or tub of ice cream does.

How about getting them to earn their snacks? Each child gets a chart and a certain amount of points for chores, which can be traded in for snacks. If they don't have the points for those, they have cereal, fruit, yogurt or toast. It might make them start to understand that things have to be worked for (like you do!)

I feel your pain. I'm an older teen boy mum. 💙 I only get a Morrisons delivery now. Big one on Friday and mini top up on Tuesday. Morrisons may be a little dearer than Aldi, but I don't spend nearly as much when I can see the total totting up in the corner. Snacks and meals that are higher in protein really helps.

I just bought a very cheap rice cooker because my DD is extremely food restricted and a specific supermarket sushi is a safe food. So we’ll try to make our own.

I make bread, again because it’s cheaper for our food issues. Particularly pizza bases. Allergy friendly pizzas are a fiver each but I can make them for 50p ish.

I bulk buy things that aren’t attractive. So not snacks - the more we have, the more they eat - but loo roll, cheap bubble bath, bleach etc.

I make laundry gloop too. 50p ish for the equivalent of a large box of powder and zero itchiness!

Do you have a car and can you get to a local cash and carry type place OP? Like Costco or Netto? If yes, get a membership card and go there once a month with a big shopping list for all non-fresh stuff.

Probably impractical to do, but if at all possible I'd cut down drastically on the snacks that you usually buy. So cut out all the crisps and sweets and so on.

Instead get wholemeal bread (the proper sort that needs to be sliced with a bread knife) and plenty of peanut butter. If the kids get hungry between meals, they can have a thick slice of bread, with a tablespoon or two of peanut butter.

For breakfast, make sure they're eating something filling with plenty of fibre. Try some homemade muesli:
3 tablespoons of barley flakes
1 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds
1/2 tablespoon of ground chia seeds
30 grams of mixed nuts
A handful of berries (fresh or frozen)
125 of full fat Greek yogurt
150 ml of full fat milk.

What do they eat for lunch? I know the food available to the pupils at my local secondary school is appalling. Almost 100% of it UPF crap - the only things worth eating are jacket potato with baked beans and an apple to follow. So, I feel for them if your kids are being offered junk at school. It has virtually no nutritional value, won't fill them up and they'll inevitably come home from school feeling ravenous.

I make tiffins (Costa Recipe, costs about £5 for the ingredients, makes about 25) each week and buy a few less snacks when I know they have something. Still spend loads of snacks though, which strangely, I never actually see them eating.

Give each a snack box, put stuff in for the week, when it’s gone that’s it! Make cakes and biscuits, flapjacks etc, put in a pack of instant porridge perhaps, fruit etc.

Agree absolutely. Older so grew up at a time when eating between meals wasn’t encouraged. No snacks were kept at home but there was fruit. We just ate at mealtimes. Stop buying rubbish OP. Or buy boring biscuits only and fruit. No one will starve.

Sushi is a treat to buy with her own money!
We have no crisps, no sweets, no biscuits and occasional cake and 2 older teen boys. They don't want or ask for snacks. We eat filling meals, with plenty of protein and fibre. Low UPF low sugar, high protein high fibre.
Breakfast - eggs on wholemeal or peanut butter and banana wholemeal seeded bread or low sugar muesli or low sugar granola with greek yoghurt for protein and chopped apple or frozen berries and nuts.
Lunch - Root veg soup and wholemeal bread with cheese followed by fruit
Or Falafel, salad, homemade hummus, carrots and a wholemeal wrap
Or Omelette with veg
Or beans on toast
Dinner examples
Stir fry wholemeal noodles tempeh, tofu or chicken lots of veg, ginger, garlic, chilli, and normally add in edamame beans for fibre.
Baked Mediterranean veg with a basic homemade tomato pasta sauce, borlotti beans, pasta, salmon or tinned tuna
Or a tray bake butternut squash, red pepper, sausages, mushrooms, tomato serve with crusty bread.
I serve generous helpings and we don't snack and rarely have pud. Occasionally we have croissants, cakes or a pudding with custard but that's a weekend treat.
Sushi (white rice), crisps, chocolate, biscuits, and pot noodles all make you hungry again soon after eating as they don't keep your blood sugar steady. They are also unhealthy foods with lots of addictive additives.
Just stop buying them, and do your purse and your children a favour. Give them a small allowance for snacks and that's it.
Buy some nuts and once eaten they've gone until the following week. Wholemeal toast with hummus or peanut butter, fruit and plain yoghurt should be available. But no sugary stuff or white bread. Their eating habits will stabilise and they will thank you once adults and think of their dear mum being concerned for thier future health.

Sushi (white rice), crisps, chocolate, biscuits, and pot noodles all make you hungry again soon after eating as they don't keep your blood sugar steady. They are also unhealthy foods with lots of addictive additives.
This.

The kind of snacks you are buying are very expensive and cause spikes in blood sugar levels. When levels drop, the children feel hungry again. It's a vicious circle.

Start making some snacks yourself with high fibre and these will keep them satisfied for longer. Eg flapjack or oat bars with dried fruit, toasted nuts, coconut etc. You can add chocolate chips or top with melted cooking chocolate.
You might say you are too busy to bake but make big batches and the more you do it, the quicker you'll become.

Homemade pancakes contain protein and are nutritious - again make batches, you can freeze them.

Make your own fruit cupcakes, fruit cake, Victoria sandwich, cheese straws, cookies, .

You'll get a lot more for your money if you make your own.

And if they turn their noses up at what you've made, they aren't really hungry

I sympathise OP with older kids. My 13 year old will come in from school, have two bagels, crisps, choc bar, cookie and still eat a full plate of spaghetti bol later plus crumpets or crackers in the evening! He is skinny as a rake and in the gym, karate or swim most days. For snacks I tend to just click the filters on online shopping and see what is on offer. Bread products and cereal also popular crumpets, bagels etc. Unfortunately I don't think there is such a cheap way of feeding teenagers!

For the teenagers guide then towards cereal, we have done this and while we are going through a lot of milk the stores own brand cereal is a lot cheaper than crisps.

I made some homemade flapjack the other day which went down well. Which was cheap and easy as I got concerned with processed snacks.

we got these amazing boxes to have in the fridge to more things are prepped. So when i remember we have lettuce / tomato/ cucumber/ carrots / grapes / strawberries washed and ready to go:

www.dunelm.com/product/fridge-keep-fresh-storage-container-1000197310?defaultSkuId=30752097

I have 2 tween competitive swimmers, who are permanently hungry. It wouldn't be possible to meet the calorie needs, particularly for DC1, without snacks.
I always have toast/bagels/crumpets available with a small selection of savoury and sweeter toppings. Their go-tos tend to be cheese or cashew butter (they won't eat peanut butter). I also have a variety of plain cereals, eg cornflakes, muesli, bran flakes etc, basic fruit, and yoghurts. These are their easy/quick snack options - constantly shuttling between school and the pool means we don't have time to bake cakes etc often, so we do rely on these to balance ease and cost.
When we have a bit more time, DCs will make themselves basic pasta dishes, 'pizzas' using pittas or tortillas with a bit of tomato puree and cheese, or noodles using cheap packets you cook on the hob with added extras. I buy dried seaweed and kimchi in large catering tubs, which work out as very cost effective per portion, and they'll also use any ends of vegetables or leftover meat/fish to bulk the noodles out and make them healthier/more interesting. Like a PP, if I'm boiling eggs for one thing, I'll cook extra and leave them peeled in the fridge. These get eaten as they are, made into egg mayo for a toast topper, or added to their noodles.
My DCs are also big sushi fans, but wouldn't get this often. I keep an eye out for it on a yellow sticker, and sometimes we get some through Too Good To Go, but mostly we make our own. It's very easy as PPs have already said once you've bought the ingredients and mat.
I buy a 6 pack of crisps (so 3 packs each) and one pack of cake bars or similar each week for lunch boxes, and once it's gone, it's gone. I sometimes buy a packet of crackers too with the same rule.
I supplement our food shop with at least 1 Too Good To Go collection a week, which tends to mostly be used for snacks even if a main ingredient as I've already planned the dinners, eg we often end up with a whole chicken, which I'll roast and slice up to be used for lunches and snacks for the week. Last night's collection included bread rolls, yoghurts, ham, prawns, cream cakes, pre-prepped fruit pot, fresh salsa, and some ready meals.

Yes bm stores will be cheaper than the supermarket for snacks. Also poundland. Yes its worth going there and sticking up. I shop at Aldi but they have limited selection of snacks so I do stock up when I go to bm or poundland.