I am interested in how many people are trying to cut their food bills

[itati]

I went to a farm shop yesterday and spent between £14-15. I got
20 eggs
2 bramleys
1 red onion
a head of broccoli
2 large mushrooms
half a dozen regular mushrooms
a plant
bottle of proper apple juice

I felt like I got a good deal.

I then went to Waitrose to see what they had reduced. I spent £50.11 and got lots of good quality meat, 2 lots of sugar, milk, cheese, ham, a paper, mini ready meal, 2 shapers chocolate bras, cat food, 2 lots of mash.

That would have cost a lot more at full price and if I had bought on line anywhere or gone into store I know I would have spent double.

My problem is working out how to spend less without buying low quality produce.

also, make sure you know what is in your freezer and pantry.. i sorted mine out over the weekend , found 3 chicken breasts, various fish fingers, frozen veg and things that could cobble together some meals, and loads of tea and coffee that i had forgotten about

Stuffed Courgettes

4 large courgettes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
30g fresh breadcrumbs
2 tbsp roughly chopped parsley
1 tbsp fresh chopped mint
125g feta, crumbled
50 g parmesan, grated
1 small egg, beaten
40g pine nuts

Heat over to 200C. Cook the courgettes, whole, in boiling, salted water for 4 minutes, then drain.

Cut each in half lengthways and hollow out most of the flesh and chop it roughly.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and add courgette flesh, onion, garlic and cook until onion is soft. Remove from heat and stir in breadcrumbs, herbs, cheese and egg. Season with salt and pepper if you like.

Divide mixture between courgette cases and lay them in an oiled baking dish. Bake for 15-20 minutes and sprinkle the pine nuts over about 10 minutes before cooked.

Mmmmm.

Not so good, cali, as they melted all over me

our mint is rapidly growing into a HUGE bush!

luckily, i scored some bigger plant pots on Freecyle to replant it.

Thanks for that. Sounds delish.

Changed from sainsburys to morrisons, gone from monthly/fortnightly shopping to weekly shopping and rotating the big things alternate weeks.

Stopped buying as much alcohol, DH has cut down smoking (hoping to stop) and we now write out meal menus for the week.

We buy less flash things, fewer condiments and as much on offer as we can, cut down on processed food and quick meals (dont like morisons fast food so thats good!).

We have been saving approximately £25 per week.

We include petrol as we get this when we go shopping. We use the bus or walk more and probably use £5.00 less fuel each week.

I like the idea of a farm shop as i know that the eggs are like £1.00 cheaper so other things will be too, I just dont have the time to do shops at several different places as DH and I both work.

I write a weekly meal plan, then check the cupboards to see what ingredients I already have in stock. Ditto the freezer. We only buy what we really need and try to make sure that we don't waste anything.

I am very focused when I shop and don't get sidetracked by so-called special offers or BOGOFs. Sometimes these aren't as cost-saving as you might think as the second one goes off or doesn't end up getting used.

A lot of our meals are pretty cheap to make - we usually have jacket spuds with beans and cheese on a Friday night, for example. It costs next to nothing, is easy to prepare and I don't feel I've had to cook after a day at work. Also do things like mushroom risotto, spaghetti bolognese or carbonara, pasta with roasted veg, stir-fry. A bit boring and unvaried but our shopping bill (including nappies, wipes and toiletries which tend to cost a bit more) comes in under £70 a week which isn't bad.

we are massively cutting down but still trying to eat well. i bought kitchen revolution a few weeks ago after reading the guardian article. it cost £15 and some of it does seem a bit obvious but the meal plans are great and I've stopped having any waste but instead clean fridge at the end of each week with usually something reday made in the freezer (that I made and put there). This week i didn't use it as there were just 2 of us for main meals but have barely shopped apart from bread/fruit and veg. i am a menu planner usually but this one builds in leftovers so you have something specific for a next meal plus you get a big meal to divide in half and freeze half for another week..i think it's worth looking at - and see what you make of it

reading lower down - tesco and sainsbury's value white fish is pollack. used a big bag of frozen white fish in a lovely kitchen revolution recipe - less than half the price. yesterday we had 'vietnamese river cobbler' which was nice, the cheapest fish on teh counter (no mackerel) and probably as nice as pollack/coley.

sorry if I am repeating what anyone else has said, but what's with the need to eat meat or fish every day of the week? you could cut that right down to 2 or 3 days a week, make vegetable-based meals, and find your food bills drop considerably, and you are still eating healthily.

I'm buying everything smartprice
there is no money to not
we do have some alcohol also

cooking from scratch

haven't read whole thread, but I shop with Ocado - it's excellent. Waitrose meat which I am happy with, and most of the branded stuff is being price matched to Tesco. I compared prices like for like with my local Asda - nothing in it!

When it's online, I set a budget, chuck it all in my trolley - pictures come up at the end, then I go through and cross out all the "extra" stuff that I don't need. Plus you can sit with a calculator and work out what the cheapest deals are etc....

Also I really stretch meat out - don't eat alot, and bulk out left-overs with loads of veggies.

oh, also "bogoff" with my Mum. If we see a good deal, get it between us!