Need to cut food budget, any ideas?

[kerfuffle]

My maternity pay has just stopped, but I want to stay at home with dd for another 6mnths if possible. I have been thinking of ways to cut my grocery budget. I am going to cut down on buying wine and other luxuries, but I am hoping for some advice on cheap meals. I am buying loads of fresh fruit and veg in a bid to be healthier but the grocery bill keeps going up and up. I've been looking in my ww cookbooks for some inspiration but often these recipes need many different ingredients which all add up.Any ideas?

You've inspired me to find a Lidl nearby.I've heard a friend say she goes there for veg, is the fruit any good? I find my grocery bill really increases if I buy extra fruit and veg, but the market where I live is very poor. There is a good one in Coventry but I have to drive quite a way and the parking fees are ridiculous so it's a pointless exercise. Please post your recipe for leftover lamb, we are having lamb tomorrow. Thanks.

The fruit varies in quality - depends on how early you get there (I tend to be quite late at night as I work - I notice it is much better when I go Saturday mornings). Their grapes are sometimes good, sometimes not so good (in which case I go to the local greengrocer). Ditto the bananas. They had some nice (cheap) strawberries the other day. Their avocados are good too. it's like shopping in the old days - you see what they've got that looks good.

Suleman's Pilaf: this is an Elizabeth David recipe, so amounts are approximate.

Fry up a couple of chopped onions and some garlic.
Add some chopped (fresh) tomatoes and fry them off for a bit (you don't need to skin or de-seed them). Add some raisins and some pine nuts (or chopped almonds) (I am quite generous with the pine nuts and stingy with the raisins - but it comes down to personal preference) and continue to fry.

Add some chopped cold lamb (bite sized chunks) and stir together to warm through.

MEANWHILE cook a couple of cups of basmati rice (she does it the "loads of boiling water, cook 12 minutes and draining it off way" - I usually cook my basmati by the absorption method, but I have to say, having tried it her way - for this recipe, her way is better).

Add the rice to the meat/onion/tomato recipe, stir through, season well and serve.

Very tasty.

I shop online but have no idea about these vouchers and codes people are talking about - please tell me more. Fully agree with menu planning. I'm the sort of person who has great ideas but can't be bothered to follow them up plus a husband who doesn't go for 'girly' food like pasta & pulses....haaaaaaa!

I do the same as GDG and it has really changed everything about the way we eat. I hardly ever fancy a take away or ready meal any more and they are usually a disappointment when we do have them. One of the things I did when we started meal planning was to buy a really decent casserole dish (one that goes on the hob and in the oven) and I have been able to cook some fantastic one pot meals with that which have been very cheap.

i did my first online shop with tesco last week and it was so much better. I don't drive so i cant get to the big supermarket which meant every couple of days i was going to the local somerfields or tesco express where they pile up the prices and it was costing me £20 a go or more. With doing it online i had trouble getting upto £50 and get everything we need for a week. It was better because you can see it adding up as you put stuff in the basket so you can see exactly how much you are spending so can add/remove stuff to suit your budget

I plan a menu for the month then shop online twice a month directly from the plan. I plan in some meals to cook at the beginning of the month that can be cooked in double quantities then frozen, to eat at the end of the month. Also make sure you don't waste anything - make the next meal you cook based on what is near its use by date.

I started doing this because I was fed up of thinking of what to cook all the time, but it also saves money.

One of our favorite cheap meals is smoked mackerel cut into small pieces then mixed in with cooked rice and peas. Very tasty and cheap.

Frogs ....could you let us have your recipe from Veg crumble, sounds interesting. Thanks.

I buy nappies and wipes in bulk in makro. You can get a Makro card if a member of your family (or friend?) signs up for it on your behalf (as if you are an employee). They also stock baby food jars but the choice is not great and I prefer to cook my own anyway. There's no VAT on baby food so you pay the price on the shelf. They also do food whic h looks goos but it tends to be in bulk sizes with VAT then added at the checkout. Local markets are usually good for fruit veg and fish and cheaper. Will try Tesco online again but don't like some of their products (chicken breasts were disgusting!) found I am too tired by the evening to go on the internet as I am back at work now. x

Would definately agree with menu planning and then only buying what you need.

Also, when you cook, double the quantities and make two portions. Freeze the other one. Doesn't scream money saving at first but if and when you're short on time it might save you from the temptation to buy ready-meals/take out.

Also make your own cakes, biscuits, again a lot of cakes feeze, if you slice them up first you can then get out what you need.

Oh and another tip I have heard (but not practised!) is to take cash only to the supermarket. Also, if you shop now every week say, try to leave it a day later each week and use what you have in the cupboard, that way every 7 weeks you will have saved a week's shopping money budget.

lidl are brill for cheap but good foods and i know this isnt to do with food/grocery but i bet you i can cut your phone bill for you!!! we use an online company called 18866.co.uk or com .not sure but you register online and you have free local and national calls (only a 1p connection charge so all local and national calls are the same and abroad is very reduced..all you do once registered is dial 18866 before your number youre dialling and then it tells you how much(0p per minute!!) and you talk as normal and you get a monthly bill..but free calls..god knows how they do it but our bills are only now for bts line rental..take a look and i promise you you cant find cheaper and any body else ..go for it..any thing to give us spare money..

how do you guys menu plan?
yesterday i made a lamb curry, dhal and boiled rice. ds1 refused to eat it, and ate some toast instead. today that is what dh will be eating. ds1 had a cry about there being no tasty food in the house, his idea being burgers. so i made him chickn nuggets and potato wedges. whilst doing this cooking, he made himself four slices of toast and is now no longer hungry enough to eat. ds2 ate a bolied egg and doesnt want to eat.
i have all this food, that no one wants to eat....

Not had time to read the thread so may have been suggested. Go to the supermarket late afternoon or evening (if open 24 hrs) and get all the reduced stuff. You can save a fortune this way and a great deal of stuff can go straight into the freezer when you get home.

Put your bloody foot down stitch!
What you see is what you get!!
You're in charge. (BTW,I'm not a grim killjoy-we love cooking,but I have better things to do than pander to childish whims.)

Kerfuffle, here's where you find your local Waitrose - there are a few in the Midlands

Creative Cooking on a Budget by the Australian Women's Weekly Cookbooks is excellent! ISBN: 1 86396 119 4

I was going to say the same thing Stitch!

Oops - I meant Moondog. Stitch - if they don't want what you cook, tough - there's nothing else. If they're hungry, they'll eat!

Well inspired by the posts praising Lidl I decided to give it a try. Agree about the tomatoes on the vine - they looked good. Also bought a box of 72 weetabix and a few other bits and pieces. But tbh Weetabix was the only name I recognised. Nothing else was branded - not that that's a criteria - but most things I wanted in cans were chock full of added salt and sugar (ie sweetcorn - no salt-free sugar-free alternative). There was a whole aisle dedicated to crisps and chololate - but hardly anything on my list, like brown rice or cranberry juice. Perhaps I have just got used to too much choice? So I went into town and got some veg from the greengrocers and meat from the butchers as per usual, then the main stuff from Waitrose (the only supermarket to choose from within walking distance from where I live). I still ended up spending £100 in all which is what I normally spend anyway!

I'm not particularly exotic in my choice of food, but I do like to buy quality meat and veg. The un-packaged veg at Lidl looked as though it had been there all week (and this was 9am this morning so pretty early in the day as per various posters' tips). If I'd have wanted bulk packs of crisps, chocolate, turkey twizzlers and fizzy drinks I would have been well away.

I don't mean to sound like Lady Bountiful, I am not particularly well-off, but I refuse to buy crap processed mush. I make most of our meals fresh using good quality ingredients, and judging my my shopping trip this morning (which tooks HOURS and 2 car journeys) it's not omething I'll be able to do if I shop at Lidl. Sorry. Maybe my local Lidl is not as good as the others!

I go to lidl (here in france!)to buy the following:
bottled water
nappies
tins of tuna in olive oil
fruit juice (which I always dilute with water)
wine + beer (I buy haut-medoc for 4.49€, lovely wine cheap as chips!)
tins of tomatoes
cleaning stuff
toilet paper

I hardly ever buy anything else there, but the nappies alone are already POUNDS cheaper than elsewhere

the only tinned stuff I ever buy are tomatoes and tuna/sardines
I by tinned sweetcorn for ds(10 months), but only organic, as I'm wary of GM and don't want any added salt either

Hmmm teavee I did buy tins of tomatoes and some beer - and tuna come to that! But the nappies are the sort that make DS2's bum sore. Didn't need any cleaning stuff or loo rolls this week so didn't buy them. I had to stand in a queue for 10 mins to pay too. Think I can make savings in my bills without having to endure our local Lidl!

Dare say in France the quality of fresh stuff may be much better. But it reminded me of Dutch supermarkets 7 yrs ago (last time I visited, don't know if they've improved since) - cheap beer but no real choice in anything! I had a friend who used to drive 20 miles to Antwerp so she could buy better food in belgian supermarkets.

I agree about Lidl it is processed food heaven I don't go often but do find that the cheese and ham can be very good... but I am now quite organic meat obsessed so don't like to eat non organic too often... I think it is worth going for cereals and tins of toms or passata but my issue with doing Lidl and then somewhere else is I just don't have time ...what I do now is a big cheap shop from Lidl/Aldi every 3 or so months - get fruit juice/tins/cereal and then use tesco/waitrose on line for weekly top ups... possibly more expensive but I am slghter more rich in cash than time... and would rather spend time with kids than driving round 4 different places every week to save £10.

By being organised, I can keep my food bills down to £80 a week and that is as good as I think Iwill ever get it for the 4 of us, given I like organic meat and milk

Agree totally Mancum, I am aiming for £80/week for 4 as well. Will let you know if I manage it! (Not this week obviously!)

Or even mancmum !

How old before you can give sausages and do you recommend any particular brand?