talk to me about this budgeting buisiness please, am rubbish at it!

[donbean]

So we have renewed our mortgage and monthly payments have gone up allot.
So we have to budget and pull our belts in big time.
So i have calculated that we have £61per week to spend on food and essentials.
This is plenty imho as there are only the 3 of us.
Meal planned for the next week and made a small shopping list based on that.
Went to Lidle as this has been recommended for cheepness by my mother.
Took a crisp £20 note in my purse and made it my goal to get all shopping for the week with this.....
Spent £23.50 tho.
My first efforts crap!!!
My question is do you buy multipack bread rolls and such like from shops like Asda, do you go to diffeent shops for different cheap stuff?

How do you do it?
Also there were things like Mangos for 40p so i got one as a treat, do you stick totally to your lists?

help me!

just looked at the reciept and it was a chicken that had £1.99 on the sign but actually was £2.98 (very cheap but i didnt look properly)
I got some other extras as well and have noticed as i put stuff away that i already have some of them.
DOH!
Need to scour the fridge and freezer when writing my list.
We are living 90% out of the freezer this week.
I have made double of every thing last week and so have lots of lovely meals for us for this week. Thats why im only spending £20.
I know i am going to need more milk and bread rolls for lunches later in the week so that is over and above my £23 already spent.
God its hard to get into isnt it!!

I think you did extremely well to get even close to £20! I couldn't do it.

I am not sure about shopping around though - you could end up spending more money on petrol and bus fares and not saving anything. Go to one shop a week if you can - the more trips you do the more you will spend because I bet you wouldn't be able to go to Asda and only come out with the bread rolls - you would end up picking up other stuff on the way too. (or is that just me)

I think you have to allow yourself a small treat too otherwise life will seem like a drag. Have your mango and enjoy it.

try shopping in local fruit and veg shops - cheaper and nicer.

go with a list to big shops.

bulk make meat dishes, like a mince and tomato sauce - you can do/add alot to that to make meals. also jacket pots etc are good healthy but cheap meals.

mango for my son!
Thats the thing, i know i will pick up other things from Asda, things that i couldnt get in Lidle.
Actually Lidle quality not so good, got a bag of apples for lunch boxes and about 30% of them are horrid and will have to go into the bin. and i HATE waste!!
dont know if i will go there again.
Will try Aldi next week i think.
Have you shopped in any of them shops?

scorpio, do you put a certain amount aside for your fruit and veg?

and cheap meat is not always the way to go.

I would rather have nicer meat once or twice a week than cheap meat 5 times a week.

I bought a free range chicken last week and although it cost me £8 it fed a family of 4 for 4 meals plus stock for tonight's soup.

That works out at 50p per person per meal.

We had it roasted, in a salad, on sandwiches, in a curry which lasted 2 meals and then stock. Cheap chickens do not have as much meat on them so the free range was well worth it.

Also, try Morrisons as the fruit is so much cheaper.

I have bought a pack of 16 loo rolls which will last a few months and try and get BOGOF when I can.

Eat more veggie meals too as it is cheaper and you dont really miss the meat.

Why not try baking your own bread? Cheaper and tastier.

no, igo the fruit and veg shop and butchers first, then the supermarket iyswim.

meat fruit and veg are the basics of our diet really, need milk bread cereal etc.

agree about cheap meat too - butchers mince is only a tiny bit more expensive but far better. also buy chuck steak and make stew, or buy big chicken to do 3 days - roast, something with a sauce next day, then soup. vvvv cheap.

Scorpio...totally agree about mince from the butcher!

We had become so used to supermarket mince and DH stopped eating it because he couldnt bear the gristly bits.

I went to the butcher to buy mince and he picked up some beef from the fridge and minced it for me.

It was sooo tasty and both ds's and DH had seconds!! The difference in the taste was unbelievable and I had forgotten what it should taste like.

After reading threads on here I started to menu plan, which helps, but then DH comes along and says "I want healthy food tonight, salad and a jacket potato" so the whole thing is then knocked out fo synch
I ahve also started getting fruit and veg from market. last week i got a cauli and a big bit of broccoli for £1.00, a 2lb bag of onions for 75p, a 3lb bag of brussels for £1.00 a bag each of apples and bananas 9about 10 in bag) for £1.00 each.
things like toilet roll I buy a big 9/12 pack from Asda,
I ahve shopped in Lidl and Aldi and much prefer Aldi. Usually spend about £45/£50 when I'm there.

I tried shopping around the cheaper supermarkets one month and tbh didn't find it saved me any money.

I now get fruit and veg from local greengrocer

bread from bakers (slightly more expensive but stays fresher much longer)

Meat from Butcher (we only have meat once/twice a week now)

Everything else from tesco.

I always stick to the list and don't venture up any aisle that I don't need to be.

I also find that online shopping saves me money, as I'm not tempted by other things, adn DH can't put "neccesary" things like CDs and footballs and goodness knows what else in the trolley

Must admit that it help's that DH will eat whatever is put in front of him. He's usually so hungry when he gets in he doesn't care what you give him!

Im vegitarian, dh and ds are meat eaters but are not that bothered.
The big chicken i bought will do for sunday dinner then sandwiches for work on monday, wonder if i could squeeze a curry out of it for monday dinner too.

How much was your beef from the fridge calzone? (presume butcher minces it for free??)

Look at this thread. Miaou started it and it really spiralled with everyone adding their tips. It's great! Good luck.

Calzone, I'm impressed - 16 loo rolls will last you a few months!

We get through nearly one roll a day here...

stop talking about your budgeting and help me here

As well as veggie dishes, try dishes where you can bulk the meat out with pulses (dried ones are very inexpensive if you can be organised enough to soak the night before):
chili con carne with lots of kidney beans
turkey chili with black beans
sausages with lentils or
nice Jamie Oliver dish with sausages baked on top of chickpeas mixed with tomato sauce
make your own refried beans (kidney or pinto beans fried with onion, garlic and spices and then ground up) and use to extend chicken or beef wraps
dahl and curry sauces made with lentils or chick peas
And if you've got freezer space, keep an eye out for any bargains you can stock up on and freeze.

Hi there,
We have found that doing one internet shop a month at Asdas,getting all the heavy, bulky essentials, for about £90..(tins,washing powder, fabric softner,dog food,kids lunch box drinks, meat on offer to freeze,etc) that works out at less than £25 a week, then we buy all bread, milk and some fresh meat for about £40 in the week. After years of trying to budget and failing miserably, I have finally found this method, and it works well for me...also doing the big internet shop saves petrol, its free delivery, and soooo much easier as no queing, no packing, delivered right to your door..also, I found if they made any mistakes, I rung the store, and they rectify it straight away with a refund!
HTH's

A roll a day! how much poo does your family have!!

Again, we buy a decent loo roll so that you need less than you do with a cheap one.

the mince worked out at 65p more than gristly supermarket meat and on the basis it meant the children ate it was well worth it.

yes but i wouldn't mind paying a bit extra for nice meat tbh.
Will shop around a bit i think.
Just skimmed through miaws thread and tis fab fab fab.

I'd also say cut back on the amount of meat you put in the meat dishes you do make, adding more veg so that (for example) an 80p pack of mince does for two meals or 2 chicken breasts feeds 4. (Most of our food is sauce-based.)