£50 weekly food bill??? not in my house.

[6inchnipples]

Having read a few threads on the 'how much do you spend on food per week' topic and having read the 'i spend 40' 'i spend 50' chat i thought i'd really make an effort to try and get mine down a bit (currently spend about 80-90 average per week, 3 kids under 5 plus me and dp)

Just nipped to local co op whose prices are reasonable, do lots of good fruit offers.

I bought 2 packs of chicken breasts 2 for 7 quid offer, two 2l milks, a dozen yogs on special, clementines, strawbs,necterines, blueberries, melon, baked pots reduced to 48p and a loaf

Total 23 quid.

Pots , 1 pack chicken, blueberries, half the strawbs and half the melon gone already, eaten for dinner and pudding.... No way i could do it for 50 quid, not with freash fruit veg etc

HOw do you do it????

Where am i going wrong???

Has anyone else noticed that just as everyone has become more away of food prices and the credit crunch is in the news, that the supermarkets have really put up the prices of their own brand food? Sainsburys does the "20% cheaper than the leading brand" stuff, but before those adverts lots of stuff (like their weetabix) were cheaper than 20% less!

Even more annoying, the budget brand chopped tomatoes are now 38p, which is more than twice what they used to cost. And they can't blame oil prices any more. They just think that we'll think that 38p is much cheaper than 98p for branded and buy them anyway. I can remember when tinned tomatoes were a cheap staple, they're going to be a luxury soon!

I've found my old copy of The Student Cookbook (eating well without microwave, mixer or money) (from the 90s) and a lot of those recipes would be considered treats.

'New potatoes are only 99p in most supermarkets at the moment'

at the market this week I've been paying 41p lb for jersey royals. Deeeeelish. But I just bought ONE lb and they did us for our tea with lots of cheap carrots.

They also do lovely 'older' potatoes several varieties from 23p to 40p a lb depending what you want.

Also our butcher sells free range organic eggs from the farm next door to him, for £1.10 a half doz.

Opposite the market is iceland but I only go in there for milk which is £1.25 for 4 pints full fat (£1.59 at sainsbos) which I get 3 of twice a week and water it down by 20% so its between full fat and semi skimmed.

Yes I appreciate I have a car to shop around but could manage without (well for shopping, but not for work!) as I often walk the 1 mile up a 1 in 10 hill home from the market and netto; also lidl and aldi are 2 and 3 miles away respectively but on the same bus route.

Must admit I don't buy a lot from aldi, I find it too much 'bits and deli' and not enough stuff to just make meals from.

(Mrs Jammi, I get those toilet rolls all the time they are fab aren't they for that quality at that price )

I shop at aldi every week and find that the fruit and veg are fine, as are the cooked meats etc. In fact lasts much longer than what I used to get at Asda.

Anything on the verg of turning, I make a soup with or blend for smothies and ice lollys

Flibberty - I agree about GG, I think that they get to know you and give regulars a good deal.

Also agree regarding iceland for milk. We also have a local farm that will deliver free range eggs at £1 for 6 - much cheaper than the supermarket.

A bag of new pots will last two meals for us, but a kilo of carrots will also oinly just last two meals

trinity I didnt mean to upset you, but carrots are as inexpensive and I truley do believe that children should have veg. Strawberrys were 79p a punnet at the local veg shop or 2 for £1.10

I have just seem lidl advertising peppers at 79p for three (great for bolegnease), advercardo for 29p too.

I appreciate that as a SAHM I have the luxery of not having to only shop once a week, but I resort to frozen steam veg bags - on offer at morrisons last week - packet (4 bags) for £1 - they take 3 mins in the microwave

I try to buy local, but find my biggest expense is Milk and diary. I have a bread maker and use that - Lidl bread flour is 44p a bag.

I also bake treats or cakes - I use marg and value flour and they are fine.

Make yorkshire puddings - flour, egg and milk

We also use them as the basis for a desert, add some sugar and fruit and custard

I got loads of tips from DHs gran when she was alive. Nothing ever went to waste. I have to make this work. We dont have money for anything else and feel that my children should eat the best they can. I am overweight and dont want them to grow up to be.

You can make fab rice pudding in a slow cooker.

My greengrocer does know me, but he doesn't do me good deals - I pay the price displayed on the goods that everyone else pays. 41p for jersey royals is the price of his potatoes!

He has a good fast turnover of very good produce, I've tried lurking later in the afternoon but he doesn't reduce anything as he doesn't seem to have stuff that needs to be got rid off at the end of the day. Its a market hall where the goods are left on the stalls overnight and the hall locked up, so no need to sell off at the end of the day really.

He also delivers for free around our town, so I can walk to the shops, stagger home with my milk from iceland and the fruit and veg arrives at 6pm after he shuts his stall.

(gosh I sound like I'm in love with my greengrocer )

I have to have fruit and veg every day - if I have a day without then I literally can't poo for about a week

@IVykaty - But what about the skin?
What about the skin? The skin comes away from the meat - either leave it out or eat it.

There was a piece in the paper last week saying that you could eat 5 portions of fruit and vegtables per day for 80p

It went something along the lines of breakfast and a banana 14p (sainsbury sell banana at 108p for 8) Baked beans on toast so the bake beans 41p count as a portion. An apple in the afternoon would be around 20p and then peas and sweetcorn with dinner - I gues if they are frozen then minimum cost.

I keep reading about blueberries being expensive and only for a treat etc

I only buy them when they are on special.

CO OP had them for £2 this week

THEN i found them in LIDL for £1!!

My kids love them so i get them when ever poss.

And the quality of the blueberries at £1 was better than the ones i get from tesco often paying more than double that for.

I managed to do my shopping for this week for £63

This was partly because i already had my meat in the freezer (beef mince, pork mince, chick thighs x 2 and one pack chick breasts) but i did buy dog food (10 quid every fortnight) also bought charcoal for bbq and 4 big packs of cathedral cheese on special at tesco down to 1.81 from 3.99. We use alot of cheese and use by date not til end Aug so worth buying 4 imo!!

Also i didn't need cleaning stuff altho did get kitchen roll and wipes. Didn't need cereal either.

I did get alot of veg and fruit (avocados 29p in lidl so got 5, neighbour bought 20!!)

Meal planning def helps, oh i also got pizza which i normally make myself but the ones i like were done to a quid in tesco. Bought 2 which will do the 5 of us with some salad/veg for dinner one night.

madhouse tell me more about these yorkshire pudding deserts.
My ds loves yorkshire pud so no doubt he'd love them.
Made them the sponge microwave pud last night and they loved it!

i think it was the moneysavingexpert guy, that suggested doing a weekly shop but buying one price grade down than you would normally, and then the following week trying to go another grade lower. that way you try cheaper alternatives, keep buying the ones you like and over the year you could save hundreds.

(for example if you buy branded biscuits, try own brand, if you buy own brand try value)
you can get into a habit of buying brand stuff because you know it, but sometimes the value stuff just doesnt cut it.

sometimes you just have to be savvy, couple of weeks ago, dh picked up big load of loo paper thinking it would be cheaper, but smaller packs were on offer, and several smaller packs actually worked out cheaper.

my maths has improved so much over the last few years, just by comparing prices, weights and value on a weekly shop!

i sometimes get into the way of thinking everything in lidl cheaper but infact tesco own brand of things sometimes cheaper still.

i often do lidl or aldi then tesco in the same day.

yorkshire pudding eaten for desert with either jam or honey - thats what we do when there are some left over

Has anyone got a blueberry bush? Was wondering about planting rhubarb and blueberries - thought it would possibly be cheaper and could freeze any surplus fruit??

I've got 2 blueberry plants in my garden, don't get much from them yet as they are only young, they need ericaceous (SP?!) soil though so are in pots! Also have rhubarb plants on my allotment, still getting established as we've only had the allotment 11mths so can't take too much from them this year. I have raspberrries in the garden, really prolific, loads of lovely fresh fruit and made jam, cakes etc. Also on the allotment, with loads of other fruit and veg and apple trees in the garden. Chickens in the garden, 5 so enough eggs for us and sell the surplus to pay for their feed etc. And go wild food foraging sometimes - elderflower cordial is currently in the fridge and home made wine in the wine rack. Yes I do work, but only 3 full days per week, have a 4yr old preschool dd, 2 young dogs, a house that we're trying to do up gradually, and I'm usually busy, off sick today hence on mumsnet.
All worth a try to save money but it does take time. Although its time we enjoy, dd loves collecting elderflowers, playing at the allotment and feeding the chickens, thankully she likes being outside as much as me!

Yorkshire pud with raspberry jam and a drop of milk is one of the finest puds known to man! The dds like it with golden syrup and icecream.

Can second having your own chickens if you have a garden. You don't need much room for them. Ours are unfortunately not loose as garden unfenced with B-road outside, but dh and his friend built our own chicken coop, probably about size of large rabbit hutch I suppose, and a huge run attached made of wood offcuts and chicken wire. They are very happy as have lots of space including height. All bought from local livestock market for around 2 quid each (we have 3). Layers pellets and mixed corn in sacks lasts months and they get all our scraps of leftovers (anything except meat/fish). We get 2-3 eggs every single day, and they are the most divine eggs you've ever tasted! Thinking of getting 3 more soon. If we don't eat eggs on their own for few days I feel duty bound to do big batch of cakes and biscuits which cost very little with value flour from Lidl and fruit from garden. The chooks must have paid for themselves hundreds of times over!

I always buy frozen blueberries and cherries (3 packs for £5 in Sainsbury). They go a bit watery when defrosted but I always mix them into yogurt anyway.

Tip to eke out eggs for scrambled eggs - beat some milk into the mixture.

I've been saving some money recently by using tinned tuna in pasta sauces, fish pie and fish cakes (I used to use fresh salmon).

Anybody got any easy recipes for flap jack type snacks? I buy a lot of cereal bars.

Your mention of tinned tuna reminds me that fishcakes made with tinned tuna and leftover mash are delicious. I often mix finely chopped leftover veg in too for more flavour and goodness. Olives, capers, parsley, hardboiled egg etc all good in them too.

My weekly bill's plumetted lately, as we're eating loads from the allotment right now. Spuds, onions, garlic, herbs, lettuce, peppers, broad beans, peas, strawberries and blackcurrents are all being harvested at the moment. The freezer is filling up too.

Great thread!!

We're a family of 6.

2 adults, 2 man sized teenage boys ( the 14 year old can eat triple portions of pasta, sauce and cheese and still say he's starving, has size 12 feet and is still growing heaven help me) , DD 10 and DS3 4, a cat and guinea pigs..( the guinea pigs don't eat a lot admittedly!!)

we spend £700-800 a month for ALL groceries including toiletries, ecover washing powder, washing up liquid etc for all, I generally cook from scratch but I do maybe overuse things like quorn sausages and mince etc-we're all veggie except DD and DS3 who eat a bit of fish.Does that sound excessive to people?

I admit to buying snacks like value biscuits and yogurts but try really hard to keep the bills down but just can't so I'm watching this thread with great interest for some top tips!!!!!!!!!! xx

Some great ideas on here, I am seriously going to watch what I spend as I know I can get my grocery bill down!

I would like to try my butchers but have no idea what types of cuts to even ask for. I love using my slow cooker so know that cheaper cuts would be good in that.

mrs bon jovi- next tme you go past the butchers, if its quiet, just talk to him/her.

let them know what type of meal or recipe you are cooking, and they could probably advise you.

or ask whats on at a good offer and then if its a cut your not familiar ask them for suggestion for what you could make with it.

or do a little research for your recipe cuts on-line before you go.

or better still, send dh, i do!!

Just wondering if those of you with cheaper shopping bills then spend more in other shops during the rest of the week?

I shop at a big tesco and buy things like socks, birthday cards, magazines, medical stuff, colouring books, etc. So my bill is usually around £100 (which I am ALWAYS about!) but then I don't go to any other shops and spend any other money for the rest of the week.

And alcohol - forgot that! Used to be popping to the shop for wine at the weekend, now its on my shopping bill instead.

GoodwitchGlinda - Yes I also buy loads of other stuff at Tesco - toiletries, T shirts, clothes for DS, household stuff, toys etc but I wouldn't normally count these things when saying how much my weekly shop was, I just get them for convenience and also because they tend to be as cheap there as anywhere.

GWG - I do a main shop at tesco and buy milk, bread and meat in local shops - its cheaper there than in tesco!

Eustacia - have you looked into alternatives for Ecover. I cant remember the details, but Ecover is no longer produced in the UK and the prices have gone up, as well as not being as environmentally friendly as it once was. If you want to stick with it, find your local health food shops - many have massive bottles and will refill the ones you have.

Also maybe try halving the powder/liquid you use.

I use soapnuts for everything - washing clothes, handwash, surface cleaner. I do also use a mix of vinegar, borax and essential oils for surface cleaners when kitchen particularly messy.

As for toiletries look out for offers on the ones you use and stock up. Also often worth trying the cheapest option you can find. If it doesnt work, try next up. I have quite sensitive dry skin, and used to use original source (about 1.97) tried tesco value bodywash (was about 10p) which didnt work for me. I then tried next up, Tesco Lilac and Silk (46p) which is fab. So Im saving myself £1.50 on that one product alone. I also decant it into an old handwash bottle with a pump, so I only get what I need each time.

I refuse to use cheap loo roll though.

Also, look through the reduced section - raw meat always shoved in bottom and Ive got a whole organic chicken for £3 on several occasions (know you are veggie, eustacia, but fish and quorn are often in there too)