If you spend about £70-80 a week for a family of 4 on food can you please tell me what you're buying so I can copy?

[Fairylea]

Just that really.

I know threads like this have been done to death but I'm struggling to work out how it can be done.

There's me, dh, dd aged 11 and ds 2. Dd and dh have packed lunches for school / work and I'm a sahm so I'm also at home eating lunch everyday.

At the moment I am embarrassingly struggling to spend less than about £150. Which is madness as we have a billion things we need to save for and it's beyond our budget really.

So what I'm looking for is actual shopping lists from people who spend less for ideas.. especially when it comes to snacks. Dh and dd are big snack people - they would eat biscuits and cakes till the cows come home. Cheaper alternative ideas please.. or do I just offer value biscuits and make cakes everyday?? Ds loves fruit for a snack but dh and dd wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.

So ideas welcome please.

I don't have an aldi locally - nearest one is 20 miles away. We are quite rural. Our nearest shop is tesco.

Thanks.

I'd be weaning them off the snacks for a start! That should cut your bill by a good bit

I have myself and 5 dc.... 3 are fully grown teens... And we do it just under £100

We don't have meat with every meal, cook done from scratch. Lots of chilli/stir fry/pasta bake type stuff with salad.

Shop mainly at asda

Hi FairyLea

I spend about that. I'm certainly very annoyed if it goes above £80 and my average is £70.

We both work full time but take lunch from home each day. The DC are at school and nursery and have a cooed meal there. I get almost the same each week (boringly enough - saves time) and this is a typical Aldi shop:

Meat

Sausages
Small whole chicken
Haddock fillets (just two - I share mine with DD and my DS just has baked potatoes, beans and salad as he is a fish refuser)
Chicken mini-fillets for fajitas
Pork steaks
Quiche (Aldi do two lovely ones in the black boxes)
Lean beef mince for meatballs

Carbs
Baking potatoes (these will make mash to go with the sausages and baked potatoes for the chicken and haddock)
Cous cous (this will go with the pork which will be served with a simple ratatouille)
Dried pasta (obviously does not need to be bought each week)

Fruit and Veg

Lemons
Pink Lady Apples
Red grapes
Bananas
Strawberries
Mange tout
Frozen peas
Green beans
Corn on the cob
Carrots
Jarred olives
Cucumbers
Gem Lettuce
Garlic
Chillies
Red Pepper
Cherry tomatoes
Red onions

Bakery
Loaf of Hovis 'Best of Both'
Packet of pitta bread

Food Cupboard

Baked beans x2
Vegetable soup x2
Chicken soup X2
Breakfast biscuits (Aldi brand)
Cookies
Cereal (Aldi rice crispies or shreddies)
Jam
Crackers
Raisins
One treat for the children (e.g. small bag of sweets)

Fridge

Fromage frais
Milk - six pints
Touchon ham
Pate
Mature cheddar
One bottle of wine
Coleslaw (I'm a bit obsessed with cheese and coleslaw at the moment)

Misc

Nappies
Wipes
Washing up liquid
Flour
Sugar

I think that's about it. Obviously I get soap powder once every couple of weeks, porridge oats once a month. For snacks the children have jam on crackers, fruit, a 'DS Salad' (cucumber, carrots and olives) or raisins. I don't buy crisps. DH will sometimes come home with a bar of chocolate for the children. I buy chocolate ice cream every couple of weeks. To be honest there's been too much chocolate in our house since Easter and I'll be glad to see the back of it.

I'd love to do more baking but don't have the time - struggling with depression at the moment which doesn't help. It's lovely to bake your own bits and pieces and it can save a little money if you make simple things like lemon cake or flapjacks. I'd prefer to make all meals from scratch but the Aldi 'quiche' is quick and tasty and I do my best. I always make soups over the summer.

I don't know if this helps xxx

my children are a bit younger (nearly 2 and 4.7) but with us all eating 3 meals a day at home, we spend about £80 a week, including occasional nappies/wipes/laundry stuff.

Snacks tend to be stuff I've baked, or stuff that's on offer that week. Both children like dried fruit a lot, and any biscuits really. Our normal shop for food will be (e.g.) a small chicken, to do 2 meals, large bag of potatoes, bag of rice, bag or two of pasta. veg will be what's on offer - this week, green beans, carrots, asparagus, broccolli, and some baby corn. other than chicken, meat is bought in the 3 for £10 deal (sainsburys), so might be sausages, pork loin chops, chicken fillets. fruit is bananas (loads thereof!), apples, and satsumas. DH has granola for breakfast, I have a handful of it with a yoghurt, DCs have some godawful cereals and a banana. 12 eggs will do us a week, too. lunch stuff is a sandwich (with a filling or combo from: cheese/ham/peanut butter/jam/cream cheese/marmite/boiled egg), piece of fruit, and maybe some crisps if I've bought them that week.

I do cook from scratch a lot, but we will have the odd pre-prepared meal - tonight is chicken kiev with new potatoes. Tomorrow is a late one, so the kids and DH are having some frozen pizza as a treat, and I'll make myself an omelette.

I'd get value biscuits and crisps if I were you - it's worth trying different value products, and seeing which are actually good. for example, sainsburys value hummus is the best I've tried, and their basics bananas are fine too. basics apples tend to be so sour we can't eat them, so we no longer buy them.

we also don't drink fruit juice, so just have sugar free squash, but I think that keeps costs down too. do you have any branded colas or fruit juices? could be an idea to try non-branded ones?

I don't have much to add other than adding some value range stuff it looks bloody dull in the packaging but quite often just as good quality I only get certain things such as fruit or basic stuff porridge rice pasta etc .

Look for offers and limit convenience food as snacks I find they get eaten so quick simply because they are there rather than them been a nessescity

Oh yes - we don't buy fizzy pop or juice bottled either. We do usually get a carton of apple juice though - I didn't add that. I pick up a big lot of tea bags when they're on offer too but only drink maybe two cups a day so I buy this maybe once every three months. I like hot water and lemon.

Agree re cheap biscuits. Aldi cookies are about 60p and lovely.

Thank you all very much for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate all the responses and will make use of the suggestions!

I keep telling dd and dh no more snacking but they act like I've just cut off their oxygen! Both are as skinny as anything and i'm the one who doesn't snack and I'm mildly overweight. Life isn't fair.. :) I'll try some ideas to save some money on the snacks. Thanks again.

My biggest savings have been working out which Sainsburys basics are worth having. I find chopped toms in the carton (35p), Hummus (65p), peppers, carrots, potatoes, onions and cream cheese are just a few of the things I use.

My shopping list for this week is:

bread
naan bread
oats
multipack salt your own crisps
baking potatoes
2 cartons passata
2 cucumbers
2 packs tomatoes
2 3-packs sweet peppers
2 melons
bag of pears
bag of braeburn apples
maybe some other fruit
baking potatoes
cauliflower
green beans
courgettes
spring cabbage
2 bags salad leaves
bag of organic carrots
mushrooms
broccoli
other veg that looks nice
free range chicken
mince
smoked salmon trimmings
pack of mini orange juice cartons
oatcakes
breadsticks or rye crackers
stuffed green olives
black olives
houmous
cheddar
cream cheese
cheap feta
plain greek yogurt
plain fromage frais
butter
dijon mustard
ham
frozen pizza
frozen raspberries
milk
eggs
bottle of wine

Breakfast will be porridge or boiled eggs and fruit.

Dinners will be:

omelettes with green beans and mixed salad.

slow cooker chicken

pizza

meatballs

baked fish (from freezer)

baked potatoes

vegetable curry from freezer.

Snacks in this house are:

Crackers (value brand) and cheese (never buy value brand cheese as don't like it, I buy whatever cheese is on offer at asda and never pay more than £2 for a bag).

Carrot sticks (carrots are so cheap) with houmous - I usually buy the £1 houmous in asda but will try the sainsbury's value one, thanks for the tip Lonecat. Alternatively breadsticks with houmous (69p for a box of breadsticks in asda).

Sweet snacks I make myself - jam tarts, oat biscuits or cupcakes. I'm not the best baker in the world but these are all really easy to do - and more importantly, cheap! Oat biscuits go down the best in this house and they're the healthiest and easiest too. Just oats, flour, butter and syrup, rubbed together and cut into biscuit shapes. Let me know if you want the recipe!

Another thing we snack on is granola and natural yogurt - in asda big bag of granola around £1.50 (lasts ages), value brand natural yogurt 40 odd pence.

We are a family of 4 and never spend over £70 - including cleaning products and toiletries. My advice would be to look out for offers - we never stick with a certain brand, just go for whatever's on offer. We've found Asda the cheapest by far but Tesco and Sainsbury's can have good offers too and we're lucky that we live near all 3. I don't rate lidl or aldi at all tbh.

Do you have a Home Bargains near you? We go there for toiletries/clezning stuff if there's no good offers in asda.

I don't have a family of four but little things I do- have a night of pasta and pesto with slice of garlic bread

Buy frozen veg like peppers and broccoli

Stretch chicken with lots of courgettes etc so cheaper to make curry and stir fry

Sausages and mash - so cheap

I make cleaning products buy diluting pound shop sterilising fluid and I don't use much polish

Don't bother with fabric softener

Make crumble and fairy cakes - cheap as chips

Aldi sell dirt cheap biscuits - could you do a monthly shop and find a hiding spot?

Ds (6), dd (4) and dp and me here, I spend about £70-£80. I buy £10 of meat, 15 FR eggs for £2, 2 loaves of bread, 8pints of milk, potatoes, salads, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, bananas, apples, plums, sats. One frozen meal such as pizza, fish fingers and waffles

I make fairy cakes and buy the cheapie choc digestive single bar.

Best thing for me is a online shop at asda once a week, no top ups, tinned fruit for if dcs fancy a change. I don't buy expensive soft fruits and buy amartprice pasta, porridge, tinned toms. I stock up on good offers and multi packs

Thank you for the ideas.

I've just come back from tesco having spent £87 (which is a massive improvement for me) having followed some of your lists and suggestions. Very impressed. Just have to make sure I stick to my meal plan and don't venture into tesco for anything else as that's where I tend to fall down I think. I stocked up on eggs, bread and milk so I should have no excuse to go back!!

Meal planning and a well-stocked store cupboard are the keys. Also making everything from scratch rather than buying jars/packets. And not having meat every night.

I stopped buying any processed snack things. No biscuits, choccy bars, crisps, processed cheese snacks (babyb ell etc). No sausage rolls/pies and no bought cakes. I make a couple if batches if cakes flapjack at the weekend sp there are treats in the house but no over priced junk. The savings were shocking as we tend to think of that kind of stuff as "cheap" but it really does add up.

I now buy all organic meat, fruit &veg and dairy and spend around 70/80 pw. Fruit and meg box c. 18, organic meat box 200 3 times a year and 40 a week in Lidl on tins, pasta etc but only real food.

2 meat free days pw, lots of batch cooking, meal planning and i am leftover queen.

Yes I realise the snacks are actually probably responsible for a lot of the unnecessary spending.... gulp. We don't drink any squashes or fizzy drinks at all (we don't smoke or drink at all either) but it's stuff like random urges to buy galaxy caramel big bar or dh will fancy some wasabi peanuts and some fancy crisps. Before you know it you've spent £5.

I know this.. and yet still we find ourselves throwing things in the trolley.

Anyway... so bearing in mind your ideas today I managed to pick up quite a few biscuits half price and got some crackers and pitta bread snack type stuff. Gradually over time I hope to cut down the snacks but if I did it right away dh and dd would think the world had ended :)

Here's my meal plan for this week...

1. Chicken fajitas
2. Veg and lentil pasta
3. Sausages and mash (picked up some half price Richmond sausages in tesco. Not sure if they're any good as normally buy more expensive ones but needs must....)
4. Steak and chips (our treat night, steak was half price for rump steak so didn't seem too bad for a special thing).
5. Stuffed peppers - stuffed with couscous and topped with cheese with roast potatoes (we often have this).
6. Scampi and chips with peas (scampi was half price)
7. Eggs, beans and potato waffles or pasta bake depending on how the mood takes us.

So in theory I have a weeks meals. Lunches mainly eggs / tuna / cheese / ham sandwiches or beans on toast. That sort of thing.

Kids have yoghurt, strawberry mousse, biscuits, bananas and apples for snacks.

Dh came with me as it was his day off and I limited him to a few treats so he got some skittles (!), half price pack of butter microwave popcorn and some malteasers.

So we will see how we go..... maybe I should just take my house account card out of my bag so I can't spend anymore.

My main worry is that we will get to the weekend and then all fancy treats and it will go out of window.

My rule on treats is that if I bake it we can have it, for me that limits the cost and the indulgence. I have a list of about 8 easy cakes that I can knock up and once you establish the habit you won't need to reach for shop treats. For example a choc cake made with a coco paste is cheap and really tasty.

I would also suggest a few more veggie meals - check out the meat free May, I use variations on many of these quite regularly.

Always freeze portions of food too. The days you can't be bothered you can have a night off without extra cost. My 6.5 litre slow cooker is my friend.

For me the key things have been mealplanning, buying online (so I can review whats in the basket before pressing send), and buying in some treats so we don't do the Saturday impulse shop. So I now buy and freeze a few Tescos curry things, because £5 on a chicken tikka masala, a saag aloo and a tadka dhal is so much cheaper than the takeaway I might otherwise have splurged on. I get value things much of the time, and we're down to having meat much less often. I got annoyed with cooking a roast every week too, and we discovered that sausages with gravy, roast potatoes, yorkshire pudd, etc did the job just as well as beef, and at a fraction of the price. Odd maybe, but who cares.

My shop is very similar to goldennotebook, but I buy a couple of packets if quorn mince as I'm not keen on meat.

Unfortunately we live literally in the middle of nowhere and the only shop we have is tesco! Aldi is 20 miles away and home bargains etc 26 miles so cost of petrol getting there might cancel out the savings. Such a shame :(

I was actually vegan for 23 years or so .. I completely agree re eating less meat to save money. The trouble is that dd and dh just really only like meat! It's so hard to find meals that everyone likes. If it were down to me I'd live on lentil pasta and quorn shepherd's pie (my two favourite meals).

I think maybe I should just go and live on my own :) I'd save loads. ...

My rule on posh treats is that we have them fri and sat night in front of the tv (with a beer for dp). So that's tortilla crisps, kettle crisps, a bag of maltesars etc...whatever is on offer (for £1!)

Other days its cheapie biscuits of hm cakes for snacking dp. Kids have fruit and easter eggs to get thru.

Shop at aldi and lidl mostly
Chocolate spread - £1.15 (sainsburys)
Bread - 74p x 2 or 3 a week - lidl
Hoops cerial - sainsburys 75p
Oats 1 kg - 95p tesco
Tinned fish (2 tuna tins a week, salmon 1 tin a week) - lidl
Mayonnaise - lidl
Tomato sauce - 95p lidl
Ketchup - lidl
Crisp - 30 bags lidl
100g Chocolate × 4 - 59p each lidl
Baked beans - 49p - lidl
Peanuts - 59p lidl
Pizza - £1 iceland
Chips 1.5kg - £1.69 lidl
Chicken nuggets - 750g lidl - £2 sometime

Fruit n veg all lidl
Cucumber
Red pepper
Frozen Broccoli
Frozen brussels
Sweet potato
Lemon
Avocado
Red grapes
Banana
Flax seeds - lasts a while (a spoonful a day)
Chia seeds - lasts a while
Almonds - £1.89 lidl lasts a while (handful a day)
Cashews - £1.79 lidl lasts a while

Herbs n spices all lidl
Garlic - 36p lidl
Ginger
Tumeric lasts a while