Any tips saving money on food shop

[Thismumrunsonhugsandtea]

I am a single parent to a little boy who is eight. I feel like every time I go shopping it's going up just wondering how much everyone else spends on their food shopping and any tips on how to save money thank you

To add, if you're trying to spend less than not very much on food to keep up with debt repayments that's a trigger to look for a more formal solution, because it's not sustainable and it's not expected that you go without food to service unsecured debts.

@BarbaraofSeville

Is there any way you can increase your income or cut other costs? How much do you have available for food and how much do you think you are short to get what you need?

Because it sounds like you're doing everything right (shopping at Aldi, cooking from scratch, not buying a lot of meat) so your bill should already be pretty small unless you're wasting a lot.

You haven't said how much you're spending so we can't tell if you have any room to cut down or is it a case that you've reached the limit of how low you can go? Do you need to cut your grocery bill or is it just a case that you think you should be spending less than you are?

I'm in the Beauty industry so unfortunately not on full wages at the moment because we are legally not allowed to work,I can't increase my income because there are no other jobs available everyone is unemployed at the moment everyone is going for the same jobs,I spend £40 a week at the moment X

Oh, that sounds tough. £40 a week is probably enough if it's just the two of you, you're careful and you're not one of those over cleaners that uses bleach by the gallon.

Have you got all the help you're entitled to because your income has been effected? Had your TC/UC claim recalculated or claimed even if you weren't entitled before?

www.moneysavingexpert.com/coronavirus-help/

One idea might be to use olio (app where food is shared so it isnt wasted) or a community fridge or social supermarket.
The community fridge in my nearest big town gives a bag of food to anyone who asks, each day.
Volunteering for olio, I've been able to keep 10% of any food delivery from Tesco so that has cut my food bill a bit. We don't buy much bread anymore, anyway.

[quote BarbaraofSeville]Oh, that sounds tough. £40 a week is probably enough if it's just the two of you, you're careful and you're not one of those over cleaners that uses bleach by the gallon.

Have you got all the help you're entitled to because your income has been effected? Had your TC/UC claim recalculated or claimed even if you weren't entitled before?

www.moneysavingexpert.com/coronavirus-help/[/quote]
Thank you I will check that out x

@SuperLoudPoppingAction

One idea might be to use olio (app where food is shared so it isnt wasted) or a community fridge or social supermarket. The community fridge in my nearest big town gives a bag of food to anyone who asks, each day. Volunteering for olio, I've been able to keep 10% of any food delivery from Tesco so that has cut my food bill a bit. We don't buy much bread anymore, anyway.

Oh I didn't know about that that's brilliant thank you x

there are a couple of apps for either free food - as mentioned above or food at the end of the day at a bargain price - this might be a way of getting some sweet treats for a change

As others have said eating meals without meat is cheaper

Meal plan and cook meals for 4 people each night for 2 weeks and then having frozen the other 2 portions you can go for 2 weeks without having to either cook or purchase food for the evening meals, and not repetition for a full fortnight

chicken curry www.kitchensanctuary.com/easy-chicken-curry/

bean chilli www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/double-bean-roasted-pepper-chilli

coconut and lentil dahl www.slimmingworld.co.uk/recipes/carrot-and-coconut-dhal

jackfruit pulled coconut casserole yummy www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/pulled_jackfruit_stew_38156

chickpeas are really cheap and very healthy www.oneingredientchef.com/sweet-potato-stew/

purchased a bag of sweet potatoes so now have plenty - buy some sausages and have with mash and freeze the mash and sausages for next week.

my trick is to bulk buy jackfruit, chickpeas and lentils then I have store cupboard foods that I can easily make foods from. I like to have one weeks of he month where I don't need to go shopping and can eat from the freezer and cupboards.

a few ideas

breakfast with oats from Aldi (I like their oats the best in the green packet) tasty.co/recipe/strawberry-chocolate-overnight-oats. I use their almond milk unsweetened as its cheap as chips and lasts for weeks in the cupboard

Have a look on market place for things like a bread machine - making bread is cheaper and saves a trip to the supermarket when yo don't just buy bread. I have a milk man app so I can easily get milk delivered - it may be a few pennies more but it stops the impulse purchases