Food Budget out of control. How to reduce?

[Laseine]

Hi,

I have a serious problem controlling my food budget. I always had whatever my level of income. I tend to order lots of (healthy) takeaways because I don't like to cook, plus I keep buying food that expires before I think to use it. I also buy so many random things on impulse. In the past my monthly shop would be around 800 - 1000 inc nappies, formula, toiletries, makeup. But I heard some people manage to get this down to £100 a month. Like how??

My circumstances have seriously changed and I'm on a much reduced income while I study. But it's hard to change bad habits.

How do you shop in a way that covers all your (healthy) needs on a small budget? It's just me and a toddler who likes to eat most foods. I'm willing to cook more, I just find it hard to organise myself.

I honestly have no other personal extravagent spending. I wear the same three jumpers since lockdowns started. I own two pairs of shoes. Just my grocery shop is out of control.

Meal plan for a week at a time
And stick to it
Make sure you only order/buy what you need, keep some extras in your freezer for when the temptation to order takeaway grabs you and buy staples only, when they’re on special offer.
Have an end reward, preferably food related, at the end of each month to keep you focussed.

I totally agree with the pp that meal planning and in my case online shopping is the way forward . Pre covid I used to be in a supermarket at least 4/5 times a week but I’ve now not shopped myself for a year and have had to make do on a weekly delivery and a veg box . I now literally never throw anything out and we also eat a much wider variety of meals . I don’t strictly meal plan each day but think generally a week ahead when I do my online shop .

Being honest with yourself about how healthy you want to be eating, how much cooking you actually have time to do and how much you can afford to spend, and then make a meal plan and stick to it. My spending gets out of hand when I aim to eat healthily and fill the fridge with expensive out of season/area fruit and veg without actually thinking about how many meals I need to make and how much time I have to cook. For instance, there's no point buying stuff for a roast if I'm not getting in from work til 9pm and will only want beans on toast, or planning a risotto that takes 40 mins to cook if I've worked a 13 hour shift and only have 15 mins before a zoom call! Factor in some quick easy and cheap meals that will definitely be healthier than even a healthy takeaway and don't be too elaborate with the cooking or ingredients

OP I have similar problems! Although try to stick to £100/week for me and my teenage boy these days (don’t always manage it). I totally hear you on wearing threadbare clothes etc but overspending on food. Subscribing to hellofresh actually helped me a lot as although it’s slightly expensive for what it is, it contains everything you need for 3 meals and I know what I’m going to have for 3 meals. I was actually doing better than £100/ week before the pandemic, just using hellofresh plus shopping once every fortnight at a supermarket for everything else and planning meals out.

Unfortunately I think I have some kind of food hoarding thing that gets triggered by anxiety and uncertainty, and this was made a billion times worse by the panic buying and seeing empty shelves at the start of the pandemic and not being able to find what I needed or get grocery slots for ages; also Brexit looming with all the dire warning about food shortages around the same time and again at the end of 2020. I’m a GP and work has been super stressful even more than usual and so that contributed to the situation also. I’m only just now able to finally start addressing it as things are seeming a bit more hopeful with this pandemic situation but if we have another wave like Europe I worry I’ll slump right back into the same behaviours again.

£800-£1000 is an incredible amount of money for one adult and one toddler 🤯 I'm assuming the takeaways must be a big proportion of this because otherwise I can't fathom how you can spend £250 a week unless you exist on a diet of caviar and champagne

So firstly stop the takeaways. Make them a monthly treat that you really look forward to and appreciate rather than part of your day to day diet.

Then meal plan. Look up recipes online, maybe try to recreate some of the takeaways you are ordering. But be realistic with how much time and effort you are really likely to be able to commit to. You don't want to plan all adventurous meals and then end up ordering a takeaway because you can't be bothered. Google quick healthy meals for ideas. Things like veggie tray bakes with salmon or chicken are easy and healthy. Look at your preferred supermarket online and see what good deals and offers they have on and try to incorporate these where possible.

Then once you've created your meal plan for the week (make sure you've planned for breakfasts, lunches and dinners plus any snacks) write your shopping list. The idea is you go to the shops once and pick up everything you need so think carefully about all of the ingredients you require. Otherwise a quick pop to the shop for soy sauce often ends up as a £20 shop.

Then you shop and stick to your list. No being tempted by something that looks nice, you just buy what you planned to buy. It's even easier if you shop online as then you can keep an eye on your budget and not be so tempted. We are trying really hard to stick to a food budget at the moment and I actually put my shopping list into my 'basket' on the online shop so I can see the total and adjust as necessary then I go to the shop and buy it myself as the online shopping dates and substitutions often annoy me. The price at the checkout then is completely expected.

Also consider of course where you are shopping. You're going to be spending much more in waitrose and M&S than if you went to asda. I shop in Aldi and keep our weekly shop for two adults and one toddler to £60 which includes plenty of fruit and veg. We eat veggie a few days a week but still enjoy meat and fish. If I ever go the shops without my meal plan and list though it all goes to pot and I spend much more.

Good luck :)

Agree. You need to make lists and meal plan.
Should be really cheap if you eat healthily.

My food bill is extortionate but that's only because of junk food.

I can be as low as £300 a month when eating healthy.

Cook standard size portions and freeze some-every week, so you always have freezer spares. That allows you a couple of cook free days a week. Teach yourself a few recipes, but be sure to include some very speedy ones.

Agree that you need to be totally honest with yourself about how much time you want to spend cooking, I sometimes plan a meal but when it comes down to it feel a bit overwhelmed by it.

Could you start by deleting all the takeaway apps from your phone?

Not sure if your toddler is over one but if they are swapping to full fat cow's milk instead of formula will save a huge amount too.

Make sure you bulk buy things like nappies too.

Switch to eating mainly from your freezer instead of from your fridge.

Prep meat when you buy it, and freeze in small portions, then you’ll have the bulk of the work done. Eg I chop chicken and separate into portions. Or I cook up mince and portion it. I spread rashers, sausages and chops on a baking tray and freeze them quickly then bag them. That stops them sticking together.

I can have a meal on the table in 10-30 minutes which is faster than a takeaway delivery where I live.

If you’re not a fan of cooking, cook double or treble when you do. It’s a tiny bit more effort than cooking one portion but far less effort than cooking one portion three times. Freeze in small portions, not in big lumps!

It can be hard to get the hang of meal planning. But just eating things in the order they expire will make a big difference. Eg eating the grapes first and the apples later in the week, or having a salad in the first few days after a shop, and cooked (from frozen) veg at the end of the week. Or eating fresh bread up before you use the par baked rolls.

It really helps to make dinner decisions in the morning, rather than in the evening when you’re exhausted.

Go veggie a few times a week ... that has saved us a lot and despite being meat lovers we have really enjoyed it:

Halloumi wraps with sweet potato fries
Frittata with salad
Jacket potatoes with diff fillings and salad
Veggie chilli/curry/naan
Richmond veggie sausages (amazing) with mash
Make your own pizzas with veggie toppings
Quorn fish finger ciabatta/salad

Agree about making dinner decisions in the morning. I would also suggest, think about your day and when you could most easily put some preparation effort in. If you chop vegetables mid-afternoon when you need a break from study for example, then later they are ready to just cook. But the important thing is figuring out patterns that will suit you.

I am overwhelmed by the great advice here. I felt like an idiot not being able to budget something so simple and wasn't sure what to expect asking for advice.

I learned something from everyone. Thank you!

I don't mean to be patronising OP so please forgive me but how are your cooking skills? From what I've seen (this and other posts) I can understand why it seems hard to reduce this if you can't cook tasty and nutritious meals fairly cheaply compared to getting a takeaway

Wow £800-£1000 is an incredible amount for 2 people! Agree with subscribing to Hello Fresh/ Gousto. The meals do take a bit of cooking but you don’t have to faff about buying all the ingredients and it’ll stop you going to the supermarket as much and overspending.

I am overwhelmed by the great advice here. I felt like an idiot not being able to budget something so simple and wasn't sure what to expect asking for advice

You are far from being an idiot OP. I could feed myself when I had DC1 but I was far from being a good cook. I've just had to learn as I've gone along and it seems like that's what you want to do

Meal plan for 4 weeks at a time. Do you have a decent sized freezer? Also a slow cooker? If so, batch cooking is your friend.
I make a big batch of basic tomato sauce with tinned toms, onions, garlic, finely chopped celery and carrots with seasoning and cook in the slow cooker for a few hours. Then I split this and make Bolognese and chilli. Portion into freezer bags, lay flat in the freezer until frozen then they stack upright. I use quorn instead of beef mince as DH is veggie. Aldi and Lidl do Quorn mince cheaply sometimes, or some supermarkets often do it on special offer. It lasts a good few weeks in the fridge!

I spend £800 on a family of five a month, including all the cleaning stuff, washing powder etc (which always seems amazingly expensive). I do spend a little extra on face cream from Boots though. We have a takeaway once a month, which I spend £40 on. I kind of hate takeaways anyway, all that faff choosing it and then waiting. I don't scrimp at all on the food shop, and cook everything from scratch including cakes, biscuits etc. Buy the Sainsbury's cookbook and the student cookbook, they both have easy and affordable recipes.

You've had some great advice so far, @Laseine.

How old is your toddler? Do they need formula or could they have other types of milk?

We get the hello fresh/ gousto when they're on offer and I always buy the most I can. Eg I do 4 portions for 4 people ( 2 adults and 1 toddler + baby) and this lasts a long time and is more cost effective than the other options. I tend to cook them all and then freeze them.

Bulking meat out with lentils and pulses is really cheap.

Using up leftovers in soup etc

There's an app called ' too good to go' you should check out.

I think a lot of it is being mindful about what you buy and eat and trying to avoid food wastage where possible.

If you're spending that amount then have you thought about Gousto or hello fresh? You could spend £30-£40 per week on 4 meals, we actually get double the size we need so there's always left overs for the following night , or to freeze. Then you just need a few extras as staples like bread, milk, lunch bits. It will save you a fortune and you'll have all your meals planned for you! Ta da!!!

I'd also start by cooking something like a lasagne and buying foil containers with lids from B&M or Home Bargains. You should get a few good portions for the two of you from a lasagne and then if you don't feel like cooking one night, you can take that straight from the freezer into the oven.

This curry should freeze well too

Do you live in one of the areas covered by the organisation Bags of Taste? www.bagsoftaste.org/courses/

If not, they are doing online mentored courses, for which you possibly don't need to be in those specific areas. It's aimed at teaching people how to cook healthy but tasty meals on a very low budget, and gets amazing feedback from participants.

Meal plan and be mindful of the relative cost of each meal - you could try balancing out the pricier ones with cheap ones in the week.
E.g. If you're having steak in red wine one day you could have jacket potato with some roasted veg or something the next.

I used to meal plan a few days in advance but lockdown forced this to a week in advance. I hated thinking so far into the future to start with but it's actually really good to just get it over with as long as you're not going to be miserable with what you've planned and get a takeaway on the day instead! You can also then plan to use up some of the unused ingredients over the week.

Definitely make use of your freezer.

Build up a good stash of simple tasty recipes - I really like the bbc good food website for this (works best if you have a printer and print stuff out), they have little books as well. I use other cook books but they can be a bit faffy.

We rarely waste food. If you have a freezer and something is coming up to its sell/use by date freeze it.

We buy artisan bread, slice it and freeze it so we always have fresh bread.

You can freeze semi skimmed milk so no waste there.

If I have veg past it's best, I make soup. Chop and fry an onion or a leek. Add other veg always including a small chopped spud whatever the rest is, salt pepper and a veg or chicken stock cube. 20 mins on med on the stove then blitz it with a blender. Add a bit of cream or cheese, or mascarpone. Yum.

Other veg can be roasted with a bit of olive oil, then make your own wrap with the roast veg plus some grated cheese, a bit of mayo, fab.

We always have tinned white beans, garbanzo and haricot beans, chopped tomatoes, tomatoes puree and cheese in the cupboard/fridge, then you always have a meal.

Buy a slow cooker. They're about 20 quid. Chuck in some chopped onion in olive oil, some chopped veg, a stock cube, can of tomatoes put it on low, and 8 hours later you have a stew. Make dumplings, they take 30 seconds and chuck a couple in the last half hour.

We eat very well but I'd struggle to spend more than 60 quid or so a week for groceries etc and there's 2 adults. In fairness we rarely buy cake, biscuits, crisps etc.

I was inspired by a thread on here recently and am trying to reduce our grocery costs, too. We normally spend about £300 a week (including cleaning products, dog food, wine and and some toiletries) but I'm challenging myself to keep it to £200 or less a week. I found some great recipes on a fun programme called Eat Well for Less and tonight we had katsu chicken and vegetable pilau, which was lovely. Last night we had home made doner kebabs. Look up 'Fake always' as there are some lovely recipes you can do at home.

(And ditto the meal plan!)