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I have cut my food bill by over half!

77 replies

joanneg · 16/11/2004 19:35

I have been spending a fortune on shopping (I reckon between £75 - 100 a week). There are three of us, me, dh and ds.

Anyway we are really hard up at the moment so I have really cut down. I have started shopping at Asda and planning meals. For instance if I decide that we will have a beef stew - I only put the veggies to go with that meal in. - I plan each dinner time like that. I also have started using their own brands - even their nappies which I have found quite good. I write a list and am really strict on what I buy.

On average now I am spending between £35 - £40 a week. I am so pleased. It is amazing the difference it can make in just going to a cheaper supermarket and watching what you buy can do. (also I make dh use a calculator as we go around poor bugger!!)

OP posts:
TracyK · 16/11/2004 19:43

I must do the same - i'm £100 a week and still never have anything to eat in the fridge!
I was thinking of using one of the online delivery ones - then you just order what you want and don't impulse buy. also am going to try costco or makro for big boxes of washing powder/toilet rolls etc - they seem to bump up the s/market bills.

joanneg · 16/11/2004 19:52

Tracy - I know what you mean. I would spend loads of money and still have nothing for dinner! I really think that planning meals and having a shopping list has helped. Also swapping to own brands. At first I hated the idea but they are actually not much different.

The online thing is good because it might stop you impulse buying. ALso if you shop midweek I think that the delivery charge is less.

OP posts:
froot · 16/11/2004 19:56

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tallulah · 16/11/2004 20:31

I started doing this last year. Then our Asda introduced a charge for their car park (you get it back when you pay but I don't carry cash) to add to their charge for a trolley (ditto), so I haven't been there since. Really must cut down because ours is creeping up & up. Went to tesco for "a few bits" & spent £80!!!

Glad to see I'm not the only one who spends a fortune & we've still got nothing in to eat.

As for online shopping, does anyone else find it still takes a good hour, or is it me?

candy · 17/11/2004 09:54

I do tesco online and find that yes, it does still take an hour BUT it's an hour when I'm warm, drinking coffee, peaceful and I don't have to lug it all home afterwards! Well worth it I think!

strawberry · 17/11/2004 10:17

This has worked for me. I have a 'menu' of all the meals I know how to make (!) and we all choose what to have for the week. Shopping online stops me impulse buying too. Always used to get a comic for ds or something.

Online doesn't take an hour for me, maybe half hour. I have broadband - don't know if this makes it faster? Although more expensive I have found ocado to be the best both online and delivery/service.

nutcracker · 17/11/2004 13:01

I have just started shopping online too, and spent 46 last time instead of 114 at the shop itself.

popsycal · 17/11/2004 13:03

I MUST start doing this

beansmum · 17/11/2004 13:11

I'm pretty strict with my shopping, always write a list and try to stick to it. I think buying own brand food makes a diference, but I still cant bring myself to buy anything other than heinz beans!

Kayleigh · 17/11/2004 13:18

beansmum, I'm the same with Ketchup. Wouldn't dream of buying anything other than Heinz.

tatcity · 17/11/2004 13:20

Have recently moved to an area where there isn't a supermarket local to me.

I have a couple of local stores and a farm shop within walking distance, and now buy stuff for each day.

When I do make a trip to the supermarket, I find I end up buying things I don't need and spending more.

I seem to make more of an effort making meals out of what is in the fridge/cupboard - and its definitely much cheaper.

pesme · 17/11/2004 13:22

well done joanneg, i need to start doing this. in our house it is known as being a 'big tight b*tch'.

TracyK · 17/11/2004 13:31

I started to do sainsburys this morning - but I'm so crap at inspiration for dinners that I couldn't think what to buy.
I must sit down with some jamie oliver book and plan some dinners.
Also (diff. thread) am going to buy a steamer and hopefully get inspiration from that.

Caligula · 17/11/2004 13:34

I think menu planning is the single biggest money-saver ever. I did it for a couple of weeks and my food bill went right down. I also found that it forced me to try new recipes, because I sat down with recipe books.

Must do it again!

MilkyWay · 17/11/2004 13:43

Well done to you - wish I was more like you and could stick at keeping our bills down.

According to my Microsoft Money programme, we've spent an average of £800 per month on food and groceries which includes the odd take-away, meal out and all the cleaning things, nappies etc.

We have a budget of £500 per month so it's no wonder we're hideously overdrawn.

We tried menu planning but then when it came to dinner time, neither of us fancied what we'd planned to have. Odd hours of work, feeling hassled and the like, means we eat loads of convenience foods.

It's worse coz dh works in a town centre and ends up going into Sainsburys most days and impulse buying.

Caligula · 17/11/2004 13:45

Would you have time to cook at the weekends and freeze, Milkyway? Or at least ensure that each time you cook you cook double the amount you need so that you can freeze a batch for another mealtime?

yingers74 · 17/11/2004 13:46

talluhah - yes it takes me just under an hour using on-line shopping. If I don't have anything 'different' to buy then I can do it in
half an hour.

i get it delivered during the week which is free!

MrsFogi · 17/11/2004 13:46

I also find that making a list and sticking to it makes a massive difference to how much I spend.

Uhu · 17/11/2004 14:48

I often shop at Aldi and a lot of their stuff is very good quality for a fraction of the price. I also bought some vest for the babies from there several months ago. They cost £3.99 for 7, I have washed them many,many times and they are still in good condition. If you shop around, you can get really good bargains. Check out Wilkinson stores for your toiletries and children's clothes- I made huge savings there also!

peskykids · 17/11/2004 18:39

I'm sad and greedy and skint and thus batch cook fairly regularly. Delia's Ragout from her winter collection is pretty scrum and doesn't need much doing to it other than shoving in oven. Use streaky bacon rather than pancetta to keep cost down.

Also fab recipe in John Burton-Race's French Leave for Beef en daube (beef in red wine) which you bung everything in a bowl overnight then do the cheat's cook version involving bunging it all in casserole and half heartedly frying, rather than his fiddly bit where you separate it all out, and then bung in oven.

Both these recipes make 8 good portions, and I buy those long metal trays like takeaways use. One of those serves me, but I suppose could serve 2 less greedy bods... Throw mash on top of beef stew to make all in one meal a la Tesco!

Lamb 'curry' is another easy one - cubed lamb, jar of tandoori paste, cumin, spices etc, loads of lemon and fresh coriander - leave overnight and then give it a rough fry the next day and bung in oven with stock or tinned toms...

Homemade pizza freezes really well and is tons cheaper. I use Nigella's hearthbread recipe for base, it makes a massive pizza and you can easily double quantities to make 2 bases. Bung on passatta or sacla red pesto if you're feeling flush, whatever toppings you fancy, cook, cool and portion up into tin foil ready to sling in oven after work.

I do feel smug on the occasions I manage to get 16 meals in the freezer in those shiny trays.. convenience food but with yumminess! And at least then there's an element of choice as to what I get to eat with minimum effort.

hmm.. too much bunging? Perhaps this should be another thread!

GymJunkie · 17/11/2004 18:57

We are on a kinda of sort of budget, it started off really strict and has kind of lapsed a bit. But when we were at our most brassaic, I used to make a list (still do) but if I bought anything that wasn't on the list, I put it in the front section of the trolley and asked them to scan that first and do a subtotal. The impulse buys were never less than £15 - £20, multiply that by 4 and then by 12 and you are looking at just shy of £1,000 a year on impulses and that is £1k after tax how much do you have to earn in order to waste that money, if that makes sense.

froot · 17/11/2004 18:58

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Branster · 17/11/2004 19:08

well done!!
I also find myself spending ridiculous amount of money on the weekly shop and the fridge is empty within 3 days, plus extra small shops for milk/bread/ eggs when we run out and I spend more on impulse buying there too.
even the on-line shopping never goes bellow £120-£150/week and still go out to buy little extra on top of that. Unbelieveable if I put it down on paper.
However, I found out that I'm more creative with my cooking when we have very few items of food left in the cupboards and fridge or if I set myself a £40-£50 maximum budget per week for food only. But it's difficult to stick to it. Only managed it for a month or so but it did prove to me that it is achievable.
Tried menu planning as well, but if DH chooses the food, it's either too extravagant or takes ages to cook.
I find the threads on here about menu planning, recipes and savings ideas very, very useful. I'll try and follow them more closely in real life (this could be my new year resolution!)

TracyK · 17/11/2004 19:27

which s.market delivers free in the week?

Twiglett · 17/11/2004 22:34

Sainsbury's is free for over £60 tues, weds, thurs

our loval high street somerfields and iceland both deliver free for over £20 (if you go in and do your shopping they bag it and deliver it to your house later)

Ocado (waitrose) deliver free always for over £70

I really must start budgeting