need to cut the food budget

[Titania]

We are in debt up to our eyeballs..........going through a debt place to sort it out......but that leaves us with no money.......our food bills we somewhere in the region of 120 a week. We don't buy named brands anyway. Just not sure how else we can save a bit of money........

hmmm hard to say because I know that your DH is a meat and two veg man - would normally say have less meat and more pulses/pasta etc but can't see that going down well with your guy!

would your DH have things made with Mince - if you batch cook things like spag bol/chilli/lasagne/cottage pie that will probably work out quicker/cheaper than making something every day.

do you spend much on snacks for the kids?

would DH be able to go somewhere like Costco and get things like food/toiletries in bulk??

I think best way to try and reduce food bills is to try and plan ahead for a week what you will need for each meal - so what you will need for breakfast, what for lunch for you/DH/kids, what for tea etc - sorry if you already do this - just that will avoid any impulse buying

There have been some great threads about this titania, no idea where they are now though ... try searching

I recommend Lidl for food shopping, the quality is excellent and it's very very cheap

menu planning is the way to go Our house sale fell through 6 times and we had to recoup some money and we cut our shopping from 90 to 40 per week including toiletries etc,We don't buy any ready meals etc and often buy clearance stuff and freeze it.Have one snacky night per week eg beans on toast and shop at asda now not sainsburys

I agree. Write out a menu plan for the week - using similar ingredients which you might be able to buy in bulk, such as minced meat, pasta, rice. Only buy what you need to supply the menu and stick to it. Buy cheaper, but nutritious foods, such as baked beans, lentils (cheap but full of protein), and other pulses.

I really recommend Lidl too, some of the stuff is sooo cheap & great quality. I think Aldi are on a par if there's no Lidl near you.
When I'm trying to cut back I make sure no treats go in the trolley, so that's no booze, cakes, biccies, ready meals...

I agree Spag Bol/chilli/lasagne is a really good option as you can make it by the bucketload & freeze it.

Soup and home made bread. Cheap and lovely at this time of year!

you could buy a frozen chicken (2 for a fiver in Asda) if he's set on his meat and use the bones etc for hearty soup with bread for more cheap meals

snap SD!!!!

great minds eh vict?

a little meat does go a long way in a soup

love stews and casseroles too, and you can use cheaper cuts of meat for those

Chilli is a good option as you can make the mince go much further by adding kidney beans and baked beans. So one 500g pack of mince could probably do enough chilli for 3 meals. Make half without chilli powder and call it savoury mince and have it over big jacket pots.

meal planning .. plan a week ahead and make sure that you get a couple of meals out of what you buy

like the

make roast chicken .. then use bones for soup

or make soup with with chicken .. then use the boiled chicken to make a chicken and mushroom pie

buy on specials and freeze food

try quorn instead of meat .. much cheaper and can spread it further

bulk things out with lots of rice / pasta / veg

buy veg when its been reduced and make big soups / stews then freeze them

HTH

I do meal planners at the moment.

DH wont touch anything like soup/stews/chilli/bolognese which is what makes it all so difficult.

The only thing I can think of is breakfast: Porridge - really filling costs about £1.70 for a box that lasts AGES. Much better & cheaper than boxed cereals or muesli.

Also buy fruit and veg at market, v. cheap and you generally get whats in season.

This is all do as I do not as I say, as I am hopeless at this myself. Am constantly boiling off chicken bones for soup and then never getting around to it.

dh likes cottage pie, meat and veg, chicken, beef, meat and veg, lasagne, meat and veg..............stuck!!!

How can he like lasagne but hate bolognese? They're the same thing in different form pretty much!

I'd tell him to do the cooking if he's going to be that fussy

Have a watch of the programme on BBC in the mornings (caught it one day last week) Its about making more money! you never know you may get an idea from it? (if you have time that is?)

sorry but I feel the same as spacedonkey! perhaps give him the weekly budget and tell him to do the shopping!!!

mince meat, mince meat, mince meat. I'd say buy it fresh and either batch cook it or freeze it. The alreeeady frozen meat doesn't seem to be as good.
And you could make:
spag bol., lasagne, cottage pies, canelloni, cilli con carne, meat pies with filo pastry all sorts of things.
also, frozen chicken appears to be cheaper than fresh one and is good for stir fries, grilled chiucken etc.