Have you changed your shopping/cooking habits because of the credit crunch?

[carriemumsnet]

The Press Association are doing about story about parents' reaction to the current economic climate and whether it's changed their food shopping/ cooking habits.

We said we'd ask you... So have you started using more lentils and less beef, cut back on sweets and snacks, started growing your own polenta? Has it made you eat more healthily?

They want your thoughts before end of play Tuesday...

Over to you Thanks

see i can buy a large pizza for 99p from tesco - this feeds two adults - with a few chips.

i am failing to see how i could make it cheaper - even if iwere inclined to do so.

baking your own bread cant be cheaper than buying a mid range brand.

i haven't changed the cc hasn;t affected me - have noticed the price of food going up - pasta particularly. but it might be an extra £10 per week or something.

we have changed things - but more to cut waste.
so have started meal planning that cut out £30 per week
have just meal planned and internet shopped combined and that cut another £20 so we are now £50 per week better off.
I will not give up going to the local butchers.

no. because i don't either shop or cook. DH does

Still shop at Waitrose and Ocado. However, as DH isn't a meat eater we don't eat a very expensive diet - organic mince for 50 meatballs for the children isn't going to break the bank. Whenever I look on the supermarket comparison site to see if I could shop cheaper elsewhere, the supermarkets they list are either the same price as Waitrose or don't stock similar goods. If Lidl sell Puy lentils I might be tempted to go there, but I'm not going to be swayed by offers on frozen pizza and soft drinks and biscuits because I don't buy them anyway.

Yes - it's had a big impact on our weekly budget as our mortgage and gas and electricity has gone up so much that we're much worse off than a year ago - worked out that we have nothing left over at all after bills and get more into debt each month. [scared face]

meal plan every week now.
Meat - down to once a week, sometimes twice. Fish - used to eat it every week but now it's more like once a month.
Buy value brands of tinned tomatoes, beans etc.
No longer buy organic / fair trade etc - whatever is cheapest.
Cut out treats.
No school dinners and packed lunch scaled back to sandwich and an apple. No longer buy cartons of juice for packed lunches - instead refill a small bottle.

yep has mine,

the stuff you mention in the OP.

but also mum summed it up well the other day -

'it's like going back 30 years - living hand to mouth, on one wage and having to be careful'

the food shop with 4 adults in that house about 6 years ago was £80 p.w, the food shop now for 2 adults is £60. p.w.

Still shopping at Waitrose but we meal plan now and take a shopping list with us.
Stopped buying 3 for 2 offers on perishables.

Yes. It has all changed. Used to use Morrisons, now use Lidl every week. We have less snacks/treats. The meals are made of whatever is cheapest which is not always the healthiest option.

not much change in shopping or cooking, although buying fewer 'deals' on stuff I don't really need, eating out less spontaneously though

I still internet shop from ocado but I do meal plan and only buy what we need. Have reduced my food bills by about £50. I never go to starbucks, there isnt one near anyway and have given up gym memberships in favour of walking up the Derbyshire hills and mucking out 2 horses every morning. Just as good a workout as the gym but a lot smellier .

no, we didn't have much money before all this happened so always buy tesco value anyway

we use much less petrol now though

We haven't. We had already cut back a few years ago so we could renovate our house. We finished that in the summer, so now woth prices rising, we are doing okay because we are no longer spending at B and Q. Also, DH's student loan just finished so that has helped.

Not really, apart from being more careful to use leftovers creatively, and avoid wasting food.

I have changed a lot of things, although the changes aren't actually necessary at the moment - but I'm fearful for the future. As a self employed market researcher, I don't know if clients are going to carry on commissioning research, or if this is one of the first things that they will cut.

And DH works for a division of RBS, that they are trying to sell, (which has been going on for a fair while now), so he is also not entirely sure about his future. And as we're older (49 and 50) than many on this board we also have to consider how employable we might be.

I have stopped shopping online with Ocado. They introduced a delivery fee and, when I realised that my weekly shop was easily reaching £200 I decided it was time to stop. I now meal plan and have gone back to Sainsbury (no Lidl/Aldi/Netto convenient to me otherwise I would be going there!). I am experimenting with Basics foods, and am (mostly) very impressed with the quality. Today I bought Basics salmon fillets - the same as the TAste the Difference ones in every way except that the sizes of the pieces are more random. Responsibly sourced and RSPCA freedom food - but £1.50 cheaper per pack.

We eat more vegetarian meals and when I buy meat I stick to cheaper (but still tasty) cuts. I used to regularly buy free range chicken breasts, pork fillet and fillet steak, but that's a real rarity these days.

I try not to nip out for a few bits and pieces - which always ends up costing another £30!

My weekly shop is now usually around £40-50 cheaper than it was - although occasionally I splurge on various impulse bits.

Things we haven't changed - Friday night is takeaway night, and we go out for dinner on Sunday evening.

Oh - still buy organic milk and eggs, but have stopped buying organic fruit juice, and only buy Fairtrade coffee occasionally.

Not really,we are lucky we are still doing Waitrose and Sainsburys, not eating out as much but so far that is about it.

But to quote DH, food is a hard habit to crack.

I will tell you what is a very worthy excercise, make a list. Try to stick to it,when you get to the checkout, put through all the things that were not on the list first, then get them to do a sub-total you will be shocked at how much the extras add up to. We did this after DS was born and we were totally skint.

We have ditched the supermarket, apart from once a month to stock up on things like washing powder. Otherwise, shopping more locally. And much less cooking - we are much more likely to have a sandwich or eggs on toast (eggs from our chickens) than we were, rather than a 'cooked' meal. Also not putting on the heating, can't buy ds2 any shoes till next month, not eating out, not buying ANYTHING that isn't essential.

It is horrible.

I noticed yesterday in ASDA ( where I now shope more often than before) that it was FULL, like Xmas eve, on a Sunday afternoon in Ocotber, when I can usually pop in and out in five mins. Visit Waitrose only for forgotten essentials now, not full shop, and have not been to Sainsburys for yonks.
Buy much less in the way of processed food now, or 'whim' buys like guacolome for no specifc meal that used to end up in the bin past sell-by-date. till only buy organic meat, but from a friend's farm, not the supermarket, and the organic milk for the Dc will be that last thing to go...

Not really Malory, because all you are saying is give a quick total on this, then carry on. They only havet to do the card thing once. IYSWIM

I have stopped our weekly Ocado delivery. I was just so cross that they raised their delivery charges just as the credit crunch hit. It can be up to £8 to get a good delivery slot and that is just rude when they charge so much for their food already.

I now brave Sainsburys each weekend and I look out for offers more than I did before.