Need OldStyle Help! ...

piratess · 14 June 2006 at 12:29PM

Well im new to the DFW board and my shopping bill usually is 320 ish a month for myself partner and 3 children ages 12/8/1 ... anyway alot of the advice has been to try and cut my food bill .. which is great advice but ! ... for the past couple of months ive been writing down my list i write the days down and then a meal for each day and then write my list! anyway it always ends up being 80ish quid a time! ...

Yesterday i was ruthless i wrote my list thought that id do chilli and spag bol in bulk and have each twice in the week..... my shopping came to £58.00 and thats without nappies or veg.. and the only fruit i bought were bananas! ,.. where am i going wrong?

any ideas would be fantastic ... stressful shopper thankyou xxx

oh just to say i always buy value at tescos and my partner reckons it wouldnt be worth going to lidl or aldi because we would use what we save in fuel? ...

thanks for listening xx piratess

moggins · 14 June 2006 at 1:06PM

Ouch, that's a lot of money given to Mr T.

You say you are already meal planning, are you making the best use of any leftovers? Using the rubber chicken and bulking out methods?

Without really knowing what you spend on what it's a bit difficult to advise whee to make any changes especially if you say you are already buying value range - how much of that shopping do you end up throwing away every week?

Up until christmas I was shopping for 5 and my bills have never gone above £200 and we eat really well for that.

jcr16 · 14 June 2006 at 1:07PM

is it just food that is costing £58 or did that inculde cleaning products etc ?

i not sure how to find it but there was a thread where members posted their shopping lists and it so helped me to help keep within budget.

some weeks u don't need to buy stuff. i buy the big box of tesco value washing powder £1.49 and it last 2 weeks.

are u cooking dearer meals ? what type of mince are you buying. tesco do a big bag of frozen mince for £3.13 and it does us as a family about 3 different meals for 4 people. i bulk out melas with baked beans. in my chilli i use about 500g mince , 2 tins toms and 3 tins of kidney beans. this will then make 3 meals. so i can freeze 2 lots.

i sorry i can't be of much help but there is so many members with a great wealth of knowlegde, your be able to get all the help u need.

good luck u have done really well already.

melancholly · 14 June 2006 at 1:09PM

can you put up a typical weekly shopping list? then it might be easier to give more specific suggestions.

Chell · 14 June 2006 at 1:11PM

Do you have lots in yopur cupboards? Could you use up everything that you have in the cupboards, meal plan around what you have in already. See the Store Cupboard challenge thread.

moggins · 14 June 2006 at 1:11PM

And I think your DH is wrong about Lidl/Aldi. The prices may be about the same as Tesco value but the quality is far superior. Maybe you could make a once a month trip there and stock up on goodies.

greenpixey · 14 June 2006 at 1:45PM

I got the same problem as piratess so any advise would be gratefull. I spend arround 300/month on food and there is 4 of us. Two adults and two toddlers.
My biggest problem is that I never know what to cook. So it is hard to do any planning. Picking up a cookbook and get ideas doesn't seem to work coz they aren't many "money-saving-friendly" recepies.
Also I got a small freezer and not much room to do large portions to freeze in.

I'm gonna go and have a look at the Store Cupboard challenge thread that Chelltune suggested.

piratess · 14 June 2006 at 1:46PM

thanks for your replies and as suggested here was last nights shopping list

bananas (forgot i did buy baking pots)
3x mince chicken breat
sausages, bacon,gammon
pasta (long) pasta shapes
rice
pastaNsauce savoury rice
tuna
eggs sarnie meats
frozen veg, pizzas (Tvalue) fish peices(Tvalue) frozen chips (T value) roast potatoes (T)
washing powder + softner (tescos powder) toilet rolls (T) bin bags
crisps multi pack for older kids .. (T) and snacks for toddler (t)
cereal (T) hoops weetabix
bread 1 loaf hovis
fajita wrap kit
a bag of small packed raisens
VLF cottage cheese
8 pints of milk
flora spread
diet pepsi
2 packet mixes chilli and spag bol
Stir fry packs

this is to make
tues= fajitas
weds= chilli (save some)
thursday stir fry
friday spag bol (save some)
sat omellete
sun roast (already have a chicken)
mon chilli (from last week)
tues quiche ....

the pizzas and fish are for the children as they dont like chilli ...

thanks for your help xx

jcr16 · 14 June 2006 at 1:55PM

try making your own pizza. it is so scrummy. i never thought i'd be able to and i did with real success. but neither of my children like pizza. so don't cook it often.

if u can make your own spag bol and chilli. i always uset to buy a packet buy not make my own and it is much tastier and cheaper.

snacks for toddler. my 2 kiddies . ( daugther is 2 and half, son is 11m) they have raisins, sultanas , cornflakes, shreddies and sliced banana ina bowl and they munch away. if going out i take a tupperware pot filled with chopped strawberries, grapes , peeled satsumas and raisins. keeps them happy. also they will eat sliced apple at home. but it goes brown quick so don't take it out.

what meats do u buy ? i take it this is for sandwichs. my hubby like the tesco value ham. i hate it and therefore don't eat it so can't comment on it really. but he will eat it all day long.

swap the diet pepsi for a bottle of squash it will go much further. ok so can't beat pepsi it is gorgeous but is a luxury really.

try looking at some of the sticky's. there is one for feeding a family for 4 for about £1.70 i think. it has some great advice and tips.

moggins · 14 June 2006 at 2:00PM

Ahaa, I supposed the minced chicken breast was for the fajitas? you would have been far better off buying value chicken breast and cutting it into fine strips instead.

Lidl do a pastansauce and savoury rice which is far cheaper than Tesco and much nicer - it's even cheaper to cook your own.

You say you've bought gammon but I can't see that anywhere in your meal plan?

Raisins are far cheaper bought from Julian Graves in bulk and decanted into small packs.

Do you have a Poundland near you as multipacks of crisps are much cheaper from there.

moggins · 14 June 2006 at 2:03PM

The Tesco value tuna is just as good as one of the more expensive brands.

And as for the packet mixes for spag bol and chili you just don't need them. It's just as easy to make these from scratch.

And I only ever buy the Fajita mix when Asda have them on sale for £1

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