Food Shopping Bills

rhowes2000 · 14 June 2006 at 9:14PM

Good evening,

My partner and I are in a lot of debt but we are definitely spending money unneccesarily particularly on food shopping. We usually shop at Tesco and last week we tried Aldi which turned out to be cheaper but not by a great deal. How do you guys cut back on your food shopping bills, do you shop at a particular supermarket or just buy particular items etc?

Any help is very much appreciated.

Thanks for reading

Richard

hattie_pea · 14 June 2006 at 9:29PM

Hey Richard

I've found the key thing is planning meal ideas ahead, making use of your freezer, stocking up on essential groceries at Aldi/Lidl, and cooking from scratch.

My flatmate and I contribute £40 per month to food kitty and have all our meals for that pot. We go to Lidl every so often for basics such as tinned toms, beans, pesto, oil, toilet roll, toopaste (which I actually now prefer to colgate)

We buy bulky bags of pasta from Asda which work out to be better value, buy rice from an Asian supermarket and veggies from the local market. We buy what meat is on special offer or go to our local butchers and now have a bit of banter with them so we usually get some cheeky extras for free!

We cook everything from scratch which takes a bit of time up but we always cook more than we need and take leftovers to work for lunch or freeze for another day. And we make sure that we don't throw anythng away- even our veggie peelings go into making soups - its just what the hotels do!

Hope its been helpful - good luck reducing your spend! x

OberonSH · 14 June 2006 at 9:30PM

Hi, check out the MoneySavng OldStyle board - it deals primarily with cutting houselhold bills like grocery.

My tips:

1) Menu plan like a mad person - go through your cupboards and see what you have. Then just get whatever you need to make a nice meal out of them. I do this, and my food bill for me and toddler is down from £40 a week to £8. Your freezer probably houe a good weeks worth of meals on it's own.

2) Nettos and Aldis are no longer the horrible places they once were - check them out if you're not that fussed on big-named brands - I actually prefer their tinned peas @ 19p a can. They do have named brand stuff, but it varies from week to week, so keep an eye out. Last week I got some Homepride pasta bake sauces for 75p each (usually over £1.)

3) Online shop. That way you don't get tempted by the stuff not on your list.

4) On the subject of lists - take one to the supermarket, and buy ONLY what's on the list, unless it's somethig on offer that you do usually use.

5) Never shop on an empty stomach.

6) Check out your local markets. Not only do they need our support, but are usually a lot cheaper than the big supermarkets. I find my local Co-Op & Spar the most expensive for groceries, avoid 'nipping out' to these places, as will invariably come back with £20s worth.

looneyleo · 14 June 2006 at 9:34PM

Hi Richard,

have to be honest that this isn't my strong point either! I know all the theory...just can't quite put it into practice as well as I would like. However, we have cut bill from £100.00 per week to £70.00 per week for four...one still in nappies. OH is a chef so hard to move away from some ingredients for him! There are a few things you can try though:

1) write down at the start of the week what you are going to eat for your main meal each day. Keep it simple: Monday-Chilli, Tuesday-Toad in the hole etc. try to base it on what you have in already to reduce what you need to buy.
2) Make a shopping list of what you NEED to buy in order to get through the week. This sin't what you want, but what you need. Also remember to buy enough to last the week or you will spend more popping to the shop for a pint of milk that costs £10.00 at the till
3) decide whether you have the strength to stick to your list buy buying in store. if you don't think you can stick to the list, shop on-line (use delivery discount vouchers) to avoid temptation! Otherwise go armed with list AND STICK TO IT! Only deviate if there is a genuine reduced bargain, or a BOGOF offer that YOU NEED.
4) As you shop, try different brands. I found trying one or two cheaper products a week wasn't too much of a shock rather than looking at a cupboard full of Smart-price labels in one go! Some you will like, some you won't - but at least try.
5) Stick to the meal-planner, and use what you have in the cupboards/fridge to minimise the amount you have to buy in the week. if I have planned meals, it takes less time and effort in the busy time after work deciding what to cook, reducing the risk of visiting the take-away!
5) Look on the old-style board for recipe ideas and how to reduce cost of cleaning products etc. Small changes can make a big difference. E.G. only using half a dishwasher tab, only using a tablespoon of wash powder - no difference noticed but haven't bought wash powder for months!

The key to all of this is taking time to organise you meal plans and shopping lists. I Struggle with two young children, my own business to run and renovating a house, but I have saved £30.00 per week.

Hope that all helps - sure there will be more advice to come. Good Luck

looneyleo:beer:

zombiecazz · 14 June 2006 at 9:49PM

I 3rd that - Menu plan like mad.
bulk up dishes with beans (chickpeas, red kidney beans, black beans, black eyed beans, etc) dried ones are cheapest, but tins are quick and easy.
Do your best to make your own things - like buy bulk coucous and add flavouring yourself, make your own houmus.
Have a look at these threads for ideas.
What can cook with my sausages for dinner tonight?

Any ideas for haddock???

Beans, beans, beans

Plus many more recipe ideas/threads

T.L.C · 14 June 2006 at 10:49PM

orange juice x4
high lights x2 <hot chocolate>
garden peas
boil in the bag rice
home pride curry cooking sauce
branston beans
quorn mince x2
good fellows pizza x2
butter
pasta x4
salad cream
toilet tissue
total £27 tessco for 4 people
this is from one of my bills i get the value range some times,meal plan
and use up whats in the cupboards and freezer,bogofs are good to
washing powder i buy once a month a huge one from big w's for £16 100 washes

tawnyowls · 17 June 2006 at 6:52PM

Check out value brands from the big supermarkets as well - they can be good, and there are various threads on here that recommend what and what not to buy.
Use less meat, and use cheaper cuts that you can stew/casserole. Try to have a veggie day at least once/twice a week and use beans in chillis, stews etc to bulk them out.
If you qualify for a cash & carry or club store like Makro, they can be really good for buying loo rolls, washing powder, and rice & pasta in bulk.
Take advantage of your freezer - if there's stuff on special offer, buy it, and if you're making meals always make double and freeze the rest in separate portions (plastic takeaway cartons are really good for this) so you won't be tempted to pay for ready meals because you're too tired to cook.

Jessiepig · 17 June 2006 at 6:56PM

Wow T.L.C Did you really manage to feed four people for a whole week with just that .:cool:

moggins · 17 June 2006 at 7:33PM

Sorry I went ouch at the boil in the bag rice, that's a huge waste of money, if you aren't too good at cooking rice then try American easy cook. It's only £1.22 for a 2kg bag from Tesco and you get loads of meals from that.

Also the homepride cook in sauce - take a look at Curry Queens base sauce, you can make loads of different curries from this and it's so easy to do.

homersimpson_3 · 17 June 2006 at 8:16PM

orange juice x4
high lights x2 <hot chocolate>
garden peas
boil in the bag rice
home pride curry cooking sauce
branston beans
quorn mince x2
good fellows pizza x2
butter
pasta x4
salad cream
toilet tissue
total £27 tessco for 4 people
this is from one of my bills i get the value range some times,meal plan
and use up whats in the cupboards and freezer,bogofs are good to
washing powder i buy once a month a huge one from big w's for £16 100 washes

Wow T.L.C Did you really manage to feed four people for a whole week with just that .

same question- what meals did everyone have every day?

Coupon-mad · 17 June 2006 at 8:28PM

Hi, you could make a concerted effort to cut out and use as many money-off coupons as you can find, which tesco will usually offset against any shopping (without having to buy the products). I know it's not for everyone but Tesco, Asda and Waitrose all have a policy of accepting these without buying the products, so why not see what the policy is in your store?

To find money-off coupons, check out the Discount Codes & Vouchers threads here every morning, including the daily newspaper coupon summary (e.g. the Mail on Sunday the other week had coupons exceeding £6 inside, so many of us MSE'rs who comment about coupon-use, bought several copies of course).

If you want to find out more just 'Search Chat Forum' for the word 'coupons' at the top of this page. Here's a link to get you started if interested:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=2316751#post2316751

HTH someone.

Food Shopping Bills

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