i want to reduce my food bill

mrelephant_2 · 14 January 2006 at 12:16AM

Hi everyone

i live alone and currently spend @ £15 - £20 per week on food,,,,,does this sound reasonable or are they any of you out there who can do it cheaper without living off jam butties or beans on toast.

Would love to see some examples of shopping lists and meal ideas if you can do it cheaper.

Derek

kit · 14 January 2006 at 12:25AM

You would be better to post this in the Old Style money saving section - they are great at saving money and reducing food bills.

There are loads of receipes etc that could help you..... once you start reading that forum you will never look back

kit · 14 January 2006 at 12:27AM

Try going here

Its a thread aimed at reducing shopping bills each month.

rammster · 14 January 2006 at 12:35AM

I think you are doing very well out there. for me this expenditure would be around 25-30 pounds and i am a thin skinny guy with a small appetite.

I think the main problem is spending for food while at work . My most expensive meal of the day is usually the tasteless lunch I purchase at my office canteen. And even post discount it turns out to be pretty expensive.

I cook very well, I am an Indian guy. I like cooking vegetables. And I can imagine that I can sustain very lavishly on a vegetarian diet for around 10-15 pounds a week.

To put it simply a good vegetarian diet is not only healthier, but also lasts longer in the fridge. Especially true in terms of pulses/legumes. Rice is an excellent accompaniment. Canned value tomatoes are amazingly cheap (but so is tuna), and the same could be said for onions and potatos.

I think if challenged i can very well exist under pound 10 on a 3 meals a day diet (provided I shop at Tescos ) . It is just this office lunch that upsets the equation. :A

GIRLPOWER_2 · 14 January 2006 at 12:35AM

If I were you I would Re post on old style in the morning... since OS I have reduced bill from over 100 a week to 50 a week including wine for a family of 5 plus a dog. Savings involved outlay of getting a slow cooker and breadmaker.

a. meal plan do a list for a week of what you will have every meal
b. Do a shopping list off the meal plan
c. look at the list a give a rough idea of cost if too much cross off meals and replace with ones you can afford.

cheap meals for one.

bacon and egg
homemade pizza (very easy)
sausage and mash
liver and onions
cheese pie and beans
soup and homemade bread
turkey leg(99p @ tesco) to make dinner with pots and veg one night and use the leftovers to make curry the next night.
toast and cheese
pasta and sauce
homemade burgers and homemade chips

washing powered make up own using 1kg bag of soda crystals(59p) 1kg smartprice powder 1kg stores own brand powder mix together and then use 1/2 the ammount you would normally..would last 1 person 6 months.

use vinegar as a fabric conditioner, to descale kettle, to clean windows,
use value coke to clean the loo....

look througgh the OS threads and you will cut back loads.

Pink. · 14 January 2006 at 1:13AM

Hi Derek,

I have contacted the board guide on this board and asked her to move your thread over to the Old Style board where hopefully you will get lots of help.

Pink

comping_cat · 14 January 2006 at 9:11AM

Something else i would do, is keep my food shopping receipts, that way you can look through them and see what you are buying that you are not using/being wasted, this can also help with your meal planning. Always go shopping with a list (and when you arnt hungry) and if you keep a food diary, you can see what extras you are buying (take aways, buying sandwiches etc) and see if you can find recipes to replace the take aways, or make your own sandwiches instead of buying.
HTH Catherine x

Ronankfan · 14 January 2006 at 11:21AM

Menu planning also saves you money.
HTH

calleyw · 14 January 2006 at 11:37AM

I spend between £80 and £100 a month for two people.

And we eat well.

Breakfast: Porridge/Bran flakes and Juice
Lunch: Sandwiches/Bacon, egg and beans/ Scrambled egg/toasted cheese sandwiches. Fruit and sometimes HM rice pudding.
Tea: Spag bog/Chops and steamed veg/Rice, noodles and Tuna/Steamed veg and Veggie Burgers or sausages/Home cooked gammon with mash and veg/Cold left over sunday roast meat with steamed veg and gravy.

Sunday Lunch is nearly always a joint with roasties, steamed veg. Reason for a joint is left overs. So we have cold meat and veg and Gravy.

I allow another £10 a month for cleaning, laundry and loo rolls. But I only ever tend to spend £10 every other month if that.

My husband as he needs to put on weight gets crisps and biscuits. The crisps only the ones on offer and biscuits are normally the value range as he likes them.

And I try and meal plan for at least a couple of weeks at a time.

Yours

Calley

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i want to reduce my food bill

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