reducing monthly food spend

danlightbulb · 10 April 2016 at 10:41PM

Hi all,

I'm trying to reduce my monthly food spend and not having much success. My current situation is a bit haphazard - I don't plan my food choices very well. I also spend money in the canteen at work because I don't find it any cheaper to prepare my own food.

With grocery shopping and food for work I'm currently spending between £200 and £250 per month. My living situation is that I live alone but have my two sons at weekends. I'm often throwing in takeaways too because even though I have been shopping I find the fridge bare, or sometimes simply because I don't have time to cook something.

I'd like help to analyse where I can save money (without cutting back too much on 'nice' things - I don't want to be eating baked potato and beans for every meal).

Thanks
Dan

Edit - just as an edit after reading some of the threads on the board - a bit more information.

I already drink alot of milk as I lift weights and am therefore trying to get enough calories and protein. I like meat but don't buy much of it because of the cost, especially red meat. I also get fed up of cooking it - I have chicken in the fridge but fed up of the same thing over and over.

I need to buy stuff that I can cook quickly if I need to. Sometimes I am happy to spend time cooking something nice, but sometimes I just need to cook something quickly (such as when the kids are here and time is limited). The reason I end up at the takeaway is because I don't have any quick food available. The same reason also means I end up eating more cake and chocolate than I should. I'd rather have a proper meal, I really would, but its the convenience.

I find fresh foods problematic because they just don't seem to last long enough. Even potatoes seem to have only a week expiry date. Meat often less. If for whatever reason I don't cook what I have, the date then expires. I seem to have great difficultly in buying stuff to freeze and then having it available when I want it.

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[Deleted User] · 11 April 2016 at 1:12PM

Hi,

I think the key to things is something you mention at the start of your post - planning.

Start off with how many evening meals you will need per week. So if you are not going out anywhere then you will need to have 9 evening meals (one each night for you plus two extra for the children).

So then plan 9 meals. If you cook something like a lasagne for Sunday tea (3 meals) then you can have the last portion left for Monday tea for yourself (1 meal). So now you only need to have 5 other meals planned and so on.

One of the things we do is to plan 'easy' meals during the week so if we are tired then we can cook something quickly that takes little effort, e.g chuck some veg, new potatoes and fish in a steamer.

Also, can you get your kids to help cook with you? A good time to chat etc perhaps (depends on their age though).

Also, don't worry too much about expiry dates. Potatoes do not go off after one week. If the food smells OK then it is still OK to eat. Also, look to use a freezer if you can. I don't eat meat, but my husband does so it is easier to buy it every now and again from the butcher. We also ask the butcher to cut things up into smaller joints too. We then freeze things in portion, e.g. two sausages, bacon in two rashers and so on and this way it lasts much longer.

Kanichen · 11 April 2016 at 1:12PM

As a family of 3 we spend circa £180 a month so I'm sure you can drop your costs. And btw we will be having fillet steak for dinner tonight so we definitely aren't living off baked beans!

Some tips:

- You can buy most veg frozen, right down to frozen spinach, frozen sliced peppers, frozen onion. This reduces waste.
- Ignore use buy dates on fruit and veg. Use your eyes and nose. If your potatoes are off trust me you will know.
- have a look at musclefoods.com - I use them for meat and find it cheaper, plus its very convenient to have a months worth of meat delivered to my door!
- supermarket wise try the likes of Aldi/Lidl - so much cheaper and we haven't found anything to be poor quality. Saves us a fortune and its quicker too as you don't have half an aisle of baked beans or dried pasta - just the one or 2 options for each.

If you are trying to up your protein look to greek yogurt - Skyr and Total are 14% protein with 0 fat and carbs. The supermarkets often have one or the other on offer. You may also find protein powder a cost effective way to get your protein in. I use MyProtein.

If you can afford it grab a copy of the Leanin15 cookbook. Written by thebodycoach who is pro weightlifting and and most of his meals are designed to be cooked in 15 minutes, quicker than that takeway ;-)

mardatha · 11 April 2016 at 1:52PM

Make a big pot of stew and fire loads of veg into it, it will last 3 days in the fridge. Likewise pots of really thick home made soup.
Buy a whole chicken and roast it then live off it for 3 days, either hot with steamed microwave veg and tatties, or cold with salad. If you want to then use the carcass for soup... if not then chuck it out.
Pasta is quicker and easier than peeling and boiling spuds.
Use cream and butter to tart up frozen veggies.
Potatoes keep for weeks lol, ignore dates on packets and use your eyes and nose instead.

HappyMJ · 11 April 2016 at 2:09PM

danlightbulb wrote: »

I find fresh foods problematic because they just don't seem to last long enough. Even potatoes seem to have only a week expiry date. Meat often less. If for whatever reason I don't cook what I have, the date then expires. I seem to have great difficultly in buying stuff to freeze and then having it available when I want it.

Potatoes last for months. I usually buy a 12.5kg bag for £5 from Morrisons (sometimes for less - last bag I bought was a 5kg bag of wonky potatoes for £2) and they do last for ages. They might grow a bit after 3 months but I just cut that bit off and carry on. After 3 months if I've still got potatoes left and they seem to want to grow I'll cook the rest up and freeze them extending the life by at least another 6 months.

Meat can be frozen. Freeze on day of purchase and you can extend the life of the product by at least 6 months. The microwave can be used to defrost portions in as little as 5 minutes per 100 grams before cooking. A portion of meat needn't be much more than 100 grams.

PasturesNew · 11 April 2016 at 2:20PM

Find 2-3 meals you can chuck into a slow cooker that everybody loves. Don't overcomplicate it.... just a couple of packs of mince, tin of tomatoes, beans (kidney or baked), some chilli powder. Chuck in, walk away for 6 hours, serve with rice and/or garlic bread.

Similar with beef stew: cubed beef, random vegetables chopped up a bit, some gravy granules/stock pot.

If you keep it simple without preparing anything before it goes in, it's achievable.

The trouble comes when your eye gets caught by some "lifestyle chef" that's talking about browning things, or adding in unusual ingredients just because they have a book to sell, so they need to write down something different.

To be honest - even a pack of cubed meat + a jar of curry sauce + 6 hours on low is "a cheap/hot meal".

Just get 2-3 easy ones under your belt as the backbone of, say, the weekend feeds.

suki1964 · 11 April 2016 at 2:49PM

danlightbulb wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm trying to reduce my monthly food spend and not having much success. My current situation is a bit haphazard - I don't plan my food choices very well. I also spend money in the canteen at work because I don't find it any cheaper to prepare my own food.

With grocery shopping and food for work I'm currently spending between £200 and £250 per month. My living situation is that I live alone but have my two sons at weekends. I'm often throwing in takeaways too because even though I have been shopping I find the fridge bare, or sometimes simply because I don't have time to cook something.

I'd like help to analyse where I can save money (without cutting back too much on 'nice' things - I don't want to be eating baked potato and beans for every meal).

Thanks
Dan

Edit - just as an edit after reading some of the threads on the board - a bit more information.

I already drink alot of milk as I lift weights and am therefore trying to get enough calories and protein. I like meat but don't buy much of it because of the cost, especially red meat. I also get fed up of cooking it - I have chicken in the fridge but fed up of the same thing over and over.

I need to buy stuff that I can cook quickly if I need to. Sometimes I am happy to spend time cooking something nice, but sometimes I just need to cook something quickly (such as when the kids are here and time is limited). The reason I end up at the takeaway is because I don't have any quick food available. The same reason also means I end up eating more cake and chocolate than I should. I'd rather have a proper meal, I really would, but its the convenience.

I find fresh foods problematic because they just don't seem to last long enough. Even potatoes seem to have only a week expiry date. Meat often less. If for whatever reason I don't cook what I have, the date then expires. I seem to have great difficultly in buying stuff to freeze and then having it available when I want it.

You do need to get in the habit of planning meals, batch cooking, using the freezer and rembering to get dinner out of the freezer in the morning

I meal plan around the meat I buy each week, and that depends on what's on offer

This week it was belly of pork, turkey steaks and mince, all £2 each in Lidl

Tonight it's turkey and leek pie for 3, an extra one or two single pies for the freezer, and then soup made with the left over leeks

The mince will make lasagne and cottage pie, 3 portions for eating when made, the others for the freezer

Belly of pork will be a Chinese meal instead of takeaway ( takes about 15 mins to chuck together)

That's all midweek dinners taken care off for 3 people for £6 ( not counting veg, pasta, spuds and sundry ingredients )

It's only on a Sunday do I do the full roast and veg bit which does take a couple of hours.

Also if I'm going to be in the kitchen cooking Sunday dinner, I'll prep up bits and bobs for later in the week. For instance I'll make 2 cauliflower cheeses, one for later in the week, cook extra cabbage and spuds to make bubble,make extra yorkies for the freezer. For me it's about making the best use of my time in the kitchen ( I'll also make pastry, bread, biscuits to use up oven space )

Fresh food doesn't need to be used by sell by date, or even bbe date. Sniff test works in this house and I've never killed or poisoned anyone yet. The dates are there for supermarkets to encourage you to throw away and buy more

Once you get into the habit of cooking that little bit extra each time you have to cook, you will soon have a freezer full of ready to grab meals - as long as you remember to get them out in the morning- for those days when time is short as most workdays are

Pollycat · 11 April 2016 at 5:45PM

danlightbulb wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm trying to reduce my monthly food spend and not having much success. My current situation is a bit haphazard - I don't plan my food choices very well. I also spend money in the canteen at work because I don't find it any cheaper to prepare my own food.

Unless your canteen is heavily subsidised, I can't see how it would be cheaper to eat in the canteen than preparing your own lunch.

What sort of things have you made for lunch?

I think PasturesNew's suggestion of bunging stuff in a slow cooker is a good idea.

You could do a savoury mince and serve it in a giant Yorkshire pudding, for example.

BrassicWoman · 11 April 2016 at 5:55PM

have you looked at bulk retailers like muscle foods? I get vegan proteins there sometimes but I hear they are good for meat.

JCS1 · 11 April 2016 at 6:39PM

Pollycat wrote: »

Unless your canteen is heavily subsidised, I can't see how it would be cheaper to eat in the canteen than preparing your own lunch.

What sort of things have you made for lunch?

I think PasturesNew's suggestion of bunging stuff in a slow cooker is a good idea.

You could do a savoury mince and serve it in a giant Yorkshire pudding, for example.

Heavily subsidized work restaurant is a god send - other day was roast chicken breast, roast potatoes, broccoli, carrots, parsnips, stuffing and gravy for £1 :T

Soworried · 11 April 2016 at 7:38PM

Cheap protein sources I eat a lot of.

Cottage cheese, half a tub is often on my lunch plans. I have it with a chicken thigh that I cook on the weekends.

Boiled eggs, put a pan full on at a time and use with salad or as snacks.

Peanut butter, add a scoop to your milk in a blender bottle or make in to a sandwich.

Cook chickens whole then portion them up.

Tuna in pasta or on a jacket potato.

Turkey mince, make your own burgers with it and leave them in the fridge ready to just grill the next day.

Cheese savoury, make a batch in minutes by grating a block of cheese, finely dice an onion and mix with salad cream or mayo.

A quick fix meal my husband loves is wrap pizza. Just take a wrap, spread tomato puree on it, add salami or any other protein topping you like then add mozzarella and bung in the oven. 8 minute pizza for under 90p. You'd have the rest of the pack to take for lunches with cheese savoury etc.

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reducing monthly food spend

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