Help on shopping tips

carlygd

Hi Every1.

New to this site. Was wondering if any1 could help me on shopping tips.

I feed 2 adults & 1 child and finding Im spending over £80.00 a week on shoping including toiletries (This dosn't include dinner's) I spend roughly about £2.00 per day and prob the same my fella.

Would be gratefull for the help.

Cheers carlygd

Ivan_Konstantinov

carlygd wrote: »

Hi Every1.

New to this site. Was wondering if any1 could help me on shopping tips.

I feed 2 adults & 1 child and finding Im spending over £80.00 a week on shoping including toiletries (This dosn't include dinner's) I spend roughly about £2.00 per day and prob the same my fella.

Would be gratefull for the help.

Cheers carlygd

go to aldi if you have one near you

savingholmes

I have started to use more no-frills brands eg normal sweetcorn 41p, smartprice 21p difference 20 calories - liveable with. Replacing £10+ worth of soft drinks with no frills orange at 54p a litre. No-frills bread 37p instead of 67p or more. Special offers... multibuy where poss. Ravioli 60p stores own rather than brand....:j

Also I was throwing lots of fresh fruit and veg away :mad: - now use frozen and tinned veg more eg organic peppers for 2 £1.50, frozen mixed peppers large bag £2.

I spend a lot on snacks sometimes up to £1.50 per day. Bought some no-frills jaffa cakes and other biscuits instead. Spending perhaps £3 rather than £10.50.:T

I normally spend around £100 a week on food. Last week I spent about £40 this week about £70 stocking back up. :T

I've also tried to use more of what's in my tin cupboard and fridge/freezer already - otherwise I'm damaging my cash flow and giving my money to the supermarket before I need to.:D

Hope that helps

jessicamb

Hi

The old style board is full of great information so I will move your post over there

mhe

try the grocery challenge - i reduced my monthly shop from £400 to £250 but im aiming for £200 a month by following the tips. They include....

1. BAtch cooking and baking
2. Making your own food as opposed to ready made/conveinence food
3. Taking your own food to work - try soup in the winter or leftovers or salad or even make your own sandwich.
4. Downshifting a brand in the supermarket - try it - if u cant tell the difference stick with it - if u can dont.
5. Try Aldi for part of ur shop.
6. Meal planning - know what u are going to eat that week and just buy the stuff u need

Stephen_Leak

Welcome to madhouse!

Take back control of the actual shopping. Shop from a list. If you run out of something, add it to the list. If you are running low on something, add it to the list. If you need something new, add it to the list. It not only ensures that you remember everything you need (avoiding potentially expensive return trips), but also prevents you buying things you've already got. The tricky bit is remembering to take it with you. Still snap up any bargains, though. And if you do have to "just pop in for a few things", don't take a basket!

ZoeGirl_3

When I first started my frugal journey (lol) about 3 years ago, I read a tip for grocery shopping that said never buy anything that you could make cheaper.

Now, you dont have to follow it for everything you buy, but if you think 6 muffins will cost me the same as 24 home made, then it becomes a massive saving.

One of the most money savings things I do is only buy things on special. I wouldnt buy something that wasnt on special, even the fruit and veges I buy each week are in season/ on special and therefore cheaper than other things.

Once you have been doing this a while you build up a stock cupboard and when something is starting to get low, then look for a good deal, not when you have run out completely and HAVE to buy some more lol.

There are bound to be a few threads around to help you,

Olliebeak

Meal planning - but be a bit flexible so you can make the most of any bargains.

Freeze left-overs - even a small amount of chilli/curry/casserole will top a jacket potato for an extra meal.

Use a shopping list and stick to it - but be aware of 'real' bargains that you will use.

Check price per 100g when comparing costs of items.

Buy fruit and veg that is in season - should be much cheaper. If you get veg on a really good special offer - then blanche and freeze for future use. Don't over-buy on salad items - they don't keep all that well.

Try to use up what is in your fridge before it starts to go off - keep an eye on use by/sell by dates. These are usually only guidelines - try the 'look and sniff test' before throwing anything out!

Look for whoopsies (reduced items that can be used immediately or frozen for future use).

Downshift brands - if you buy branded then try stores own. If you already buy stores then try 'value' line.

Packed lunches for work instead of buying sandwiches from the local deli! Even some chilli etc can be warmed up and taken to work in a flask. Try baking items for lunch-boxes instead of buying cereal bars/chocolate.

Experiment with home-made soups using stock from cooking/blanching vegetables, chicken carcasses from 'rubber chicken' http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=385066#post385066

Make the most of any meat you buy and stretch it out by using pulses/beans etc.

Check out other areas where you might just be overspending. Gas/Electric - are you with the best supplier in your region? Are you switching off at the socket where possible to stop wasting electric on stand-by? Energy-saving light bulbs? Use the washing line/airer instead of tumble dryer - check weather forecast before doing a big wash. Try not to do 'half-loads' - uneconomical.

Cut down on amount of soap powder that you use - most of us use way too much! Get yourself a soap powder measure - you'll be surprised! Same with dishwasher tablets - halve them.


Those suggestions may just keep you going for a while - I'm sure others will be along shortly with more ideas .

Good Luck - Ollie xx

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

Hi carlygd and welcome to the forums, you'll find loads of good tips on here.

Is there any way you could make a packed lunch instead of spending £2 per day each? Over the year that would save you £208!

All the above tips are great, especially the menu planning, make your shopping list from that so you don't overbuy. Try to slowly build up a store cupboard of staple foods with a long use by date such as tinned veg, meat, fish etc and flour, rice especially when they are on offer. (I currently have around 35kg rice in my cupboard bought when I realised rice prices were going up )

Try to use up your leftovers and even plan meals round them. I make a rule that nothing must be thrown away, a lonely spud or a spoonful of peas get saved in the fridge and turned into a fritatta/stew/pie. At Xmas especially I have a plastic box in the fridge and put all the leftovers and then try to make something out of them, chuck it all in a pasta sauce even.

Dress salad on your plate and then any leftover in the bowl won't go soggy so you can have it in a sarnie the next day.

Try keeping a spending diary so you can plug the leaks in your spending.

Good luck!

EssexHebridean

Some great tips on here already. The shopping list and the meal plan really work - I've been doing this for a while now and find the main differences I have encountered are that firstly I don't waste 20 minutes when I get in from work trying to work out what to cook, I use the microwave less to defrost things as they have been taken out of the freezer and defrosted naturally already, I make better use of what I buy as I know already what I intend to do with it. I impulse buy less in the supermarket and now that I've ruled out the midweek "must just pop in for a pint of milk" I spend less overall.

The batch cooking idea also makes a lot of sense and this is something I've done for a long while. All our meat comes from the farmers market as it's better quality and we like to know the provenance of it. When we get home I divide up what needs to be frozen and then usually that afternoon or the next day I cook up a big pot of bolognese sauce of similar and divide out to freeze. The plastic pots that chinese takeaways use are an excellent "Two portion" size so find a friend that uses the chinese and then ask them to save you their pots.

Try joining our "Don't Throw Food Away" challenge on this board also - that's made a massive difference to a lot of us on here as it's somewhere to share ideas for leftovers etc. Also if you feel you have to "report back" when something is throw out you are more likely to find a use for it! :rotfl: