Collective Brain Power Required Please

MrsB_2

Hi Guys,

Here's hoping you lot are a bit more awake than I am at the moment!! I was wondering if you could all provide me with...

Your ONE top absolutely fantastic, easy peasy, way to cut your grocery bill? Please nicely?

Was talking to my friend last night who has finally concluded that they have money issues and drastically need to reduce their outgoings. They currently spend on average £100 per WEEK for 2 adults, 1 cat, and 1 dog. :eek: Obviously this is going to be dead easy in some ways cos at the moment they are very extravagant and to be honest quite wasteful with food. However, when I tried to explain how I cut our grocery bill to less than £25 p/w for 2 (now plus bump) I couldnt remember how I did it.

I know that menu planning, bulk cooking, and HM will feature heavily, but that's going to seem like a big challenge to her. Do you lovely peeps have any suggestions for simple things she can do?

Thanks

PS - sorry BG's if this overlaps with any other threads, couldnt see any off the top of my head, but feel free to merge me!!

Skintmama

I always begin my cutting down by having a look at what I have to throw out each week. I then ban those items from the shopping list for a while. They only get back on my list if they fit in with a meal I have planned.
This has mostly happened with cream, yogurt and fruit.

Not throwing anything out at the moment!

kiwichick

Hiya MrsB,


Firstly, yay to you for helping out a mate. I've recently done the same thing and it feels GREAT. There are a few threads which might give inspiration, here goes;

[post=1386949]This one?[/post]
[post=1386753]Or this?[/post]
[post=1236770]Or this one?[/post]

My personal fave tip is to WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN, for an entire week or more. There is nothing more shocking than seeing how much you've spent on things you havent used or chucked out.

HTH,
Al.

in*the*red_6

Hello, Mine is:

Shop alone - the more people that go shopping, the more people can be tempted!

Pooky

Meal planning is the way to go. I try to only cook with meat every other day too. Obviously chicken and turkey get rubberised (is that a word?) to within an inch of their lives. I've even made a beef stew using beef stock from the freezer and veggies.....when asked where the meat was I just said "it was so well cooked it's disintigrated" still tasted great.

Portion control is another area where you can cut back......rather than seeing what's left at the end of a meal - take out what you know are really left over portions and bag/box them up ready to freeze down. I'm very good at making a bigger meal and then we all feel the need to have 2nds.

I've never been able to spend £100 a week on groceries, but I know people who do - they tend to buy branded products, maybe suggest that they cut to the shops own and then try the budget brands...see which one best suits them.


Well done for helping them out - sometimes people need things pointed out clearly to see the error of their ways.

lucylou

hi

probably the best tip is never to go the supermarket on an empty stomach.
And the next one is to plan every meal if possible and freeze all the leftovers to reuse some other day.I hope everything goes well:beer:

jenk_3

I eat a lot of pasta so I buy it in bulk, also its so cheap you cant go wrong really and made with some of the tom based recipes on here ....yummy!!

Ive saved money recently just by not buying my meat from a supermarket, the price difference from there and the butcher on my local market is huge!

Emma

Ronankfan

I agree with pooky - menu planning is the best way to cut down on spending.

rchddap1

Meal planning certainly.

Also to tend towards own brands. It is very rare that we buy something 'branded' and no-one knows any difference. However, the price is much lower.

We have also found that our local Asda is the cheapest place for us to shop. So if they are shopping at 'Sainsburys' suggesting a change would be a good start.

Starting to try to eat healthily is another good way....it encourages you to not buy all those biscuits, chocolate, crisps and cakes that usually end up in the trolley. It also means when we do buy something sweet it is a proper treat. Or I end up baking something myself. It also encourages people to think about what they are actually eating (ie, preservatives) and so encourages making things from scratch.

Keeping an eye out of special offers that mean you can get more for less....and then just sling in the freezer or cupboard (if it won't go off too quickly that is)

Also when looking at 'favourite dishes' go looking for recipes on how to do them yourself. Then just buy the ingredients instead of the overpriced convenience food that supermarkets would perfer you to buy.

I found that once I started doing certain things....the rest came pretty much automatically and in fact we enjoyed doing it.

System

I started off compiling my online shopping list using only value products. Those foods that we couldnt eat cause they were 'orrible were changed to shops own products the next week. I buy very few branded products now but those i do, are a million times better than the shops own.

Bargain_Rzl

Meal planning - absolutely - but it's not like waving a magic wand - if your friend is in the habit of having fresh organic meat for every meal and never buying a bottle of wine unless it costs at least a tenner, it ain't going to make it cheap just cos it's planned in advance.

Can I possibly suggest an answer which is going to sound facetious (but isn't)?

Join this forum!