Grocery Shopping budget thread

lmb4wcb

Thanks to everyone for their replies, my kids will eat almost anything and I have taken a look at some of the things we could cut back on so think a realistic budget is £50 a week including toilet roll and dog food. I do a lot of baking but I get my flour from a local company in return for cakes to sell and my eggs come from a friend who has free range chickens in exchange for cakes for the hotel she works in. I would love some help with meal planning though as I don't have a clue where to start lol I have an asda, morrisons, aldi, co-op and iceland near my house and I have just found out that my local butcher does a great meat pack for £12 so going to start getting that, there is 1lb of stewing steak, 1lb of lorne sausage, 2 chicken breasts and 4 big burgers. Any help will be greatly appreciated

Lisa-Marie xx

ragz_2

lmb4wcb wrote: »

I have just found out that my local butcher does a great meat pack for £12 so going to start getting that, there is 1lb of stewing steak, 1lb of lorne sausage, 2 chicken breasts and 4 big burgers. Any help will be greatly appreciated

Lisa-Marie xx

That's 4 meals' meat for £3 a meal? I think that's pretty good, but everyone has their own budgets. I know I CAN feed my 5 on £200 a month, but I prefer to spend £400, get plenty of free range eggs and chicken, decent meat, not too many pasta/pastry dishes, no cheap junk etc, because to me it's more important to feed my family decent food than have sky TV or whatever, but it really depends on your own approach.

Mealplanning helps a lot (I used to be really good, have slipped on that front).
My favourite is plan a roast chicken, then something next day using leftovers, then make a soup with the carcass either for lunches or another meal.
An easy way to meal plan is to list everything you tend to cook then look at the list and think, one pasta meal, one with chips, one baked potato, one fish meal, one rice meal one roast etc based on what the family like, then spread them through the week based on how much time you have on different days...

cutestkids

A large part of our budget goes on fresh fruit, veg and milk, I think the main thing is not to make it so strict that you get fed up and give up on it instead of saying £200 a month and then feeling that you have failed if you go £1.00 over, try saying Between £200 and £250 a month, that way if you come in really low you can have a treat and also means that you have a bit of leeway if any offers are on.

maman

The first thing I'd do is take an inventory of everything in your fridge, freezer and larder and start your meal plan by using up things you already have.

Now that you have some time on your hands, you'll save by shopping around a bit. If I were you, I'd start with your shopping list. That's a list of essentials based on your meal plan and don't deviate from it unless it's a good offer for something that will freeze/store or a substitute for something on your meal plan.

Then I'd go to Aldi's and buy as much as possible from there and then just visit Asda or Morrisons for the things Aldi's don't sell. Try to shop once a week maximum as if you keep popping to the shops for odd bits you'll risk spending more.

Keep all your receipts and do a diary of everything you spend. Check over it each week/month to see where you can make economies. Just keeping the diary seems to act as a brake to spending.

Very soon, you'll find yourself getting motivated to spend as little as possible. I find it quite addictive.

Good luck!!

debtmess

I have 5 in my house including my sister who lives with me, sometimes feed 7.
I am aiming to drop mine from 90ish per week to £150 tops for the month, then work downwards everyone on here is very different. the £7 thread has some great ideas on it.

Pink.

Hi Imb,

I've added your thread to our thread on grocery budgets so that you can read what others spend, but remember that it's important not to compare your family to others....you need to set your own budget that suits your family.

These threads may help with meal planning too:

Meal Planning - how do you do it?

The Complete Menu Plans Collection

Cheap recipe threads

£70 budget for a family of 5... Is this doable?

And finally....

Get on board with the August 2012 Grocery Challenge where you'll find lots of people who will be willing to help and support you.

Good luck with cutting back.

Pink

Loobeyloop

Hi there, hope this is the right place to put this. Have been around on and off for sometime, was just wondering what you lovely experts would think is a sensible budget for basic food/toiletries for 2 adults, one 15 yr old boy and an old poorly cat? I have got to cut down to as little as possible as I have a food shopping addiction. I get bored and go to the supermarket to get a shopping fix!
I thought if I could stick to a sensible amount then I might stop being so overdrawn!

Thanks in advance!:D

kerrypn

Hi Loobey, perhaps the best bet would be to post how much you roughly spend now and how much you would like to cut it by, and lots of fab OSers will help

There is also the grocery challenges at the top of OS which are great to get your shop down. Have you tried the down shift challenge?

Linda32

Hi, Yes I'm sure there would be lots of ideas, we just need a bit more info.

How much do you spend now for instance and how much do you want to spend.

Also, you need to perhaps make sure you only go to the shops once a week, rather than getting board and going oftern. Just "nipping to the shops" is expensive in itself as you oftern don't just come out with the one thing you went in for.

The bread and milk isn't just by the door in supermarkets for a good reason
Maybe with this in mind you could think of it in a different way. Say to yourself "they are not having a penny more of my money" or something along those lines.

meg72

I used to do this as well, I have now gone from a daily to a weekly, or a bit more shop and its saved me loads.

Also if you have loads already in try the fiscal fast thread, its a lot of fun
and basically you use up what you have in before shopping for anymore. Good Luck.