Grocery Shopping budget thread

debtmuncher

katie1270 wrote: »

What is OS? DH? DD? etc?

os old style

d is darling so d h /husband/ d/daughter/ s/son. oh is other half

katie1270

You can tell I am new cant you! thanks for all your advice

Butterfly_Brain

:TWelcome to the best and friendliest forum.
Everyone has their own budget and it is entirely up to you to set yourself a budget that is suitable to you and your family.
There are so many different threads on cheap recipes. Have a browse at them. Here is one that is an inspiration, or try weezles threads.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1129333&highlight=mbaz

• Take stock of what you have in your cupboards and freezers and you might be surprised at what you have
• Meal planning is a must and so is writing a list before you go shopping to avoid temptation.
• Take cash when shopping that way you can see how much is being spent.
• Try moving down to own label products - you don't have to drop to basic lines straight away but you may choose to at a later date.
• Look at stores like Aldi, Lidl. Farmfoods, Iceland and Netto - look on their web sites for deals before you go shopping.
• I swear by Aldi especially on fruit and veg and I always buy their Eggs 99p for 10 large. And milk is £1 for 2L in Farmfoods
• Poundland and 99p stores have some real bargains too.
• Go to the Library and pick up some cook books you will be surprised at what you can make from very few ingredients.
• Cook in Bulk - eat half freeze half that way you will always have a meal ready in the freezer for days when you can't cook from scratch or let's face it with 2 little uns you're too tired to cook.

I hope that this is of some help to you and look forward to chatting in the future x

debtmuncher

twinks hobnobs

yes your majesty! *bows down*!!!:rotfl::p:D

Penelope_Penguin

katie1270 wrote: »

I am new to the site, and would really appreicate your advice on how much a family of four should be spending. 2 children (age 10 & 12) 2 adults. I spend probably around 500-600 per month. I am fussy about where my meat comes from, and buy some organic. I would like to cut down a bit and set myself a challenge, but dont know what I should be spending. :rotfl:

We have an existing thread where people list their budget, so I'll merge this thread so that you can take a look Once you've set your budget, consider joining the current Grocery Challenge, which will help you keep to it

Penny. x

tinkerbellsmum_2

hi hun
do u make more than one meal at each meal?
i know its hard when children will only eat certain foods my ds is a tiny baby and so picky and i often feed him what he likes to get food in him but like hv points out if we just give them what they want they will never like the foods (i'm fussy myself hardly eat anything and i hate it)
cooking from fresh is so much cheaper and using all of what u r using say u r making a quiche with pastry mix (about 50p in asda) make 2 with left over pastry and freeze rest in slices and then your dh can take them to work.
i have also found buying meat from butchers works out cheaper and fruit and veg from market.
i've resently start this and i'm amazed how cheap my shopping is by using what i buy and freezing left overs.
esp veg normally would throw whats left now i even freeze mushrooms
i've still got to crack eating what i plan gonna try cooking meals for week on sat.
have a look around the board hun u will do it

Mands

Olliebeak wrote: »

Some months I can have four or five birthdays and by the time I've put the cards into the shopping trolley, there's another £10 on the bill :eek:. I really do NEED to make a list of all birthdays in January and buy them all in one go from a cheapie card shop (apart from special ones that is !). For work purposes I use about four sympathy cards a year, and those just get put into the trolley as well - AND they're usually more expensive than birthday cards for a nice one.

Ouch, that's going to hurt the budget!

I try and pick up multipacks of cards when they are on sale. A couple of designs (one colourful and blank inside for birthdays, one set of black and white for sympathy cards) and most eventualities are covered.

A quick squint at M&S online shows that, even full price, they have some decent cards that come in at less than 50p per card.

For children's birthdays these look handy for girls and these for boys. 8 cards for £3.50 and they are on hand when you need them.

HTH,
Mands

Olliebeak

Mands wrote: »

Ouch, that's going to hurt the budget!...........

Don't I just know it . It's the very next area that I'm going to tackle in my quest to be a [STRIKE]total cheapskate[/STRIKE] moneysaver .

It's way too easy to 'dolly-day-dream' down the greetings card aisle in Asda and just pick up the ones you need :rolleyes:.

zippychick

debtmuncher wrote: »

twinks hobnobs

yes your majesty! *bows down*!!!:rotfl::p:D

Am I your Majesty? :rotfl:

Thanks, i must book mark that. I am quite good at using the search function, but can never find that thread on my own!

debtmuncher

zippychick wrote: »

Am I your Majesty? :rotfl:

Thanks, i must book mark that. I am quite good at using the search function, but can never find that thread on my own!

lol its the good recipes that can be hard to find! i have the same problem myself so it was only luck that i found it!