Grocery Shopping budget thread

Norman_Bean

oh and you could maker 'cheaper' sandwiches a couple of times a week - jam, peanut butter, marmite, chicken scraps etc to save your cheese and ham use?

frosty

I find grating cheese and storing in a container makes it go further,and I tend to buy a beef joint for sunday lunch(usually reduced)and slice some very thinly for sandwiches.

Pink.

gailey wrote: »

ham we get real stuff not reformed but try go for offers and multibuys, not sure id deli counter works out cheaper.

If you like 'real' ham it's worth cooking a joint yourself to slice thinly and freeze in small family sized portions. This thread may help:

Ham economics

The thread that Penny has linked to is useful to get an idea of what other people spend, but I always think it's hard to give advice on what a grocery budget should be because everyone's needs/wants will be very different. I think the best thing is to monitor your own spending for a couple of months (although with Christmas coming up that won't be so easy) before setting yourself a realistic budget that isn't going to make you fall at the first hurdle. Do join in with the Grocery Challenge thread again, there's no obligation to declare a budget (I don't) but you will get lots of support, encouragement and ideas to help you work out what suits you, from other people on the thread.

Pink

Bitsy_Beans

If milk is a big spend could you try say UHT milk for stuff like tea and coffee and save the other just for cereal? Any chance of you cutting down on your cereal consumption? What sorts do you buy? Branded or shop own brand?

I buy mostly Sainsbury's basics range which I find is good value (most of the time when they're not sneaking prices up but I digress......). As for cleaning and toiletries - I only buy Stardrops (look on bottom shelf in Mr S where Cif etc is) - its cheaper, cleans stainless steel sink FAR better and lasts for ages. I use it for all my cleaning, kitchen, bathroom and a little goes a long way. Will easily last several months and costs 75p I think in Mr S I bulk buy my washing powder from Costco so branded works out cheaper in the long run I think but Sainsbury's own is quite good. I don't like the basic washing powder - didn't get my whites clean enough. I buy basic soap and for personal toiletries I buy Tresemme when it's on offer.
for lunches could you try making soup? It's very filling and you can bung in as much veg etc as you like.

My weekly budget for 2 adults, a 4 year old and a 16 month old is £40. It's a struggle (and this doesn't include my bulk buying meat from Costco) but if I meal plan and stick to it I can just about manage it. I don't have much choice as not earning much but have been slipping a bit lately so need to get back on track.
Good luck, it can be trial and error until you find something achievable.

MrsMW

Sainsburys do a Basics gammon joint which is under £2. I cook two at a time in the slow cooker and it is gorgeous. We usually have some with a meal and then use the rest for sandwiches. Any left overs go in the freezer.
I'm sure this would save you some money, it's a lot cheaper than buying packets.

purpleivy

MrsMW wrote: »

Sainsburys do a Basics gammon joint which is under £2. I cook two at a time in the slow cooker and it is gorgeous. We usually have some with a meal and then use the rest for sandwiches. Any left overs go in the freezer.
I'm sure this would save you some money, it's a lot cheaper than buying packets.

How much do these gammon joints weigh?

zcrat41

Hello, I'm interested to see what comes up on this thread. I'm about to start living on my own and paying my very own mortgage for the first time. I've budgeted for £40 per week but I really want to keep it down to £35 a week, I'm not sure if that's too tight though. It'll have to cover all food and cleaning stuff. I don't have to buy for breakfast as that's provided at work. The other bonus is free eggs from the egg producing boyf. (His hens that is!)

My other concern is that I don't have a very big freezer - a whopping 2 shelves!!

Oh, and its just me!

kittynortheast

Hi, my solution for the over consumption of juice, and my son was the same wouldn't drink water, I just stopped buying it saying I forgot etc.. (the list of ingredients was the reason I stopped-yuck!). I bought a glass bottle of water and refill it every night with tap water and put it in the fridge. He moaned for a little while but drinks it no problem now. I have reintroduced juice and he gets it on his PE days in his packed lunch and a bottle of water for PE, the other days he has water now and doesn't say a word-Yeah!

I have similar problems and spend too much, I use my list but buy things when they are on offer and that puts up the bill (it's just stuff we use)

gettingready

Ok, I am useless with money in general but saw this "Old style" thread with money challenges re groceries and got very interested.

Everyone is posting their "spend" but everyone is in different circumstances so difficult to compare.

I am looking to "team up" with someone who's circumstances are similar to mine:

Myself, my 19 yo daughter (student), 1 cat and one dog.

I work full time so can not spend days bargain hunting in the shops - relay on this website a lot recently.

At the moment I think I am spending about 350-400 per month on myself and my daughter (food, cleaning stuff etc) and about £100 per month on dog and cat (not including the insurance).

Of course I would like to bring this down - a lot :rolleyes:

We do nto get ready meals, I cook from scratch at home - we do have lunches outside (daughter at Uni me at work).

I doubt my daughter wants to get included in my saving plan so I am not going to count the money SHE spends outside on food/drinks and anyway it does not come from my budget, it comes from her student loan.

I am getting paid early this month (23rd) but daughter goes away on the 12th and comes back after the New Year so I would like to join the January challenege (when it comes) buty before then want to look at finances in general, possibly compare to someone in similar circumstances to myself...

Anyone out there? Ideally a single working mum awith a "kid" at college/uni but living at home and 2 furries to feed?

Thanks

Penelope_Penguin

Take a look at the Grocery Budget Thread Lots of people have posted their budget and circumstances on there, so you can see if you can find someone else in a similar situation to you

I'll add this thread to that one later.

Penny. x