Grocery Shopping budget thread

gettingready

Ah, thanks - will have a look.

It is just that everyone seems to be posting budget but not the number of people/pets that it is suposed to cover or where do they live - some places in UK may be cheaper than London..Hmmmm Thanks again

hot.chick

Hi there,

I'm not a single or a mum but I do work full time, just me and Hubby, bit we are a 2 adult with a cat and a dog houshold, let me know if u wanna team up :-)

foxgloves

Hi, Feel positive you can knock that spend down. We started budgetting properly this year after kidding ourselves for ages that we weren't really spending very much (we were!) and we are now spending £250 per month on 'household stuff'....that's groceries, cleaning stuff, including all food (that's for me, husband & and large cat. Luckily our current cat is happy with anything from Waitrose premium to Aldi own brand, unlike our previous one who ran to far more gourmet tastes!)

gettingready

Thanks girls - I am trying to work out some weekly "menu" for the 4 of us now, to get ready for january

Even got myself a diary (do not worry, got it is a pound shop LOL) with day to a page and will write everything down in there.

Just wonder now - I normally get my shopping online (Asda) to avoid any temptations and stick to my list and of course to save the time (do nto have too much of that).

Got a bread maker recently, love it to bits but hey - my daughter does not like "that" bread.

Got a steamer, love steamed food but guess what? Daughter does not like it.

I absolutely hate having to cook for 2 or end up eating what I do not like only because I cooked it for my daughter.....

Yes, I know, at 19 she should be cooking for herself but.. ermmmm she is a baby......

We eat such different things it is like running 2 separate households - I like veggies steamed with fish, cous cous, guinoa etc. Trying to lose weight is not easy "on the cheap".

Do not want to feed my daughter junk - need to find some compromise here that will allow me to cut the shopping cost down...grrrrr

Half of my freezer is full of... frozen dog food (got a German Shepherd) - got no space for another freezer although was just looking at a slightly bigger (taller) one than mine. My one has 3 drawers, the one I was looking at has 4 so a bit of extra space....

How do you ladies shop? Where? What do you eat? LOL

Thanks

hot.chick

Ok, sounds like a nice challenge, but nothing the mse'ers can't handle ;-)

I'd start working out what staple meals you both like and go from there.
Maybe have the same main bot with different sides, and explain to DS that money is tight and there might be times when you have things that aren't har 1st choice, but it would be nice if she supported you.

Do a store cupboard list and only buy what you need, I use tesco on line too, prefer it to asda as I get my points :-)

does ur dog need frozen food?? I know peope with dogs on special diets, but for comparison, we feed ours dry food, easier to store.

How does that sound for starters??

missychrissy

Hi gettingready

I'm a single mum, have been for 13 1/2 years with one son at uni. However he recently moved in with his girlfriend though they visit quite often for a meal as do my other 3 sons and wife/girlfriends/children. I have my eldest son and his wife and little boy coming to stay this weekend. I too have a dog though mine is quite small (Llhasa Apso) and I work full time +.

I manage on a supermarket spend of approx £10 per week even when entertaining. I don't go shopping every week as I can often live out of the freezer and store cupboard for several weeks at a time. I usually do my main shop in Aldi and stock up on whichever veg is on offer. I chop and freeze things like peppers as soon as I get them home. I find a bag of mixed peppers can be added straight to stir fries or casseroles. I cook in bulk, often in my slow cooker and then freeze one person sized portions that are ideal for taking to work (straight from freezer) and are defrosted by the time I need one. Aldi does small beef and lamb joints for under £5. I cook these in my SC together with onions, carrots, mushrooms etc and add lentils to thicken and barley if it is lamb. I find that I usually get around 8 - 10 portions from one of these small joints. If I have family to feed I usually add dumplings or Yorkshire puddings and potato. I did a lamb roast for visiting son and girlfriend weekend before last and was still able to make up 4 one person sized dinners for myself out of the leftovers. I also like to do a bacon/gammon joint with either split peas or marrowfat peas soaked overnight before adding to SC and with an onion added. This is good with mashed potato and also makes several portions of pea and ham soup.

If I am in the vicinity of Asda or Tesco I will pop in and Whoopsie and bargain hunt. Anything reduced on it's sell by date I either use or freeze immediately. I've had some excellent bargains this way. I had a turkey leg costing 50p one day that made up 6 meals for me.

Meal planning does not work for me as I find it too inflexible. I have tried, but don't like food shopping online as I miss out on the real bargains. We are all different and have to find that which suits us best.

My little dog is remarkably unfussy. I give her a small bowl of dried complete food in the morning and a third of a 400g tin in the evening and then refridgerate the rest. I usually buy the tins in B & M 3 for £1 or whenever I find a special offer. The complete dried food is usually buy 2 get one free. I used to feed her on dried alone as it is much cheaper but she has had a lot of dental problems recently and she seems to like the softer food much better.

Good luck with your saving.

gettingready

OMG - you ladies are sooooooooooooooooooooooo good at it (hides under the bed in shame).

Right, got to look into those slow cookers then, never had one, wouldn't have a clue what to do with one of those but as everyone seems to be mentioning them....

Dog food - trying to switch my hairy monster to dry only but just yesterday she got upset tummy which with 35kg of long haired GS is not nice (long fur on her butt, dihrea, out in the cold every hour or so all nigh etc). She has sensitive stomach so this may be tricky - I do feed her a mix of raw (natures menu) and dry (burns) and this comes at a price..... Cat has kidney problems so on medication for this - eats dry Burns and wet Felix - as good as it looks. Anything other and he pukes all over the place.

Daughter is going away this Saturday, just found out she is going for a month - coming back on the 8th january (kindly told me today LOL) so will have a month to practise. Especially that I am staying practically peniless from the 12th till I get paid on the 23rd :eek:

Freezeing stuff - I have a question here. I was always told it is no good to freeze anything for the second time so let me run a scenarion here:

I buy fresh meet.
I store it in the freezer.
I defrost it to cook something.
I cook to much so want to freeze part of it.
This would be second freezng of the same meat, wouldn't it?
A I going to poison myself?

Thanks for posting....:o

yummyhoney

you can freeze it again as it has changed state,,i didnt know this till a few weeks ago!!!

gettingready

Thanks - anywhere I can find this info to confirm?

Not that I do not trust you... just want to show my daughter....

Thanks

windowshopper100

Hopefully this will convince her. It's from the Food Standards Agency website which is the government 'food department'.

Question 6 on the list.
http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/asksam/keepingfoodsafe/asksamstoringpreparing/#A410633