Grocery Shopping budget thread

ubamother

I find that the extra expense tends to come from the 'frilly' extras - extra stocks of good meat and veg will cost, but are also very usable in other meals later on. My final Christmas shop always does us until past the New Year. If you have specific things you cook, make sure you plan your food shop round those recipes - it is very easy to assume you're going to use lots of, say, chocolate, double cream etc. for baking, but if you actually write down your recipe ingredients you probably don't need as much as you think.
I always have guests for Christmas, and I allocate certain things - one guest is bringing cheeses, biscuits and breads, one nuts and sweeties, and one Christmas pudding and a dessert etc. These things are lovely extras to have, and are probably going to cost each person £10-20 so if I was getting them all they could add up to £100 to my shop. Also, guests who've made a proper contribution tend to feel more relaxed and involved in the day, so you all enjoy it more. For the first year I am physically limited and therefore have had to seriously plan and get ahead as I can't pop to the shops for little things - I have excel spreadsheets galore! The 'big plan' has actually been rather fun, and I am so much further ahead and organised this year - wish I'd done it years ago!

DianneB

Hi milliemonster, we are having a similar number for christmas day and I find that after a good dinner (only beef and a veggie option for us) then a pause and pudding (christmas pud or apple pie) everyone is too full for 'party food' later. Tea will be cold meat, cheese, crackers, bread and pickle - no expensive bits labeled 'party food' in the shops. There will be chocolates, nuts and mince pies, oh and christmas cake available all day - I just dare anyone to be hungry!!

Kiwisaver_2

I'm planning to do my last shop on Friday this week and have done a meal plan to cover the next two weeks upto New Years. I have been stashing special offers over the past many weeks out of my normal weekly budget, including the turkey. I have equivalent of £65 left in my budget to get the remainder of what I need; mostly fresh stuff, fruit, salad and veggies, bread, milk, meat and bacon.

I don't have any party food as such, but have a lot of ingredients and a list of things I am planning to make or bake as the mood and need arises. I do have several cheeses and a couple of bags of kettle chips. I will make lots of nibbles, quiches, mince pies, cheese straws and some dips made with sour cream. I'll also make a mega bowl of trifle. One luxury item I bought, the weeniest pack of smoked salmon, it goes a long way as a topping for bagels or blinis with cream cheese. I've got the ubiquitous box of After Eights and a few nuts. My plan is to spread all the goodies out over to the New Year, with nibbles and bits available depending on who turns up.

I don't think we'll starve.

freebiequennie

I would take your sister up on her offer maybe she could bring one of the joints of meat and couple bottle wines?

Stock up on meat thats on offer sainsburys had beef, pork and gammon 1/2 price this last week not sure when offer ends.

Or try a local butcher some do meat packs for £40 plus and if you are having several different joints you prob only need small joints so ones that would feed 3-4 as people will only be having a small bit of everything.

Make sure any left overs are used so any veg is made into bubble and squeak or soup.

meat is made into pies or sandwiches

we had a massive piece beef last xmas and had left overs used for beef casserole, spag bol, cottage pie, beef and mushroom pie - basically did 8 further meals which did 16 dinners for 2 of us!!

Penelope_Penguin

milliemonster wrote: »

What budgets does everyone else have for xmas?

No idea; I'm frugal all year, and this is the week when, within reason, I spend what we need to spend :money: DH and I don't do indulgent presents, so the food and wine is our indulgence. :beer:


As this has fallen from the front page of Old Style, I'll add it to the existing Grocery Budget thread

Penny. x

BigMummaF

gettingready wrote: »

....
I think the issue with my "overspending" is not how much we buy but what we buy - organic, free range etc

I have to be honest, when I look at cheaper meat for example, I simply do not think I could eat it - some does not taste like it should.

It is not just a case of filling up with any food is it?

We also buy branded yogurts etc - not much of them but they are expensive.

My last Asda order was almost £100 per month ....

.... Bold Gel and Lenor Red conditioner as I like the smell of those too much.

Am I no hope whatsoever?
....
Can someone please point me in the direction of Bread Maker and Steamer threads - if those exist on boards here?

Thanks a lot

Hi. Apologies for snipping your post in places but I forget which bits I want to reply to otherwise
There's nothing wrong with making an informed choice as to what products or services you prefer to spend your cash on. It's just a little harder to find a bargain that's all! And in the great scheme of things, a hundred pounds is still only £20 a week!
All I will say is:-
My theory is that we will try something once. If we like it I'll buy it again; if we're not sure I'll buy it again & if we don't like it, I'll leave it alone. I can honestly say that there are value label items that I actually prefer the taste/ texture of, probably because there's less sugar or fat in a lot of them
As to the laundry products, me muvva was the same about the brand she likes until there came a time when the shelf had a big hole & she had to choose another. Now she is happy to use a supermarket version instead, saving around £1:10 a go on the size she buys.
One of the Slow Cooker threads is here.
The recipes on this page are fabulous!
One of the breadmaker threads here.
This one is all about value lines & this one for value supermarkets.
Saving pennies to help them grow into pounds
Just give them a read thru & I promise you will be amazed at the ingenuity of some folk. HTH

patchwork_cat

I have been on MSE for a long time and always felt that we ate well and had an average budget and in some cases perhaps too generous.

We spend about £100 a week on food and cleaning things etc.realistically at the moment some weeks it is less ( I have been running my freezer down lately, so quite a lot less) On the Economy Gastronomy thread and programme I was shocked at how much people were spending and how little the chefs were reducing the budget. Today I have just, prompted by another thread, had a look at the Office of National Statistics and they have data saying that on average a family of 4 spends £135 on groceries per week and that £450 per month for a couple is not viewed as unreasonable by some!

Now that seems high for average to me. Is it because we tend to cook from scratch etc. that we spend less although not nearly as low as some.I was shocked reading the bankruptcy thread that in a SOA the receiver will allow as much as £400 a month for 2 on food and cleaning etc.

What do you spend and what do you think is the average?

should have said there are 4 of us and LOTS of pets! 2 adults + DS 16 and DD 12

Justamum

Over £400 a month for a couple does seem a bit steep tbh! We spend about that (I'll have to check my book) for a family of 5 and a rapidly growing kitten! On top of that we do spend too much on 'snacks' - ie if we go to town we have a coffee, and I include chocolate and crisps and all other unnecessary eating in that category. I've told the family that in the new year that won't be happening - it's about £50 a month, which is £600 a year :eek: I could find far better things than that to spend it on!

Pink.

Hi patchwork cat,

I always believe that shopping budgets are a personal thing and can't be generalised because everyones wants/needs/family circumstances are different.

In the Grocery Shopping budget thread you will see what budgets other Old Stylers are trying to achieve for their circumstances.


Also the December 2009 Grocery Challenge in post 5 there is a list of everyones grocery budget.

I'll add this thread to the first link later to keep the replies together.

Pink

patchwork_cat

Thank you Pink. Goodness only knows how I have missed that monthly grocery challenge every month! I was feeling poor and deprived and can see that in fact what I believed was the norm is so.