Grocery Shopping budget thread

SunnyGirl

Hi!

You are certainly making a good start by searching around for cheap recipes. Have a look at The Grocery Challange Thread for more ideas. The big list of recipes start at post 3 and there's LOADS including a cheapest recipe thread listed there :T

Good luck and let us know how you get on. Everyone is happy to answer questions and give advice on here :A

valk_scot

Make a meal plan for next week/next month/next whatever suits you.

Go over what your meal/drink/snack plan and see what can be eliminated. Dump junk food first....£10 per week for three of you and you're really going to have to concentrate on meeting your basic nutritional needs rather than eating what you just happen to fancy. Milk, bread (or bread flour), veg, some fruit, potatoes/pasta/rice/pulses, eggs then if you can afford it some meat and fish. If you're going to want puddings and cakes you'll be a lot cheaper making them but they're not nutritionally essential, remember. You're also going to have to be very careful with your child that he gets enough of what he needs. Can families on low incomes with kids get extra help with food vouchers these days? Or does your local community run a subsidised fruit 'n veg van? Our town does, if you have kids under eight.

Write a shopping list which includes quantities. Have a seperate purse for housekeeping money only. Stick to the list! Except also have a little spare cash to use for really good buys/reductions but not impulse buys.

Have to say, £40 per month is not a lot for three. Can you perhaps scrimp up a little more from other areas of the budget? Food is important, remember.

Penelope_Penguin

As this has fallen from the front page of OS, I'll add it to the Shopping Budgets thread so that you can see what others spend.

Penny. x

patchwork_cat

Freeme - is this £40 a one off, oh no month, or a budget for every month? For a one off yes you could do it, particularly if you have plenty in the cupboards, if it is an every month budget then to be frank, no, I don't think it is realistic month in month out. Does your DS get free school lunches? If not how much are they? IMO school dinners are not a cheap option and a packed lunch can be made for a lot less, but if they are free that is different.

FreeMe_2

Hi Patchwork Cat,

His school meals arent free but they are already paid for. The £40 budget should only need to be for a maximum of 3 months (hopefully less!) while I jiggle about with the rest of our finances. I could use money from elsewhere but I was trying to avoid it, hence the question about it being realisitic.
Thanks for all the replies so far... I've been avidly reading about Weezls challenges and hopefully I can pick some tips there.

FreeMe

patchwork_cat

It may be possible for 3 months if you have good stores and good friends! You will probably be mighty sick of pulses by month 3! Do you need to post your stores list and menu plan. Mbaz did it for about 23 days ! http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2116179 . Here is another similar thread http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2148505 - Frugal mince recipe looks good http://frugal-cooking.co.uk/recipe/193/batch-bake-minced-beef-recipe Does your DS get milk at school ?

missychrissy

Hi Freeme

Have you thought about using Freecycle for things like a slow cooker or pressure cooker. I couldn't be without my slow cooker. It turns the cheaper cuts of meat into delicious stews, curries etc. I like: a gammon/ham joint (knuckle end from a good butcher - very cheap) done in sc with either dried split yellow peas or dried marrowfat peas (soaked overnight) with a chopped onion; a small beef joint (Aldi do a frozen one for under a fiver) with onion, carrots, red lentils, stock cube, seasoning etc; a small lamb joint (again Aldi do a frozen one for less than a fiver) with veg and barley. I have a 4.5L sc and I find each of these combinations produces lots of meals, casseroles first and then soups. I live on my own and work on the principle of one for today , one for tomorrow and the rest for the freezer. A small joint together with lots of pulses and veg goes a long way.

I manage on £10 per week for a supermarket shop. I don't go shopping every week as I can sometimes live out of my freezer and store cupboard for several weeks but it averages out at about that. I am impressed if you can feed 3 of you on that. I find the best way to spend as little as possible is to just not go shopping and force yourself to be inventive with whatever you have in the house.

I agree with everyone that says find the best times at your local supermarket for the big price reductions. Although I tend to do my main shop in Aldi especially taking advantage of their 'super six' price reductions on fruit and veg, I find my local Tesco the best for 'bargains'. I like Asda and occasionally pop in for a 'whoopsie' shop if I am working close to one as I don't have a local Asda. I work for a nursing agency so I travel around.

I am comfortable spending £10 per week but if I had to I could manage on less. I often have one of my 4 sons and family stay with me so I could visit them instead. I make my own wine so always have several bottles I could take (16p to 32p per bottle, not factoring in the initial cost of the equipment, though I did get some from freecycle).

It takes imagination and ingenuity to create a nutritious and healthy diet on little money but it can be done.

slscarborough

I am currently spending approx £80 pw on 2 Adults 1 teen a toddler & a baby. however this does include nappies/toiletries/baby milk etc. Do you think realistically i can reduce this?

gettingready

Right.....

Just me and my daughter (19) at home....

As she is away till mid Jan.. I want to "prepare" now for the budgeting when she comes back.

What does everyone think a reasonalble monthly spend should be - food/cleaning stuff/toiletries for 2 people?

I do nto want to count lunches at work/at Uni or dog and cat food - I have separate budgets for that.

Anyone can quote me a figure and I will see if I can stick to it?



Thanks

abby1234519

Basically I am a student and when I get back to uni in Jan I've decided I'm not sharing food with my flatmates as they go shopping and come back with stuff I never eat blah blah. I need to scrimp and save this year to pay the arrears off my rent. So I need to eat as cheaply as possible. I can cook and all that I just don't know where to start. I mean I need to have a breakfast, something like porridge, a decent lunch and a decent healthy meal. I'm trying to lose weight as well so....and I can bake and all that I just need to feed myself........

Whats the lowest I can spend and how do I do this?