Grocery Shopping budget thread

csarina

Make your own crisps.........peel the potatos use the slice bit on a cheese grater to slice the potato.s put them in cold water for about half an hour to remove some of the starch, tip into a colinder to drain the water and then dry as much as possible with a tea towel before frying. If you have a chip fryer its easy, otherwise do a few at a time in a frying pan and dry them on absorbant kitchen paper. sprinkle with a little salt......

I used to make than a lot when my children were small......but at 50, 48 42 and 40 I think they can make thier own now!!:D:D They only had them at home, I would not allow them to have them in their lunch boxes for school.

skyelark

nattyt wrote: »

I was wondering what a realistic food budget is for myself and my 3 children age 14, 5 and 2. I've been doing a big shop once a month spending around £150 and buying extras throughout the week eg bread, milk etc but then seem to spend another 50 quid some weeks! Too much as works out sometimes as £300 plus over a month! I cook everything from scratch and do batch cook as much as possible. I know i need to cut back on the treat type stuff so tomorrow going to do a load of flapjacks, cookies and cakes for the kids for the freezer. Also i think my kids eat too many crisps. Whats a healthier alternative? Thanks in advance.:)

I am in the same boat. I spend £100 pounds per week on 4 adults and 2 big dogs. That is for everything inc loo roll, toiletries etc. I would love to be able to cut this down, but don't know how. I shop in aldi mainly and other cheap shops and my cupboards are well stocked. I cook lots and I am in the process of looking for a cheap 2nd hand freezer(to make more bulk meals) and buying a breadmaker to make bread to order. If you get any great tips, pls pass them on

nattyt

JulieGeorgiana wrote: »

I give myself the equivalent of £50 a week... so if a month has 4 Fridays it's a £200 budget, 5 Fridays is a £250 budget!

What a good idea! I'm going to start that from next Friday as its 1st of month and have enough food until then.

Lots of great ideas people thank you.

pink_numbers

I tend to split my food budget into 5 weekly sum, that way, you get to save a whole week's worth of food money for all the months where there are only 4 weeks - anything for easy savings

When things are tight, I go by £50 per person per month - £10 per person per week. I do have to focus quite a lot though to make sure that it comes within budget, but it is totally doable. When things aren't so tight, I live very comfortably on £20 per week per person

skyelark

pink_numbers wrote: »

I tend to split my food budget into 5 weekly sum, that way, you get to save a whole week's worth of food money for all the months where there are only 4 weeks - anything for easy savings

When things are tight, I go by £50 per person per month - £10 per person per week. I do have to focus quite a lot though to make sure that it comes within budget, but it is totally doable. When things aren't so tight, I live very comfortably on £20 per week per person

I love the advice given so far. I am going to try and bump bill down again by a bit. Reading with interest. keep the tips coming ladies. :T

zippychick

HI Natty

Grocery shopping budget thread should be insightful for you - i will merge this with that thread later on. Have you joined the grocery challenge?

Healthy snacks for kids

Cheap healthy snacks

Cheap snack ideas - stop me buying crisps

Pink also has a really good post here with some cheap meal linkies

Let us know how you get on and I will merge this later
thanks
Zip

debbym

Instead of crisps I make plain (unsalted and unbuttered) popcorn for the kids. Unpopped corn is cheap and they love popping it, we then set up our own "cinema" with a DVD - they love it. Healthy cheap snack and an activity to keep them occupied all in one go! V popular in their lunchbox as well as it gets shared by their friends.

Kazipoo

Why not try and find out when the woopsies happen at the store? We nip to our Asda and Morrisons at various times to catch these bargains. I buy battered fruit and make jams and lemon curds as well as use for fruity muffins. Yesterday I got 10 bananas for 25p, 500g blackberries for 35p, 3 oranges for 19p and 3 lemons for 29p. Try the Morrisons cooked food counters about an hour before closing for the reduced pies, we have had many a bargain from there, and also they reduce all their bread down every night. I nip down from time to time, grab a load of soft bread rolls, donuts and muffins and freeze them immediately, they are always lovely and soft when they are defrosted.

After reading lots of posts (and being skint) I got the art of shopping down to as little at £30 for a family of 6! Things aren't so tight now but I can't get out of the habit of buying the bargain woopsies.

skyelark

loupoppins wrote: »

Great thread! It has inspired me again to look at trying to further reduce our grocery budget:D!
We are a family of 8. 2 adults, and 6 kids aged 12,10,8,6,4 and 2.
Admitedly the 4 and 2 year old don't eat huge ammounts. The 12 and 10 year old seem to eat more than me and dh though LOL
At the moment I spend on average £90 a week. That includes toiletries, cleaning stuff, nappies for ds2 (was in washable ones till recently, now potty training).Also includes our Friday night bottle of wine! I make packed lunches for all dc for school/nursery.We NEVER eat out, and me and dh would have a take-away maybe 3 or 4 times a year for a treat!We do have a dog, but this figure doesnt include her food. She costs around £25/month.
I cook pretty much everything from scratch.I bake a lot of cakes/biscuits,though do buy some sometimes too. I sometimes make my ownbread, but mostly must admit buy this. I often shop late and stock up on bargains!I buyb whole chickens/gammon joints/other joints etcand get 2 or 3 meals out of them.
I feel as if I try hard! But tbh I bet if I looked at it carefullyI could get it down more!;)

I dunno, I think that is awesome! I need tips off you I think. I am trying to get my bill down from £400 p/m. 4 adults and 2 large dogs with all toiletries, cleaning, lunches. I have cut that down well over the last year, but would love to skim more off.

bride2be2012

Hi everyone, hope I've posted this in the right place!

Me and my partner are hopefully moving into our first place together at the start of next year. Both of us live with my parents at the moment, and therefore benefit from having most of the cooking and cleaning done for us lol! But as a result, we've no idea how much things are going to cost us..it's been a long time since I was at uni and had to do my own shopping! Our money is going to be tight, so am really needing some advice on how to make the most of our small budget.

We are moving into a new build, 2 bed mid terrace house with gas central heating. We both work 9-5 Monday-Friday, so any estimates on monthly gas and electric bills would be welcome. I've tried looking online and get results between £50-£100, so thats not much use! What other monthly bills do we need to budget for? Gas, electric, telephone/broadband, council tax, TV licence, contents insurance, is there anything else?

With regards to grocery shopping, how much would be a good amount to set aside each week? I enjoy cooking and baking and will have a slow cooker. Also any suggestions on how to disguise veggies so my OH will eat them (he's worse than a 3 year old!) welcome!

Sorry for the long post and thanks for reading!