Food Budget Crisis

BellaBeau

I think tht having some frozen veg is a great standby, I used to have a large freezer in the garage but it broke and couldnt be fixed so am left with three small drawers at the bottom of my fridge freezer. I am saving up to get another as I like to have standby stuff in th freezer and as we go to a farm shop once a month we get all our meat there to freeze up for when we need it.

fletch3163

What a very interesting thread this is. I too find it fascinating to see what people buy for their money and what they cook as meals. I marvel at how little people can live on.

It's just me, DH and DS to feed each week. We brown bag for lunch too and it costs (now that I'm doing GC) around £400 per month. That's too much by many standards and I too would love to know EXACTLY what gets bought and cooked for a week by others.

I don't buy lots and lots of ready meals (sometimes fish fingers, etc) and I mainly cook from scratch (the only way to sneak in veg) so by anyone's standards it should cost me less.

I hope this thread continues and more people contribute with WHAT they actually buy/cook for the money.

Laurenbelle

Very interesting reading! I have a family of 6 (DH, myself, 16 year old, 6 Year old, 4 Year old and 15 month old) i need to pull in on our budget. This month has reall caught up with us and there are probably going to be 3 or 4 bills unpaid and then carried on to next month so next month will probably be the same and on it goes!
We spend a bunch! I want to say we estimate £100 per week but i know it goes over that so THATS IT i am buckling down! Over to the Old Style Board!
Thank you!

MrsE_2

Cornishpixie wrote: »

Just a thought, but I buy the 1 litre tubs of premium scoop ice cream, currently 2 tubs for £3 at sainsbury think was same in asda. I also buy tinned fruit and jelly as puds or sometimes I make flapjacks and sponge cake as treats. I also make a batch of biscuits for packs. I then buy basic hot choc and put a marshmallow in, or crackers before kids go off to bed. I also buy some frozen veg, this is a good standby. Maybe you could look at the snacky, stuff and what to replace it with. That and meal planning and lists have helped cut down my shopping bill.

Your house for pudding:D

PaulB79

Hi all

Would some well be able to link me to the old board Grocery Challenge thread.

Living on my own I'd like to see what advice people have on grocery spends.

Many thanks

Paul

dirtyflannel

Well there are two adults two dogs three cats and some fish in this household and only one wage at the moment as I am ill. On a good day I am able to look for bargains and Home Bargains is good for sauces and toiletries. Much cheaper than supermarkets. I still need to seek out the bargain pet food and try to buy for the month when on offer they are very fussy and its bad practice to buy cheap stuff for them as well as unhealthy. We are going on a diet so reducing sweets and crisps which saves a few quid. I never dare stuff the freezer full in case it konks out on me like the last one so go weekly for frozen. What do people eat. I shop then look at what Ive bought and never fancy anything. Think its better to buy a few quality foods and add the on offer items to them.

themaccas

I spend £50 per week on food for 2 adults and 2 children. We eat well but I only buy what we need for the week, I shop to a list and menuplan and buy for our exact needs though may need to top up with fruit and milk during the week. I shop at Waitrose and we eat very well with our budget. We don't get sucked into the naff 2 for 1 or BOGOF offers that we don't need and the quality of food we do buy is excellent. By Saturday morning before our next shop our cupboards are almost bare though!

Fire_Fox

BellaBeau wrote: »

Hi there,
perhaps it is not as much as I thought.... Although this is just a guess amount as I am awful for stuffing the receipts into bags and never looking at them again and then they end up in the bin...:mad:
However as we are soon to be paid I think that i will set the budget for £200 and keep all the receipts so that I know exactly what we are spending. I like the idea of menu planning and have done this in the past but got out of the habit, I think that i will have to give it another try though. I hate coming in from work and then trying to figure out what we should have for dinner, we then usually just end up opening a tin or having a sandwich..

B xx

Do you pay on a card or cash? If it's a card you will have your statement, go through a couple of months and add up every food spend: quite an eye opener for most of us.

Cornishpixie_2

Now the weather is getting a bit better, I am finding it easier to plan meals like jacket pots with fillings, like cottage cheese, tuna mayo, cheese etc with salad. Pasta with roasted veg Hm tom sauce and grated cheese, scrambled egg, beans and toast. Hm Burgers, bap and salad, spag bol, Fish cakes, wedges and veg That kind of thing. Then things like curry, roast at weekend. Then prepare a few bits for packs and for freezer, like quice, cheese and pot pie, pizza pie for freezer. Buy fruit and veg, milk and bread as and when. HTH'S someone.

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

There are 2 adults & 2 teenagers and a dog in our house and I budget £250 a month but that has to last for everything I spend in the month when I go to the shops (apart from petrol and monthly bills)

The dog has her own budget so I bulk buy food off the web and pay for the vets etc out of that. I get clothes out of the £250 but I only get stuff off the charity rail 3 for £1!

Thankfully the weather is better so I am planting loads of veg and we made raised beds out of old bits of wood this year so it should be easier. I have planted salad, tomatoes, leeks, radish, cabbage, broccoli, leef beet, onions, peas, beans, herbs, rhubarb, kale etc so hopefully will only buy fruit. Qe have a plum tree and I make jam. In no way are we self sufficient though so I bulk buy cheap stuff on offer and fill the freezer. I make a science of checking sell by dates at the local supermarket and time my shopping visit when the girl with the reduction gun goes round on that day!

Today I went and got 7 joints of beef reduced

I try not to go shopping at the supermarket as I end up spending far too much and it doesn't last long. I have built up a store cupboard (watch those dates though) of rice, pasta, dried peas, beans, dried fruit. Tins tomatoes, beans, veg, tuna, corned beef. Olive oil and veg oil, teabags, coffee, tomato puree etc.

I cook from scratch and use a sc for stocks and oups and stews. I have trained my family up to eat everything! We drink water instead of juice and I make my own bread, if you take 24 hours to let it rise you can get a bigger loaf out of a smaller amount of flour.

I work too but I try and prioritise food plan ahead but in a flexible way to take account of what is in, growing, freash and available along with store cupboard ingredients.

I am always looking at ways to reduce the bill but I seem to be stuck at £250 and the only way to get it down is to stop buying stuff we enjoy so i will stick at this and enjoy my food!

Last night I made felafels, soak a bag of chick peas overnight then next day drain, rinse, whizz up with fresh coriander, coriander seeds, bicarb soda, s&p, dried cumin, dried chilli, onion and garlic, make into burgers and fry both sides till brown. We had them with pitta bread, natural yoghurt and a salad, kids htought it was a snack/junk type food treat and i was nutritious and cost about £1.50-£2 for 4 of us!