first attempt at a shopping budget - £20/week

clutterydrawer

want2bmortgage3 wrote: »

thanks for that alison. i am going towards just using the internet rather than books, as i've yet to find a cookbook i actually like. too many of them just have a basic nutrition section at the front then recipe after recipe with either no pictures or no description of the recipe at all.

I got most of my recipe books from charity shops...they were really cheap and there's loads of choice and you can have a good flick through before buying too see if you like it. I also harvest magazines and newspapers off friends and save any recipes i like from those.

It's a bit different for me though because i don't have a printer so if i used the internet I would have to put my laptop on the kitchen counter

WoB

Looking at your products/prices, I'd have bought the below at/for:

-loaf of white bread (ALDI 38p and pretty good!)
-another 2pt milk (Sainsburys 1% Milk usually £1 for 4 pint bottle now down to 75p! I prefer it over semi-skimmed).
-co op own shampoo (we buy Alberto Balsam 200ml from Bodycare 93p - yours may be cheaper!)
-bag of potatoes (ALDI have deal on fruit/veg each week - 6 types at 49p - we often get a 5kg bag of potatoes from ALDI anyway £1.69 which should last quite a while!)
-small cheddar cheese (Iceland cheddar cheese white or coloured 125g pack for £1.50).

So, you can see by shopping around you could have got the above for £5.25. That includes double the milk you bought, better brand shampoo and massive bag of spuds (not sure of comparison in size of cheese).

Your post inspired me to create my own post to attach my shopping list/budget spreadsheet but I can't attach files or link to uploads (yet). You need to get organised and start shopping around and pricing the products across shops. Good luck!

buxtonrabbitgreen

Instead of baking potatoes. Check out the basic potatoes, you can usually find a bag with some big ones in for baking and much cheaper. Basic choc or strawberry desert, I think 7p. According to my kids is just like angel delight.
If you must have coke, at least give a cheaper version a try, it mihgt be ok. I never buy coke as I don't like it, plus it rots your teeth. We are all water drinkers. And in my case tea (basic) t bags are fine and 28p. I only splash out on the So organic filter coffee as I am a bit fussy about coffee. thoug I have tried many cheaper brands and will drink them till finished, even if I don't much like them. Sainsburys basic wholemeal loaf is nice though I am not keen on the white. I make all my own now. Well the breadmaker does.

want2bmortgage3

Wob - what about the cost and time involved in going to all the different shops?

buxton - am trying to cut down on coke now and probs will get a best of both type bread next time as i do tend to eat empty white carbs/pasta!

Fire_Fox

want2bmortgage3 wrote: »

Wob - what about the cost and time involved in going to all the different shops?

I think you are selling yourself short firstly by shopping at Co-op which is nice but not that cheap, and secondly by shopping several times a week. You'd probably be better off shopping weekly or every ten days, but rotating where you go. I always buy two of anything non-perishable and super-cheap so I don't have to go to tons of shops each week.

clutterydrawer

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I think you are selling yourself short firstly by shopping at Co-op which is nice but not that cheap, and secondly by shopping several times a week. You'd probably be better off shopping weekly or every ten days, but rotating where you go. I always buy two of anything non-perishable and super-cheap so I don't have to go to tons of shops each week.

Got to agree with that...I wouldn't personally visit lots of different shops in a week due to travel costs, but I often go to tescos on week, stock up on what's cheap there, do the same at morrisons next week, etc etc.

qetu1357

KimYeovil wrote: »

Hmm, £10 and you have not bought any real food, yet. Good luck with keeping to your budget. You'll need it!

(You must be the only person who buys Mullers at full price. Everybody else only ever buys them when they are four or five for a pound. Or they buy whichever other four-pack happens to be half price that week.)

MULLERS 8 FOR £2 in Sainsburys today

Butterfliesarepretty

I did not know you could freeze milk. I live alone a buy a 2pint bottle every week. Never more than that as I use it for cereal and drinks only.
So if I buy a 4pinter and defrost how long will it last as it will be over its sell by date. Or do you mean freezing uht milk as I have used that in the past and its ok for taste?

geek0

want2bmortgage3 wrote: »

i would have got value butter if there was a spreadable version i dont like a solid block

I keep my butter out of the fridge in a butter dish in a cool cupboard, this way its always spreadable, im not sure how long ti takes you to get through a pack but mines never gone off

shelly

shawtj2 wrote: »

I did not know you could freeze milk. I live alone a buy a 2pint bottle every week. Never more than that as I use it for cereal and drinks only.
So if I buy a 4pinter and defrost how long will it last as it will be over its sell by date. Or do you mean freezing uht milk as I have used that in the past and its ok for taste?

When you defrost milk treat it like you just bought it. So if you buy some tomorrow and it gives you say 7 days date on it, when you defrost it it should be ok for 7 days.
Recently though I have been finding our milk is good for at least 5 days over its best before date.
I usually give it a quick sniff/taste if its over its best before. Believe me you will soon know when its off