Food budget?

steph123steph

I am a DFW and MFW all at the same time :-) I have just sold our second car wahoo so those expenses have halved....now just working on the rest of my budget!!! I did originally budget £70 for food and cleaning products/toiletries a week, for me my husband and my 1 yr ol. Does everybody think this is a reasonable ammount or can I cut this a little and still have a well fed family :-)

Any tips on the food front? Thanks

Ches

I would go over to the Old Style board as there are lots of ideas on there to help you cut food spending.

mummy2mygirls

I would also go over to the oldstyle board they will have loads of help for cutting your food bills etc. I set myself a £70 a week at the moe (but am hoping i will lower this slowly) and we have me, dh 5yr old, 2yr old and 5mth old and a dog.

trying to do lots of cooking from scratch, bulk cooking to put in freezer for times i dont have time/energy to cook, cook cakes and treat from scratch instead of buying expensive ones....

catmiaow

We do a big shop of around £60 a week for the two of us and the pets, including alcohol, then we get extra bits like bread or whatever throughout the month but we have really cut down. We tend to shop late at night when most goods are reduced and I try and save as many coupons as possible.

Pippilongstocking

ME AND TWO KIDS, TWO DOGS various hangers oners and OH up once/twice a month - £100 A MONTH NORMALLY - trying to cut this back further

For everything - toiletries, pet food, loo roll etc - look at meal planning and store cupboard challenge on the OS board

And the love food hate waste website its great - nothing is thrown out in this house I am very proud to say

http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/about_food_waste

You are doing great at 70 a month and good luck

We manage by filling up the store cupboard I used www.mysupermarket.com to make a list and get all the comparisons for local supermarkets - they highlight the cheaper deals and show you the savings etc - its awesome

If you live near a delivery place I guess you can use quidco and get cashback for online shopping too?

I freeze bread and milk so I don't need to go in for milk and spend over £20 on 'stuff' - thats where my biggest saving has come to be honest

I also batch cook - and shop later in evenings once or twice a week for fresh things like bread, milk, cheese and meat which are normally reduced

Some use 'Approved foods' for bargains (but the delivery here is too much for me) http://www.approvedfood.co.uk/

Goodluck xx

PS of course we also have a contingency budget for BOGOF's etc when we see a bargain we can stash it - I got a freezer from freecycle so that''s been great for reduced bread and milk

PPS - Not showing off honestly - last year we were spending close on to +300 a month on food at least and anohter 120-150 on cafe/takeaways before we found this site and started to really tackle the grocery shopping as its my biggest downfall - goodluck - it can be done, if anything I am amazed by how much you can save

steph123steph

thanks for taking time to reply guys! My budget is actually £70 per week not month so Im not doing too well at the moment haha, I think I might start by withdrawing the money weekly, then having a groceries pot set at say £50 per week, then on sunday top it back up to £50 and challenge myself to see how much I can carry over!! One tip ill be taking from here also is to cheke the cupboards before I go shopping, I do have double of everything!! Im going to start bulk buying toiletries from home and bargain which is right next to my office, so Im not tempted to run into a garage and buy bubble bath and deodorant as they can cost a fair bit!!

Erm, I have one silly question though taht may seem really stupid to some guys haha. Im only 21 so stuck in the modern way of never really cooking from scratch. I am interested in freezing food, as i work full time with one year old so time is of the essence. How would I thaw this food though?! I need a box to tell me what to do.... haha, would it vary depending on what it was. Or did I just throw back into the pan until its nice and warm???

Im also going to try to shop at night when LO is in bed and freeze the specials :-) I always skip past them thinking.... "I'll never eat all that by tomorrow..." hmmm lol xxx

Tixy

Hi Steph - I don't think the question is silly at all, you don't want to take chances with the possibility of not safe cooking (even more so with a little one). Lots of us haven't grown up with that knowledge now.
The oldstyle board is full of people who can give loads of advice of whats safe to freeze and whats the best way to defrost. Have you considered a slow cooker? depending on the types of meals you eat these can be great - there was a thread recently that said Asda had some really cheap slow cookers (not sure if they'll still have them) and I know a lot of the oldstylers use them a lot.
You'll also find loads of ideas for simple cooked from scratch meals (and which are suitable for freezing and/or slow cookers)

steph123steph

thanks again :-) My mum bought a slow cooker not long ago and put it in a cupboard unsused as she does lol I might try and pinch her a give it a trial for a couple of weeks :-) Over to the old style boards I go! Thanks alot guys xx:j

Horace

Steph - you could get yourself a cook book from a charity shop - Delia's books are good and her recipes work. Even her How to Cheat at Cooking is a boon for busy people as it shows you short cuts and you can use the odd tinned product or even frozen mash.

QueenBeruthiel

steph123steph wrote: »

Erm, I have one silly question though taht may seem really stupid to some guys haha. Im only 21 so stuck in the modern way of never really cooking from scratch. I am interested in freezing food, as i work full time with one year old so time is of the essence. How would I thaw this food though?! I need a box to tell me what to do.... haha, would it vary depending on what it was. Or did I just throw back into the pan until its nice and warm???

Many people defrost frozen food in their microwaves. Although I'm sure it's quite safe, it's just not something I do. I prefer to take chicken/pork/whatever out of the freezer the night before I need it and defrost slowly in the fridge overnight and the next day.

As long as it's thoroughly defrosted - whatever method suits.

Don't forget your local library as a resource to borrow recipe books!