reducing grocery bill

gazza975526570

apologies if posted in the wrong area!

Ive just cheked internet banking and we (when i say we i mean the mrs!!!) spent £615 on supermarket shopping in the last month. We take home about £2100 so thats nearly a third!!

i used to think we were quite savvy - ie always getting stuff on offer but it seems not!

Can anyone give me some general pointers?

currently - we take sandwiches to work each day and try to have food that can be made and last two days

for reference there is me, the wife and a 20 month year old baby to feed etc

any help gratefully recd!

thanks.

Willsnarf1983

£615 geees

sounds to me that its more habit than owt, i suspect that u and ur mrs pop into the supermarket almost daily just out of habit!

so 1 break this habit and shop once a week for the big shop and then once a week midweek (try do this together!)

2) pre plan you meals (look on the old style board) and then u can preplan what u need to buy

3) take no money to work coz i suspect that u go out most times

thats my tuppence so far...sure u will get lots more

Will

Chell

OMG!!!!!!!!!!! Surely that can't all be food? Do yuo have any receipts to see what you actually spent it on? It would be a good idea to start a spending diary to see what you are spending your money on.

gazza975526570

well we both get paid the same day of the month and try to do a "big shop!" and plan for the month - we tend to spend about £150 ish at this shop.
and then we tend to do a weekly shop for fresh veg and other stuff that we have run out of.
we never (well rarely) spend any money at work

i agree its really bad and not really sure where to start - we are just about to take on a mortgage at £400 more than our current one and as such need to make some savings so any ideas gratefully received

whats the general spend on here - less than this im sure!!!

we also have a couple of cats but tend to but cat biscuits in bulk from a pet store

deanos

Go on a full stomach if you feel hungry it makes you buy more, and try and go for the BOGOF deals.

Buy your fruit and veg from the market or greengrocer and meat joints from the local butchers they should work out alot cheaper than supermarkets.

Instead of going to the supermarket go to the local corner store for little items like loaves of bread as they have less temptation to buy items you dont need

Chell

I'm speniding £50 per week on food, toileteries, nappies etc for two adults and two toddlers. Checkout the Grocery Challenge thread on the Old Style board.

calleyw

I spend a £100 a month on food for two adults.

I suspect there is more than food shopping. A 20 month hardly eats anything.

What about wine etc.

I agree with chelltune get over to the old style forum.

If you are planning properly you will not just keep running out things. And buying fresh fruit and veg should only set you back about what £10 for a week. So that only comes to £190 including the big shop. So what are spending the other £425 on a month.

If you can afford and don't mind spending the money fine. Otherwise :eek: I would say £200 should cover you for a month even being generous. I would say get your fruit and veg from a greengrocers that way you can't spend extras like DVD's or toys or games etc. That is what kills a lot of budgets. It is not the food but all the extras like clothes. Because to me if you can't eat it it does not get included in the grocery budget.


Yours


Calley

Ali-OK

Wow, that's huge!

What's going in the trolley? With a 20 month old, could clothes and toys be adding to the bill? Or do you get the "odd" DVD/CD going in? Anything that's not food/drink needs to be cut out, unless it's an absolutely necessity.

Meal planning is the way to go. Cook bulk and freeze. When I find a BOGOF, I replace my meal plan with one and freeze the other. Write a shopping list and stick to it. Do you eat alot of snacky foods? We're still chomping our way through BOGOF choccie biscuits, but I've got into making cheese biscuits or jam tarts to replace them. Quick and easy to make, cheaper too!

I'm wondering if you might be better doing weekly shops and stopping the monthly one? That way you're shopping for a week at a time - might be easier to work out what you need, rather than think you'll want during the month?

Lunches for work - I don't really buy separate stuff for this now, either have leftovers from previous day, or use stuff I already have in.

Fruit/veg and meat - as others say, the market and butchers works out cheaper.

First step is work out what you're spending on - so if you haven't got last month's receipts, keep them all going forward. Oh and use a smaller trolley - I found using a large one made me think "there can't be enough in there for the week!" It's an odd psychological thing, but works for me!

Emmzi

Get the reciepts for a month and categorise.

Half of mine used to be clothes/ dvds.

Chell

Maybe shop online with Tesco if visiting the supermarket is too tempting. MAke sure you find a money off code on here or by googling.

rchddap1

Definately visit Old Style. My average at the moment is £80 a month for 2 adults. A good start is to keep your receipts and work out where it is all going, but another good thing to do is to start to plan meals for the next few weeks. So when you go shopping you buy what you need for that plan.

You should be able to make huge savings.