reducing grocery bill

Greenwellies_2

gazza975526570 wrote:

in fact thats a good point is there any good cheap lager out there other than brands? I normally try to but like two cases for £16 but wondered if there is anything cheaper out there?

We have friends that work for *ahem* a well know supermarket, and they get us crates of larger for £5, but we have no choice what it is. We had Sainsburys own brand high strength (5% ???) larger and hubby approved.

Hope that maybe it's a good deal for you

GW

ZTD

gazza975526570 wrote:

in fact thats a good point is there any good cheap lager out there other than brands? I normally try to but like two cases for £16 but wondered if there is anything cheaper out there?

Depending on how much you drink, you could invest a little money and buy a home-brew kit. Follow the instructions for the first few, but then start fiddling with the sugar to adjust it for "taste".

Gives you a pint of beer you just can't walk away from. :beer: :whistle:

newleaf

There have been some very good deals on branded lager at Lidl lately - including Stella & Carlsberg. I'm a red wine drinker so I didn't pay too much attention to the beer prices, but I think Lidl is deffo worth a look.

black-saturn

I spend £43 per month on shopping for me and 2 children. You can get some inspiration from my evening meal planner here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=2340412&posted=1#post2340412

or my meal planner here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=157526&highlight=black-saturns+menu

AndyR_3

I budget £20 a week for 2 adults, for food and cleaning materials, toilet roll etc.

I make myself stick to the budget by going shopping with just a £20 note in my wallet and no cards. I take a list (but vary it if I see somthing on offer, either BOFOG or reduced due to short shelf life). I add up what I'm spending as I go round, and if I've spent too much I put somthing back.

I do most of my shopping at Netto, then pop to Tesco for other bits. When going to Tesco, I try to go late at night when a lot of things like bread and veg have been reduced to clear. I'll let myself have a treat from the bakery sometimes, but only if it's been reduced. I always try to take leftovers to work for lunch and never throw anything away - if somthing's going off, it gets used that day or frozen. Occasionally I'll go to Morrisons instead, and when I do, I stock up on Buy 1 Get 1 Frees as they always seem to have some good offers on things that will last.

You can save money on cleaning products by watering them down, and you can save money on washing powder by just using half as much as you usually would - you don't notice the difference unless your clothes are really dirty.

Don't buy any ready made meals - we used to buy loads, and when we stopped, the shopping bill dropped by a huge amount. As a side effect, we both feel healthier, I've lost weight (not intentionally but I do feel better) and my housemate thinks the food tastes nicer now I'm cooking it fresh than it used to when we bought ready made.

The last week of each month is "leftover week" - so we try to spend as little as possible and live on all the bits and pieces we've got in the freezer or cuboards.

Take full advantage of Clubcard or Nectar points if you shop in supermarkets that offer these things. I personally try to avoid the local corner shop because it's too expensive, but I'm lucky that I can walk to Netto from my house.

Bogof_Babe

I was in Morrisons at about 5.00 p.m. yesterday, and some of their fresh produce was reduced to 10p. I got a bag of salad leaves, a punnet of plums (one dodgy one showing on top, the rest were fine), a mango and two trays of garlic butter-stuffed mini-potatoes, all for 10p each. Timing is everything!

lynzpower

One thing I noticed Gazza was that you are taking beans & buying jackets at work. Could you take a couple of slices of bread & have beans on toast. Or do a jacket in the oven at home then heat it up at the micro at work?

taking leftovers to work to microwave saves us a fortune, I often make a copole of extra portions of pasta to take in to work in a tupperware for lunch etc

BRILLIANT WORK THOUGH you are doing really well :T