December 2009 Grocery Challenge

cw18

tiggr212004 wrote: »

I hope you dont think Im being cheeky but how do you manage a budget of under £200 for so many people.... I live with my husband, son and 3 cats in newport south wales and we probably manage about £350 a month on food shopping. And that is with me making our own meals and just buying the ingredients. We very rarely have take aways which are included in this budget and never buy any ready made meals but I am at a total loss of how to reduce this amount much more. I do the majority of my shopping in Lidls and Aldis and then buy the itms I cannot get from there in tesco or asda....
I also get the majority of my cleaning goods from B&M Bargains etc or poundland....
And freezer food from Iceland.
Would welcome any suggestions.
Many Thanks
Laura

Laura, it woudl help if you mentioned who this question was aimed at

But as a view from someone it wasn't aimed at, the following may come into play....

1. pet food is included in the GC (grocery challenge) budget by some people, while others (myself included) don't
2. some people buy as much free range and/or organic meat as they can, while others (again myself included) may tend to stick to using anything we find as a Whoopsie (reduced to clear item)
3. some people include alcohol, others don't (I just don't buy)
4. some include eating out/take-a-ways, others don't (the one meal I've had out this year came from a different budget)
5. some include cleaning products, others (including myself) don't

Jevvers

tiggr212004 wrote: »

I hope you dont think Im being cheeky but how do you manage a budget of under £200 for so many people.... I live with my husband, son and 3 cats in newport south wales and we probably manage about £350 a month on food shopping. And that is with me making our own meals and just buying the ingredients. We very rarely have take aways which are included in this budget and never buy any ready made meals but I am at a total loss of how to reduce this amount much more. I do the majority of my shopping in Lidls and Aldis and then buy the itms I cannot get from there in tesco or asda....
I also get the majority of my cleaning goods from B&M Bargains etc or poundland....
And freezer food from Iceland.
Would welcome any suggestions.
Many Thanks
Laura

I am also not the person this is aimed at but I would suggest looking at how much meat you eat as this can be expensive, esp red meat. I'm sure others with more experience than me will come along with more suggestions.

taka

tiggr - I'm not the person either but maybe have a think about...

• How much meat are you eating? I think the appropriate portion size is the size of a pack of playing cards (someone please confirm this... I'm not sure as I've been veggie since childhood :rotfl:)
• Are you eating proper portion sizes of everything?
• Can you have a few nights having veggie meals - beans and lentils etc are an decent protein high alternative to meat and they are usually cheap.
• Could you buy cheaper cuts of meat? A slowcooker may help transform them into something mouthwatering.
• Do you shop seasonally? Eg strawberries in winter = expensive!
• Do you have much wastage? Do you throw out stuff you could turn into another meal eg bendy fridge bottom veg could make yummy soup.
• Do you look out for offers on stuff you use ofter and stock up?
• Could you check whats on offer this week (try mysupermarket.co.uk or shops websites) and menu plan accordingly.
• Do you menu plan?
• L!dl and Ald! are great for somethings but they are not always cheapest... maybe price check some of your regular buys in other supermarkets too.
• Maybe try dropping a brand... own brand instead of branded or even road test a few basics/smart price /value - some of them are great!
• How much of your budget is for the cats? Could you swap their meals to a cheaper brand or dried food? Could you bulk buy whatever they eat online to get it cheaper? (remember topcashback or quidco for possible cashback)
• Have you tried stretching your meat further eg mince stretched with lentils / oats / veg or soya mince?

Good luck!

cw18

taka wrote: »

• How much meat are you eating? I think the appropriate portion size is the size of a pack of playing cards (someone please confirm this... I'm not sure as I've been veggie since childhood :rotfl:)

I'm not sure of the current official line, but when I was a child my Dad (a child during the 2nd WW) always quoted a daily requirement as 2oz red meat or 3oz white meat/fish. These are what I've worked to for our main meals over the last 18 months (I reckon we used to have 4-5oz as a minimum!), and it made a huuuuge difference to my grocery bills. We still have additional meat/meat products on sandwiches, but again not in the quantities we used to.

plzhelpmesave!

big shop in asda today spent :
£62+ £6.71 (harry potter dvd) so will round this up to £69 plus £5 on meat and then £14 in boots - hubbys lynx plus hair dye
SO a grand total of £88 blooming squid!!

highland_fling_2

tiggr- do you buy a lot of snacks. Crisps, nuts, sweets, cakes, biscuits etc. they add a huge amount on to your food bill.

Also if you include toiletries such as deoderant, is there a cheaper brand or do you stock up when your favourite brand is on offer? I do this with most things I use in that department.

BigMummaF

Long_tall_sally wrote: »

Thanyou CW18, Poppyglos, Skintbint & Rosieben for your suggestions for what to do with my surplus sausage meat. I will bear all the suggestions in mind for when I use the surplus, which will probably be next month. I took what I needed for the stuffing out of the freezer this morning, bought some eggs & veg as well ....

Bit late now but scotch eggs are a good one for sausagemeat..me muvva used to deep fry but me sis now bakes hers, but other than that it's a matter of wrapping the meat round a hard boiled egg & rolling breadcrumbs too if you like.

tiggr212004 wrote: »

I hope you dont think Im being cheeky but how do you manage a budget of under £200 for so many people.... I live with my husband, son and 3 cats in newport south wales and we probably manage about £350 a month on food shopping. And that is with me making our own meals and just buying the ingredients. We very rarely have take aways which are included in this budget and never buy any ready made meals but I am at a total loss of how to reduce this amount much more. I do the majority of my shopping in Lidls and Aldis and then buy the itms I cannot get from there in tesco or asda....
I also get the majority of my cleaning goods from B&M Bargains etc or poundland....
And freezer food from Iceland.
Would welcome any suggestions.
Many Thanks
Laura

Hey Tiggr :santa2: My advice is to:-
~not compare your circumstances with anyone else on here or it will drive you mad
~make full use of the recipes & ideas at the beginning of the thread
~don't be shy & ask lots of questions; we've all asked them at some point so you're not alone
~have a real good squizz on the entire site & Old Style in particular, as there's truly an amazing amount of help with anything from smelly laundry to making your own sweets
~& finally, the most important bit is to read & post on here as often as you can cuz there's always someone around to help.
Good Luck!

franby64

Halfway! And I can't believe I just did 450-225 on a calculator - pathetic!

Spent £12.09 today mostly on fruit and veg but I can knock some of that off my Tuesday delivery so not too bad.

yummyhoney

spent €14 yesterday on potatoes,,oh and 2 big blocks of cheese that will last for a few weeks,trying to think of what else,,mostly sweets as we were having an x factor night:Dwill update sig now,,

carolt2

Morning everyone, just popped in to catch up and update spends again.
Spent a whopping £54.21 in Mr T yesterday but after I had taken off my dad's shopping and used vouchers total for us was only £23.71:j
Tesco pure milk is apparantly on offer 2 fo £3 but tills taking more off, 2 for £2.50 instead, this was the previous offer, perhaps they have not updated.
Also noticed they are selling the 70cl bottle of baileys for £10 AND the 1 litre bottle for £10 too, again does not make sense...

Managed to get to MR M for the £4 festive feast.
Thanks again to CW18 posting about it, if I had not read about it on MSE I would not have known.

Popped to MR A before picking OH up from work and managed to get a few bargains, 2 loaves, 3 large wholemeal baggettes and some rolls for 5p each:D.
Some roast angus beef from deli counter that again was reduced from £2.60 to £1 (got 2 packs).
Got 4 chicken escolopes for £1.
Other item were full price.
Total spend for yesterday £54.07

Just popping to update signature