SOA Groceries, How do you do it.

PasturesNew

I am just aware of the cost of everything at a £/100g level, so keep a keen eye on prices. If I don't like the price, I go without - there'll be other days when the price is lower or there's a big reduction.

It's really a combination of:
- being aware of prices
- being tight
- not minding that I can't have things I fancy
- being aware where one meal/recipe contains a pricey ingredient that's not needed at all
- only buying what you can actually eat, being mindful of the "eat by" dates so you are only buying what you need

Maybe you could start by looking at one meal at a time - look at how big the portions are, what ingredients are in it, could you only do that meal when you pick up a pricey ingredient on special. e.g. how do you spend £3 on one lunch? How could you do that cheaper, what could you substitute.

Just pick away at the supplies, budget... bit by bit. It just takes practice.

e.g. Do I want a fabulous large Dominos pizza at £15-20? Or can I try a nice chilled Sweet Chilli Chicken one from Tesco at £2.35. Then, do I really need to eat it all, or should I cut it in half and have half the next day.

e.g. Does chilli con carne need to be the most expensive mince, or is there a deal? Does it need peppers at 70p each? Does it need red wine? In cooking it, what can I add to make it go further (grated carrot is nice). Once cooked, portion control it and it will be fine for 5-6 meals, not 2-3.

Ames

I budget £100 a month, and I've finally started sticking to it! I love my slow cooker, it's so easy to use and to clean (I have ME and find cooking and washing up really difficult). I've been doing a big online tesco shop every fortnight, then I just need bread and milk top upped in between. You can cook a main meal for a lot less than you're budgeting. A piece of meant (pork steak or chop, lamb steak etc) or piece of fish for between 70p and £1 from a local butcher, or in the 3 for a tenner, 2 for £6 or whatever deals, then a little bit of veg, and some home made chips or something. Maximum of £2. And you can cut that a lot by doing big batches of mince based meals in the slow cooker. A proper meal takes about 10 minutes to prepare - depending on the veg either stick it in a pan of boiling water or chop and put on the oven in a roasting tin with some oil drizzled over it, stick the meat on a grill machine, and for the chips peel and slice some potatoes, put them in a freezer bag with oil, shake it to coat them and put in the oven on a baking tray. Cooking time about half an hour. So you really don't need to spend an hour slaving in the kitchen to eat cheaply and healthily!

I'd advise to get a slow cooker and a grill machine - you'll be able to get both for less than £30 - and just practise.

MoodyBlues

Catching good deals on reduced items at Sainsbury's etc is a good one.
Cooking different food in our slow cooker is saving us a ton of money.
We are probably spending about £180 a month tops and having a lot of leftovers.
You can choose a couple of days to do your cooking a week and freeze portions to cover you for the rest of the week. Alternatively you could sacrifice one of your evenings to cook meals for the rest of the week, freezing/ putting stuff in the fridge and reheating when required.

Norman_Bean

savingmummy wrote: »

There is 4 of us in our house - me, hubby and 2 under 4`s.
We spend approx £150 a month sometimes a little more but never over 200.

I meal plan, use BOGOF, use vouchers/coupons for money off, drop a brand on many items and tbh noone notices at all.
Smaller meals BUT soup for starters.
I have halved my main meal and the other half goes to my children.
I grow salad items and am attempting to grow veg this year.
I make bread, cakes and biscuits, yoghurts.
NO lunches to pay for as my hubby takes food to work including a flask of coffee.
We eat at my parents once a week which also helps.

Most important for us is we stick to a list! The list is what we NEED not what we want. We only buy what is on the list and have stopped just scooting round bunging things in lol!

Once you start to reduce you will find it easy and then it carries on reducing.

I totally agree with savingmummy we ar 2 adults and 3 and 4 year olds and I spend about €150.
Everything is from scratch, bread, biscuits, yoghurt. I live in France and there aren't really any reduced items as far as I can tell and 'offers' are prety pants
Anyway my top tip is scraps - use it all up! we really don't throw anything away since being MSE. Gravy gets reheated next day instead of making new, weetabix (obv not real weetabix but Tesco value ) crumbs go on top of macoroni cheese, veg left on plates makes bubble and squeak etc etc
You'll be amazed how much you can save by not throwing anything away.
Also I use frozen veg - saves waste for me but if you can get good offers in UK then that's the way to go.
One last thing I bought a load of Tesco value stuff for the first time when I was in UK at Christmas and I must say I am VERY impressed.
Teabags 28p - great, toothpaste 17p - fantastic and as for 9p noodles these aren't that healthy but fine once in a while for a cheap meal!
good luck x

niccatw

Loving the look of your cookies Dark Convict - no mean feat for some-one who doesn't like cooking

I learned to cook from scratch the hard way - namely when the price of everything went up and I leterally had no money so opened the cupboard and took out the stuff that had been lurking!

It's amazing what you can do by flinging a tin of chopped tomatoes, various beans and lentils and herbs and spices into a pan! I roast a lot of veg too - bung it in the oven, drizzle in olive oil and sit back and wait. Yummy!

I am a veggie so that might make it easier. I also get a organic box delivered. It works out well for me as I pay between £12-19 a week for it (depending on wheteher I need eggs or potatoes that week), it keeps me healthy and out of the supermarket most of the month! When I am in the supermarket, I buy in bulk where I can (rice and pasta mostly) and grab cuppa soups on offer to fling in the drawer at work in case of emergency (ie. leaving lunch in the fridge and running out the door first thing!).

I also get things like washing up liquid, shampoo and conditioner online as I can get 5l tubs - cost more intially but lasts soooo much longer (also good way for me to buy it as I like it to be natural or organic - and that's not always the cheapest unless I go for bulk buys!!)

As others have said, once you get it to the swing of it, it becomes a challenge and becomes easier! And the old style board is fab - they've taught me how to make my own cleaning detergents, how to make banana loaf, come up with recipes for my leftovers - you name it; some-one there knows it

Horace

I am not a particularly good cook but can get by. A spag bol is easy to make and it takes around 20 mins.

Chop onions and soften in a saucepan over heat until translucent, bung in the minced beef and brown (you need to stir it to break up the lumps), when it has browned chuck in a tin of chopped tomatoes, add ground black pepper, some schwarz Italian Seasoning (or Bolognese Seasoning), a beef oxo cube or one of those knorr stock gel thingies (beef variety), a slug of worcestershire sauce, maybe a squirt of tomato paste (I sometimes leave this out), I don't use garlic because I cant stand the stuff. Leave to simmer for 20 mins - I also make the same sauce without the mince. I serve the sauce with pasta or rice and have been known to use leftover sauce (its fairly thick with the meat) as a base for cottage pie.

I am quite frugal and can make a 3kg box of tesco washing powder last for 12 months because I use a tiny scoop (the kind you get in a catering pack of hot chocolate).

I tend to use a local butcher for meat (good ones have a queue outside on a saturday morning) and a greengrocer for veg so that I can buy what I need and not what the supermarket expects me to have. I have been known to buy meat in the supermarket but find that their mince is hard and stringy unlike the mince from the butcher which is softer, I always visit the reduced shelf and stock up on things that I use (I may get meat, salady stuff, bread and desserts).

I am lucky that I have a freezer - for instance tonight's dinner was a homemade ready meal of sliced brisket with its own gravy with pearl barley, onions and carrots and herbs with a hunk of bread. All leftovers get made into something else.

I estimate that I spend £50 a month on groceries - my cleaning products are bought in Wilkinsons or Home Bargains.

I make use of vouchers and look out for meal deals in restaurants/pubs so that I can go out with my friends.

Can recommend Delia's book How to Cheat at Cooking and her How to Cook books - her recipes are easy to follow and more importantly they work.

Souk08

Hi,

I online shop once a month and spend about £50 and then only buy bread and an odd bit of milk and veg/fruit in between. Last month it was more with New Year Celebrations and the 5 week month.

£3 a day on lunch is a lot. Mine is currently 67p. 50p Asda tin of soup, 10p Aldi apple, 7p Sainsburys basics yoghurt. I know it's a bit fiddly at first but tbh I'd rather have extra money for fun stuff than something different for lunch every day.

Also the £4 misc could be cut back. Buy loo roll and cleaning products on offer (Somerfield do Flash Bathroom for £1 and 12 loo rolls for £2.50 a lot).

Also GET A SLOW COOKER. Then you can shove any old cheap bit of meat or chicken in and have a great meal with loads to freeze for later. I do loads of prep when my shop comes then just take it out as I need it.

Hope this helps.

flubberyzing

I spend on average about £100-£120 a month on food (it's just for me) and it could probably be a lot less if I wanted it to, as I'm a bit of an impulse buyer! I could probably get it down to £100 a month, without feeling deprived.

Breakfast: 1 Tesco own-brand Wheatabix (tastes the same as the original brand to me.)
A mid-morning snack of about half a dozen cherry tomatoes, a pack of which lasts 5 working days.
Lunch comes from home and is a roll with value ham, some sliced cucumber and red pepper, a babybel cheese and a value yoghurt. Occasionally I put a little treat-size choc in there.
Dinner is quite often soup (I buy the chunky Heinz soups that are about £1.20 a can and as filling as a meal usually), something on toast, or something prepacked like chicken kievs, fish fingers or a pie. I really can't be bothered with meat and 2 veg type meals when I'm cooking just for me. So if I'm having chicken kievs, it will JUST be chicken kievs on the plate!

Compingirl

Hi Dark Convict, I agree with niccatw, your ginger bread men look awesome! If you can bake you can cook! Get yourself on the BBCGoodFood.co.uk site and type in your fave ingredient ie chicken, salmon, pork etc and it will bring up lots of gorgeous recipes which are simple and super tasty - nacho chicken is fab! (but not always ultra healthy!)

then, meal plan I do it for the month! but most do it for a week at a time - make a list of everything you need, include lunches, and stick to it! I do 1 or 2 big online shops per month then top up with fruit veg milk etc inbetween. I spend around £400 per month for 2 adults & 2 teens and that includes cleaning/toiletries products

Someone said portion control - again if a recipe feeds 4 then only eat 2 portions and freeze 2 or have for lunch/dinner next day. I schedule in 1 or 2 'makedo teas' a month where we all have leftovers from the freezer

I'm sure you will soon get the hang of it - good luck cg

banwa

I have always cooked meals from scratch but have started to wonder if it would be cheaper for us to buy ready meals because we seem to be completely inept at portion control. I have tried to cook loads to freeze but we always ended up eating it all because it's scrummy.

If I bought yacky ready meals it would be portioned out and we wouldn't want to eat more cos it's horrid anyway.:rotfl:

Anyone else find batch cooking expensive for this reason? I have completely abandoned the idea.