Do I really spend to much on food?

crux

I thought I was doing good by cutting our household groceries bill from 750 a month to 500 for the three of us. However I see that most people here are aiming hugely lower than that.

Ok, I don't understand how.

We eat healthy, I cook everything, I plan meals for the week and shop for those ingredients. Huge amounts of fresh fruit/veg and fresh meat/fish, very little processed food, lowish carbs so no cheap bulk. I shop at Morrison's as it's much cheaper than our local Tesco's, we are not overweight so our portion control is quite good.

When I look at my shop even if I go and buy value everything, the price will only drop maybe £50 a month. The majority of cost is in the meat/fish and fresh veg/salad.

How on earth do people manage on £1/meal?? Tonight I'm cooking pork loin for three that alone cost £3 for 440gm's let alone the other ingredients. Do I need to change the way I eat healthy to drop my food cost or am I missing something?

How can I get my meat/fish and fresh stuff cheaper than at a supermarket?

OddjobKIA

Buying your meat and veg fresh is exspensive compared to frozen....

jamespir

wow i only spend about 250-300 amonth on three of us and i cook as much stuff from scratch as i posibly can

MrsBartolozzi

Mybe you need to look at portion sizes?
Each person needs less than 100g of protein so your 440g pork loin should make 4 portions. The extra can be used for lunch or as tomorrow's dinner for 1.
There's lots of suggestions over on the Oldstyle board. Maybe you could put up your shopping list for others to have a look at and give you pointers? Also I wouldn't think you'd have pork loin (or any roast) every night - maybe make stews or casseroles which don't need a lot of meat but can be bulked out with beans and veggies?

One thing I did ages ago when this was all new to me, was to split the shopping bill into catagories - proteins, carbs, fruit and veg, dairy, snacks, junk, drinks, alcohol etc.
I was very surprised at how much I spent on carp- biscuits, crisps, coke, puddings etc. They really ramp up the food bill!!

melorablack

Try Asda instead of Morrisons, or you could go further and go for Aldi, Lidl etc.

eleanor73

It depends - if you can afford to have a lovely joint of meat or a nice bit of fish with nice salads etc every day then carry on but sometimes 'carbs' are ok and the odd make do dinner doesn't hurt. If I could afford it I would spend loads more on food however I manage to eat well still on a very small budget. Batch cooking makes it a lot less expensive and finding fish and meat in the bargain bin reduced. There are some great ideas on here for cheaper recipes. Good luck (if you need to change that is!):)

crux

Both adults in the house work out a lot, eat a relatively low carb diet, so the sticky pork will be served with only shredded cabbage, even allowing 150gm of meat the total calories are quite low. Maybe that's my problem, too much meat not enough potatoes :P

I'm going to check out frozen meat, never considered it, but I do end up freezing extra fresh meat so I don't have a problem with that. Already use as many frozen veggies as poss., because they are often better than so called fresh ones.

I have only been tracking our food shop since Monday, suppose I could post up the weekly shop I did on Monday. I will dig it out later when I'm at home.

downshifter

I agree with Mrs B, that's quite a lot of meat, also for me pork loin would be a special or Sunday best type meal. Would it be useful for you to maybe post your menu plan for the next week as well as a typical weekly shop, then people could advise. £500 a month is a colossal amount for 3, and what on earth did you eat when it was 750? Please don't tell me as I'm really trying to work and not start drooling over lovely food! Also yes, bulk it up with spuds, don't use the protein to add bulk.

DS

sarah1972

OddjobKIA wrote: »

Buying your meat and veg fresh is exspensive compared to frozen....

But it tastes no where near as good as fresh. I have never in my life found nice tasting frozen meat or frozen veg that tastes of anything?

crux

l suspect I started something here that I may regret, I have a feeling I'm going to, if not already do, look like a complete arrogant d**k . But anyhow, here is the weeks menu from memory, at least what I will eat, snacks vary for my wife and my daughter eats quite a few different things.

Monday
porridge/skim milk
Parma ham & mozzarella salad
tuna salad (1/2 tin of tuna)
salmon on spinach with crème fresh.
grapes, Clementine
dried fruit
cracker bread with hummus

Tuesday
porridge/skim milk
banana & fruit
Sweet potato & feta salad
slow cooked chicken thighs in a tomato, olive & rosemary sauce
quavers
dried fruit
pine nuts
cracker bread & cottage cheese

Wednesday
porridge/skim milk
banana & fruit
peppered mackerel salad
tuna salad (1/2 tin of tuna)
sticky pork loin with cabbage
falafels
dried fruit

Thursday
porridge again
banana & fruit
Greek salad
halumi and lentil salad
slow cooked Chinese beef with Pak Choi
falafels or hummus
dried fruit or nuts

Friday
porridge
banana & fruit
egg & bacon salad
halumi and lentil salad
slow cooked lamb & apricots
cracker bread with hummus
dried fruit or nuts

Sat
porridge
scrambled eggs & bacon
tuna salad
tomato & mozzarella salad
balsamic pork with orange & apple salad
cracker bread with hummus
dried fruit or nuts

Sunday
porridge
crab & chilli pasta
tuna salad
Kedgeree
falafels

The ingredients for this shop cost £75 and I still need to buy the lamb and probably some more milk etc before the weeks out. Also I have loads of stuff in the store cupboard so £75 is artificially low. Mehh, I'll post the shop list when I get home.

sarah1972

crux wrote: »

l suspect I started something here that I may regret, I have a feeling I'm going to, if not already do, look like a complete arrogant d**k . But anyhow, here is the weeks menu from memory, at least what I will eat, snacks vary for my wife and my daughter eats quite a few different things.

Monday
porridge/skim milk
Parma ham & mozzarella salad
tuna salad (1/2 tin of tuna)
salmon on spinach with crème fresh.
grapes, Clementine
dried fruit
cracker bread with hummus

Tuesday
porridge/skim milk
banana & fruit
Sweet potato & feta salad
slow cooked chicken thighs in a tomato, olive & rosemary sauce
quavers
dried fruit
pine nuts
cracker bread & cottage cheese

Wednesday
porridge/skim milk
banana & fruit
peppered mackerel salad
tuna salad (1/2 tin of tuna)
sticky pork loin with cabbage
falafels
dried fruit

Thursday
porridge again
banana & fruit
Greek salad
halumi and lentil salad
slow cooked Chinese beef with Pak Choi
falafels or hummus
dried fruit or nuts

Friday
porridge
banana & fruit
egg & bacon salad
halumi and lentil salad
slow cooked lamb & apricots
cracker bread with hummus
dried fruit or nuts

Sat
porridge
scrambled eggs & bacon
tuna salad
tomato & mozzarella salad
balsamic pork with orange & apple salad
cracker bread with hummus
dried fruit or nuts

Sunday
porridge
crab & chilli pasta
tuna salad
Kedgeree
falafels

The ingredients for this shop cost £75 and I still need to buy the lamb and probably some more milk etc before the weeks out. Also I have loads of stuff in the store cupboard so £75 is artificially low. Mehh, I'll post the shop list when I get home.

I agree with you totally, nothing wrong with your menues in my opinion. I spend £400 a month for 2 of us and then probably another £40 a month on top ups.