Do I really spend to much on food?

wssla00

Can i put a little side note in on price per KG.... I find as Im not buying for a huge family that sometimes it saves me to ignore the price per kilo...

The reason being if for example six apples are cheaper than singular... but I only eat three (this is an example...) then three are wasted or have to be used up when I didn't plan on even having them in the first place. So although sometimes it is cheaper looking at price per kilo, sometimes it pays to look at the amount in the pack- especially if you can't freeze the product or know you wont use it up.

Hope this makes sense...!

thriftlady_2

MrsE wrote: »

They do sell bagged fruit & veg without the weight on & without the weight on the shelf lable.

They do indeed and I'm with you on this one Mrs E. It does take quite a bit of maths effort to work out if a bag of apples is cheaper than loose apples because nowhere have I seen bagged apples priced by weight, the small labels tell you how much each apple is which is no help if you are trying to compare the prices with loose apples.

You have to weigh the bag to see how much you are getting and then work out which is cheaper, in my experience the bagged ones work out more. IMO that is asking too much of a customer, the store should be able to tell you which is cheaper.

I believe it is a deliberate ploy. I think the supermarkets rely on the fact that we generally assume buying in bulk is cheaper and so will grab the bag of apples over loose ones.

anguk

MrsE wrote: »

£1.65 a kilo for loose or £1.70 for a big of six.

To work out which is cheaper, you need to know how much six weigh.

My local Tesco does this with packs of tomatoes too. The 6 pack of tomatoes has no weight on it and no price per kg on the ticket, just the price of the 6 pack. Not everyone has the time or the maths skills to weigh the pack work out the price per kilo then work out which is cheapest.

I also thought it was now law to label everything per kilo? Very confusing and it must be very difficult for a harrassed parent trying to shop with kids. Or maybe that's why the supermarkets do it?

crux

zippychick wrote: »

Sharpening knives - mentions a good few OS ways including an outside step

zippychick = ace link provider extraordinaire! Thanks once again

se999

Crux - not sure if it's been mentioned before, but one of the golden rules of food shopping is not to go when hungry, so your OH going after the gym is just what the supermarkets want. It's also why they have the instore bakeries and rotisseries with the yummy smells, I don't think it's just to increase the sales of those items.

crux

jackieglasgow wrote: »

I'm a bit worried the thread is getting off track from OP's original post, which is how these things end up getting merged.

Crux, can I suggest a change of name for your thread to "How to have a high quality diet and reduce the cost" or something along those lines, then it is sure to stay as a standalone thread, and will show exactly what direction you are aiming for? As I said before, I think it's an excellent thread which stands on it's own merits, but I'm worried it will become involved in another heated debate, which would be a shame, as the thread would lose it's focus, and the help you are getting will end up becoming diluted and harder to find amongst all the off topic stuff, for anyone else reading who'd like to find this stuff out.

I am a vegetarian, and of course find your menu plan too meat heavy, but would like to also suggest that everyone chips in with cheaper alternatives to your favorite ingredients. For example, I'm sure you probably buy finest quality Buffalo Mozzarella, but I have found some of the own brand ones almost as good. I was very surprised with the Tesco one I bought last week for 42p, it was delicious - I have a tomato and mozarella salad, too! This would be an idea, you could, each week, focus on the items you want to downgrade for the following week, post them, and invite substitutes - we can see what we can find for you!

Just a suggestion, but as I said before, I think this thread could be a real breath of fresh air to the board, and would be sad to lose it, I would also like to see where you end up with your budget, and what changes it brings to your family's diet / lifestyle, if any. I think it's good experiment, and a much more sensible way of doing things than Economy Gastronomy!

Sorry, didn't mean to go on there!

Jackie X

*Just hate it when you lose a long post, and I should learned by now to write it elsewhere and copy/paste :mad: *

Jackie, that's a good idea, maybe we could come up with a title that will not lead to augment about what is high quality

Some thing like - 'Master chef wannabe on a budget' :rotfl:

I really like the idea of getting ideas for cheaper ingredients or substitutions.

Tomorrow evening I do my weekly meal plan, I will post it and ask for suggestions on how to get the ingredients at best possible quality to best value. Hmmm, I feel like I have something to live upto with my next menu now , best not serve too many of the same dishes :rotfl:

Chris

crux

Ok, first challenge.

Halloumi Cheese - Tessco 250gm £2.23

Would not go so far as to say I can't live without this cheese, but I do love it.

Our Tesco almost never has it in stock

Anyone know of a cheaper source? either in one of the common supper markets, or order-able online, because living in a small town I ain't gonna get chance to find a Greek type grocery shop that may sell it.

Second Challenge.

Feta Cheese - Morrison's £1.49 for 200gm

We use on average 2 packs a week at the moment. I would buy this in bulk if I could find a good source.

falady

Hi Crux,

Re feta cheese - not sure what brand you get, but sometimes the ones made in greece are cheaper than supermarket own. You could always try the supermarkets 'salad cheese' (might be in the basics/value range). We've had it before and it was fine.The price per pack might be similar to feta, but often the packs are bigger.

Costco does feta in large packs, along with halloumi, other good quality cheeses, parma ham, etc.

Ali x

falady

PS, not sure if anyone's mentioned it, but have you looked at www.mysupermarket.com ? Its very good for showing prices in sainsburys, tescos , asda and ocado (online delivery linked with waitrose) and you can find, eg feta cheese, then flip between the tab for each supermarket to compare prices quickly.

falady

PPS, a bit of investigating on mysupermarket has shown.....

Feta cheese:

Apetina feta cheese is £1.10 for 200g (£5.50/kilo) at sainsburys, and is much cheaper per kilo thans sainsburys own / other brands. Tesco is same price for apetina feta (£5.50/kg) and asda is £5/kg for apetina.

Halloumi cheese:

Asda is £2.11/250g, ie £8.44/kg)
Tesco and sainsburys halloumi both £8.92/kg
Ocado £8.80/kg.

So it seems that asda is a bit cheaper than tesco for halloumi.