Trying to get my shopping bill down!!!

gilly41

Hi
I joined MSE last Xmas and I have done really well---got my bank charges of £800 back, cut all insurance policies, got a better deal with NTL etc etc BUT I just cant seem to cut the shopping down. I begin the month on the 25th and so far this month I have spent £180 for 2 adults and a greyhound!!! I honestly dont think i am too extravagant

---

I shop in Netto, Farmfoods,Morrisons---the only indulgence this month has been a shop at M and S which cost me £19 and only lasted a day!!
I am following the WW plan so need to buy quite a lot of low fat things!!
Any ideas please----I am not a great cook!!!Thanks
x

Penny-Pincher!!

The first thing I would suggest doing is making a list of all food items you already have in. All tins, frozen and fresh food etc. Then make a list of all meals you could make with those ingredients and use what you have, only buying what you need to complete the meals IYSWIM.

Then I suggest mealplan mealplan mealplan:D ...and just make a list of all items you need. Include everything, fruit, veg, tinned, meat, fridge, fresh, poultry etc etc...all your breakie and lunch stuff and Im sure you can get your costings down.

Good luck and we're here to help if you need us;)

Well donr on what you have saved so far.

PP
xx

BONJOEY

hi i shop for 2 adults and 3kids, i used to buy all frozen food, i,e ready meals,
i have found i have saved money cooking my own meals, like

sausage casserole
spag bol
chilli con carne
curry
lasangue
cottage pie:drool:

i cook these myself, very basic recipes and i couldnt cook before hand, but what i do is with the left overs i freeze them, so if for example , i cook a chilli and dish it out and there is quite a bit left in a pan i freeze it, and i use it for jacket potatoes the folowing week,

do you buy all big brand food?

so i use 500g of mince to cook for a family of 5, if you did the same and split the letfovers in to 2 freezable containers , thats 2 extra meals,

sounds boring, but it works,
hope this helps a little:cool:

Penny-Pincher!!

I would just like to add that we cook pretty easy and standard meals:

Roasts-Use leftovers in another meal (curry, pie etc)
Shepards Pie-Make extra and freeze
Sausage & Mash
Spagbol-Make extra and freeze
Meat and Potatoe pies-extra and freeze
Stews/cassaroles in SC-make extra and freeze
Chilli-extra and freeze
Toad In hole
FishPie-Freeze
Lasagna-freeze
Egg and chips
Omellete
Quiche
Jacket spuds
Beans on toast;)

jcr16

i find i keep costs down the fewer times a month i go into a supermarket. it is a real effort for me each month. i just get so trolley happy. i have to have a shoppinglist. if i don't i buy all sort's.

i can't go into a shop for a couple items, unless i have a shopping list. a quick pop into a supermarket for a pint of milk end up in £40 spent of stuff i don't need but if i write a full list for the week then i make sure i don't run out of anything. planning is the key for me

sorry to waffle, hope u understand where i coming from.

Sarahsaver

I would avoid m&s most of the time and I find conversely that little and often works and I spend less getting things as I need them rather than bulk buying food.
And making everything from scratch is a sure fire way to make big savings.;)

liz.._4

Never take a trolley, always a basket then you can't physically carry it all and therefore not overspend!

rainbowrisin

I find I spend less if I don't meal plan too strictly, but shop as and when I need it, and keep a look out for bargains and make a meal around them.

What I do find is that virtually anything is nice in a white sauce / a tomato sauce / cooked in batter or as soup. This means that if you have a hefty store cupboard full of stuff you haven't got round to using, maybe just use store cupboard things with a sauce - like today, i made a white sauce and added some pasta, carrots, onions, sweetcorn, frozen peas, a bit of tuna, a couple of bits of chopped up bacon and some cheese (all left over bits and bobs), put a bit of grated cheese on the top, popped it in the oven and it tasted fine (although i'm a rubbish cook and the littlies (bless em) will eat anything).

Also if you always shop on a wednesday, for example, try and shop one day later each week so that every seven weeks you have a "free" week, as you've spent seven weeks' money and the food has lasted eight.

Something that's fun (?) to do is to pick five things from the stuff you've already got in at random, like they do on Ready, Steady, Cook and make a meal out of it - if you get stuck, there are masses of recipes on here, and most of them are nice stick it in a pot and cook it type ones.

I find it cheaper to cook things like stews, casseroles, bakes etc, as you can stick anything in them (well, nearly anything) and they taste fine. Stuff like single cuts of meat (chops, steaks etc) or processed things (burgers and the strange allegedly chicken food products in the freezer section) are way too pricey IMHO.

We also tend to eat a lot of beans (all different sorts, whatever I can get cut price or free) - as they're cheap and full of protein. If the littlies aren't in the mood for a full on bean fest, i just add a few in with some meat in a spag bol or stew and they don't really notice 'em.

Another thing i find that cuts costs is not to buy anything processed - if more than one ingredient is on the packet then it's a rip off IMHO.

Does any of that help? Hope so...I've got lots of other cost cutting tips, so am happy to post more if they help, but don't want to run on...and am not sure if some of my more adventurous cuisine would suit

Pink.

Hi Gilly,

A good place to start is the Mega Index thread. If you click on the Shopping section, you'll find quite a few threads on budgeting.

To give you an idea of what other Old Stylers have in their menu plans, have a look at the OS Menu Plans Collection

Sorry for all the links, but if you're watching the calories, another one that might help is Losing Weight Recipes Collection

Good luck with bringing down the cost of your shopping!

Pink

john_kent

I do a quarterly clear out of all food cupboards and for a cpl of weeks wont shop for anything other then bread and milk.

Its anmazing what accumulates , odd bit of pasta , tuna cans hidden behinf jams in fridge , sauces (never recall buying them) .

Use up all the odd meals i froze in jacket spuds

use budget noodles and pasta

bulk buy non luxuries. stuff like ketchup,marmite etc.........

bargain hunt. i often pick up a dented tin or two in morrisons. 12p fo r a large tin of oxtail soup last week. Chucked in a few boiled spuds and a bit of tinned stewing steack and some carrots , voila a stew.

It can be done.