Can you do a full monthly shop and Aldi and Lidl

geordie_joe

OrkneyStar wrote: »

It is not extravagant if you can afford it, it is extravagant if you can't!

That's not true. Extravagant means

"spending much more than necessary" or "exceeding the limits of reason or necessity" or "lacking in moderation, balance, and restraint".

Whether you can afford it or not does not come into it. You can be extravagant whether you are rich or poor.

TUS

littlechezza wrote: »

OMG!!! I thought £300 was alot, maybe I'm being unrealistic but I've read plenty of threads from families who seem to manage what I'm trying to achieve.

I shop for 2 adults and 2 children (one 7yo, one 1yo) for about £220 a month and that includes the "bits and pieces" you get between shops such as bread and milk. I spend £50pw at Asda on a weekly shop and withdraw £10 cash for cornershop spending for the week.

That includes household items and nappies :-)

OrkneyStar

geordie_joe wrote: »

That's not true. Extravagant means

"spending much more than necessary" or "exceeding the limits of reason or necessity" or "lacking in moderation, balance, and restraint".

Whether you can afford it or not does not come into it. You can be extravagant whether you are rich or poor.

The way I see it, if I have £100 to spend on shopping, £20 on fresh meat is not extravagant, if I have £30 to spend £20 is extravagant! The 'balance' you refer to is illustrated in that example!

Queen_of_NO_MATTER_WHAT

I do a big shop at Asda once a month to get all the branded things we use and things that lidl doesn't sell, I then go to the market for my meat and do a small weekly shop for milk, fruit and veg, yogurt ans basics etc from lidl

I'm finding that we are spendng £200 a month at the moment for 2 of us, we have cut down by £60 recently but I plan to cut it down further now that OH is working shifts, for 2 weeks of the month he works evenings so has his dinner at work, so hopeully next month I'll be able to cut £200 down by £25 and then see if I can shave some off the month after that too.

UnderPressure

WOW eye opener indeed, we spend an arm and a leg literally!!

Generally around £100-120 a week at tesco then anything upto another £60 a week at Somerfield and Morrisons on any special offers they have this is for 2 adults and 3 children who are 8, 6 and 2.

I am amazed that some of you can manage on as little as 220 a month what the hell do you eat?? Maybe we have different prices in the supermarkets here in Wales but a decent chicken at Tesco that hasnt been ill treated all its life will cost £8 then free range eggs at £2.50, a decent size piece of beef for a Sunday luch easily a tenner.

Crikey you lot must either eat like mice or literally not care ethically where your food comes from, I applaud you I really do.

Saldy me and my family do care so are quite happy to spend a little extra

TUS

UnderPressure wrote: »

WOW eye opener indeed, we spend an arm and a leg literally!!

Generally around £100-120 a week at tesco then anything upto another £60 a week at Somerfield and Morrisons on any special offers they have this is for 2 adults and 3 children who are 8, 6 and 2.

I am amazed that some of you can manage on as little as 220 a month what the hell do you eat?? Maybe we have different prices in the supermarkets here in Wales but a decent chicken at Tesco that hasnt been ill treated all its life will cost £8 then free range eggs at £2.50, a decent size piece of beef for a Sunday luch easily a tenner.

Crikey you lot must either eat like mice or literally not care ethically where your food comes from, I applaud you I really do.

Saldy me and my family do care so are quite happy to spend a little extra

I think thats a tad harsh. Some of us HAVE NO CHOICE but to spend minimally. If its a choice of getting into debt, or not picking the "ethical" option I know what I'm picking. I get a chicken for £2.50 and 15 eggs for £1.49 at Asda. Mince is £1. We get veg/fruit, pasta/sauces, a couple of frozen dinners. Sarnies/soups/cous cous for lunches, cereals for brekkie. £50-60 per week easily.

If I had more money and it was within my means to do so, I'd buy a few more luxuries. But financial stability is more important to me and we live within our means. Sorry if that's not ethical - it doesn't mean we don't "care" about ethics.

We just cannot afford over £700 per month on food!!

UnderPressure

Hi TUS

I apologise if I did come across as being harsh or indeed judgemental my post was not intended that way.

I appreciate it is all about living withing your means, and believe me I know money can be tight, we dont have lots of money in fact nowhere near but with 3 young children I am great believer that you only get out of you body and mind what you put in it. I dont think it is unreasonable to feed your children on fresh fruit and vegetables and good quality meats and fish in fact I think it should be a priority.

It is a shame that we have to pay a premium for that standard of living our parents and grandparents enjoyed as the norm, in their day there was a buthcer, a green grocer, a baker and a fish monger all selling high quality fare at reasonable prices, we have the supermarkets to balme for our lack of quality food really along with the birth of the microwave and messed with processed foods.

Its all very sad but me personally would rather eat a loaf of home made bread and a decent free range egg or 2 than any processed garbage found in a freezers in supermarkets.

Good old egg on toast all of the goodness and none of the nastiness added the processed food brigade.

I firmly believe it is one of the reasons why we have so many children in societty today running amock and causing so many problems, a decent diet provides a lot more than just pleasant tastes.

Anyway, we spend so much because of "other" things, such as me and coffee cant stand instant has to be decent quality ground or beans, decent tea bags etc etc never seen the point of bying the cheaper washing products nine times out of ten they dont work, fruit costs an arm and a leg now and vegetables, it all mounts up we by no means live an extravagent lifestyle wow I wish we did

Anyhow peace out

TUS

UnderPressure wrote: »

Hi TUS

I apologise if I did come across as being harsh or indeed judgemental my post was not intended that way.

I appreciate it is all about living withing your means, and believe me I know money can be tight, we dont have lots of money in fact nowhere near but with 3 young children I am great believer that you only get out of you body and mind what you put in it. I dont think it is unreasonable to feed your children on fresh fruit and vegetables and good quality meats and fish in fact I think it should be a priority.

It is a shame that we have to pay a premium for that standard of living our parents and grandparents enjoyed as the norm, in their day there was a buthcer, a green grocer, a baker and a fish monger all selling high quality fare at reasonable prices, we have the supermarkets to balme for our lack of quality food really along with the birth of the microwave and messed with processed foods.

Its all very sad but me personally would rather eat a loaf of home made bread and a decent free range egg or 2 than any processed garbage found in a freezers in supermarkets.

Good old egg on toast all of the goodness and none of the nastiness added the processed food brigade.

I firmly believe it is one of the reasons why we have so many children in societty today running amock and causing so many problems, a decent diet provides a lot more than just pleasant tastes.

Anyway, we spend so much because of "other" things, such as me and coffee cant stand instant has to be decent quality ground or beans, decent tea bags etc etc never seen the point of bying the cheaper washing products nine times out of ten they dont work, fruit costs an arm and a leg now and vegetables, it all mounts up we by no means live an extravagent lifestyle wow I wish we did

Anyhow peace out

Apology accepted.

Whilst I understand where you are coming from (a good diet is important) my opinion is that you are mistakenly linking a good diet with higher quality produce which needn't be the case. My families diet is BALANCED which is more important than the quality of produce. So my chicken costs £2.50 instead of £8. It still contains protein. I buy the 35p pasta shells instead of splashing over a £1 on them ... they still contain carbs. I get non-free range eggs ... but they still contain calcium. We also buy plenty of cheaper core products such as lentils/beans/cous cous/etc to ensure no one is ever hungry. We don't buy crisps, chocolate, biscuits, sweets, puddings, etc.

I know what should be in a balanced diet and my kids and OH get everything we need to be healthy in body and mind! My kids are showing no signs of lacking in these areas.

I'll ignore the slightly ridiculous "kids running amok" comment as there are so many reasons why that is not correct. This is probably the wrong thread/board for that discussion!

FWIW, you can get fruit/veg much cheaper at local grocers and markets. We spend under £5 per week and get everything we need from our local one.

OrkneyStar

It is true many of us simply cannot afford £700 pcm on food, if we want to pay our other bills such are mortgage etc!
I do believe in having the best you can afford though- decent quality meat, cooked well and used in the best way you can (eg steak mince over beef mince, but spread it more thinly by having plenty of veg with it!).
Where we live we have less choice in supermarkets, but I still manage to buy decent chicken (we like Coop Elmwood), local meat where possible, free range or barn (at the worst) eggs. We don't smoke or drink so save money there and I am a reasonably decent cook. Fruit and veg can cost more, but I try to buy the ones that are in season, instead of paying premium prices for non-season. Tinned fruit (in juice) and dried fruit is good enough, and frozen veg such as peas and sweetcorn are just as nice imho. I do like fresh peppers, mushrooms etc. I also buy local carrots, turnips etc when I can get them. As for pasta and rice Lidl or Tesco own (our Tesco don't stock value pasta really- does it exist)- got to admit I adore tricolor fusilli- somehow looks more exciting!

zippybungle

If you have a Home bargains near you, they are good for stocking up on things like Toilet Roll's and toiletries at bargain prices. The £1 Shops are good too.

Iceland is cheap for Milk (£1 for 4 pints) Farmfoods is supposed to be even cheaper (£1.50 for 2 x 4pint bottles).

I buy Value Barn Eggs from Sainsburys (18 for £1.85)

Veg/Fruit comes from the local market when I am in town and my 'big' shop is now done at Morrisons.

Nappies are from Lidl.

I guess what I am trying to say, is that it's best to shop around. It does take up more time though.

Zippy x