how to reduce my food bill [merged]

fatbelly

Have you read Martin's article?

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/cheap-supermarket-shopping

Janiceatkins

It is often mentioned on these boards that people can feed two adults on £120 a month. I would love to be able to do this. I can for an odd month if my freezer is stocked but that is all. I wonder if anyone would be willing to share their 'shopping lists'. I am sure it would help , I know their are threads going on £80/£100 a month but they have specific recipes many of which are veggie which I can only do 1/2 days a week.
Sammy-Kaye's list was interesting in 2008. The recipes listed on old style are great and invaluable but I would love people to share their secrets.
Many thanks. Jan.

esmf73

Jan,
Sometimes these people don't include toiletries or household cleaning things, literally just food. I would also like to know their secrets!!

hot.chick

would this section be of any help???

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2384579

haven't read all of it - but looked like the kind of thing you might be after???

sharloid

Me and the OH manage on about £80-£100 a month on groceries/cleaning things but that's mainly vegetarian. I'm sure the other £20-£40 would be plenty to add meat to the list?

Are you after an example of a full shopping list, or recipies or what exactly?

maman

As it's just adults (so no nappies/wipes etc) I don't spend very much on toiletries/cleaning materials in most months. This NOT because we're dirty people but because I always seem to have loads of toiletries as gifts and keep my cleaning stuff to a minimum of products.

For food shopping I know what you mean when you say 'I can do it when freezer is stocked'. I think part of the answer is to keep freezer well stocked with special offers/bogofs etc so you never have to pay full price (some might say whoopsies too but I rarely get much luck with these). We're not vegetarian but I have cut down our meat portion size hugely for mid-week meals. As examples, we have one chicken breast (or some rubber chicken) between us for a stir fry, 3 sausages (cut into bite-size pieces )in a sausage casserole. I make up the portions (and food value) with loads of veg and pulses.

HTH, good thread and looking forward to more ideas!

HB81

Hi,

Not sure exactly what you are looking for, but this website http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/ might help - it contains a full meal plan to feed an average family of four for £100 per month. Even if you didn't want to follow the whole plan you might find a few recipes you do like to help you to keep to your budget. If you'd like to know more of the background, have a look at these threads here and here

HTH
HB x

Janiceatkins

As a newbie on these threads I am not sure what to do about the previous post. I know it is not allowed.
Anyway about shopping lists...I too cannot get to shops for whoopsies and rely on BOGOF etc. What I would really like people to share is their shopping lists and what they are making from it for the week. We are just plain food eaters and my OH will not have soup.

I have used some space in the garden for veg this year and have cabbages etc but this morning saw cabbages for 50p! that made me think is it worth growing your own. I know the taste is superior but using a glut of veg could be a problem and you cannot freeze all veg.

Janiceatkins

Hi again
Thanks HB81
I have checked these sights but much of this food would go down as a lead balloon with OH, as I said very plain food here.
Jan.

BitterAndTwisted

It's not necessarily about the shopping-list but more about meal-planning, batch-cooking and taking advantage of price reductions and adapting your meal-plan when you spot them. Then you can also exploit whoopies, BOGOFs and end-of-day reductions by freezing them and maybe using them in your next meal-plan.

Also, to get the weekly shopping bill down you look into dropping a brand, stocking up on Stardrops and vinegar and losing all of those one-function cleaning products and perhaps looking into making your own laundry detergent/dish-washing solution aka "gloop"