Grocery Bills

Binky111

having stew is not to compromise on quality or taste. a stew made with lamb shanks is delicous and there is lots of meat so it is not like having rice all the time with tiny bits of meat with it.

Binky111

people forget that paying a lot does not always mean quality. stuff in packets prepared ready is expensive because all the work is done by someone so you are paying for the work not the quality fo what you are buying. so like egghi says you can buy very good quality food which is not more expensive than less quality food for the same price in packets.

SonjaLiK

Binky111 wrote: »

having stew is not to compromise on quality or taste. a stew made with lamb shanks is delicous and there is lots of meat so it is not like having rice all the time with tiny bits of meat with it.

Stews, if made properly, are also one of the healthiest meals.

saver_1_2

I had a weeks holiday and decided to try some of the non super markets for my groceries. For example Home bargains,[H.B] poundstretcher plus[P.S.P] and a large privately owned shop that sells well everything from electricals to food. What a big surprise i got from H.B and P.S P. I did not know these two stores sell branded goods not just cheaper than the supers but a lot cheaper savings as much as £1 and over.
A big saving at the private store was they were selling air wick refill canisters 3 for £5.
It just goes to show how the supers are ripping people off. I will certainly be prepared to spend a little time going from shop to shop in future instead of doing one big shop in the car because of the convenience.
And before people say i bet the goods are near the end of there sell by date, they are not.

Pollyholly

Hi

One of my mission next year is to shop wasting money on food! I live with my husband, three dogs and a cat but can spend £400.00 :eek:a month but then waste loads.

So I am starting to get together some menu plans and bulk buy. My biggest problem is my freezer it is only three draws. I also got my bread maker out today to try some recipes as I think this my be a big help. I have already reduce my spend on the dogs and cats however I am going to try making my own treats for them tomorrow!!!

Over Xmas I am going through my food cupboards to see what I have and hopefully create some space. As I hate shopping so much I am going to go back to doing one online shop a month with a cheap slot. I will plan it with my afternoon off so I can sort it out ie divide stuff up and do some batch cooking.

So was wonder does any one have some tips

Thank You

Polly

spandangled

I do a monthly online shop for two of us, and it normally comes to less than £100 a month. I use my freezer a lot though we do only have three drawers. I'm also quite careful about buying things that perhaps if I don't fancy I can use in something else, so if I buy things with a short life span like lettuce, I tend to get it and then not be in the mood to eat salad, so instead I'll buy spinach or watercress, and if I don't fancy it I'll turn it into soup. At the moment because it's seasonal I've bought a lot more root vegetables, that last longer, but I also buy frozen green beans and peas because they're useful to have for the days when you really can't be bothered.

Using lentils to bulk things out, I at first had huge problems with this as I was fed red lentils as a child, but if you buy puy lentils, that are slightly more expensive I think (least the only ones I could find at the time were merchant gourmet ones which are rather expensive!) they taste far better in things where you'd normally use mince and you can get away with a fair bit less meat or you could make dinner and a lunch out of something you'd normally only get dinner out of.

I also think I save a lot of money because we don't always eat expensive cuts of meat. My partner refuses to eat 'meat on the bone' though wouldn't turn his nose up at KFC if you offered it to him (fussy I think it's called) but if you buy chicken thighs and take the bone out before freezing, you've got a tasty bit of chicken you could use as you would breast, or that you can stuff and roll in bacon for a bit of a treat. Plus I normally throw the bones in a pan with root vegetables and bouquet garni or bay leaves and make the stock for a soup.

I don't really buy a great deal of junk food. Because I don't buy ready meals and I can sometimes be home pretty late from work, I do everything I can to make things easier for myself. For example, I slice bread and portion it in the freezer so that if I take soup to work it's there (also means I don't have a full loaf of bread out going off when I don't need to).

If you really want to cut your budget, portion your meat up when you get it. I come from a family who goes to the butchers and buys the biggest piece of meat they can find, now my supermarket arrives and I portion it by weight. I have a bit of a rule that I have two meat dinners, two fish dinners, and two veg dinners a week. The final dinner is something that is quick, for the days I REALLY can't be bothered.

I don't think I'm exceptionally tight, I shop online with Ocado and I still buy our luxuries like Dorset Cereal, but I think about it before hand and I do plan to some extent. I also think about things that have several uses. Tinned tomatoes are the prime example of this. Another thing I learnt the hard way, if you're buying herbs and you prefer fresh ones, (which go off as soon as you get them through the door) think about spending money on things like the Barts herbs in oil. They do cost more than fresh herbs, but they last longer, and there's no point in paying for something you don't get to use.

Whatever you do, buy freezer bags and have a couple of empty plastic storage boxes on standby!

bluebag

Hiya pollyholly,

With a small freezer you may find it difficult to shop monthly, twice a month may be better.

I found it quite overwhelming to do a lot of bulk cooking but find throwing all the ingredients in to the slow cooker three times a week worked well.

I menu plan and order online ( I do mine weekly) as I find I don't impulse buy and I can keep an eye on what I'm spending.

I go to the supermarket mid week to top up on milk and fresh bread.

I found that making a weeks sandwiches all at once and freezing them saved me time, money and stress, I just defost in the fridge overnight and then straight in the lunchbox.

Sorry I can't help with pet foods as I don't have any.

Hope this helps.....keep at it, you will find a system that works for you, just don't get downhearted or give up if the first few attempts at controlling the budget don't work for you. You'll get there.

asp746

why not just get a can of Airwick for £1 and spray the rooms as and when? I wouldnt dream of paying £5 for three refills.

Pollyholly

Wow loads of great advice:j

Spandangled-I am going to do a order with Ocado never used them before. They are doing £15 off when you order over £75 for first time users and got a £1.99 slot too. Was wonder if you understood when it says on offer until 4/1/2010 does that included that date would they tell me if my offer had expired when I checkout!!

I had got in to the habit of buy bread and freezing but not thought about doing that with my bread maker bread once sliced that would allow more space. I will look into bulking out with lentil would like to make meals go further! We are not in to expensive meats too like the idea of 2 meat 2 fish 2 veggie:T

Bluebag- It may not work with such little space. I had always done all my shopping by the internet but don't know why went back to going to the store and hate it but even doing it once a week online is still painful!! So I will try once a month if it does not work will try twice.

I am going to give freezing the sandwich thing a go never crossed my mind you could do it! Does any work better than others!;)

I will let you know how I get on planning to start early Jan

Polly

Barneysmom

I do a monthly online for all the big stuff.
We've got 2 dogs so 60 tins of food plus all the mixers, biscuits, treats and wotnot - then there's our tins, beans toms etc. Plus cleaning products, our treats and spuds.

that weighs a lot so I'll let Tesco or Asda carry it all for me.

Then what's left of the budget I can spend on fresh milk and veg.