Grocery Bills

Busybody

Try cutting down on cleaning products.. I use vinegar and bicarb a lot and microfibre cloths .. bleach.. I put cheap 'steradent' type tablets down in the loo and leave for a couple of hours or over night.. and I have got a steam cleaner which was well worth the investment...
:j

emiliah

Hi Polly

I do a monthly shop - mainly out of necessity as our nearest supermarkets are 50 miles away:(

We have a small local shop but the prices are exhorbitant.

There are 2 of us plus dog and my usual monthly spend is about £120. I do a menu for us which I repeat every 2 weeks, which I find is enough variety.

I do find a chest freezer essential, for meat, loaves and frozen veg. I find my fresh veg can last about 2 weeks but then need to use frozen. My first stop is always Lidl to see what bargains they have - although I'm not particularly keen on their meat.

One of my best buys is the chiabatta bread mix - it's a great back up. I do the initial mix in the bread maker, then prove and cook in oven. This mix also makes a great base for homemade pizzas - value mozzarella is a nice topping mixed with cheddar.

Although more expensive initially, I've found joints of meat work out better as go further, and can be used for salads, sandwiches etc.

For the first time this year, I've made all my own jams, pickles, chutneys etc which are great.

Good luck with your menu planning and monthly shop - let us know how you get on

Mothership

saver_1 wrote: »

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.

I've been doing this for years, by just buying the offers from different shops, it can save you loads. They hope you will get your weekly shop when your there. I used to add up what I saved by shop hopping, don't do it any more , I found an old notepad this morning that I used when I did and it was from £25- £40 PER WEEK. It averaged about £100 per month. Thats a LOT of money. Good luck enjoy your hopping, once you get into the swing of it you'll wonder why you didn't do it before.

EC12345

Hello. Good lunch with the challenge.

There are two of us in our house and we spend about £200 per month on shopping but this includes all toiletries and cleaning products. I am always trying to cut down but with the cost of food rising I am finding it so difficult. We have a budget of £50 per week (including the toiletries and cleaning stuff) but for about the last three months have been spending over this by between £5 and £7. Next year are budget is going to be £60 per week :mad:

We also cook from fresh and I try to buy the best quality I can afford. I know I probably could do the shopping a bit cheaper but husband is quite fussy. However whatever meat I do buy it always has to last two meals and this way when we get in from work, on the second day, we always have a something quick and ready to eat.

Good luck everyone - it seems to be getting tougher out there at the moment.

saver_1_2

asp746 wrote: »

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.

Where can you get an Airwick for £1 in Morrisons they are £7 for two.

geordie_joe

saver_1 wrote: »

Where can you get an Airwick for £1 in Morrisons they are £7 for two.

Morrison's are taking the p!ss then, it's only £1.36 a can in Tesco.



Airwick Aerosol Peach/Cool Linen

£1.36 (£0.45/100ml)

saver_1_2

Sorry my mistake it's the Air wick freshmatic the one's that go in the dispensers and you can set them to go at intervals from 9 to 30 minutes

becky4131

Hi,

I have been living alone for 6 months now and feel i am spending too much for a single person on food. I spend 45-50 pound a week sometimes more than this.

When living at home i ate mainly ready meals with the occasional home cooked meal (mum didn't like to cook) so this is the routine i have got into.

I tend to buy alot of frozen food such as sausages, chips, fish fingers and that sort of thing from farmfoods and tend to live on this sort of food (not ideal).

I want to start eating more healthy and cut out the convenience food but i don't know where to start! Was thinking about getting a slow cooker and cooking a batch of stew to have with vedge or rice, how long will stew freeze for?

Where is the best place to buy meat from? i tend to get most things at the supermarket but fresh meat seems so expensive. What are prices at butchers like in comparison?

Sorry for long post, i am clueless but very eager to learn

dyldwarf

when i make a batch of stew i freeze it in old chinese takeaway containers and i tend to keep it in the freezer for a few months.for small cuts of meat a butchers is better as you can say how big you want it but also i find the meat cheap in morrisons.how on earth do you spend that amount of money on food for 1 person per week that should be enough for 2 weeks.there are 2 adults and 5 children in my house and spend about £120 a week on food but obviously not counting bread ect every day.

Blobby8_2

What sort of shops are in range, Indian ? Chinese? Pakistani? Or just Tesco?

If you are in a medium sized town or larger and can find an ethnic shop you should be able to source your food cheaply.
You will be able to knock up a stir fry in 20 minutes for less than a quid