Grocery Bills

pullenuk

jobbingmusician wrote: »

1. Chicken breasts? Most expensive chicken going! Either buy a whole chicken, hack off the breasts yourself and use the other bits in other recipes, or buy thighs

Or get lucky when a store is about to close and they reduce them by 90% lol

suzmac1

Hi everyone,

I've been working on reducing my grocery bills and currently am on £400 per month for two people. From looking around on the forum this seems really high in comparison to everyone else!! This does include fresh fruit and veg as I make my and hubbies pack lunches (salad & fruit tub) for work, also includes bottle wine & some cider per week as we don't go out (possibly boring but definitely more economical!).

To get where I am I've already taken some measures:
- take out cash for shop so never exceed budget
- shop for certain items at costco (teabags, meat, fish, wash powder, fabric softner, dishwash tabs, cereal) which work out better value when buy in large pack/bulk
- shop for other items at tesco so receive points and have downbranded some items like bread & milk

I'm struggling with what other measures to take so grateful for any tips or hints on what others have done please??!!!!

SuzMac

LilacPixie

we spend less than that and are a family of 4 and it includes nappies. Like you we don't go out and alcohol features on the list.

First thing I would be asking myself is what do you buy and in what quantity. How much of your food shop is alcohol? ready meals? jars/packet foods?

laurylaury

There are also just the two of us and we spend around £400 per month as well. I buy my shopping in Tesco, try and buy as many own brand products as possible, don't buy alcohol very often. I also shop around for other items, such as buying some toiletries from Poundland etc.

saryoung

Morrisons do gammon shanks for £1.50, I buy 2 for 4 adults and then there is enough for sandwiches as well. Just bring to the boil, then drain, add fresh water with some onions, carrots, celery and herbs, then pop in oven for a couple of hours, or slow cooker if you have one, I even added a bit of red wine left over from a party and that gave the meat a nice flavour. Then you can also use the cooking juice for a soup, just check that it is not too salty.

BitterAndTwisted

Well, some of tried and trusted strategies include going down a brand or more, so try going down from the manufacturers premium ones and see how you go. For really normal things like dried pasta and whatnot the own brand value/basics ranges are pretty much the same.

Shop at markets rather than the supermarket for fresh fruit & veg and at a butcher for meat.

The real savings to be made are always cooking from scratch and batch-cooking, keeping extra portions in the fridge/freezer but this means you need to devote time to your endeavours which may not always be possible for busy, two-partners-working households.

Only ever shop from a list, take only cash with you when you go shopping to resist superfluous impulse-buys, keep a spending diary and the receipts and then review your spending after about a month to see what you're spending and what could be cut out or bought more economically.

There's a wealth of knowledge and many, many handy tips to be found on the Old-Style part of the forum. They're a refreshingly friendly bunch over there and the regulars will provide loads of help and guidance if you ask. There are people over there who feeds their families on a very tight budget of less than half of what you currently spend.

Oh, and this site says you can feed a family of four on only £100 a month, so have a look at some of their recipes for inspiration if you're interested:

http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/

mum2twinsx2

:rotfl:

jobbingmusician wrote: »

2. You mentioned a bank charge. If you're having problems with money generally, head over to the lovely folk on the debtfreewannabee board to see if they can help, especially if there are debts involved. If it was just a one off, it is worth pleading with them - they do sometimes remove unwarranted bank charges, and you have nothing to lose!

Have a lovely Christmas - sounds like your twins are lucky to have you

Thanks.. bank charge was a pure my error tv license goes out every couple months i mis calculated, first time in about two years i was charged, i did ring them and paid item fee was lifted in the end:)

I went to tescos
and spent £33.08
I got mini chicken breast fillets 6 packs at 40p each
and truck loads of bread for next to nothing
a reduced gammon joint
two packs diced turkey for 43p
i got few ready meals cheap aswell im fully converted to just before closing shopping.

I did treat myself to some bubble bath and got some xmas chocolates.:o oh and some wetwipes as was running low. they all werent on my list
i think i had 50 items all together.

jennikitten

That does seem insanely high, me & my OH survive on less than that & we buy organic & premium brand food/toiletries/drinks as well as eating out at least once a week.

Some questions:

- Do you just make one-off meals or do you freeze any/save leftovers?
- Do you and your OH tend to eat the same meals?
- Do you eat/cook desserts or do a lot of baking?
- What's the most expensive thing on your grocery list?
- What are your guilty pleasures when it comes to food/groceries (not including the alcohol you mentioned)
- Do you buy the same stuff every time or do you wait for offers & then stock up?

Miss_Laid

Theres just 2 of us and I spend around £120 a week, this includes booze but only 1-2 bottles of vodka a month, so I don't think your spend is too bad

robstersgirl

I spend £120 a week for 6 of us (7 at the mo with brother in law staying) have you tried shifting down a brand,ie from heinz to tesco ,if you don't like it you can always revert the week after.
I buy multipacks of fruit never prepared and just cut it up myself.
I can't imagine spending £100 a week on just me and hubs ,I wouldn't know where to start lol !!
Of course with big familys it's cheaper as you buy in bulk (but go through it heaps quicker ) what are your major expenses , I have things I can't live without or downbrand on eg carte noire coffee but i just buy it on offer , tescos do 3 for £10 meat deals the minces they have in the deal are huge and you could easily freeze half ,so technically 4 lots of meat for £10