Grocery Bills

C-C_3

katskorner wrote: »

I spend about £320 per month for 5 of us and 2 cats too (one is nearly two and in nappies still) and this includes alcohol and cleaning stuff. I think I spend too much but am finding it hard to cut down as the boys eat more as they grow!! Plus catfood is flipping expensive!!

I have two freezers that I couldn't live without!!

Your cat is in nappies?:rotfl:

emay

Another thing thats handy (once you've cut down) is a gift card (or xmas saving card if store does them) to put money on every time you go shopping.
My budget is £65 every fortnight, if I spend say £50, then I'll put £15 onto the card, some weeks I put a lot on, some weeks nothing and then some weeks if you blow the budget you have money on the card and you don't have to find the extra.

System

I have been wondering how to manage our shopping bills too, new year resolution.

I hold my head in shame and admit that we don't stick to any grocery budget, and haven't for a while now. It is just the 2 of us in the house, and we like to eat together, so by the time we are both in the house, we are too lazy to cook, so do eat out FAR TOO MUCH...so 2011 is the year this all changes!

I've set ourselves a £50 a week grocery budget....we are both really fussy eaters....do you think we can do it? We don't drink in the house, so the budget is for food and cleaning products only.

I am terrible for buying cleaning products, so will give the vinegar/bicarb soda a go, that could save a fortune! Our washing powder tablets are expensive mind you, so is our toilet roll

Food wise, I'm willing to give non-branded items a go...hope we like them!

Going to go to the websites suggested and try plan for our first shop of 2011! A bit ahead of myself I know, but I've got a bit of time on my hands so may as well get a head start!

cagsd

moaning_myrtle wrote: »

I have been wondering how to manage our shopping bills too, new year resolution.

Our washing powder tablets are expensive mind you, so is our toilet roll

I buy the Tesco own brand washing tablets, and only use 1 per wash instead of 2 - can honestly say there is NO compromise on cleaning and freshness! A large box of 48 tablets is "supposed" to do 24 washes but I obviously get 48 out of it, so a £3.50 box lasts up to about 3 weeks - there are 5 of us and I do an average of 2 washes per day.

As for toilet roll, I used to be a toilet roll snob but have started buying the packs of 18 from Home & Bargain that are priced at £3.59 - these are perfectly fine for us, and got to be worth a try!

I would say you should definitely be able to shop for 2 for £50 a week. We are currently spending around £75 a week for 5 of us, but I am trying to reduce this and will start in earnest after Christmas!

System

Thanks for your reply cagsd - i'm up for giving cheaper options a try, we are £5.89 for the 2in1 liquidtabs...so that's £5.89 for 20 washes...whereas if we went for tesco's ones, we could get 24 washes for £3.50 if we used as directed...thats quite a saving! For toilet roll we are £4.98 for 9 rolls...again...crazy difference in price compared to the ones you buy.

I must look into at least trying these options out...every little helps!

Fellpony_2

Something else to look at is how much do you actually throw away (fresh foods).
I scare myself when I do that and it does make you realise what you ARE eating rather than HOPING to eat.

urchin

£400 is a lot for 2 people but it depends if that includes alcohol and cleaning stuff. There are 2 of us and our shopping is about £40-£50 per week on average. We don't really drink alcohol so we don't tend to buy it and the shopping includes cleaning/household stuff.

I tend to do a lot of bulk buying at Costco or special offers in the supermarket and I have a well stocked storecupboard and freezer which usually has most things I need to make the food we like. I love cooking and most things are made from scratch. I also do a lot of baking. I tend to buy organic/free range produce (especially where meat is concerned)

I do a meal plan based on what's in the house every four weeks and have found I can plan based on what we have and only need to buy fresh milk/veg/dairy on a regular basis.

I get my milk from the milkman which means I very rarely need to go to the supermarket as he can deliver fresh milk/bread/cheese to my doorstep as I need it so I don't get lured into buying unnecessary things in the supermarket when popping in for a pint of milk!

sonnythecat

In a frenzy of moneysaving when I first started to economise, I had a go at making GLOOP (homemade washing liquid/jelly stuff).

In our house, washing powder/liquid was quite a big percentage of a 50 quid weekly grocery shop and GLOOP is cheap cheap cheap.

I was sceptical.

Not any more - its brilliant stuff and costs next to nowt. Takes 5 minutes to make and is environmentally friendly.

Here's how I do it:

Grate 1 bar basic soap into a bucket.
Add 1 litre boiling water and stir until dissolved.
Add a 250ml cup of washing soda and stir until dissolved.
Add further 3 litres of water.
Leave in peace overnight.
It will set into an alien like jelly.
Use a small teacupful in every wash.

If washing is really grubby (not that often) I throw in a cup of biological cheapo powder too.

Its just that, when you tell other people what you do, they give you that "crazy woman" look.:o

Kavajo

Reduced food is a great help. Find out where they put it in your local supermarkets and what times are best for picking up stuff. Be flexible and prepared to try something different. Freezer is very handy; when you see bargains you can get it and use it another time.

I find Iceland is very cheap. They have fresh stuff and dry goods too, as I don't really buy frozen or convenience foods. Lidl is cheap but feels weird with all their foreign brands instead of the familiar products.

Antother way to keep the food bills under control is to eat less meat. If you can skip a couple of main meal meat items a week, you will save money. I like eggs (from Iceland) and lentils stew with plenty of veg and garlic.

We are a family of four (though the youngest is a baby and hasn't started weaning yet) and we spend about £300 a month, including baby milk & cleaning products, but excluding nappies and occasional alcohol. I think we eat very well, with a lot of home cooking and enough treats to keep us happy. We did used to spend a lot more when my wife was working but since she stopped for babies we have had to be really careful. I'm sure you will find plenty of ways to get your costs under control too.

surfsister

have you tried a market for your veg?? i go in the late afternoon and hey give extra portions!

Veg/fruit are much much cheaper than tescos I find tescos dearer for almost everything now it's taking over and have stopped shopping there. Morrisons also do lots fruit\veg reductions in fruit/veg area they always have lots of meat/cheese/fish reduced too.

Why not make a list of what you buy and see if a anything can be changed.

meat is dear but I find a freedom range chicken from co-op/m and s lasts us three days - two for meat then one for curry and soup if I can be bothered to use the stock and bits leftover. Then a £4 gammon joint lasts two days. etc