November Groceries

pollyanna24

I am trying desperate (already) to plan for November's grocery budget, cos we are widely over again this month. Here's what I've got so far, but there's always more, isn't there? This for two people and a cat and the budget is £160. Some things have already been bought (BOGOFs and such like). I know there seems to be a lot of meat, but that the bf for ya! Other months obv there are other things to be included, but we seem to have everything else.

Aside from Tesco, is there anywhere I can get meat cheaper? £52 sounds like a lot, although hopefully this will do me into December as well as I have a few things in my freezer to go in November.

Meat/main dinner items
4 Packets of beef mince (3,200g) 9.60
10 Pizzas (Dr. Oetker) 10.00
1kg Braising steak (£5.78 per kg) 5.78
Half leg of lamb (½ price till 2day) 3.49
Shoulder of lamb (£2.69 per kg) 3.37
16 Chicken drumsticks 2.99
2 large frozen chickens (Asda) 5.00
1kg frozen chicken breasts 3.00
4 Gammon rounds 2.72
Brisket beef (3.84 per kg) 2.56
20 frozen sausages 1.45
Turkey leg 1.43
Ham 0.74
52.13

Fruit & Vegetables
Onions 1.08
Parsnips 2.33
Potatoes 1.98
Apples 1.79
Pears 1.49
Carrots 1.17
Bananas 0.85
Lettuce 0.69
Garlic 0.32
11.70

Store Cupboard
4 Jars of coffee (already bought) 7.50
10 Pasta sauces 6.15
6 Sausage casserole sauces (ab) 4.17
30 eggs 2.38
2 Chicken Tonight sauces 2.10
Crunchy Oats and porridge oats 0.43
Sunflower oil spray 1.58
Cheddar cheese 2.00
8 Tins of chopped tomatoes 1.20
3kg bag of pasta 1.00
Baking butter 1.76
Caster sugar 0.75
Chopped mixed nuts 0.67
Mixed herbs 0.46
Dried fruit 0.41
Tinned spaghetti 0.15
4 Garlic breads (already bought) 1.98
32.71

Everyday items
Bread 5.65
20 Pints of milk 5.50
5 Packets of Brussels pate 3.20
2 Tubs of butter 1.87
Cheese slices 1.94
Cheese spread 1.82
Crumpets 0.45
20.43

Others
Hopefully none this month

Cat
2 1kg Packets of Iams 11.96
Cat litter 2.38
Litter tray liners 2.18
16.52

Toiletries/cleaning
Deodorants 3.04
Mouthwash 2.56
Kitchen roll 1.96
Air freshener 1.39
Toilet rolls 1.13
2 Washing up liquids 1.00
Toothpaste 0.98
Fabric softener 0.92
Toilet rim cleaner 0.29
13.27

Unessentials
Hopefully none this month

146.76

frosty

Hi pollyanna24,I feed a family of 4 with £50.00 a week,I have managed to get myself into a routine.When I make spag bog I only use half a pack of mince,(no one has noticed)with the other half I make a shepherds pie,I bulk the mince out with chopped onions and carrots.If I serve pizza this is divided into 4 and served with a baked potato and salad,I am feeding 3 men who like big servings of everything,so long as their plates are full they are happy,so maybe you could try to serve your meals a little differently so it looks more on the plate. (as the saying goes we eat with our eyes)Good Luck and I hope I have been helpful.

mags50_2

Have you tried https://www.mySupermarket.co.uk ? (Compares prices between four supermarkets)
Using this, I've found that ASDA is the cheapest for me, even including the delivery charge.
HTH :-)

pollyanna24

Cheers for the replies. I have already cut down on his mince. I used to buy 500g packets and we'd eat the lot in one go! Now I buy 800g, divide them in 2 before I freeze them and we eat 400g in one go instead. I probably could cut it down again.

I do try and stop him going back for seconds on roast meats, so that I can cook them up again the next day, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

I have looked around on various websites and try to get the cheapest. I always make a list of BOGOFs that we'll use (hence the 4 jars of coffee and 6 jars of sausage casserole sauce!). The problem is I rely on bf to take me to the supermarket as he is the one with the car, I only have a moped and there's only so much I can stick in me seat!

Oh well, gona try and stick to it next month. It says £140ish on my list so far, doesn't leave much room for other things that are necessary or things to bulk meals out, but I'll give it a go (again)!

mikeywills

I am not going to preach to you pollyanna, as you spend far less than I do a month already. Reading through your list I see some ways that you could pinch a few pennies.
You have tinned tomatoes on your list which are inexpensive if you blitz these with some fried off onion and garlic and mixed herbs for your own tomato based sauces.
This may cut down on the packet and jars sauces you get, but could also give you the basics to make some of your own pizzas, using part based breads as bases.
Delias recipe for white sauce with a little mustard and cheese makes a great creamy sauce for chicken.
Your vegetable list does look a little bleak, I couldn't see any greens there at all. Have you got any farmers markets in your area. What I tend to find is I can pick up bigger quantities of seasonal veg at these for the same prices as in supermarkets.
This time of year is good for hearty stew, with swede, carrots, parsnips, and a little of the braising steak. Pad it out a bit with plenty of mashed potatoes.

I tend to batch cook at home, so as an example last night I was cooking root vegetable and lentil soup in the base of my steamer, while in the top teir was cauliflower and broccoli to go with a cheese sauce bake. This generally gets frozen when cooled in portions to be easily reheated on nights when a takeaway would normally beckon.

Have you tried your local butchers for meat, take in a list of what you want and see if they can better it. When you are looking at quantity there is always room for movement on price.

Good luck you are already doing really well.

Rage_in_Eden

Do you have access to a local market? Often they are cheaper for fruit and veg than the supermarkets. Also, they often have a load of carrots or pots which are "local grown" (i.e. bloke on his allotment has grown too many and has flogged 'em to the stallholder). They are often covered in dirt and yet are cheaper - why? I'm not allergic to dirt nor am I too proud to give my carrots a scrub...... also the butchers often have "specials" e.g. my local has my fave 3lbs of minced steak for about £4.00 - ask them to bag it in 1/2lb bags - they don't mind. Also I'm considering lamb shoulder/oxtail to eek out our pennies a bit more (beef bourginon tonight with 1/2lb stewing steak). Lentils in shepherd's pie and beans in a chilli are another good bulker.... and shove those veg in - cheap, good for you and nobody notices...

Rage_in_Eden

sorry forgot to mention also I see you are getting dried herbs - that's good but the ones like coriander, basil and such like try and hunt down an ethnic foodstore and buy a huge bunch and freeze them in your ice cube trays - they keep for ages and when you use them it's like you've just picked 'em.

jcr16

I would say to try an make your own pizza. it is vey easy a cheap. and also is so much more filling than a shop bought one. and the satisfaction in making one is excellent.

as for mince i use about the same amount as you depending on the meal. if i making a chilli then i bulk it out loads with kidney beans and tom's etc. but for spag bol i personally like alot of mince in it.


how about trying to make your own pasta sauces and sausage casserole sauces also chicken tonihgt sauces. i used to buy loads of them as they are really nice. but tbh no one in family has notice that i make my own. i not even sure how i make some of the stuff i do. i generally read whats in the ingrediants then just experiement.

would it help to do an online shop ?

i can see tho u are already very organised in what u are doing. Some months i can be amazing and so good i scare myself then other months like last month , i kinda just lost the battle.

Ur doing a really good job, keep it up.

lynzpower

I must say Pollyanna, that you could save yourself a fair amount of money here by buying less processed food.

Eg
Your pizzas. You can buy in tescos a pack of 2 pizza base mixes which you add water to. As mikey says a slick of whizzed tinned toms or even a bit of tom puree then add own toppings be it mushrooms, hand ful of frozen sweetcorn., some of your ham there and wack some cheese on the top. Weve never eaten more than one between 2.

if you bought actual block of cheese instead of cheese slices, its much more versatile.

Stuff like those sausage casserole sauces. you can make the same yourself, there is a recipe in the Index I believe.

I think theres loads of scope for reducing this down, seriously is this all the veg you buy a month????

dorry_2

hi polyanna24,

i agree with jcr116, you are obsvously very organised, i am impressed, i would love to do a monthly shop like that, i will have to defrost our frezzer before could do it though, hmmmmmm.

anyway, i was wondering if u could cut costs on your bread, i buy the 20p loaves from asda, even if u used 2 a week @ 40p, it would be £1.60 instead of £5.65, a saving of £4.05 a month.:money:

just a thought,:D


love dorry xxxxxxxxxxxx

mikeywills

I tend to make my own bread, a quick calculation excluding the breadmachine and electricity is about 40p per loaf, this is way better value for money long term than buying loaves and you get to choose what goes in them.