Whats wrong with my Shopping List??

sammy_kaye18

Opinions needed please

Ive recently posted in another group i belong too - what i can afford to spend on shopping basically and how much goes where and i had some really awful comments.

Basically heres my situation.

Last year my bf was made redundent the week before Xmas so we basically lived off the store cupboard.ie Pasta, canned goods (beans, spaghetti etc) flour, sugar and other little bits. Our christmas dinner was donated by his mum and dad and we had barely any presents for our little one because we needed the heating on more basically - we still ahd a good Xmas though - all safe and in good health. Anyway we both found work in the new year (i finally got a job in february, and him in May) so we started to get back on our feet.

Well i posted this as my shopping list as our budget currently only gives us £40 for 2 weeks shopping and this is to feed me, my bf, our 2 year old son B plus our jack russell terrier, its also got to include toiletries and household stuff. (if ti makes any difference - bf works from 8.30 - 6pm 6 days a week, and i work 11hrs a week (6pm-10pm on a friday and 3pm - 10pm on a sunday)

anyway heres what we get

fresh
grapes
bananas
onion
mushrooms
carrots
potatoes

fridge
cheese (value)
eggs (shops own - free range)
butter
yoghurts x 5 (muller lite vanilla which ben loves too)

cupboard
frosted flakes (shops own)
rice krispies (shops own)
sultanas (value ones)
sugar
juice x 2 ( 2 3ltr bottles for £2.90 - shops own)
custard x 1 (value one)
sponge pudding (shops own)
chicken noodle soup sachet
beans x 1 (value ones)
Hot dogs x 2 (cheapest going)
tea (value ones)

freezer
smiley faces (Bens)
fish fingers x 2 (shops own)
pizza twin pack x 3 (quick and easy meal for bf after work - cant stand the stuff myself - these are the goodfellows ones with 2 small ones in a box not a twin pack of 2 large pizzas)


other
dog food pack (6 tins - shops own)
dog biscuits (shops own)
nappies (value ones)
baby wipes (value ones)
baby shampoo (bf has nearly no hair and im allergic to alot of shampoo so just use baby shampoo)
toilet rolls (12pk value stuff)
washing powder (shops brand)


Also before you ask about Bread and Milk!!

Bread - i work in a coop so when it gets nearer the end of my shift i pick up a few packs of discounted rolls (usually get 6 rolls for 10p,a small fresh loaf for 10p or sliced loaf for 25p) plus my discount helps - may only be pence but when you dont have it it helps!!
Milk - i shop for this is in IceLand because 4pts of semi skimmed in there is only £1.
Our only occassional treat when budget allows it is a multipack of quavers from poundland (so 10 packs for £1)

Am also saving up vouchers from Tescos for Xmas to help with the shopping so we can have a few luxuries,

We aslo started our store cupboard again with donated tins etc so although ive only got 1 tin of beans on my list i infact have about 6 in the cupboard plus tins of spaghetti. I also have bags of plain and self raising flour, porridge, dried apricots (which my 2 year old loves) and the dog food i buy is basically to keep him stocked - he infact has about 12 cans in there already and cheap dog mixer.

I thought this seemed ok but if anyone can offer me any tips etc on how to stretch my money that little bit further then id appreciate it. Also what does everyone else buy in their shopping?

Lillibet_2

Hi:D

This sounds pretty comprehensive:T.

Your budget is in fact similar to how mine used to be for 2 adults a baby & a springer spaniel who will only eat Bakers Complete:rolleyes: I've now switcehd to our local organic butchers & organic fruit & veg becasue our budget will allow for it but it wasn't that long ago I was on £45 a fortnight.

There is a lack of fresh meat/fish, do you have this already in the freezer? You can make fishfingers from fresh fish & breadcrumbs, although on special offer the fish fingers work out cheaper & I buy them;) Big casseroles can work out very cheap as it's easy to pad them out with lots of cheap pulses & veg & don't need much meat but good protine for your son.
You can make HM pizzas much cheaper than you can buy them (someone will be along soon to tell you how) & freeze them. Also do you mean the potato smilie faces? As I'm sure you could make these yourself with mashed potato fried in patties & a face poked in them? I know it is all time & effort with can be impossible with a toddler & a job but maybe you coudl have an occasional big cook up?

Maybe you could post some examples of your meals over a few days to help us get a better idea of any costs you could cut?

I'm going to send you a PM about the nappies as soon as I've tracked down a link. At 2 years old switching to washables won't save you any money, you're too close to toilet training for it to pay off (even if you were so inclined).

Cheers;)

joannasmum

Theres nothing wrong with your shopping list if you can make a fortnights worth of meals from it, to be honest I think that I would struggle to do that with that list. What I do to is write a meal plan first then write your list around that.

Try the to get seasonal veg from a farmshop or greengrocers as this will be cheaper. Make stews with lots of veg and some mince this is filling can be kept hot for your BF and can be given to your LO as well. My DD likes homemade veg soup. Also I would not buy the muller yogs as they arent full fat and its recommended that children under 3 have full fat products. Normally value ranges are full fat I think but I'm not sure about.

Have a look a the recipe threads for some ideas. Also i wouldnt waste money on expensive breakfast cereals as you have porridge already. Its suprising how much a bowl of porridge warms you up in the morning. My DD loves it and since starting giving it to her she isnt asking for snacks before lunch

Hope I've been of some help. We spend about £25 aweek but that normally includes a bottle of wine. I'll come back to you with some more ideas later as DD is crawling over me

halloweenqueen_2

Have you got a lidl near you, their fruit and veg is often on offer. Their cat and dog food is good as well!
Do you get a staff discount at the co-op?

kscour

Just wanted to say you seem to be doing pretty well! I'd forget that other group and their comments - stay round here we're much nicer!

Only thing I can think of is if you have time is to make your own pizzas and freeze uncooked. And big casseroles as Lillibet suggested.

HTH

Gingham_Ribbon

Does your OH buy lunch at work or take sandwiches? I got the impression from your list that perhaps he gets lunch at work.

It's usually cheaper to take in a pack up. If that's the case, perhaps he could do that and the savings could be used to pad out your list to include some fresh meat etc?

elona

Could you make your own soup in a slow cooker and then BF could take some in a flask to work.

I find making stuff from potatoes or making sweet, savoury or stuffed pancakes etc are invaluable.

Thistle-down

There is a very high quality complete dog food called Autarky - it you read a bit about it here: Autarky

It starts from £9.00 for a 15 kg sack, which will last a Jack Russell months. There is a list of stockists but it doesn't list them all - I have found it at our local garden centre and also at the feed shop.

It is much better for your dog than supermarket food (although some shops now carry Iams / Eukanuba which are okay but pricey) you may have to add a bit of wet food or warm water to it at first and slowly lessen the amount until he is eating only the dry food.

It will help keep your dog healthy and hopefully keep vet bills to a minimum. I feel quite strongly about good quality dog food, feel the need coming on to do a seperate post......:p

lynzpower

I think id struggle to get 2 weeks meals out of that TBH.

One thing I would suggest is that every week, or even out of your copper jar etc, buy something to build your storecupbaord back up again, be it a bag of pudding rice ( you can get 10 portions Id say out of a bag of pudding rice & it costs about 40p a bag) or a jar of value jam or bags of flour etc.

We eat & clean for 25pw ( ish) and we do eat really well ( altho we have no dog or child expenses!)

ONe thing that might we worth looking at is those massive boxes of washing powder they sell them in our local asian shops for about 13 quid for a massive box. saying that I bought a big box of tesdcos own poweder the other day for 3.00 Ive done at least 10 washes out of it, its still full. So thatg would mean you wouldnt have to spend on that for a few weeks iyswim.

redballoon_2

you seem to be doing pretty well but there is no fresh meat or vegetables. I personally wouldn't buy the smiley faces, pizza or the hot dogs.

You can make your own pizzas.- tesco value sell the bases, just add tomatoe for base (either puree or tin of chopped) and then cheese and what ever else you have in.

Buy a large bag of potatoes and you can do sausage and mash with a vegetable (perhaps tin of sweetcorn or beans) use the rest of the potatoes with other meals like make wedges (cut in to quarters then cut again and put in oven), use on top of shepherds pie etc...

You can buy a bag of value carrotts and make into soup with some corriander or carrott and orange. ideal for lunches.

Other cheap meals that i would do is:
Stir fry with the noodles and veg with chicken breast and homemade sauce
spanish omelete
corned beef hash and mash pototoes and veg.

What else do you have in your freezer?


Your budget is fine, you just need to plan carefully.

shell2001

What about bolognaise. Mince you can get quite cheaply. I get the reduced fat stuff 2 x 500g for £4. I make a bulk load of bolognaise. Fry off onion, leeks, carrot then whizz this in the food processor with value tinned toms. Brown mince off add couple of oxo cubes, garlic and whizzed mixture and some tom puree. Let it simmer for hour and then bag up into portions.

From this can make

Chilli - add chilli powder and red kidney beans {or even tin of baked beans)

Spag bol

Mousakka - Just layer up mince, sliced potatoes (I use tinned value tesco ones), then layer of cheese sauce and repeat. Served with peas and sweetcorn.

Bolognaise with Jackets spuds.

Adding the veg really bulks it out. The other day I made burgers and had about 300g of mince left by using this method not only did I get a meal for us all (DH, Me 3year old and 2 year old) but had enough left to freeze a portion for DD's to have one night.

HTH