Can you help me reduce my weekly shop?

Julie67

I love Aldi, I also find Farm [EMAIL="F@@ds"]F@@ds[/EMAIL] very good. There Hovis bread is £1.25 for two loaves and 8 pints of milk for £1.50. There bacon is also very good and has been 3 packs of 16 slices of back bacon for £5 (not sure if the offer is still on). I usually go to Hme Bargains for my toiletries. Good luck

rozmister

I love Aldi for fresh fruit and veg. It's much cheaper than anywhere else, I can get 2 weeks worth for about £10 and I would say 1/2 my diet is fruit and veg (I'm on an actual diet).

Iceland is good for getting milk which is £1 for 4pts and you can sometimes get bargains in there if there are offers on but it's mainly processed tat.

Like already mention plan around what you have and I recommend keeping a spending diary. I've only started by writing it down and trying to take control but when I am in control (a waivering state at present) I'm going to start fine combing through each receipt looking for things I didn't need but bought impulsively or overspends to learn from them. It only takes me 2 minutes to do my receipts at present and even combing through would still take me up to about 10.

JulieGeorgiana

Julie67 wrote: »

I love Aldi, I also find Farm F@@ds very good. There Hovis bread is £1.25 for two loaves and 8 pints of milk for £1.50. There bacon is also very good and has been 3 packs of 16 slices of back bacon for £5 (not sure if the offer is still on). I usually go to Hme Bargains for my toiletries. Good luck

Yes, that offer was on 2 weeks ago!! You just have to be careful when using it, as it's frozen you can seperate it... so I have to make sure I have two meals with bacon in it!!!

Anyway I do the following to save money:

• Use mysupermarket which is a great place to start
• I buy a lot of Mr S Basic goods which are lovely.
• I always shop around.
• I always buy in bulk when things are on offer
• Menu plan every week
• Do a weekly inventory
• Keep an eye on the Grocery Boards
• Buy meat from the butchers (it's better quality)
• Make Rubber chicken
• Bulk out my meals
• Eat Vegetarian 2 days a week
• Eat Fish 1 day a week
• Have pot luck from time to time to empty the freezer
• Make a shopping list and stick to it (shop after dinner on a thursday means not impulse buying)
• Keep a spending diary

I feed 2 adults, a child, 2 cats and 2 Rabbits on £50 a week (average) because of the way I shop it doesn't quite work out as £50 a week... I spend £15 - £20 a week, and bulk buy with the rest of the money as and when things are required!

Oh and I don't spend just because I have the money, I keep it in a pot... so there is some money already building up to pay for a slightly bigger Christmas shop (I spend £30 extra on food around Christmas)!

PollyFlinders_3

We had a sharp shock last year when my DH was made redundant with a week's notice. I found the following helpful:

1) Made a full inventory of everything edible in the house/freezer, and banned myself from shopping until I really couldn't find another meal from my supplies (in my case took about 3 weeks...there were some rather unusual combinations but it goes to show what you can do if you are really up against it)

2) Started to view meat as a luxury rather than a right, so we had at least 3 meat-free meals a week, which radically cut down on the amount we needed to spend.

3) Really, really shopped around - I would make a shopping list, then trawl through mysupermarket.com and work out which of the 2 big supermarkets in my town to buy each item from, then walk round Aldi and Farm Foods before finalising the list to check if I could buy cheaper from either of them. I have a big freezer so would stock up on bread and milk whenever I was in Farm Foods.

4) My children loved grapes and could get through £3-4 worth in a week and still want more. I just stopped buying them and have apples, bananas and satsumas instead. Not only are they cheaper, but they last longer too. I downshifted brands as Martin suggested on here, and would say that 9 out of 10 times no-one noticed. There are lots of value items I'll keep buying even as our situation improves. Aldi do some pretty good crisps, chocolates and sweets which substitute some well known brands. So that's where the treats come from now.

5) I think the most MS thing I did was to completely cut out the little "top up" shopping trips. I would go into Mr T for a bottle of milk and come out £20 lighter, so I just stopped doing it. Now I shop once a week and no more. If we run out of sandwich meat in the week then we eat jam sandwiches until its time to shop again.

6) I do trawl whenever I shop for the things I buy regularly, and stock up when they are on offer, e.g cereals, washing powder etc, and also shampoo/conditioner - I find I can still use my favourite (probably overpriced!) brands, but get them half price instead of paying full price. And always, always check the shelf edge labels and compare the different unit sizes - its not always the biggest size that's best value for money.

To be honest, its about changing your mindset from just buying what you always buy, to really making yourself stop and justify every penny that leaves your purse. Do I really need it? Could I substitute something else that's cheaper? Would going without this week really be the end of the world?

Good luck!

sillygirl73

Thank you so much for your replies, they have been really helpful.......I know it can be done now!! I think that my problem is that I always seem to need reserve items in my cupboards 'just in case', and like PollyFlinders used to, I pop into MrT to get ,milk and then buy lots more.
DH gets paid on the 10th Feb so am going to set myself a budget of £250 for the month..........hopefully that is realistic, and then once I get into the swing of things, will aim lower! You have all been inspirational!!

Boodle

Hi Silly Girl (tho I don't really want to address you as such as you don't come across at all silly to me )

If your total includes nappies, you could try reusable ones.

I also recommend the Cheap Family Recipes site, as it has some lovely meals on there that are very family friendly - each a sort of frugalisation of popular meals.

Try meal planning, a shopping list from that, and then just being aware of what goes in the trolley is a great start

narabanekeater

Silly - im taking it you Marks and Spencers if so do you get a staff discount. Im just wondering as there 3 for £10 meats including chickens would work out cheaper than most supermarkets I think
Im new to being OS and am taking 'baby steps' Jan has been use it up month for us and weve so much left so will be Feb. I loved shopping and would easily spend a good £3 a time on pre-prep fruit while doing a top up shop
I now allow myself a treat once a week and go out for a 2 for £5 meal with my best mate so I still feel social and I leave hubby a HM meal cooked at home
If you get a moment post up what you buy 'luxery' wise and we will see if we can help. Also what supermakets are near by and do you have a Farmfoods?

MrsGSR

Sillygirl73- we were just the same a few months ago. I added up what we spent on food in the last 3 months of last year and it was nearly around £500 a month! after that I set a £40 a week budget and so far we have come under it and we are still eating well and enjoying our food.
What we have done is checked our cupboards and fridge and freezer pre shop then listed the days of the week and what is happening each day, like whether hubby is working late or on early.
Then I have come on here and looked up the recipes on the grocery thread and planned our weeks meals using them.
DH works for a well known frozen food company and anything on offer or reduced he puts aside, he gets £20 to spend there a week and then I get £20 at sainsburys. About 80% of the sainsburys shop is basics stuff which really reduces the costs.
I would reccomend looking into getting a chest freezer if you can, cooking for and from the freezer is such a money saver and a god send for us.

sillygirl73

Boodle wrote: »

Hi Silly Girl (tho I don't really want to address you as such as you don't come across at all silly to me )

My name refers to my debt:o.:(.......but have been 'sensiblegirl' for the last few months:)


We do use DH's staff discount when there are good offers on and he sometimes comes home with the bargain 'waste' . At Xmas got a massive turkey crown worth £40 for £3.40:D. But its at my mums as we don't have a big enough freezer. We have a small house with an even smaller kitchen and there is nowhere for a big freezer.....no garage, so really struggle for freezer space. So will have to find a way to manage without a big one.

Can't remember who asked, but we don't have a farmfoods near us:(.

As for luxuries, off the top of my head, please don't shout at me.............:o

• cans of diet coke (need to stop drinking this as did Martins demotivator and we are spending about £40 per month on this:eek:)
• DH has a chocolate habit......going to try to fob him off with cheap choc biccies for his packed lunch!
• Am really bad for buying my little one treats......apple rice cakes, fruit pots etc
• I often forget lunch for me, and am then starving when out so grab a ready made sandwich (DH has a packed lunch). So not great for budget or my diet.........trying to lose all my baby weight!
• I buy fresh fruit like raspberries/blueberries....they cost a fortune, so am going to vow to buy fruit that is in season, although my baby LOVES them.
• A cardinal sin is that I buy prepacked salads and then end up chucking awat hakf as it goes slimy.......I am a bad girl I know!!

So guess I know what I need to do, and being a SAHM should be able to find the time to plan meals etc.
My first start is to use up everything in my cupboards and freezer.....shocked to see that I have 8 tins of chopped toms at the moment (asda smartprice though;)) and then plan my week AND ONLY BUY WHAT I NEED:)!!

RachelS

Don't feel bad! I am in exactly the same position in that until this month we spent about £600 a month on groceries. I'm a stay at home mum of 14-month-old twins and there's a Wa*****e opposite my local children's centre...whoops! It's the popping in once a day that does it, so much worse than planning a big shop. I am also a health nut, especially when it comes to the babies!

This month we are set to come in at £250 for all household products, food and cosmetics, although I don't include nappies which is £30 a month for us with the two in them.

It's actually been surprisingly easy...I worked really hard but when I did my final shop today I had £80 left over for it, only spent £50 and don't think we will have £30 of surprises left to buy. Our diet has changed...there are a lot of what we call Ice***d specials for me and my husband! We've also eaten a lot of bean chilli and chickpea curry.

I've switched the boys to a lot more vegetarian dishes and egg dishes, and am buying less exotic fruit.

All in all, though, I think this is a gradual process. I think I can spend less next month AND have healthier and tastier food...just a matter of learning by doing.

I still buy frozen berries for the boys, but they eat them a few times a week instead of every day. Supermarket economy brand tinned fruit is great, though some supermarkets add colourings which aren't good for kids so check the tins.

I have found going to Asda and Lidl works best for me...I go to Lidl first and get everything I can and then nip to Asda for the rest. Saves a good few pounds every week. I get cleaning products and cosmetics from the pound shop.

I also plan menus for the entire week and make sure I use up anything in the fridge/freezer etc. Veggie food in general is a lot cheaper if you don't get expensive ingredients.

I try to control the amount of fruit my OH eats, he'd have 5 or 6 pieces a day in the past but we just can't afford it at the minute.