Food budgeting - where to start?

Straw_Hat

Hi All - would like to pick some brains out there...

Been dipping in and out of MSE for a couple of years now and picked up some useful tips so am now trying to extend that to our daily-living to make our spending smarter. Hubby and I have been going through our bank statements for the last few months and have noticed that we appear to be spending a huge amount on food each month - for a couple of months we were just over £500 which sounds like a lot to me considering there is only the 2 of us plus our 3 year old son at home!

We are both pretty unorganised in the kitchen department and would like any tips/advice anyone may have on budgeting better for food buying. And tips for getting ourselves into a more organised state of affairs with meals etc.

Anything gratefully appreciated!

r.mac_2

the first thing i would advise is to try and meal plan.

sit down and plan the meals for the next week (start small then work up to a month when you get good at it). Remmeber to factor in packed lunches and the odd snack too. Then make up a list of what you need from this. If you know that you will only need half a cabbage for one recipe - try and think of ways to incorporate the other half into your meal plan so that you won't be left with lots of left overs.

Take the list to the shop with you and stick to what is on it. (that's the hardest bit).

Also look at what is on offer. If i get a good bit of meat reduced I try and swap it with another meal on the planner - or put it in the freezer to incorporate into next weeks meal plan.

Why not also try the storecupboard challenge. Try and make as many meals as possible just using your storecupboard - you will be surprised at what you have in there! I try and incorporate one storecupboard meal a week into my plan.

Take things slowly though - don't try too much in one go or you may find it difficult and get disheartened quickly!

good luck and i am sure others will have more ideas for you!!!

daphne_descends

I think r.mac's advise is excellent, and where I'm (bit by bit) working towards now. I used to spend about £60 in Tesco (for two adults) and after three days I'd wonder why I had no food.

When I started thinking about food money and meal plans - I'm only in my fourth week at this - the first thing I realised was that my cupboards were full, but I would have said I had no food/nothing to make dinner with. There are so many wonderful recipes on here that opened my eyes to how much I can use without needing to shop. My next step on this is to write a list of what's in each cupboard and stick it inside the cupboard door so I can see at a glance what I have/what I can make.

OH and I work full time so batch cooking is a life saver. I had never really made any use of my freezer before - except for ice cream or cooling down a bottle of wine fast. Now I have a fair few meals in there and a bit of soup for work (saving money on lunches). It's so nice to be able to get home and just heat up some bolognaise and have it with pasta - my 'lazy day' of cooking used to be a ready meal from M&S and now it's cheap, fresh and homemade.

Meal plans, my first two were a bit hit and miss but I'm getting there - I was so pleased with myself when I came up with a whole week's food and as r.mac said thought about where I could use anything left to make other things.

I think baby steps are the key, well it seems to be working for me, one bit at a time, it gets easier especially when you can see what you're saving and really appreciate the home cooking, I'm also getting much more confidence in the kitchen, I did my first roast this weekend (aged 26)

PS I meant to add, personally I haven't gotten round to the 'budgeting' part, I'm waiting until mid-jan when I can see what my new average spend is, but in the meantime I can see a difference from £70-80 (combination of Tesco/Sains delivery and popping into M&S) to about £35 the last two weeks. The savings will go on Christmas booze :beer:

newlywed

fac73 wrote:

I think baby steps are the key, well it seems to be working for me, one bit at a time, it gets easier especially when you can see what you're saving and really appreciate the home cooking, I'm also getting much more confidence in the kitchen, I did my first roast this weekend (aged 26)

Well if it makes you feel any better I did my first roast last month and I'm older than that!

Yes definitely meal plan. It's made a huge difference to our food bill. I was spending about £450 a month for 2 adults and 2 stepkids at weekends! :eek:

I've gradually worked it down by these things:
1. Going shopping with my meal plan so I only buy food we'll eat before it goes off.
2. Going shopping without the kids and without OH so there's no-one asking for extras.
3. Carrying a basket instead of a trolley so I can limit how much I buy as I used to chuck stuff in the trolley just in case...
4. Making most cakes and biscuits etc as then they can't get eaten before I unpack the shopping - as they often get taken by OH as soon as they come in the front door!!

Now I meal plan and cook mostly from scratch instead of buying sauces etc. I also stretch packets of mince by adding lots of veg so a 500g pack of mince feeds a minimum of 6 portions (the extra 2 or 4 are frozen for another time). That way I also have a meal in the freezer for those days when I'm late back from work and don't want to cook!

It's taken months to reduce it down so go slowly and it will be easier to do it bit by bit.

Lucie_2

Starting to meal plan is the hardest thing - if you're anything like me you'll sit staring at a blank piece of paper for ages not knowing what to put.
I'd advise doing a "master list" of all the meals you eat, then just select ones that are appropriate for each day. You can then add to master list as you go along as you discover new recipes & make up new meals.

Do you do lots of impulse spending? - the "nip to the supermarket for a pint of milk & end up spending £20" scenario. We've all done it, but meal planning definately stops it (or cuts down).

lynzpower

I recommend to start off with a full appraisal of the kitchen cupbaords, fridge & freezer

Once youve done this look at whats going to go off asap and make a meal around this.

then you can plan only from there what to "use up"

the idea of an inventory on the cupbaords/ fridges is a really good one

jellycat40

Lucie were you just in Tesco with me???

I went in for 2 loaves and cat food and spent £11.50!

I have not done the meal planning bit yet but I did do the store cupboard challenge in November and got through a lot of stuff that had been in the cupboard for years. I am now doing the same with the freezer in December and have made space for the turkey! Still trying to think of things to do with frozen broad beans - why and when did I buy them!!!!

I spend far too much on food but we all eat differently - DS has lots of high protein meals, DD1 is home late and usually grabs something or has left over tea, me, OH and DD3 try and eat together but she is 9 and often can't wait for us at 7pm when OH comes in so will have high tea at about 5.30 - must go and do her bacon sarnie now.

Will have a go at meal planning in the new year!

Louise

Straw_Hat

Thanks for the tips guys!
I've also done the "spend £60 on food and then have 'nothing' in to eat" thing and also the "pop to asda for milk and spend £20" and am sooo glad it isn't just me!:o

I have got a basic meal plan for half a week (baby steps...) and sent OH shopping for the fresh ingredients we needed and he came back with only those which is great. Have also dug out loads of cook books which I forgot we had from the spare room (enough to start my own library...) and found 3 Covent Garden soup books so am making soup tonight for work lunches this week - will keep me away from asda which is only across the road from work!

Going to do a cupboard inventory at the weekend - wouldn't have thought of the list on the door idea so thanks for that one. We've got deep, high cupboards so things tend to lurk up there in the dark until they can walk out on their own...:eek:

Bexstars

These are great tips! Im new to it all and think the meal planner is a fab idea! I have a 10 month old baby girl and I make all her meals from scratch and meal plan for her but not for me and dh, I shall deffo give it a try

Mrs_A.

thanks for this thread
i need all the help i can get im always in tesco just now and seem to be spending huge amounts of cash in there
like the inventory on the doors idea too think i will try that one tomorrow as they could all do with a clean out
regards
mrs a

C1aire

I found making a list of everything in the cupboard was the most helpful thing to do.

Now I have a copy stuck to the front of the fridge so I can cross things off as I use them. Everytime I think I need to go shopping, I see the list and think again. A tactic I would recommend!