Horrified at monthly budget - Help required

Marvel1

Never go food shopping on an empty stomach.

recovering_spendaholic

cjdavies wrote: »

Never go food shopping on an empty stomach.

That is the single best piece of advice I have EVER had about saving money. If I go into the supermarket hungry I come out will all kinds of stuff which we don't need but which I think looks tasty. Mad isn't it?

ska_lover

How very true. I used to go shopping after work one night a week, always tired and hungry - and spend a fortune on crap as I rushed around the supermarket in a bad mood looking for quick meals and snacks!
Now I get up early on a sunday and go, breakfasted and refreshed with my organised shopping list to hand.

rippedoff3

Same here, family of 6. I use my supermarket to compare and make my list, i find it easier to check the price per 100g ect and then i will use the list to take to store. I shop around and stock up on the deals we use when they are on offer. Meal planning helps alot and i find i spend more if i don't buy everything in one shop (unless cheaper elsewhere)

Biggest tip is to hang around here as there are many glitches and tips to help you save money!

newlywed

CH27 wrote: »

I've never thrown anything away from Aldi.
Can't speak for Lidl as I haven't bought fruit & veg there.

I find that you do have to check the packs a bit in my local Aldi and Lidl. I think because fruit and veg doesn't have dates on, new stuff often gets chucked on top and so when it's down to the bottom of the pile it gets a little ropey!

But as long as I look at what I'm picking up and select what pack of tomatoes etc then it's fine.

LlanfrynachStar

Hi,

We are a family of 5. If you go to wherever it is you shop ( Sains, Tesco, Asda etc) at about 6pm onwards you will get a lot of things reduced.:T

You can buy reduced meat/ bread/ cakes/ ready meals/ juice/ anything really and freeze it. Just pull it out the night before you need to use the item/s.:beer:


If you have a baby then Sains basic's baby wipes are just as good as johnsons and are only 18p, the rest of their basics baby range is good value.:j

As for cleaning stuff, again Sains basics are good value, but we go to Home Bargins, you get most things, like dettol, fairy, well known names for well under half the cost in supermarkets. :T

Get the supermarkets own magazine for vouchers in the back page, also if you buy a newspaper you can go through that for vouchers and deals.

Hope all this helps.:):):)

HelenDaveKids

Have you tried asdas smart price range, i buy loads of them and we genuinely can't tell the difference (if we can I return to old brand). I buy their tbags, choc mousse, yogurt, cereal, toiletries, cleaning products, fruit, etc etc. Last week my trolley was over the brim, i'd bought loads and it came to less than £60 and would ususally be over £110.

santer_2

You can set the score here and search own brand ratings for a number of supermarkets

http://www.supermarketownbrandguide.co.uk/search.php?table=allfood

http://www.supermarketownbrandguide.co.uk/search.php?SearchString=cereal&Search.x=28&Search.y=25&score=%3E9&price=0&pricevalue=0.00&aldi=1&asda=1&coop=1&lidl=1&marks=1&sainsburys=1&tesco=1&waitrose=1&tastingnote=1

miss_emmajane

I (personally) was a bit bothered by my friends and family coming and seeing my kitchen stocked with only ASDA price or TESCO value .. so I went to Poundland and got food storage containers such as cereal dispensers, pasta/spaghetti jar, kitchen hand wash dispenser ... then you can refil them and no one will know (and personally i love this as I feel like its my little secret whilst they refuse to buy non-brand items)

As some of the other ladies have said - check out the coupons & grabbit sections on here, they are a godsend! I have got a years worth of dove deodorants for no more than £1.60 in the last week as with coupons you can get them for 5p each - things like that will leave you with more money xxx

Quenastoise

I shop often, preferably at the end of the day to spot any whoopsies/deals of the day. It means that the meal planning has to be flexible. Today, I found some roasted pook bits for 30p, that went in a stew with whoopsied chili, new potatoes and lemongrass with chicken stock and some fresh spinach given by a colleague at work. Suddenly, I've got two meals for less than £1 each that I hadn't planned for

Also, I try to avoid pre-packaged veggies, there is less chance of waste and it's cheaper.

I keep track of my weekly food spend in a slim diary and enter the weekly total in a spreadsheet. Since I started doing that, and by cutting down on eating out, our weekly spend has gone down from £ 130 at the beginning of January to a current average of £ 100.