trying to cut supermarket spending

rupertsmam

Hi All

After a shocking review of my supermarket spending I resolved last month to cut my grocery shopping bill (Sainsbury's are having crisis talks over this decision ). My target was to spend less than £75 per week, and I came in at £69 per week :j



I know this is still on the high side for 3 of us, but it is a huge step forward for a fledgling money saver like me, who was, on average, spending £120 per week before (on what I don’t know).

I want to get this down further and the tips on this and the OS board from all you money saving experts are a real help.

My target for this month is £60 per week: There I’ve said it out loud so I have to stick to it!

RMx

Lynsey

rupertsmam wrote: »

My target for this month is £60 per week: There I’ve said it out loud so I have to stick to it!

I've said it even louder for you and copied it so you can't change it.

I've been doing a challenge of £100 for July, just food and grocery items though, no cleaning stuff, toiletries or alcohol included.

We've just been talking about it today and we've decided to carry on doing the £100 food and grocery challenge every month to the end of November. Ease off for Xmas.

Got too much stuff in the freezers, probably enough already to get through most of the challenge and just needs ticking over.

Good luck, stay strong.

Lynsey

Hovel_lady

That's great and a huge reduction from before :j
Let us know how it goes x

santer_2

Couple of options, choose a supermarket then set the search to half price or better or buy one get one free

http://www.madaboutbargains.co.uk/offers/Off-Your-Trolley.htm

With items you use frequently, stock up when there is a good offer for them

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

Select the supermarkets, select a search item, set the score to 9+ then click search to see if any own brand products are suitable

As an example

http://www.supermarketownbrandguide.co.uk/search.php?SearchString=cornflakes&Search.x=38&Search.y=28&score=%3E9&price=0&pricevalue=0.00&aldi=1&asda=1&coop=1&lidl=1&marks=1&morrisons=1&sainsburys=1&tesco=1&waitrose=1&branded=1&tastingnote=1

wilroda

My supermarket shopping bill has dropped quite alot since OH and I started eating low fat and healthy foods!

I no longer buy stuff like crisps, biscuits, and processed foods( which are expensive) and now buy more fruit, pasta and fish etc- and no more sneaky naughty stuff in my trolley!


Saving around £20 per week! and a stone each!

nhp

That's a great idea - I'm in.
Just had a drop in family income so I'm game for making some thrifty changes.
My Freezer too is stockpiled with stuff, so I'm using it to make big batches of meals - like using all the frozen fish to make whopping great fish pies, one gets cooked and eaten on the day, the others go back in the freezer as a home-made ready meal - which keeps your freezer working more efficiently - remember that, as you use up your stockpiles, it's better to fill your freezer up as it runs more efficiently when it's full - the less air space the better - which will save your electricity bill too!
I always do my shopping online since you can see the tally as you go - no huge shock when you get to the checkout (made that mistake for the last time in sainsburys - 1 week's shopping for 4 coming to £130!)
I always make a list and try and stick to it, but if a special offer is brilliant, I'll quite often substitute a planned meal for one which uses the mega deal - such as buying good quality sausages when they're on offer instead of a joint of meat, and having toad in the hole with all the trimmings instead of a joint for sunday lunch.
Other cheap, delicious, and really tasty meals include:
Risotto, red lentil dahl (mega healthy), tuna pasta bake, home made pizza (kids love making their own too), macaroni cheese, curry. Meat is very overrated and often gets omitted in our house - no one seems to notice either!

RHYSDAD

A quick, easy tip to save money at the supermarket till:

When you've finished all your shop and are heading for the tills, stop and go through all your shopping asking yourself, 'do i really need this?' and do it for every item, discarding onto the shelf those items you picked up without realising. This is because supermarkets (and all retailers really) are masters at 'subliminal shopping'. That is to say making us buy things we never intended to and forgot we even picked up. This saves around a quarter off your bill every time!!

Pee

nhp wrote: »

That's a great idea - I'm in.
Just had a drop in family income so I'm game for making some thrifty changes.
My Freezer too is stockpiled with stuff, so I'm using it to make big batches of meals - like using all the frozen fish to make whopping great fish pies, one gets cooked and eaten on the day, the others go back in the freezer as a home-made ready meal - which keeps your freezer working more efficiently - remember that, as you use up your stockpiles, it's better to fill your freezer up as it runs more efficiently when it's full - the less air space the better - which will save your electricity bill too!
I always do my shopping online since you can see the tally as you go - no huge shock when you get to the checkout (made that mistake for the last time in sainsburys - 1 week's shopping for 4 coming to £130!)
I always make a list and try and stick to it, but if a special offer is brilliant, I'll quite often substitute a planned meal for one which uses the mega deal - such as buying good quality sausages when they're on offer instead of a joint of meat, and having toad in the hole with all the trimmings instead of a joint for sunday lunch.
Other cheap, delicious, and really tasty meals include:
Risotto, red lentil dahl (mega healthy), tuna pasta bake, home made pizza (kids love making their own too), macaroni cheese, curry. Meat is very overrated and often gets omitted in our house - no one seems to notice either!

Could you share your recipe for red lentil dahl? I'd love to try it.

reformedEffortmaker

Draco wrote: »

That´s a really good piece of advice, I try to do this most times I go to the supermarket and find it a great way to cut my shopping costs. Of course you can and should also always do the same when you´re taking the stuff off the shelves.

i dont get it. Why have you buried a link in this post?

mymerrywidow

reformedEffortmaker wrote: »

i dont get it. Why have you buried a link in this post?

maybe they want us to eat shoes/clothes instead of food?

LlanfrynachStar

Buy basics, they are mostly made by the same companies who make the most expensive stuff, such as chocolate, soap powder, washing up liquid, ketchup and much more. It is a bit of a hit and miss though, but there is another post on the good and bad basics of the supermarkets, so have a look.

We do all our shopping at Sains and the Co-Op. We save massivly every week. Also sign up for the loyalty cards, nectar you get 500 points = 2.50 off your shop, plus everytime you use your nectar card you get money off vouchers on things you buy regularly, the co-op have a card but I've forgotten the deal on that one, Morrisons miles card, you fill up with fuel and for every 1000 points you get 5.00 voucher to use in store, it all adds up in the end.

Do check the half price/ bogof/ or multi-buy deals over the internet, you will most of the time find better deals elsewhere, example :
Tesco bags of revels/galaxy counters/ minstrels/maltersers/ m&ms etc 2 for 3.00
Co-Op exactly the same items are on offer at £1.05

Asda 5 pk mars bars £1.89
Sains 5 pk mars bars on offer at £1.00

Also go into the supermarket after 6pm and you will get all the reduced stuff, I had 20 sausages from the meat counter for £2.09 from Sains, meat you can freeze, and bread reduced to 30p a loaf you can freeze, currys from the deli half price only 1.50 a carton that you can freeze, milk you can freeze, the list is endless.

And look at the reduced tins of stuff, they are always well in date and are only there because they have had a bash and are dented, tinned tomatoes/fruit, tuna , soup, baked beans etc., and their basics are mostly really good, especially their cleaning products.

Hope this all helps.