Shopping advice wanted

mrssezzie

Hi,

We are a family of 6, on average per week we spend about £75 on groceries and then 'in the week' about another £15 on bread,milk and fruit usually.

This week we are seriously broke and therefore we only have £50 in the kitty for shopping, normally shop at tesco, Aldi and Morrisons.

Any advice how I can make this £50 Stretch and any savvy shopping tips I would love to save money on shopping, is it cheaper to shop weekly and get the bits ion the week, cheaper to shop as and whne you want it?

All tips and advice greatly appreciated thank you

slkh

I would recommend sitting down and writing out a meal plan for the week, along with any essentials you need such as the bread, milk, cereal etc then when you go shopping sticj to it! I have saved a fortune when shopping by doing a meal plan beforehand. Also look at the reduced section as there are often many bargains to be had, also consider going an hour or so before the store closes as they have more items reduced then

redkids1972

Also off your meal plan check any items which may have discounts off the voucher board. I use them all the time and they really do help.

suzybloo

definately advise doing a menu for the week. Might seem a wee bit of faffing about but will definately save you money. Once you have a list of what you are having, break that down into ingredients, then score off what you already have and what your left with will be your shopping list. Try and double up meals too. Buy extra mince make a chilli with half, cottage pi with the other half. Buy a large chicken, it will give you numerous options! roast chicken, followed by chicken curry, or chicken pie etc, boil up the carcas and make soup with the stock. ?Try lidl or aldi for any veg. you need.
just a couple of ideas for you,

santer_2

Tick the supermarkets you have nearby

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

, enter a search item, set the score to 9+ and tick tasting notes if of interest, you can also specify organic, low salt or low sugar etc

For example

http://www.supermarketownbrandguide.co.uk/search.php?SearchString=cereal&Search.x=33&Search.y=21&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

Some own brands are good now, asda smart price baked beans are very acceptable, as are their 17p tins of soup

Another option is to look for half price or buy one get one free here

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

If possible, try to shop when items have been reduced to clear for the day

WhiteHorse

A £4 fresh chicken every day will feed six quite easily. Even if you add plenty of vegetables and call it £7, that's still only £49 for the whole week.

TryingHardToSave_2

Id make sure i had alot of mince meat as you can do alot of meals with it - Mince, onions and mash, spag bol, lasagne, chilli, cottage pie, beef burgers, keema curry.

Also get eggs, jacket and normal pots, pasta, baked beans. Can do so much with eggs and pasta/pots very filling

Maybe shift down a supermarket brand for this week and i agree with the others, it is abit of a faff but id go through all your cupboards/fridge/freezer and see what you already have laying around that maybe need a few more items to make the meal. Write a meal plan for that week and then do a shopping list.

Try and pop down to supermarket when they are reducing as you may well get joints/meat/veggies cheap.

Gillyx

Online shopping is quite good as you can play about with the shopping list until you have enough in the basket and have a price you're happy with.

What about pasta bakes? Cheap and easy to make, chopped tomatoes, some garlic, onion, chilli makes your sauce. Pasta and cheese. Some value garlic baguettes for a side and would feed 6 for around £3. May even have leftovers.

As others have said baked potatoes are a godsend, I love a baked potato for dinner with cheese and beans.

galileo74

Check out mySupermarket.co.uk - they will show the best deals on ALL supermarkets.
i found them out on ITV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW9jRdZJhDM

OldSchool_3

slkh wrote: »

I would recommend sitting down and writing out a meal plan for the week, along with any essentials you need such as the bread, milk, cereal etc then when you go shopping sticj to it! I have saved a fortune when shopping by doing a meal plan beforehand. Also look at the reduced section as there are often many bargains to be had, also consider going an hour or so before the store closes as they have more items reduced then

I'm gonna tell my mom about this, so can save some pennies.:D
If it works with her I'll thank a million times.:T:T:T

MrsBartolozzi

I would start with your cupboards/fridge. Are there any makings of meals there? You might find that you already have at least one main meal available to you! Then decide on a meal plan, work into it what you already have, and you are saving money already. If your mind is blank, looking in your cupboards and seeing no meals jump out at you try posting a new thread with a list of what is in your cupboards/fridge/freezer over on the oldstyle board. The clever people over there will be able to give you lots of meal ideas from what you have or you could browse though others' storecupboard challenges for ideas.
Good luck.