1st budget shop, Help!!!

MoneyMax

Were counting every penny this month, reciepts for everything from newspapers to the big shop!

Im just looking for any advice on food shopping, i have to do a weekly shop tonight for 2 adults, 2 young children and Jude the cat Child number 3 is at his grandmas for a while, kerching!!

RAS

hi

My big recommendation is that you go over to the MopneySaving Oldstyle forum and do a storecupboard challenge.

List the contents of the fridge, freezer and cupboards and ask people to help you devise a menu using as little as possible bought extra - bread and milk maybe.

Barneysmom

Get the value stuff obviously, I got 10 free range eggs in Morrisons for £1.33 and the value yorky pud is 7p a pack.
The cheapest pasta was 17p (500g).

I chucked a big heap of value tinned fruit in my trolley too, and custard(20p) and rice pudding (17p).

I'm finding butter/dairy spread very expensive lately.

MoneyMax

RAS wrote: »

hi

My big recommendation is that you go over to the MopneySaving Oldstyle forum and do a storecupboard challenge.

List the contents of the fridge, freezer and cupboards and ask people to help you devise a menu using as little as possible bought extra - bread and milk maybe.

As weve been away, were starting from Zero food apart from some pasta and a few random tins! ha ha

I just wish someone could do me a shopping list, I bloody hate it!

MoneyMax

Barneysmom wrote: »

Get the value stuff obviously, I got 10 free range eggs in Morrisons for £1.33 and the value yorky pud is 7p a pack.
The cheapest pasta was 17p (500g).

I chucked a big heap of value tinned fruit in my trolley too, and custard(20p) and rice pudding (17p).

I'm finding butter/dairy spread very expensive lately.

Wow, V cheap! Thanks

Trajal

Ok, I'd start by looking at what you have in stores. You don't want to use up all of your stores, it's important to have some backups there, but it's also important to not buy things that you have lots of already. Also important is to get a good handle on spices, sauces and herbs.

Don't make it boring. It's easy to pick up a great big bag of porridge that will feed you for a month for very little, however have you ever tried eating porridge for breakfast for a month? I can't do it, and I have porridge 3-4 times a week!)

It's worth taking a look at the old style forums for cheap recipe ideas and batch cooking.

Personally I tend to make a batch of bolognaise, then on day 2 I put it with some baked beans into pasties, and on day 3 i use what is left to make chilli. If there's any remaining after day 4 it's normally not enough for a full meal, but I like to make 'sloppy joe' sandwiches - yum!

Anyway, yes, plan batch cooking, I prefer to work my meals on a 2 weekly basis because I don't like eating the same thing (repackaged slightly) every day for 4 days in a row, so I would generally cook a huge batch, split it in half and freeze half, using that the following week.

So you will want to get a good idea from those old style forums of what can be done with batch cooking, and then start a meal plan. Write it down, and think carefully about things like lunches - do the kids go off for lunch? Do you make packed lunches? Is it cheaper to just do a batch of pasta rather than make 4 sandwiches?

Oh and don't be shy about buying cheaply. I remember a few years back when I had about £8 for a weeks food (for just one person) I went to tesco, everything I picked up was value. Had half a trolleyfull. People were looking at me oddly in the queue, but when they saw how much I had gotten for such a small amount they were stunned.

Wear your cheap buying as a badge of honour, it's only food! Oh and remember to pick up plenty of cheap veggies and fruit if at all possible. 5 a day and all that!

RAS

What is in those random tins?

Tuna = pasta bake
Tomatoes = pasta sause or stew
Sweetcorn - either fritters or sweetcorn chowder.

So list them up.

mooomin

I utilise Aldi a lot for things like:

Tomatoes - about 33p per tin and really nice quality
Kidney beans for chilli - 16p per tin
Chicken quarters - 99p for two
Chicken thighs - about £2 for a pack
Loo roll/cat food - very reasonable

I think you can still get 10 eggs for 99p there too.

MoneyMax

RAS wrote: »

What is in those random tins?

Tuna = pasta bake
Tomatoes = pasta sause or stew
Sweetcorn - either fritters or sweetcorn chowder.

So list them up.

Tinned Toms x 6
Pasta - Tonnes
Tuna x 2
Tapioca x 1(dont ask)
Various noodles
Rice
Plenty of herbs and spices
Baked Beans x 3
Also forgot las night I bought 3 for £10 meat whilst getting milk from co-op, so 1 x Chicken (whole), 10 Burgers and some spicy chicken drummers.

More than I thought after writing it down!

MoneyMax

flying_fresian wrote: »

I utilise Aldi a lot for things like:

Tomatoes - about 33p per tin and really nice quality
Kidney beans for chilli - 16p per tin
Chicken quarters - 99p for two
Chicken thighs - about £2 for a pack
Loo roll/cat food - very reasonable

I think you can still get 10 eggs for 99p there too.

99p for 1/2 chicken!!! Wow
Jude Cat has to have whiskers unfortunately, he loses all his hair if we switch, weve tried!!

I shall be doing a tour of the budget shops! :T

Learning2Budget

meal plan, it's the way forward, lol!
I make everything from scratch now and make double portions, so i freeze half for days when i'm short on time.
I mqde a list of all meals i can make easily without recipes, and rotate them round, got about 3&1/2 weeks worth of meals then i try making summat new every now and thn to mix it up a bit. Good luck, L2B.x