Reducing my weekly shop cost - possible?

quintwins

Lucy5781 wrote: »

:eek:


Litterally throwing away £4.20 :faint:

thats how i feel about toilet roll, you just flushing money down the toilet, i also use value bin bags there about 70p i do double them up but even at that it's still cheaper

maman

Some great suggestions but I think the only way you're going to really save is by spending more time on the shopping and cooking. You could save a bit by dropping a brand but if you want to get one shop, delivered from one supermarket then you're unlikely to save the maximum.

For example, I know the gammon joints in Aldi and Lidl are really good and much cheaper than Sainsbury. I have loads of Branston baked beans in my storecupboard that were £1 for 4 when Asda last had them on offer. Flora is 2 for £2.50 in the Co-op at the moment and what I have in my fridge was 2 for £2 a while ago.

Hunting down a bargain and cooking tasty, healthy food cheaply can be addictive (I know I am) but it will depend whether your lifestyle allows you to do it.

P.S. If JackieO, drops by: I haven't made a rice pudding in years and reading your post really made me fancy one. Is yours the baked rice pudding with the nutmeg on top or a boiled one more like Ambrosia? And, do you have to use caster sugar or would granulated or sweetener work?

redlady_1

Last year I was living on £15 per week for food etc. This year it is £25 but I try £20 and most weeks I spend less. This month I spent £83 on food and that included 4 lamb necks (which will do 2 meals min each) a joint of top side, 400gms of organic lamb mince and 2 packs of walls bacon.

I have a huge sack of potatoes which will generally last me 6 months if I look after them.

I have also just picked up Willow butter for 90p for 250gms and Morrisons have Value free range eggs (15 I think) for £1.79. I buy all my veg from Lidl or I get a veg box delivered for £9.95 and plan my meals around it. And therein lies the key...plan, plan, plan. Write out your meals for the week with a back up of cheese on toast or something for the "cant be bothered" day. I also buy UHT skimmed milk.

The thing is you can only save money if you really want to and are prepared to give things up. It's not fun but sometimes there is little choice. However, some of the creations I have come up with have been fab :-) Just get some hot pepper sauce

YDSM - There is £10.44 there just on treats plus 68p on water.

£1.95 for the binliners from an excess shop near me.

I still have chicken left over from Sunday roast and tonight will be Thai Green curry - and I cannot flipping wait!

I try to freeze everything now so as not to waste it.

iris

I think the big problem here is shopping at just ONE supermarket.

I shop once a week for myself and OH, however I usually visit up to 4/5 supermarkets (much to my husband's disapproval) and we spend on average £40 per week. This includes all food, drink and toiletries.

Taking a few items as follows:-

T.rolls - 18 good quality ones from Farmfoods £4
Swede whole - Aldi 50p each
Leeks 500g (although a lot of the packs weigh in at 700 g) 79p Aldi
Free range chicken £4.99 Aldi

Use coupons for branded goods i.e. Anchor butter

Herbs - I grow my own. I now have huge bay trees taken from small cuttings. They are very easy to grow and save £s besides looking decorative in garden. Rosemary is also easy to grow from cuttings. They can also be grown in pots.

Always look on the freebie pages. I haven't bought any shampoo and conditioner at all this year.

Sign up for trials. Again I haven't bought any dishwasher tablets at all this year.

Cat501

iris wrote: »

I think the big problem here is shopping at just ONE supermarket.

T.rolls - 18 good quality ones from Farmfoods £4

With you on that, those Nicky ones are really good, without going into TMI territory you don't use as much as with some other budget brands. I bought 18 ComfySoft from Home Bargains for 3.55 a while ago, and to be honest I think the Nicky ones are well worth the extra 45p.

Youdontseeme

redlady_1 wrote: »

YDSM - There is £10.44 there just on treats plus 68p on water.

There is? Hang on your counting the wine as a treat, it is a necessity surely???? :rotfl:

I am actually off red wine at the mo, bought it for cooking (honest!!) having a bit of a cook up this weekend as I really need to have some "real" food in the freezer as opposed to oven chips and pappy bread.

I spent another £20 at lunch time on shopping to do this though
I used to be so good at this, not sure where I started to go wrong.

YDSM

redlady_1

Yeah, fair point there! Can't you tell I am ill at the moment!

So what did you buy today then and I dont suppose you went to Tescos did you?

adelight

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

This was my shopping for this week, would be interested to see what you can do with it

1 Tesco Lasagne 550G £1.62 £1.62 ditch, make a big batch of your own and freeze in portions
1 Tesco Free Range Eggs Medium Box Of 6 £1.30 £1.30 bigger pack/shop around- they cost ~90p at lidl
1 Suffolk Crown Sweetcure Back Bacon 200G £1.99 £1.99 do you need bacon? what about a gamon joint thinly sliced and frozen in portions? or buy cheaper from lidl/aldi
3 Loose Brown Onions Class 2 £0.16 £0.48 keep forever so why not buy a huge cheap sack and store them well?
1 Tesco Whole Baby Sweet Beetroot In Vinegar 340G £0.79 £0.79 seems pricey, lidl/aldi again or look at big offer jars
1 Schwartz Bay Leaves Refill 6G £0.99 £0.99 get spices in bigger quantities from specialist shops (esp asian) as they are so cheap or buy brands like "east end" from asda
1 Counter Farmhouse And Mushroom Pate £0.75 £0.75 cheaper to make and freeze but eh!
1 Tesco Luxury Soft Toilet Tissue White 4 Roll £1.75 £1.75 you can always find some posh loo roll on a good offer
1 Tesco Fresh Beef Casserole Steak Medium £4.00 £4.00 cheaper at butcher/lidl/aldi
1 Tesco Organic Blueberries £1.99 £1.99 buy frozen or go without?
2 Tesco Maris Piper Mashed Potato 455G £1.00 £2.00 mash your own spuds?! mash a tonne and freeze potions- will give you the same thing as buying
1 Tesco Soluble 500G Paracetamol 24 £2.50 £2.50 can get these for pennies unbranded
1 Gu Chocolate Ganache 3X50g £1.46 £1.46 make your own

1 Tesco Finest Cherry Tomatoes 400G £0.59 £0.59 were these fresh? that's a bargain!
1 Alpro Light Unsweetened Soya Milk 1Ltr £1.34 £1.34 own brand. tesco own brand unsweetened is actually much better, much thicker and tastier and froths/cooks more like real milk
1 Tesco Steak & Murphys Pie With Cheddar Mash 450G £1.82 £1.82 make and freeze
1 Napolina Tomato And Chilli Sauce 335G £1.00 £1.00 was this on offer? usually cheaper to make yourself, just herb/chilli up your passata
1 The Saucy Fish Co Fresh Fish Pie Sauce £1.39 £1.39 make!! sooo simple, google a fish pie recipe and you'll see the sauce will cost you 5p
1 Magnum Mini Classic Dark Mint 360Ml £1.74 £1.74 buy normal ice-cream? if you are lactose intolerant this a bad idea anyway but swedish glace ice-cream is delicious lactose free ice-cream and not too pricey
1 Aubergine Each £1.00 £1.00 market/lidl/aldi- often ~50p
1 Yeo Valley Organic Lighter Spreadable 500G £2.70 £2.70 shop around organic brands/offers
1 Tesco Prepared Butternut Squash 220G £1.00 £1.00 buy a whole squash 1kg+ for a quid and chop it yourself!!

Are you shopping just for your lactose intolerant self? definitely try out different own brand soy milk(60-80p), try making your own oat milk and lactose free frozen deserts.
A cheaper lactose free alternative to spreads and pates is bean pate that you can make yourself very cheaply.
Supermarkets have a tendency to stuff ready meals with milk powder, which won't be good for you. Making lasanga at home uses much less milk and can be done with a lactose free alternative- smiles all round!

OP, ditch the diet coke!! it's bad for you on every level and the chemical sweeteners increase your cravings for sugar and food in general. It is scientifically proven that diet soft drinks increase blood sugar. It's also reported that caffiene (found in lots of diet cokes) can increase insulin resistance. (Yes there are a few studies which dispute this, but who funds them and the investigating institutions? oh you guessed it!)
Not only will you help your purse by giving diet coke up, it will do your health the world of good. Yes it will be tough to give it up, it's basically a drug, but it's worth it and there are lots of diabetes/health forums where people do this and support each other.

Buy more seasonal veg and root veg, it's always much cheaper. If it's on offer at lidl/aldi(check their offers online) or cheap at market it's probably in season so get it! This also ensures you get lots of variety in your diet throughout the year and aren't paying through the nose for tasteless artificially ripened tomatoes. This can also reduce your "food miles"'/carbon foot print but that's another story.

Pick a meal you frequently buy ready made, be this lasagna or fish pie or whatever and find a good simple recipe for it with good reviews and make it yourself! If you like it, make a huge batch and freeze it in plastic containers you can pop in the microwave.
I'm not picking on anyone but I find it mental that so many people buy ready made pasta bake or cottage pie when they are so quick and simple to make. They take less than five minutes of actual concentration to do from scratch.

Youdontseeme

redlady_1 wrote: »

Yeah, fair point there! Can't you tell I am ill at the moment!

So what did you buy today then and I dont suppose you went to Tescos did you?

Bits and bobs nothing too exciting stuff I forgot to order mainly although I really should have done this after my delivery tonight as they are bound to forget something and I will still need to go tomorrow.

aintshesweet

his_missus wrote: »

maybe you just need to downgrade a bit and buy slightly cheaper brands.
Do you feel you throw away a lot of food? Do you tend to buy lots of store cupboard items that you don't use over the month?
Does this £200 of shopping include lots of non-food items such as expensive toiletries or CD/DVD/books?
Do you buy pet stuff? (I have 4 cats and probably about 10% of my shooping budget goes on them)

Sometimes we get stuck in a shopping routine, I'm sure we'll be able to help you out xx

I suspect it may include toiletries and other items, because that's a lot of money!

I'm hardly the best MSE-er but still manage to eat very well on around £160 for two adults a month. With a couple of takeaways chucked in.

The key is really making the most of the freezer and -generally speaking although not necessarily true for all meals - cooking from scratch.

Buy in bulk where you can... we buy 20KG bag of Basmati rice, lasts 6 months. We buy those 1KG bags of pasta and spaghetti. Those last a couple of months, if not more depending on the meal plan.

We go to the nearest asian shop and buy our spices from there. Big bags last at least 6 months for making curries and casseroles and whatnot and it's usually about a 1/3 of the price of the small jars from the supermarkets. Invest in a pestle and mortar for your spices and a good knife for chopping up herbs. Grow your own herbs on a window sill, if you can. They just need lots of light. If you can't grow them for whatever reason, buy when on offer and then freeze them. It keeps them fresh for ages.

Buy BIG joints of meat and then butcher at home - you can't be squeamish to save money. Freeze in seperate freezer bags and then defrost as and when you need it. Just make sure to label the bags with the date.

Soups are a good, healthy way to save money for lunches. Just need a good food processor or blender, or mash it up by hand carefully. You can freeze soup, too.

A really good way to save money on the takeaways is to have a good stock of easy to cook meals for when you're tired. A frozen pizza or two, dry pasta, canned tomatoes, cheese, tinned tuna, rice, marinated meat ready in the freezer (you can marinate meat and then freeze for later use - Waitrose did a feature on this in their last mag). We also bulk cook things like lasagne and spag bol (just the sauce) and freeze in 2-portion bags to bring out and defrost for hectic nights.

If you REALLY want to be MSE you can bulk cook piquante tomato sauce as a base for pasta sauces, casseroles, and curries. It can last up to 6 months if done right (it's almost like pickling it). You can also bulk cook onions and keep in a pot in the fridge. It can be a once a month thing, so you buy the onions cheaply, cook them all at once, and then add them to your recipe as required. It lasts up to one month. You can caramelise them too. Saves time cooking, too. My aunt does it.

Get creative with recipes to use up leftovers. Certain fruits you can freeze when close to over-ripening, can later make a good fruity flavoured frozen milkshake. I've used close to over-ripening blueberries and cranberries before for homemade muffins. Basically just using up the eggs leftover from toad in the hole.

I'm finding it's the homemade biscuits and cakes that cost more than shop-bought so those are mainly treats.

But yeah... many things you can do to make food go further