Grocery shopping

goggins1977

I do still have nappies to buy for 2 children so that mounts up i suppose,we dont drink tea or coffee lmao my sister in law works for johnson & johnson so i get all my shampoo,soap and the likes from her.....another thing that boost my bill is my other halves irn bru addiction which is 7 bottles a week at £1.39 ....I am sure i could cut the cost of my shopping but £300-350 is fine by me we eat very well and everything is fresh the only thing i have in the freezer is things that i have made .....

frugalsar

Sorry also forgot to say I make sure we get 5 a day- usually 3 veg (with dinner) and 2 fruit for desert and snacks! we do have frozen chips but they are tesco healthy eating, I make a lot of stews. We always have cheerios or shreddies for a good start breakfast. me and hubby drink loads of sugar free cordial for our 8 glasses of water a day but the kids actually love water!

Clowance

We are a family of four, kids 9 and 11, cook mostly from scratch, and spend about the same as you. I find I waste some fruit and veg, not much else. For convenience I buy pasta sauce and white lasagne sauce, but no other regular convenience stuff. I dont dispute you could live on a lot less, but trying to eat reasonable quality stuff (not necessarily branded) makes it difficult to cut down further. Many items I only buy when on offer, then get loads. Sainsburys lean mince is a good example of this, then try and make 1 kg do 3 meals for 4. I wont buy cheap sausages for example, the expensive ones are bad enough for whats in them!
Makro meat is very good and if you buy whats on offer its pretty cheap too.
Haven't yet found a source of cheap fruit/veg: markets, boot sales and farm shops are as dear as the supermarket and often not as fresh.

Clowance

We are a family of four, kids 9 and 11, cook mostly from scratch, and spend about the same as you. I find I waste some fruit and veg, not much else. For convenience I buy pasta sauce and white lasagne sauce, but no other regular convenience stuff. I dont dispute you could live on a lot less, but trying to eat reasonable quality stuff (not necessarily branded) makes it difficult to cut down further. Many items I only buy when on offer, then get loads. Sainsburys lean mince is a good example of this, then try and make 1 kg do 3 meals for 4. I wont buy cheap sausages for example, the expensive ones are bad enough for whats in them!
Makro meat is very good and if you buy whats on offer its pretty cheap too.
Haven't yet found a source of cheap fruit/veg: markets, boot sales and farm shops are as dear as the supermarket and often not as fresh.

One tip: recently we have been trying to switch to wholemeal bread, but I objected to paying the price when white often had offers. But I found that if you buy from the instore bakery the crusty wholemeal loaves are both nicer and cheaper, and can be bought sliced. Have to buy more often though, don't imagine they freeze.

frugalsar

goggins1977 wrote:

I do still have nappies to buy for 2 children so that mounts up i suppose,we dont drink tea or coffee lmao my sister in law works for johnson & johnson so i get all my shampoo,soap and the likes from her.....another thing that boost my bill is my other halves irn bru addiction which is 7 bottles a week at £1.39 ....I am sure i could cut the cost of my shopping but £300-350 is fine by me we eat very well and everything is fresh the only thing i have in the freezer is things that i have made .....

to save on nappies have you tried joining the pampers and higgies clubs? they send you vouchers every couple of months worth about £4 I joined from my address and my mums and hubby mums to get triple lots of coupons!
also I only every bought them from boots in bulk on 2 for £16 as you can use 1 coupon fer each pack and usually get extra points coupons for total spend out of the advantage card machine! also boots parenting club send you coupons for nappies and wipes and all other useful kinds of thing for babies!

frugalsar

goggins1977 wrote:

I do still have nappies to buy for 2 children so that mounts up i suppose,we dont drink tea or coffee lmao my sister in law works for johnson & johnson so i get all my shampoo,soap and the likes from her.....another thing that boost my bill is my other halves irn bru addiction which is 7 bottles a week at £1.39 ....I am sure i could cut the cost of my shopping but £300-350 is fine by me we eat very well and everything is fresh the only thing i have in the freezer is things that i have made .....

to save on nappies have you tried joining the pampers and higgies clubs? they send you vouchers every couple of months worth about £4 I joined from my address and my mums and hubby mums to get triple lots of coupons!
also I only every bought them from boots in bulk on 2 for £16 as you can use 1 coupon fer each pack and usually get extra points coupons for total spend out of the advantage card machine! also boots parenting club send you coupons for nappies and wipes and all other useful kinds of thing for babies!

frugalsar

goggins1977 wrote:

I do still have nappies to buy for 2 children so that mounts up i suppose,we dont drink tea or coffee lmao my sister in law works for johnson & johnson so i get all my shampoo,soap and the likes from her.....another thing that boost my bill is my other halves irn bru addiction which is 7 bottles a week at £1.39 ....I am sure i could cut the cost of my shopping but £300-350 is fine by me we eat very well and everything is fresh the only thing i have in the freezer is things that i have made .....

to save on nappies have you tried joining the pampers and higgies clubs? they send you vouchers every couple of months worth about £4 I joined from my address and my mums and hubby mums to get triple lots of coupons!
also I only every bought them from boots in bulk on 2 for £16 as you can use 1 coupon fer each pack and usually get extra points coupons for total spend out of the advantage card machine! also boots parenting club send you coupons for nappies and wipes and all other useful kinds of thing for babies!

goggins1977

i have tried the local farmers market and the prices of their fruit and veg was ALOT more than thr supermarket,i know they have to make a living but i need to feed a family

goggins1977

hey frugalsar i read it the 1st time lmao

I am a member of the clubs but never get any vouchers from them i dont buy huggies as i dont like them ,my little girl always gets nappy rash after a couple of days use of huggies

jubarnes26

I spend about £50 a week on 2 adults, 7 yr old and nearly 3 yr old. Advice is much the same as every one else on here. Our meals are pretty basic, spag bol, shepherds pie, chicken casserole, chicken curry etc . I still think I could get it down more if I actually bothered to write a list and did more Old style.

That £50 used to include toiletries but thanks to advice on here I now have enough free toiletries to last about a year (or two !!) Check the H & B thread on the coupons & discounts section.

I'm sure you could skim some off your bill if you really have a look , are you wasting anything? Are you shopping in the most expensive shop? Could you have some really basic meals one or two nights a week Eggs on toast etc.

HTH & good luck