Soa

mrsb83_2

Ok, well you're not really cooking from scratch. Jars, prepared and frozen food are expensive if they make up a lot of what you're eating/buying.

3 for £10 deals on meat are usually bad value. You can buy a pack of chicken thighs for £2.50 and fish from the counter can be excellent value. I also mince my own meat - I use less common cuts, which are usually value branded.

Don't buy cleaning products at the supermarket - Wilko is almost always cheaper. Also, buying out of season fruit and veg is expensive. I only buy veg which is on offer.

If that was my menu for the week, I'd honestly be looking to spend under £40. Are you concious of how much things cost? Are you looking for good deals? It doesn't take long to check what meat and veg is on offer and plan around that.

sugarcube84

You have got a similar list to what i buy on a weekly/10day basis. My shop costs £50 for 10days thats including nappies but doesnt include 2 tops up of milk bread at 1.50 each. My monthly spend is around the £180 mark.

-I now only shop at aldi/lidl
-i cook all meals from scratch so no jars.
-I have cut the cleaning products by only buying washing up liquid, stardrops, bleach and soda crystals.
- washing powder is halved and a spoon of soda crystals added.
- half measured of smartprice/value fabric softener.
- less pop more squash
- less meat in dishes and use more veg/lentils
- using up leftovers
- baking at the weekends for snacks for the week
- cheap toilet paper you get used to it and it gets flusehed at the end of the day
- all own brand /value soaps, shampoos, etc etc there is no difference that i've noticed.

I totally changed my mindset towards the foodshop even something so small as fruit shoots/kids juice i don't buy them anymore instead i invested in a couple more beakers and remember to pack one filled with squash/water wherever i go. Same with snacks i pack a couple of boubons.custard creams in a tupperware box.

Chicken, i have started cooking at least one meal with legs/thighs as its cheaper and tastier.

Hope that helps a bit.

pleasedelete

I shop at m and s and waitrose and don't spend that with 2 big teenagers. I do go to morrisons once a month for basics (pasta etc).

Are you buying rubbish such as clothes, DVDs, make up etc from supermarket? It's easy to throw them in trolley and then think it's all food. That's why I like waitrose- no temptations.

Look at the receipts. How much is food and household cleaning and how much is luxuries.

money_honey

There are 4 of us in our family, and our spend is a max of £350 a month on food shopping (including alcohol, household goods, toiletries, nappies etc). I never, ever buy cheap meat except for use in casseroles and I don't tend to buy many value brands (a lot of the sauces etc tend to be high in sugar or salt), but I do make 90% of food completely from scratch.

For example, I also do the 3 for £10 offer but I buy 2 packs of mince at 700g each (total 1400g) and a whole chicken. From the mince I make spaghetti bolognaise from scratch, and chili con carne from scratch. I cook them both at the same time as I tend to use similar ingredients in both e.g. onions, garlic, mushrooms and peppers, and tinned tomatoes. I have all the spices and a stock of dried herbs, tins of beans etc are cheap and from 2 packs of mince I end up making 4 portions of spaghetti bolognaise and 12ish portions of chilli - I bulk them up with lots of veg as it's cheaper. (So for 4 people that would be one meal of spag bol and 3 meals of chilli) The chilli I serve in wraps to make burritos, on value tortilla chips to make nachos, and with rice to make standard chilli con carne so it doesn't get boring having lots of the same meal. With the chicken I cook it for a roast, give everyone slightly smaller portions of meat and extra veg & potatoes, then use the rest of the chicken the next day, usually either in a stir fry or in wraps with veg to make fajitas. I also boil the carcass and either make soup or stock from it (if I make soup that's yet more meals I get out of it). So £10 worth of meat can go quite a long way.

mytimetoshine2012

tryingtobegood75 wrote: »

ok, looking at my last supermarket shop till receipt - rough breakdown

fruit/veg - 12pounds, (potatoes/carrots/butternutsquash/brocolli/mangetout/bananas/apples/grapes/melon/leaks)
toiletries/cleaningproducts - 10pounds (toilet paper/toothpaste/washingup powder/painkillers)
meat - 16pounds (3 for 10pounds - chicken/salmon/chicken) shoulder of pork
frozen food - 12pounds (fish fingers/pizza/icelollie/peas/chicken dippers)
canned food - 10pounds (beans/sauce jars/ketchup/cupasoup/tuna)
cereal/bread/milk/juice/crisps/yoghurts/treats/pasta/ham/ s etc - 15pounds
wine 8pounds

The total list was about 85pounds plus we tend to do topup shop 10-15 pounds once or twice a week. Of course we don't buy the same things every week but the total is about the same...although the weeks we entertain it goes up 30 pounds

meal plan:

lunches - packed lunch for the kids (tuna/ham wraps/fruit/yoghurt/fruitjuice) Soups - butternutsquash and leek/potato this week / baked potatoes with cheese/tuna
dinner
sunday/monday - slow roasted pork - potatoes - veg
tuesday pasta-kids - salmon adults
wed - chicken curry for all
thurs - pizza kids - chicken/veg for adults
friday - lentil/veg curry for everyone
sat - lunch at the inlaws!

Kids eat separate on days they have clubs at 5-6pm

I mean we do eat well but in order to do that for half or even a third I wouldn't know where to begin

Thanks. This makes it easier. I think that shopping around instead of all in one place may be a problem. As Mrs B suggests try wilko's or Homebargains for toiletries and cleaning things.

A crucial part of our plan is where to purhcse fruit and veg. The main supermarkets are IMO VERY expensive for F&V and tbh it is not even good quality. We get most of ours from Aldi (mangetout for example is about 75p there compared to £1+ at the big four, three leeks are 89p, mushrooms 85p ). In general the food is of good quality and lasts longer than other places. I think everything on your list would have been about £7 compared to £12. If there isn't one locally maybe try local shops or a market?

I can't comment on meat because we don't eat it but we do eat fish and again the Tuna steaks, salmon steaks and prawns are good value for money from Aldi and excellent quality. Tuna is 45p percan for flakes (which is the same drained weight as the chunks!). Again look in Homebargains or pound shops for some tins.

Making your own bread and pizzas will help considerably as they are so cheap and you can make plenty and freeze it. It is also more filling and may reduce the need for snacks. Likewise if you try and make sauces from scratch rather than buying a jar as it sometimes works out cheaper to do this.

Cereals are really expensive. We get ours from the pound shop. They also sell cheerios bars and other things for lunch box snacks.

Also try to lower the entertainment budget. We recently had two friends for dinner (making four all together) and we made 2 12" HM garlic breads, HM ravioli stuffed with cream cheese garlic and mushrooms (pasta was HM too), a HM tomato and basil sauce, salad and HM apple crumble for dessert. It costed out at about £6 for everything ( we use basic flour, apples from Aldi etc). I can imagine how much that would have cost to buy We all had plenty to eat and everyone enjoyed it.

People have mentioned the OS board already and it is worth having a look as they ahve some great recipe ideas. IMO you could eat at the same level even if you make a significant cut.

Good luck!
MTTS

[Deleted User]

tryingtobegood75 wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2020 Any way to increase? Overtime?
Partners monthly income after tax....... 804 as above?
Benefits................................ 134.8
Total monthly income.................... 2958.8

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 602
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 16.82
Council tax............................. 122 Is this over 10 or 12 months? Consider asking your council if you can spread over 12 to reduce monthly cost (but you wouldn't get your 2 free months obv. Do you overpay/save somewhere the 2 free months, or do they just get absorbed into daily spends)
Electricity............................. 50 Check every 6 months to see if you are on the cheapest tariff for your area for both this and gas, sometimes they are cheaper for online and duel fuel tariffs. Also, turn the boiler thermostat down by a degree or two (I have done this and I can't tell the difference), and do the same for the central heating thermostat. Also, if switching company is cheaper always check cashback sites (Quidco, onepollcashback, topacashback etc) for incentives to do so
Gas..................................... 64 as above
Water rates............................. 0 are these included in your CTax (they will be if you are in Scotland)
Telephone (land line)................... 24 Does this include internet - as with gas & electric check for deals and lower packages as and when your contract expires
Mobile phone............................ 22 How many phones is this for. Although this seems very reasonable, check that you are actually using the minutes/texts/data or whatever is included in your package, if you aren't consider a different package or PAYG - I have saved a lot since moving to GiffGaff
TV Licence.............................. 12.5
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 37 Is this necessary? Would freeview be an appropriate alternative? Or freesat? Or even a lower package. Also if pay-for TV is important to you, check with all the companies that you are on the cheapest for what it is you watch
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 525 I know that you have said that this is the lowest that you can get this, but I really think with some effort that this can go lower! It is very, very high. Have you tried the lower cost supermarkets Lidl/Aldi (I find their fruit and veg to be much fresher than MrT.), also they have very nice wine at cheaper prices than tesco - You cannot get everything in these shops, as generally they are quite small, but there are many things that you can get. Do you meal plan? batch cook? take packed lunches to work? Cook from scratch? Buy in bulk when things are on offer etc - Take a look at the OldStyle board for advice on getting this down, I have found the information there invaluable in helping me here.
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 75
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 24
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 15
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 80 can this be redced if you were to purchase weekly/monthly/season/yearly ticket?
Buildings insurance..................... 12 At reewal shop around (and check the cashback sites) and see if you can get the same or similar cover for cheaper - often combined buildings and contents can be cheaper!)
Contents insurance...................... 12 as above
Other insurance......................... 36 - boiler 14 - 22 mortgage ins Can either of these be got cheaper elewhere?
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 40 - mainly £400 xmas (do you actually save this somewhere seperately for when it's needed?)
Haircuts................................ 15 Again, this doesn't seem unreaonable, but is there a college nearby that trains hairdressers, as often you can get free/very cheap cuts here
Entertainment........................... 300 Without seeing exactly what gets spent where it's difficult to advice, but for meals out try and use vouchers and discount codes, and for everything else make sure that you are making use of any offers that are available (eg today through NatWest I have booked for me and the OH to go to a cinema film preview for free through NatWest because I bank with them).
Emergency fund.......................... 400
Kids clubs.............................. 45
Total monthly expenses.................. 2574.32

Assets
Cash.................................... 500 Is this where you are putting all the cash that you have in your SOA for yearly or less than monthly bills, MOT? Xmas/presents. Or is this earmarked for something else?
House value (Gross)..................... 170000
Car(s).................................. 3000
Total Assets............................ 173500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 113000...(602)......4.99
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 400......(16.82)....0 Is this 0%? And if so is it 0% for the entire duration of the loan?
Total secured & HP debts...... 113400....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
RBS credit card................1880......157.......0
Total unsecured debts..........1880......157.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,958.8
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,574.32
Available for debt repayments........... 384.48
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 157
Amount left after debt repayments....... 227.48

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 173,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -113,400
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,880
Net Assets.............................. 58,220

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

Hi,

I have made some comments above, and I hope that at least some of them are of use to you. But I have to say that I am not that sure what it is that you are aiming for, as you seem to have included monthly savings in the SOA and still having a surplus at the end of the month. Are you wanting to save even more?

HTH

D9

FBaby

I used to spend close to you on food (save the wine) and couldn't understand why! Like you, I'm not in debts, but felt I should have been saving more. I started paying more attention to the costs of things I bought at the supermarket and what I learnt was that for one, I used to almost always have one or two 'unecessary' items (piece of clothing, a book, a toy, something for the kitchen, a DVD etc..) which didn't seem much, but actually added anything from £10 to £20 per week. I now avoid these aisles! I also realised that i tended to fall for the convenient packaging paying way too much. Treats were the shoking items, those yogurts coated raisins almost £3.00 for a few packs, same with biscuits... I gave these up, buy big packs now and put them in tipperware to keep them fresh. I also really look for the special deals, it's amazing how cheap it can make one meal.

Another silly obvious trick is to really go through my cupboard/fridge before I set off shopping. The number of times I ended up bying something I thought I'd run out of when I hadn't... I must be doing something right because I now hardly ever throw anything away.

And finally, STOP the top-ups... you shouldn't need these, not for that price anyway. What do you need to top up on? I used to do just the same. The only thing I buy extra now is fresh bread.

I have reduced by shopping bill by about 25% now, and I feel a lot better for it, for my bank balance, but also that I don't waste so much.

Wellyboots6

tryingtobegood75 wrote: »

Groceries is v. high I know but we've tried and tried to reduce this, (it does include everything from tescos inc alcohol - 12bottles wine/mth) that is as low as we can get it

Could this be where the money is going? It may be worth considering cutting this down.

If you spend say £5 on a bottle of wine, that is already £60 a month on your shopping budget.

Also, you are drinking at least 120 units of alcohol a month between you. If men should drink no more than 21 units a week, and women no more than 14 units a week then you may benefit health wise from cutting down. That's at least 9600 calories a month just from wine!

Just an idea

jellyjenny

What is a 'normal' amount to spend per person, per week on food? Do you count kids as 'full' people or half?
Also, is it possibly to shop ethically on a budget? I don't buy eggs from caged hens, only buy free range chicken, and british beef and lamb. I only buy the cheaper cuts though, such as brisket and shoulder of lamb. And we eat a lot less meat now and much more greenery.

debtfreewannabe321

We eat for £250 a month and there is 2 adults, 1 teen & a 2 & 3 yr old. I used to spend £500+ a month too. I found that the first month i cut it to £300 and still went over! But each month i would cut away a little of the budget. I've noticed we eat healthier, there is hardly any waste compared to what we used to have. I do one big monthly shop for cupboard items, meat and anything that can be frozen (milk, cheese, butter etc) and then top up shops through out the month. I've also dumped te$co & A$da for Ald1. Their food is just as good! And price is fab. For example. blueberries in te$co were £1.99....in ald1 they were 59p!!!!!

I would also chip away at the entertainment fund. Take off £50 next month and see if you really miss it?