My shopping bill is huge! Where am I going so wrong?

rosie383

Maybe she meant doing the price check guarantee thing which takes seconds to do. I know Asda usually works out cheaper than other places, but sometimes the stuff you buy is on offer elsewhere so you do get a decent voucher, and every little helps!

Barbeduk

Wow, there are some great ideas on here! The first thing I would do is join the grocery challenge. It's usually at the top of the old style thread. It's full of great tips and recipes and the support really keeps you on track.

I find it really helpful to keep all my receipts, it's amazing what sneaks into your trolley and just 1 or 2 extra things really can bump up the cost.

How are you buying your meat? It's usually cheaper to buy a joint and then use the leftovers for other meals. For example with a chicken you can have it roasted and use leftovers for risotto, curry, pasta dishes, pie . . . and then of course you have the bones for stock.

We also have at least 3 meat free dinners a week.

I have found that going to lidl makes a huge difference and I now walk round "normal" sm thinking "I'm not paying that"!! All my cleaning products and toiletries are from lidl too (and I used to be a bit of a Neal's Yard girl):o.

Good luck!! Perhaps you could put all the money you save into a treat pot. That should keep everyone motivated!!:D

patchwork_cat

What about your portion sizes.On your list you are having chicken for lunch on sunday, how many more meals would you get out of that chicken ? Aldi has free range chickens for £4.99 , whilst I can't make a chicken stretch to a week for the three of us it does do 2 main meals and I could make soup out of the carcass (although try as I might I can't make tasty stock from a carcass, how I wish Grandma was still around her chicken soup was lovely).

BitterAndTwisted

Chicken for lunch on Sunday for two people is unlikely to be a whole bird. If it was, it would provide much more than one meal and some cold for a sandwich.

If I was a meat-eating person I wouldn't downgrade from the free-range/organic stuff I'd just limit the portion-sizes. For health an adult doesn't really need more than 100 grammes a day of protein and that includes dairy, eggs, pulses, nuts and seeds.

My local high street has a proper fishmonger and they sell "offcuts" at £1.50 a kilo. Lots of bony bits but half a kilo makes a couple of fish pies or a load of fish-cakes. More than a single person can eat in one meal, in any case. I bought sprats last week and they were dirt-cheap and very tasty.

About spuds: I noticed that L!dl have "white" potatoes (UK-grown Melody variety) on offer at the moment. 2.5 kilos for £1.20 or two for £2. They say they're good for streaming, boiling, roasting and mash so possibly not the best ones for chips if you're that way inclined.

OP: you don't need to be buying all those specialist cleaning-products. If you have an hour spare over a weekend you could have some fun and make your own "Laundry Gloop". This is also first-class stuff for all your normal cleaning jobs around the house. I made 15 litres of it (about a year's supply for me) for less than two quid. Clean off lime-scale with cheap vinegar. You can use that instead of fabric conditioner if you're not hooked on scented laundry.

If your OH doesn't have access to a microwave at work it might be time to buy a thermos so he can take in soup or hot food like chilli and stews with him.

If you spend a lot of money n bread for sandwiches for lunches to take to work have a look round your local charity shops: my local British Heart Foundation one sells appliances and I got a bread-maker for £15 and the bread is absolutely delicious.

Butterfly_Brain

We shop in Aldi.

I only buy the super six products that can be frozen straight away, such as broccoli, peppers, carrots, mushrooms, cauliflower etc and I go to the local greengrocer or market for the rest.
I make my own bread, tortillas and pitta breads for lunches

I cannot fault Aldi meat and they always have a good deal on. I buy Aldi 800g mince which is the nicest mince that I have ever had and at £2.40 I can easily make four meals from it I just bulk out with lentils, veg etc to make it go further - I don't like it bulked with oats, so I would rather use veg instead.(Asda add pork to their SP Beef Mince ewww)
Yesterday I made 2 large lasagne and had enough mince left for 2 Spag Bols so I had four meals for less than a fiver.
I buy a joint of gammon, boil it and use the meat for sandwiches for the week.

I have just put some lettuce, tomato, cucumber, courgette seeds and cress into some compost.
We buy a small chicken and that stretches to four people having a roast, another meal such as a curry, then a risotto followed by using the carcass for stock.

I have been buying Aldi pasta because it is very good and I get 1 kg of spaghetti for 50p

We get our milk and sugar from Farmfoods because it is cheaper and for everything else we go to Asda - it used to be Sainsbury, but I went in there last week and was horrified to see how much their prices have risen in comparison to Asda and their prices are rising just as quickly.

I buy as much as I can when things are on offer and have a purse that I put £10 - £20 a month in for just that.

I buy large joints of meat when they are on offer and cut them up into smaller joints and I also roast one joint then slice it for sandwiches or to quickly warm up with gravy for a super fast midweek meal, with HM roasties straight from the freezer and HF veg.

Frugal_Housewife

Idiophreak wrote: »

Interesting to do if you have the strength. I used to write down what I spent to the penny on a spreadsheet as I went round, then tally it up. Took a little while, but meant I could tell instantly if they'd overcharged me (finding out what item they'd overcharged on still took a minute ). Doing this, around 80% of the time I found I was overcharged. I guess it's what they count on, but eventually I decided that it wasn't worth waiting 15 minutes every week to get my 26p back, so I don't do it any more.

I mean this

http://www.asdapriceguarantee.co.uk/Compare-Prices/ASDA-receipt.aspx

scottishminnie

Frugal_Housewife wrote: »

I mean this

http://www.asdapriceguarantee.co.uk/Compare-Prices/ASDA-receipt.aspx

I would second always checking this. I only started after Christmas and most weeks I've had a voucher back - some as little as 17p but last weeks was just over £6 so it definitely all adds up.

DundeeDoll

We shifted to lidl beg year and love it. Loads of their stuff is local, they do fairtrade and freerange. The shop isnt huge so it takes less time as well. We've probs halved our SM bill.

Butterfly_Brain

This is what I use for four people including a vegetarian.

Breakfasts = Porridge 75p for 1 kg or cheap cereal 3 boxes £3 in Asda £3.75
3 x 4pts milk £3.00
2 pots double cream for coffee @79p plus one for making butter £2.37
1 butterlicious for cakes and biscuits etc 89p

Sunday:
Lunch...... Roast Chicken £2.59 Aldi,
2 kg Roast potatoes (I roast mine in water) from a 25 kg sack of potatoes that cost £5 from local GG which will last two , maybe three weeks so approx 30p plus veg in season – this week it was kale and carrots (50p in local GG) HM Yorkshire puddings (approx cost 30p for 12) total cost plus a quorn fillet for vegetarian (On offer 2 bags of 6 fillets for £3 in Farm foods that is 25p) Total £3.94
Dinner....... Boiled eggs and toast with an apple sponge pudding and custard that is for 2 eggs each from Greengrocer £1.50 a dozen 8 eggs = 15p each = £1.20 plus HM bread that costs about 40p a loaf followed by Apple sponge which is a few Bramleys from GG 50p sponge.... 4oz flour, 2 eggs, 4oz caster sugar, 4oz soft margarine from Aldi a 6p instant custard from Asda total for pud £1.86 so the total for meal is £3.46
Total cost for the day is £7.40

Monday:
Lunch....HM pitta bread 40p with gammon and lettuce and tomatoes using HG produce = £4 for gammon joint so based on 7 days that is 66p a meal for the gammon DD has spiced quorn fillet 25p (I sprinkle with All purpose seasoning from the cupboard costs 1p) plus a piece of fruit such as an apple approx 9p each (Aldi 69p for 8) = £1.67 for 4 lunches.
Dinner:... Chicken Crumble... left over chicken, 1 small onion 10p, mushrooms 20p, carrots 10p, gravy some roast potatoes 30p, Crumble approx 40p to make,serve with left over Kale quorn fillet with herbs for DD 27p Total £1.37
Total cost for the day is £3.04

Tuesday:
Lunch... As Monday £1.67
Dinner... Chicken risotto using leg meat from chicken plus some, mushrooms 20p, onion 10p, handful of frozen peas 5p HM chicken stock 20p half a bag Arborio rice 49p total £1.95 including quorn fillet risotto for DD 25p

Total cost for the day is £3.62

Wednesday:
Lunch.. Egg and cress in pitta with salad plus fruit £1.50
Dinner .....Gammon 66p, HM Wedges 50p ,peas 20p and pineapple 7p a ring DD will have quorn bacon approx £1 Total £2.43

Total cost for the day is £3.93

Thursday:
Lunch... Tuna, Mayo and HG lettuce roll ups using HM tortillas £1.41 plus Grated cheese for veggie option 25p plus piece of fruit = super 6 orange each 10p Total £ 2.06
Dinner..... Liver 75p and Bacon (half a pack streaky 49p) with onions 10p, mash 40p and gravy Total £1.78 veggie meal = HM quiche £1 using 4eggs 45p, milk, frozen peppers 15p, onion from main meal and some mushrooms 20p

Total cost for the day is £4.00

Friday:
Lunch... LO quiche with HG lettuce and tomatoes plus fruit Total 40p
Dinner... ... HM lasagne £1.20 (based on a batch cook less than £5 for 4meals of 12 portions of bolognaise mince base) DD will have HM mac cheese 60p = £1.80
Total for the day £2.20

Saturday
Lunch HM Celery soup Cost about 75p HM bread 40p Total £1.15
Dinner.... Omelette with stuffed mushrooms and sausages Eggs £1.20 Field Mushrooms £1 a pack of 4 large, grated cheese 25p packet of golden rice 27p sausages 15p each DD an me just have omelette and mushrooms and the men have 2 sausages each Total £2.57

So in total £37.52....... £34.50 without doing veggie not bad for a family of four

blackandwhitebunny

I hope this works...:o Its a link to an excel spreadsheet that enables you to cost a recipe quite easily. It works for any units as long as its the same for weight bought and weight used. So you can enter 6 for weight bought if you're using eggs and 2 for weight used and it'll still work.
http://www.foodafactoflife.org.uk/attachments/22996191-0ed3-493129dd9ec4.xls