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

Ilona

That's very good for a family of four. I went through it wondering where I could shave a few pence off, and to be honest it's just about spot on. The only thing I would say is that if you always have cream in your coffee it's not very good for the arteries. DD might like veggie sausages for a change, you can usually get LindaM six in a box for £1. What size are your boxes of cereal? Value bran flakes I think have just gone up to 80+ p (was 77p) for 750 grm. I can't find any cereal cheaper than that. I can see here that you are on top of the job. Well done.
Ilona

maman

LittleMissAspie wrote: »

I see a lot of salads - are you buying the bags? It's cheaper to buy lettuce and cut it up.

Edit: For cleaning products try Astonish. They are animal friendly and only £1 from cheapo shops. Also I need to update my sig, it's out of date.

I've started buying loose spinach (99p for a huge bag in Lidl) and using it as salad leaves. It lasts brilliantly and as the week goes through I can always add it in to curries or casseroles to use it up.

I think a bit of batch cooking to make your own ready meals will help you. I've always got curry, mince and bolognese in the freezer. All three have a small amount of meat in and loads of extra veg to bulk it out. I find those plastic boxes from the £ shop (like the ones that take-aways come in) are ideal for holding 2 portions. When I buy meat I portion that up into meal sizes. So (e.g.) a pack of 6 pork steaks can make three meals.

My cleaning products aren't the cheapest but I mostly use Flash liquid (or equivalent) diluted in a spray and I have some other Asda SP products or Lidl. Asda SP washing powder is the cheapest and I find it perfectly ok with SP vinegar instead of softener.

I find it ok to stay within £50 for two of us but I find my freezer and cupboards are stored up with so many special offers and batch meals that most weeks I'm just buying fruit, veg, milk and bread and a few bits. It's really worth building stores whenever you can.

meg72

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.

If shopping in Asda I would advise on ALWAYS checking your receipt. they seem to overcharge on a regular basis,especially on offersgoing through at full price. I think they rely on people
not noticing.

If you are overcharged remember that Asdas policy is to give a £2 giftcardandif you are not offered it ASK FOR IT,they are very remiss in offering it.

pelirocco

LittleMissAspie wrote: »

Vegetables are cheaper than fruit, and if you are trying to avoid refined carbs then you might want to avoid all the sugar in fruit too. Good vegetables to snack on are carrots and celery.

I see a lot of salads - are you buying the bags? It's cheaper to buy lettuce and cut it up.

Edit: For cleaning products try Astonish. They are animal friendly and only £1 from cheapo shops. Also I need to update my sig, it's out of date.

Carrots are high carb

lisa26_2

Just a thought, how much of your fruit/veg/salad do you keep in the fridge? If you're finding it goes of quickly even in the fridge then it might be worth turning the temp down a bit and see if that helps. I buy iceburg lettuce (ok not as interesting as the mixed leaf bags!) and it usually keeps for a good 2 weeks in the fridge if we don't end up using it straightaway. I have fruit in my fridge that was bought 2-3 weeks ago and is still fine too.

Also, try finding a butcher for meat rather than the supermarkets. the butcher I use is similar in price to the supermarket (and often cheaper) and the quality is much better. And think about reducing your portion sizes of meat and fish slightly, I've often been told that the 'correct' adult portion size for meat or fish is a piece the size of a pack of playing cards which is not that big really! I used to use a pound of mince to make 4 portions but it'll now easily do 6 and sometimes even 8, I add lots of veg and portion up whatever I've made as I serve up that night's meal so it isn't seen as leftovers but ready meals for the freezer.

bigsmoke

Hi OP

a quick thought on your fruit and veg going off quickly - we bought a fruit and veg cushion from lakeland at christmas and the difference it's made is huge.

we used to stick everything in the crisper in the fridge in the bags that it came in and were forever throwing away half used bags of slimy veg. now we have the cushion in the bottom of the crisper (i think it helps keep air circulating around the veg or something?) and unwrap everything before it goes in - wastes much less!

it looks a lot more appealing when you open the fridge door too

HTH

BS x

santer_2

You could check for offers here, it includes most but not all

http://www.madaboutbargains.co.uk/offers/Off-Your-Trolley.htm

If you see products you use a lot of, then you could stock up on those

You can check for own brands here, set the score to 9+ as this should return those items considered close to or as good as the branded item. Tick any dietary requirements, tick to include tasting notes, then tick any of the shops nearby. Enter the search item.

http://www.supermarketownbrandguide.co.uk/search.php?table=all

For home made cleaning products

http://www.goselfsufficient.co.uk/homemade-cleaning-products.html

http://homemade-cleaning-products.com/

Butterfly_Brain

Ilona wrote: »

That's very good for a family of four. I went through it wondering where I could shave a few pence off, and to be honest it's just about spot on. The only thing I would say is that if you always have cream in your coffee it's not very good for the arteries. DD might like veggie sausages for a change, you can usually get LindaM six in a box for £1. What size are your boxes of cereal? Value bran flakes I think have just gone up to 80+ p (was 77p) for 750 grm. I can't find any cereal cheaper than that. I can see here that you are on top of the job. Well done.
Ilona

I think I put that the cereal I buy is Asda own brand and they do a good range we like the 750g boxes of malted wheats and it is cheaper to buy 3 because they then work out to £1 a box
12 weetabix type biscuits are £1 in Asda but only 69p in Sainsburys.

That was only last weeks menus, I do try and vary meals as much as I can and I have a wide range of meals that I can cook.
I also have an extremely well stocked larder that I rotate every week and I could easily survive without shopping for a month apart from fresh things if need be. That is my safety net and in times of redundancy and high bills it has been a godsend.
Actually cream has less fat content than milk and it is my only little indulgence
DD does have veggie sausages - I personally can't stand the smell of some of the veggie stuff that is available.

ac085

ohara09 wrote: »

Rosie383 –sorry you lost your post Lbut thank you for redoing it! Think that’s a great idea for making things likefish go further, I hadn’t thought of that tbh. I sometimes buy in bulk, butfind more often than not I end up throwing some away as it just goes off.

The onlymarket close to me (that I know of) seems to be more expensive. Can anyonesuggest any markets in Bristol which I should look for fruit and veg?

I think whatI find frustrating is I take time to work out what’s the cheapest deal (Asdaare v.bad for their labelling!!) and yet still my bill is going up?

FairPrincessk– I’m impressed with your budgeting skills, I’m feeling very much an overspender seeing you only spend £20-£30 LI hadn’t thought about checking online for prices first – I just always buy thefruit/veg I need, but buy the cheapest in the range – if I checked online Icould base my meals around them – good tip! I used to do leftovers for lunches, but my OHoften doesn’t have access to a microwave at work, and got a bit fed up ofhaving cold soup etc! I think that half our trouble is that because we don’treally go out any more (money saving!) and we’re both keen cooks, we like tohave a good variety of meals to stop us feeling hard done by for not going out!I definitely didn’t eat as well when I was a student – or so expensively!

Auntymabel –I’m not Old Style at all when it comes to cleaning products I’m afraid. At themoment use (Asda own brand) toilet bleach, all purpose cleaner, all purposebleach, cif, washing up liquid, kitchen cleaner spray and bathroom cleanerspray, and limelight.

Green Saints– I take a list with me, but I think you’re idea of using mysupermarket to dothe list could be a good one. At the moment it takes me ages whilst I’m at Asdato work out what the cheapest deal is (for instance, did you know that half thetime organic tinned pulses are cheaper than the standard ones?!) so this couldhelp stop me missing any deals. I’m glad I’m not the only one who is noticingAsda prices are going up L

Ragz – do youfind that the Aldi fruit and veg lasts as well as when you bought in Tesco?That’s why I originally stopped going to Aldi, I found it was going off beforeI could eat it?

Thanks all –keep the tips and ideas coming in!! xx

There is a market behind Bath road near St phillips/Avonmeads. It's the bristol Fruit market I think.
Not everything is cheap (Or fruit..it's mainly clothes..) but if you know the prices of the supermarkets you will be fine.
You can get veg, fruit, meat and flowers.

grabasnail

Hello, this happened to me last year. My food bill just went up and up. So this year I set myself a new years resolution to spend less and lower my shopping budget.

So far I have saved £50 a month on food shopping each month (reduced budget from £320/month to £270). This is for 2 adults and a 2 year old and includes nappies and wipes. We eat healthily and I saw many things on your weekly menu that we too would eat. Its very small things that have made a big difference, buying a whole chicken for sunday dinner and making a pie from the remains on monday. Making my own cakes. Swapping chick peas which seem to be rapidly increasing in price for kidney beans. I won't go on and on, just wanted to say that it can be done even with increasing food prices. Also have you thought about growing your own cut and come again salad, one pack of seeds (80p) can take you right through the summer until october, with enough salad to feed a family of 4! We often have to give bags away and you don't need a big garden.

Good luck!

Snabs