newbie advice

sharronloves2spend

mrsspendalot wrote: »

OK, this is last weeks shop, which wasn't a particularly big one as we were using up freezer supplies so this probably isn't a good representation of what I normally buy.

orange barley water £1.49 just buy one give water when its gone restrict juice to meals only
lemon barley water £1.49
milk £1.62
squash £1.05 (hubby)
milk £1.11
vinegar 17p
ketchup 29p
salad cream £1.35 cheaper version?
loo roll £1.32
bread £1.03do you really need to spend that on a loaf? downgrade it!
skips 99p
bread £1.03
bread £1.03
bananas £1.19
eggs £2.09for how many?
apples £1.47 dont buy prepacked pick your own you always get bruised ones any way!
apples £1.47
crisps 99p
wipes £1.24
wipes £1.24
wipes £1.24
wipes £1.24
- 98p wipes offer
- 98p wipes offer
pitta bread 34p
toilet wipes 99p dont buy these use stardrops with disinfectant lasts way longer!
toilet wipes 99p
- 98 toilet wipes 2 for £1 offer
pitta bread 34p
pitta bread 34p
pitta bread 34p
- 8p pitta offer
- 8p pitta offer
chips £1.39make your own buy a sack of spuds
yoghurt 14p
yoghurt 14p
yoghurt 14p
yoghurt 35p
fromage frais £1.48
fromage frais £1.48
fromage frais £1.48
fromage frais £1.48
-£1.48 fromage offer
-£1.48 fromage offer
choc mousse 35p
choc mousse 35p
biscuit bars 95p cut these out
pure apple cartons 64p
pure orange cartons 75p buy the cheapest 58p me thinks
lasagne 49p
sausages 99p
marg £1.62
cheese £1.71
bacon (special big pack) £4.99
baby rice cakes 89p
ham £2.49 is this pre packed if so get it off the deli counter
ham £2.49
mince £1.10
flour 49p

total £51.80

hope this helps! i managed to get our grocery bills down by doing one monthly shop for tins/cereals/juice/non perishables then doing a small shop for fruit veg yoghourts every 7-10 days. we cut ours from £600 per month to around£220 per month and there is six of us and two cats and a growing puppy! if you have a look at black saturns threads shes a genius in that field, she taught me a thing or two!lol

sharronloves2spend

soz forgot do highlight my points in red!

lynzpower

hio therehopefully I can help with this Ill pop my comments in next to the items?

[orange barley water £1.49
lemon barley water £1.49
milk £1.62
squash £1.05 (hubby) ( 3 bottles of sqaush- could you dilute juice, ie value OJ with water, thats 51p an healthier)
milk £1.11
vinegar 17p
ketchup 29p
salad cream £1.35 ( is this heinz? Have you tried buying smaller bottles of shops own I know the somerfield one is about 50p)
loo roll £1.32 ( did you check this was the cheapest on the shleves?)
bread £1.03 ( have you considered picking up a breadmaker? you can pick them off ebay or freecytcle for a few quid and are worth thier weight in gold)
skips 99p
bread £1.03 ( as above)
bread £1.03
bananas £1.19
eggs £2.09 ( did you need ALL these)
apples £1.47
apples £1.47 ( try markets for sure)
crisps 99p
wipes £1.24
wipes £1.24
wipes £1.24
wipes £1.24
- 98p wipes offer
- 98p wipes offer ( all these wipes? MAny on here use flannel & water just as good!)
pitta bread 34p
toilet wipes 99p
toilet wipes 99p ( are these for cleaning the loo, what about a dishcloth & bleach- costs pence & not disposable, youll have for next time!)
- 98 toilet wipes 2 for £1 offer
pitta bread 34p
pitta bread 34p
pitta bread 34p
- 8p pitta offer
- 8p pitta offer
chips £1.39 ( as what the others said about potaties)
yoghurt 14p
yoghurt 14p
yoghurt 14p
yoghurt 35p
fromage frais £1.48
fromage frais £1.48
fromage frais £1.48
fromage frais £1.48
-£1.48 fromage offer
-£1.48 fromage offer ( NORMAL yogs are cheaper than fromage frais, are you buying shops own or value ones?)
choc mousse 35p
choc mousse 35p ( needed? You can make these yourself if you NEED them)
biscuit bars 95p ( needed?)
pure apple cartons 64p
pure orange cartons 75p
lasagne 49p
sausages 99p
marg £1.62
cheese £1.71
bacon (special big pack) £4.99 ( bacons the most expensive thing going. I dont buy it often, only as a treat) for a fiver you could have got a lot of mince or stewing steak or turkey instead, look ofr the cheaper cuts)
baby rice cakes 89p ( how are these different from normal rice cakes, could you have got them cheaper?)
ham £2.49 ( again, ham is very expensive, could cheaper sandwicxh fillings be used, chesse, egg, tuna?)
ham £2.49
mince £1.10
flour 49p

total £51.80/QUOTE]

Im looking at this and wondering what you actually have for meals? Im not seeing anything really jump out at me here apart from sausages & chips/ lasagne?

Id always start with a meal plan ( if you havnet already) and then take it from there. Only buy what you NEED and make sure its the cheapest.
I would say the bogofs in morrissons often seem to be of the junk variety, the bogofs in sains & tescos are good

Dont forget to check out farmfoods, heron if you have, and poundland for crisps/ tins etc.

liney

The sandwich ham you bought is very expensive. Why not buy a ham from the butchers to cook and slice? You will proabably get more out of it. You can also buy a whole chicken for £2 and cook for sandwiches.

You can buy bacon peices very cheaply for cooking with, or buy proper dry cured bacon from the butchers which wont shrink to nothing like supermarket stuff does.

How long will the baby wipes last for? ! heh

Children can drink water/milk instead of squash?

In Asda the £1.48 fomage frais are a 12 pack. Will your children really eat 48 of these by the time they go off without having them at every meal?

mumoftwo

I have not been doing this OS moneysaving for very long (4 weeks or so) and I read someone's suggestion about making a meal plan. Make shopping list from that plus your extras, done more homebaking. Bought a breadmaker (£28 on special on Mrphy Richards website) and a slowcooker (in the sale) and it has made a HUGE difference to our budget. Before I would just go to the supermarket and buy what I thought we needed or what I thought we would eat that week. Now I just buy what I need for the weeks menu, and extras like stardrops and vinegar, breadflour etc. My kids take homemade soup to school in a flask but not such a good idea for young children.

I thought that making a weekly menu would be boring or restrictive but we have our favourites anyway, like spag bol. chili, chicken wrapped in bacon, sausages and mash, and dishes we regularly cook and it has made my life easier knowing what I am cooking. I also include a few quick meals incase I am not in the mood for cooking or we are in a hurry, like tortilla's or soup out of the freezer, omelette with home made bread,

I get a box of vegetables delivered from my local farmer every week for £5

So, in short,:D start with a meal plan, shop from that and see how you go.. Start small, don't panic, come on the threads to read, I have learned such a lot. Good luck!!

Gingham_Ribbon

Hi!

A couple of things I noticed that might make a difference.

Can you encourage the children to drink water rather than barley water and juice, at least most of the time?

Do you go through a lot of wipes? (I see they were on offer so smart move to stock up.) Do you use them to mop up spills, clean the children's hands and faces when they're at home etc? Can you use washable cloths to do these things?

I don't know what toilet wipes are. Do you need them?

The others have come up with some good ideas and the links Pink provided should keep you going too.

The best of luck. Keep posting on here. It will make a difference!

Firehorse

Morning all, just having a :coffee: and my :money: :money: fix!!!


I appreciate that's probably not a typical week, due to lack of main meals on the list (as previously noted). I'd also be interested in a week's list whereby you include the main meals, with perhaps a list of meals. Would give us something more to work with.

Packups - these are always difficult. For the kids try costing it per day, then see how you could better stretch the money. For hubby, does he have a microwave at work? Just thinking that a reheated leftover (ie stew) could be more filling for him and possibly cheaper than the packup bits. What about a flask of homemade soup as well. Homemade quiche, is always good too.

Squash - we only have this as treats. We do however buy juice, or juice our own fruit. I'm lucky, my children prefer milk or water.

Bread - I notice you shop at Morrisons. Do you take advantage of their end of day reductions. My favourite number 9p often comes up. I know it's russian roulette leaving essentials to the last minute, but I make sure I have a loaf in, and these supplment etc, making future savings. I take as many as is not cheeky and freeze them. There is also, making your own. This is the next thing on my list of purchases.

Freezer - I know you said you didn't have much space. I didn't either. I now have one of those green plastic storage boxes in the garden, which now houses my chest freezer, and I couldn't live without it. They are waterproof, mine's been housed like this for 2 years, and no problems. Could be an option.

Baby Wipes - I only ever used these for outtings etc, never for regular use at home. Cotton wool etc is just as good.

Toilet Wipes - I know they're convenient, but stardrops, vinegar, old towels cut up etc would be cheaper.

Yoghurts - could you make your own. There is a thread on OS about pros and cons of easi-yo v own. It also contains a recipe and suggested flavourings, surely cheaper than the shop ones.

Salad Cream - down grade it and see if anyone notices the difference.


Sorry this is so long!!! The way to go, is meal plan, stick to your list, use the slow cooker and make everything yourself. If you involve the kids in making things then they'll be more inclined to eat them. Mine turned their noses up at the idea of carrot cake, but actually now love it! Keep coming here and it will be a piece of cake (excuse the pun) for you.

smokybabe

Hi, we are 2 adults and 3 very hungry little ones. We tend to get a sack of potatoes every few weeks from the local fruit and veg man. The last one was 56 lbs for £6.50

I also do my shopping on line at Tesco and this has cut my shopping bill in half as I only buy what I need for the week and no extras. I also find that online I shop better as I hate the masses of people in supermarkets and online I can take my time to compare all brands and choose the cheapest/best value for my family.
My fruit and veg I tend to get from Lidl allthough it hasn't been on offer for the last 2 weeks but we have done extremely well during their half price offers. Also if you eat a lot of rice they currently have large sacks of basmati rice for sale for £7.99, ours is still on the go since before xmas.

Thiis year we will be growing our own vegetables - potatoes going in today, and we are still making the occasional fruit pies from blackberries that we picked and froze last autumn.

HTH, Smoky.

ailuro2

I find that now we are on diets and plannig our meals night by night that our shopping bill has gone down, probably because we are eating no extras, but because when we plan our meals I write a shopping list and stick to it.
I find the meat from the local butchers shrinks a lot less than supermarket meat, so goes further. Using rice or pasta (very cheap to buy dried) instead of chips is a healthy option that's very easy to cook in a big batch,takes less energy to cook,so saves money twice over.Then using tinned tomatoes as a base you can make some very cheap meals.
OK we don't want rice or pasta every night, but the leftovers pasta can go into a tub to be reheated next day for your lunch,or dh's if he has access to a microwave at work.(I do, nicer and cheaper than sandwiches)

Instead of buying pre-packed juice are you allowed to fill your own screw toip containers from a bigger carton?
The little things do make a difference, and all add up.
Good Luck!

lil_me

Some great suggestions, couldn't help but notice the shopping list you posted probably isn't a weeks worth of food for the family either, nothing much to make a main meal out of. Not much vegetables and meat to make a meal from, so guessing this is a top up shop. Plenty of 'added extras' which also used to be my downfall. My kids now have one yoghurt per day (so buy 14 a week or make 14) I make them jellys in tupperware pots, I don't buy prepack biscuits etc, if they don't want whats baked they are at least being healthier. If it's not in they won't eat it. I am suprised school advocates prepacked biscuits etc, my sons school they are asked not to take anything like that.

In my sons lunch box for example is 3 slices ham (sometimes cheese cubes or chicken pieces instead) 6 pieces cucumber, 1 pot of jelly (sometimes with fruit in) and a small pot of grapes (if I don't have grapes in I fill the pot with raisins from a value bag, sometimes has raspberries or strawberries depends whats in season) and a bottle refilled daily with water, sometimes fresh juice if I have left over from breakfast. Costs me about 30p-40p a day. Used to cost much much more when they took the likes of crisps, biscuits etc.

Partner - I buy him sandwich stuff, there are things baked in the house if he wants them, I do him pasta salads etc, always fruit in.

Try local shops etc for the likes of eggs/fruit etc. I got 30 eggs (free range) for £2 at the minute from the lady who delivers my fruit and veg.

It's a shock to the system at first for any family, especially kids who will refuse the 'new' things and protest for the foods and drinks which they are used to having especially those high in sugar like biscuits and sugary squashes as it'll be hyping them up, the novelty items, crisps etc and they sometimes go through a cold turkey when you remove it but will be better for them in the long run with less sugar, salt etc. Making novelty things and getting them involved more can help. My oldest son likes refilling the water filter and has ended up drinking it instead of cordial. Youngest helps with the baking.