Normal Food Shopping

Mara69

Sally_A wrote: »

I quite like their frozen fish - seems good wholesome chunks of fish - and this is my once a week "no cook" lazy night. Just had a look at the nutrition table on the pack - it's not brilliant, but it is by no means crap.

Some families have 2 - 3 takeaways a week, ours is once every 2 months or even longer.

Maybe you could inspire me by posting, say 10 recipes that can be made for under £1.50 per person, prepared and cooked in under 40 minutes, and are totally balanced nutritionally.

I look forward to your response.

Sadly, I am going to have to disappoint you. I could, of course, find healthy, nutritional meals on a tight budge, but I have better things to do with my time

I will, however, out of the goodness of my heart, direct you to the Old Style Money Saving Board. There you will be able to find cheap, healthy,nutritious and tasty meals on a budget.

onlyroz

ani_26 wrote: »

No, the cooked chicken hasn't found its way into my freezer. Guess why? I haven't been able to afford a freezer, and no, i haven't found one via freegle etc, although my energy supplier has just invited me to apply for a" free" appliance, and a freezer is now top of my "wish" list. I still don't have a cooker, as yet, either. I cook everything in a slow cooker.

I do it because i have to, but also a certain amount of paranoia factored, in that i may not be able to afford food, again. Yep, not having money leaves you feeling very paranoid, anxious?

You don't have a freezer but can afford a computer and broadband?

ani_26

onlyroz wrote: »

You don't have a freezer but can afford a computer and broadband?

Off topic, but a question which was bound to be asked? Someone was inevitably going to ask that question. I don't have to answer you, but i will.

Yes i have a computer. I have just tried to search to find out how old my computer is, but it is so long ago since i bought it, i can't, because it is so old. It was also the cheapest computer available at the time. How old is an old computer? It says on the graph, this product is no longer selling and ready to retire. I can't remember how long ago i bought it, circa 10 years ago or more, at the very least, because i needed it for work purposes. I don't pay for broadband, directly.


When this computer dies, which it frequently does, i can't afford to replace it. How old is your computer, as a matter of interest?

barbarawright

onlyroz wrote: »

You don't have a freezer but can afford a computer and broadband?

I don't have a freezer (or microwave) but I have a PC and broadband. What's surprising about that? Anyone over the age of 45 or so grew up without a freezer or a microwave - they are hardly essentials.

Grumpygit

There's that saying again "we eat well" when the poster says I spend £100 per month for a family of x many and loads of pets (not aimed at anyone and I know an exaggeration but you get my point)

I've asked this before but there is no way that I would be able to buy fresh meat, fresh veg, fresh fruit pet food and cleaning stuff/toiletries for that (or 200) and we are two adults and a twelve yo!

Thanks for the link for the old style board I tried to find it yesterday but couldn't find it!

Mr_Toad

Grumpygit wrote: »

There's that saying again "we eat well" when the poster says I spend £100 per month for a family of x many and loads of pets (not aimed at anyone and I know an exaggeration but you get my point)

I've asked this before but there is no way that I would be able to buy fresh meat, fresh veg, fresh fruit pet food and cleaning stuff/toiletries for that (or 200) and we are two adults and a twelve yo!

Thanks for the link for the old style board I tried to find it yesterday but couldn't find it!

I think it depends where you live and where you shop.

My nearest town has a market and I can buy two carrier bags full of beautiful fresh fruit and veg for £5. Buying the same in a supermarket would cost loads more.

The butcher in the village will sell me a steak that you can cut with your fork for slightly more than half the price that I'd pay in the supermarket.

Let's not forget that we pay a high price for the one stop convenience and free parking of our supermarkets.

When you say there's no way, do you really mean there's no way you can be bothered or have the time to go anywhere else or are there no markets or butchers where you are?

I don't always always use the market as I don't always have the time or inclination to go into town and the ease of the supermarket is a huge temptation.

Supermarkets also charge a premium for toiletries and cleaning products. Again, my nearest town has a shop called Home Bargains that sell branded products like toothpaste, shampoo, soap powder, dishwasher tablets, toilet paper and other stuff for a lot less than the supermarket. Their beer ranges from 99p, Brakspear Bitter, to £1.20 for Wychwood Goliath. Brakspear is £1.95 in Sainsb....!!!!

ViolaLass

We spend £150 a month for two adults and get what we want generally. I don't drink, OH barely does, which helps and we eat little meat (not because of cost but because we're not that bothered by it). We spend a lot on good cheese and we buy fancy bread flour (rye, spelt etc).

Another £50 a month might mean I'd get things like pomegranates more often and perhaps even more cheese but I'm pretty happy as we are. We don't buy the cheapest of everything nor do we have to scour for bargains but we don't spend a lot so the balance feels good to us.

Mr_Toad - I've tried using our local butcher but on the whole, either the prices are higher or the quality/meat content is lower than in my local supermarket. A great shame as I would love to support them more.

marlasinger

Two adults here and we spend £300 per month. I'd love to get this down to about £200 a month, but really struggle with how to. This doesn't include food for the dog or takeaways.

We eat meat most nights, and take food into work for lunch. I don't think we eat luxuriously, yet I struggle to see where we can cut down.

Next year, I'm going to try doing one big monthly shop on payday, and then just little top-ups afterwards. I've just done a stocktake of my cupboards and there is food in there that I bought 2 years ago and have yet to use. :eek:

We are starting to overpay on the mortgage, so the more we can throw on that the better.

mummyroysof3

i would say we spend around £450 in a 4 week period for 5 of us including all meals, pet food, nappies, cleaning and toiletries and alcohol and snacks. i would love it to be less but am not a great cook and have fussy kids so i do my best

Grumpygit

Mr_Toad wrote: »

I think it depends where you live and where you shop.

My nearest town has a market and I can buy two carrier bags full of beautiful fresh fruit and veg for £5. Buying the same in a supermarket would cost loads more.

The butcher in the village will sell me a steak that you can cut with your fork for slightly more than half the price that I'd pay in the supermarket.

Let's not forget that we pay a high price for the one stop convenience and free parking of our supermarkets.

When you say there's no way, do you really mean there's no way you can be bothered or have the time to go anywhere else or are there no markets or butchers where you are?

I don't always always use the market as I don't always have the time or inclination to go into town and the ease of the supermarket is a huge temptation.

Supermarkets also charge a premium for toiletries and cleaning products. Again, my nearest town has a shop called Home Bargains that sell branded products like toothpaste, shampoo, soap powder, dishwasher tablets, toilet paper and other stuff for a lot less than the supermarket. Their beer ranges from 99p, Brakspear Bitter, to £1.20 for Wychwood Goliath. Brakspear is £1.95 in Sainsb....!!!!

Unfortunately no markets, no low price supermarkets, lots of local butchers but expensive. Live in Guernsey which is a lovely place but costs are high as almost everything is imported to the island.

It's just a bug bear when I read about what people can buy for £x and it's jealousy really on my part but we do have good points, no vat, no real crime, 20% tax and petrol is about £1.15 per litre, it's just food that we are stuffed on.