How do I lower my food bill?

cheltenhamgal

Definitely try Approved Foods - www.approvedfood.co.uk

There sell food which is near to it best before date, the other month I had 3 very large(500g possibly) tins of tomato puree at 59p each. I didn't realise how huge they were so gave one to a friend. I also got a large carton of Ainsley Harriett's couscous really cheap. It has so many different items on there, see if a friend would go halves on the delivery with you.

cheltenhamgal

My freezers are also my best friend, I have two. I go to the supermarkets on the look out for the meat being marked down as it is out of date that day, then I portion up and freeze.
The other week I got a huge shoulder joint of Pork reduced to £4, I cut it in half, slow-cooked a mustard and Pork casserole with one half, froze the other half which we had last Sunday as a roast lunch.
I also visit either my local independant veg shop or the market veg stall, near to the end of the day when they reduce their fruit and veg to a £1 per bag. Make soup out of the veg(veg, potoates to thicken, herbs, veg stock cube) simmer, then puree and freezer, remembering to label.
With fruit, puree and put into ice cube trays, freeze then make smoothies with it for breakfast.

mel48rose

I wouldn't buy expensive WW tins of soup. You can make your own soup for pennies adding whatever you like!

quintwins

I use loads of clothes here i havent bought kitchen roll in years, i miss it from drying the fat off chips tho (not an issue you'll have on a diet i suppose) i have loads of clothes which range from microfiber to dish clothes to cut up old towels which had got stained, but i was them all the time, i throw them in with my normal washing so no special cloth wash but i go threw about 10 a day so there not sat festing as someone else said.

Meadows

Always have a few spare £'s in you pocket for the offers when you see them, especially none perishable items (there are certain things perishable and none perishable that are frequently on offer, so bulk buy when you can afford to rather that run out and have to pay full price).

Cut down on what meat you eat even by 50g here and there, this can be used for other meals.

Cook your own food rather than shop bought (that goes for soups, stocks and sauces).

Have batch cooking sessions where you can cook large quantities of the same meal and freeze in portion for another meal (not only is this more economical but save you buying something when you can be bothered to cook).

Boil your chicken bones to make stock.

Use veg that need to be use in soups.

Add lentils to bulk out dishes and/or replace some meat.

Don't throw out what could make another portion at the end of a meal.

Keep one eye on the reduced rack and a partial space in the freezer to throw in these too good to miss bargains.

Try baking your own bread (if at first you don't succeed, try again, it really is easy).

Try on line shopping (getting free or cheap delivery) this stops you impulse buying.

http://www.approvedfood.co.uk/

http://www.rosspa.co.uk/

louby40

We're a family of 4 (2 adults + 2 kids) and 2 step-daughters come every other weekend.

We spend £60-£70 a week on food. Shop at Lidl with a top up from Tesco. I meal plan. That includes chicken, mince and a few cans of beer.

We spend £20 a month on toiletries/cleaning stuff from Home Bargains.

We all have packed lunches and I make my own bread/ rolls in our breadmaker. Dead easy, takes 5 minutes to put the ingredients in and it does it all for you.

£150 a month seems an awful lot for 2 adults and a baby.

Edwardia

£150 pcm for two adults for a month would be cheap for organic though !

A._Badger

Use street markets for fruit and vegetables - they are almost always a better bet than supermarkets. If you shop carefully. they can also save you money on meat, fish, bin bags, canned goods, cleaning products and plenty of other items too.

maman

I don't really agree with the view of 'germ-laden' washable cloths. Most of the time I'm happy with a dishcloth which goes in the WM (or dishwasher) regularly. I pension them off as floorcloths after a while. I do buy kitchen towel (Nicky in Farmfoods £2 for 4 huge, good quality rolls and their toilet rolls are excellent too) for very occasional use.

I find £20 a month for toiletries and cleaning products quite a lot. I suppose with a baby maybe OP has excessive washing to do but I'm sure you could cut back. I use Aldi washing up liquid, Asda SP powder, vinegar for softener and I have some 'Flash' type Aldi own brand for floors and paintwork and used diluted for surfaces. We do have some spray polish and other bits but that's mainly for DH as he finds cleaning therapeutic.;) All this seems to last for weeks and weeks, months even. For personal toiletries I suppose I'm lucky as I always seem to have some smellies from gifts to use up but I buy DH soap, toothpaste (£ shop), shampoo amd conditioner (branded on offer), cheapo shower gel (Aldi or SP) to refill handwash and that seems to last an age too.

I do SW too. If I were you I'd focus more on veg than fruit (greens and carrots particularly) and have some cheap apples and bananas and clementines at this time of the year. Look out for the odd cheap pineapple but other fruit can be vary expensive (and tasteless) at this time of the year. I buy the frozen berries (Aldi) which make a good pudding/snack with a dollop of yogurt.

meg72

louby40 wrote: »

We're a family of 4 (2 adults + 2 kids) and 2 step-daughters come every other weekend.

We spend £60-£70 a week on food. Shop at Lidl with a top up from Tesco. I meal plan. That includes chicken, mince and a few cans of beer.

We spend £20 a month on toiletries/cleaning stuff from Home Bargains.

We all have packed lunches and I make my own bread/ rolls in our breadmaker. Dead easy, takes 5 minutes to put the ingredients in and it does it all for you.

£150 a month seems an awful lot for 2 adults and a baby.

I dont think 150 a month is a lot at all, its 50.00 each, 12.50 a week each, I would say that was very good.