Food, my biggest expense....

eadieb

I'm considering trying the 16 mile drive to our nearest Aldi to try it out following such good recommendations! We have a local lidl but I find I can only get about half my shopping there and do the rest in sainsburys. I have found that there are some sainsbury budget own brand items that are much cheaper than lidl e.g crumpets, muffins, soya milk, etc. and on a tuesday evening our local sainsburys sell off all the fresh baked bread at less than half price.

I have experimented with sainsbury, asda, morrisons, tescos, with my weekly shops and regardless of what my friends say, I find that most of the stuff I buy is cheapest in sainsburys. I found I spent about £20 more per week in tesco, and asda even worse. I dont buy much frozen food (freezer too small) or junk food, and I usually only buy the supermarket versions of items. I found that Asda might well have some known brands cheaper than other shops but these were easily beaten by sainsburys budget brands.

We are a family of 2 adults, 1 teenager and 3 primary age kids. My average supermarket shop is about £120 per week. BUT I dont fool myself because I keep all my receipts for everything we ever buy and when I add up at the end of the month I found I was spending £700 per month on 'shopping' - thats all food, sandwiches, squash, toiletries, booze, toilet rolls etc. It was the 'little' trips to the local village shop for 'milk' that ended up being £10 spends, and the once a week sweet shop trip that ends up at £5, or making the terrible mistake of bringing the teenager or other kids on any supermarket trip, that added up.

So our current realistic budget for 6 is £650 per month. I blame my children for my struggle with the shopping budget. They will eat peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, carrots, mushrooms and most fruit, but no other veg. Definately no pulses or rice. they will not eat anything in a sauce or gravy so that rules out nice stews, curries, etc. They will mainly eat very bland simple food and we tend to eat the same meal as them due to time constraints of us both working full time and arriving home to cook a meal as quickly as possibl at 5.45. We seem to end up eating sausages/chips/veg, fish/chips/veg, pasta, baked potatoes, pizza, wraps, roast dinners, meals involving chicken or turkey, homemade turkey mince burgers, etc. They dont eat stuff like chicken nuggets or ready meals. If it was just us adults then I would happily eat veg stews, stir frys, and currys with rice etc. We spend a lot on cereals and I try to buy their ones when on offer but I think this is an area i could try to reduce.

I tried doing only online shopping, which did really help with sticking to a budget, but then found I had too many things going out of date at the same time, or that I needed to do a top up shop because I hadn't actually bought enough food.

so my current system is one big shop, once each week, with plenty of milk, bread and cat food included (the usual items that caused a trip to the local shop). I go with the weeks menu on one side and the list on the other, with the dates for each day on the menu plan. I'm considering trying one week each month, to have a week which is really really limited to see if we can survive the week. e.g no apple juice, kids yogurts, or anything else that is not an essential part of the meal.

I rely entirely on supermarkets for my shopping, they are open in the evenings and I can park at them. I have not come accross anywhere that is a local small business shop, in our area that is cheaper than a supermarket for meat. The local town farmers market is on each week when I'm at work, and mostly sells extremely nice looking and very expensive items. I have at least 4 organic farm shops nearby that also sell very nice looking food at extremely expensive prices.

HappyMJ

16 miles away...it's good but it's not that good. The additional fuel used would cost you more than what you would save. The prices in Aldi aren't that much different to Sainsburys Basics products.

eadieb

that probably the case, but I might give it a go and see if any of the more expensive stuff I get in sainsbury's that could be stocked up, could be replaced. e.g the cereals.

weeble3

I shop once a week usually an online tesco or asda shop and usually spend around 70 to 80 pound although saying that it doesnt go far.

I have one adult, 2 teenagers and a six year old. I pay around £40 in school dinners alone for all three but i do believe they need a warm meal in the day...tried the taking soup but the two eldest dont want to be different from their friends.

So need to cut my shop right down. Will source different ways and report back

I class myself as a normal family eat three meals a day not much rubbish meat and veg dinners, cereal or toast for breakfast fruit juice if can afford it and sandwiches for lunch at weekend or bacon butties

echo_and_narcissus

We have been hitting around £110 per week for a family of six - 2 adults, 2 primary age kids and two preschoolers. This consists of a £90 Asda online shop, then top ups in the week.

This covers meals, 3 x packed lunches and non-food products (cleaning stuff, toiletries, toilet roll etc.) We also buy nappies and wipes for the youngest

I have been scrutinising my receipts in preparation for cutting down in the New Year, and it is apparent that we are falling down in a number of areas...

1. Lack of menu planning. Our shopping week is usually Thursday-Wednesday, and we go fine until Tuesday. Menu planning goes awry and we resort to pizzas and other stuff that I don't really like giving the family but is quick and easy and they will eat it.
2. We spend a big proportion of our food money on snack foods. It will all get eaten either inbetween meals or added to packed lunches, but it is clear that the balance between snack foods and main meal ingredients is off.
3. Top up shops. The usual "pop to the shop for a loaf and spend a tenner" syndrome
4. Weekends. Meals go out the window as no one wants to cook so we end up grabbing Subway and getting some kind of supermarket takeaway. This has proven to be a REALLY difficult habit to break but there are obvious ways around it!
5. Waste I buy things I *think* we'll use but then they just sit there. I inevitably forget to freeze them. It's so shameful and I feel bad every time I do it.

Good thing is I know we can improve things by simply tackling at least one of these steps - and the plan is to tackle all of them. Feel a bit daunted but it really is a case of creating new and better habits and being aware of what we are doing.

HappyMJ

I'd attack the snack foods first. Instead of getting pre-packaged snack foods which are high in fat, high in sugar and have little nutritional content try next time to convince each family member to at the very least pick up a piece of fruit and eat that before the snack food. It probably won't save much money but at least the family will be much healthier.

Top-up shops are evil...I do the same. Shop weekly once only if something runs out forget about it until the next weekly shop. If you can have home delivered milk such as from milk and more then if something like milk appears to be running out then jump online and order another pint or two for next morning delivery. Yes it costs more but it might save the rest of the £10.

Avoid Subway. Nice...but £3.00 for what is basically just a sandwich and a bottle of water is way too much.

merlot123

After reading this thread last night made me think. I have been to loyal to Mr T for years and spend approx £500 per month on food for 2 adults and 2 teenage children, 2 cats and a house rabbit, although I do cook for 6 persons, we do eat rather large portions but we are all slim with it.

My aim is reduce this bill to £450 per month, that includes 8 bottles of wine and a bottle of malt whisky.

So today I went to Lidl, don't have an Aldi, and was very surprised by the prices. 500g 100% British Steak Mince £2.30 in Tesco its £4.20 (not sure if its 100% British though).

Finish 52 Dishwasher Tablets £5.90 - Tesco are currently half price at £7.

Nescafe Coffee 300g £3.49, Tesco £7.00:eek:

Hovis bread £0.99 - Tesco £1.35

4 Kitchen rolls £1.69 - Tesco Springforce 4 rolls (Rubbish they are too) - £2.25

Boil in bag easy to cook rice Lidl 8 X 125g bags - £1.09 - Tesco 4 x 125g bags - 0.99p.

We are going every week, even the OH who knows nothing of food prices was on his smartphone comparing prices as we were walking round - he didn't believe me when I said it's cheaper than Tesco, so he looked himself. The only thing is they don't give carrier bags and I forgot mine, I wouldn't pay 3p per bag, so I stuffed it in the boot without bags - tight? or just MSE?:rotfl:

EDIT: just seen the post below re Indian Shops - we are a very small market town with a Lidl or a Tesco, no Indian shops etc here. although I did see large bags 10kg basmati rice in Lidl for £10.00, I may get one next time.

HappyMJ

merlot123 wrote: »

Boil in bag easy to cook rice Lidl 8 X 125g bags - £1.09 - Tesco 4 x 125g bags - 0.99p.

Get down to a local indian/pakistani supermarket and pick yourself up a large 15kg bag of Basmati rice for £15. Much cheaper. Take out 1 cup of rice rinse add 2 cup of water a little salt maybe some butter and put in glass bowl and place in microwave for 6 minutes. Stir it around if you want and microwave on medium heat for further 6 minutes. Leave to stand for 3 minutes before serving. If your microwave is different power then add or deduct a few minutes from each time above.

RedGoose

Thanks everyone for the good tips!

I agree that menu planning and list making makes a massive difference (I do it before the weekly shop). I'd also add the following:

1. Be a supermarket tart. Different supermarkets are good for different things (for example, my local Lidl is really good for fruit and veg (and beer) but quite small so I wouldn't use it every week; I tend to alternate with Morrisons and Waitrose for the more "fancy" stuff).

2. Collect a few recipes that you can make easily and quickly (tomato/meat sauces for pasta, noodle soup etc) to avoid the takeaway trap. I'd also recommend having a frozen pizza on standby (I know it'd be better to make your own, but if it saves you from takeaways...).

3. If you don't do this already, try having one or two meat-free days per week.

4. If your supermarket has the "scan as you go" facility, try using it (or tot the cost up in your head as you go). I found it quite an eye-opener.

audioblackout

Hi guys.

Over the last year or so I've dramatically cut my shopping bills by well over 1/2, perhaps 3/4's. Sure Aldi is great, although it's quite a drive, so I'll go there once every few months and stock up on what I KNOW is cheaper (it's not all cheap so be careful!).

I'll also go to the local asian supermarket once a month and stock up on Herbs/Spices as well as rice/pasta and cans of tomatoes and anything that's on offer there (massive, massive price difference to the supermarket).

But the real thing that has contributed to the cut in bills is the 'Basics' range @ Sainsbury's, as well as making sure I go between 7-8pm and head straight to the reduced section. If anything there is 75% and above off, I'll buy it and stick it in the freezer. Anything else, if it's not Basics or it's not on a serious offer, I just wont buy it.

I suppose it's about 'knowing' the price of things and also learning how to cook. It's surprising just how much you learn by being focused on this and also how satisfying it is walking round the big supermarkets and thinking 'Hahahahha, I just bought five packets of that pasta for 3/4 of that price at the local asian!'

:T