Food, my biggest expense....

TheDoolallyDilly

laineygirl wrote: »

Why does everyone advise people in almost shocked/hushed tones to shop at Lidl and Adi as though its slightly beyond the pale to shop there. The quality and choice is as good as or even better than major supermarkets.

Our local Lidl is awful - very little stock on the shelves, and the fruit and veg is either off, or goes off very quickly once you get it home (for example, I bought 5 bananas, which were yellow/green, in a day they had turned black no idea why, but it has never happened with bananas bought anywhere else!).

We have a new Aldi about 3 miles away, and I do like the washing powder and the cheese triangles (well, DS1 likes those!). We don't eat pastries, jam, packaged breakfast cereals or much processed meat, so I think we probably miss out on the real 'bargains'). We do have a butcher who is cheaper that supermarkets and outstandingly better quality than all supermarket meat, including M&S and Waitrose. And the market has good fruit and veg, too.

HappyMJ

oompahloompah wrote: »

This is definitely where I struggle - food/grocery shopping. Our budget is very tight, but I find I spend around £600/month for 2 adults, 2 teenage boys (plus an occasional visit from a very hungry student!) and a cat (including toiletries, household products etc). This covers all meals and snacks for the month. I shop around but find I really struggle to bring the costs down. No Aldi or Lidl close enough to make it worthwhile to travel. Meat is the biggest cost (everyone bar myself does not consider a meat-free meal a "proper dinner") - I find the cost of basic meat - chicken or beef mainly - is extortionate! I cook mainly from scratch, with the occasional frozen pizza thrown in when I am rushed. My challenge this year is to spend max £100/week on grocery shopping (and will hopefully reduce it further).

On a slightly related topic - OH spends a fortune on cigarettes! Around £40/week - it is so frustrating when I am scrimping and scraping to feed and clothe us all and he swipes money out of the budget to make himself ill. I encourage him to stop, but he either refuses point blank or says he will just to shut me up then doesn't bother...grrrr....

I don't consider it a proper dinner either....but...you can control portion sizes to cut the cost. A man or a growing teenager might have 115 grams (4 ounce- quarter pound) of meat. You could try cutting that down to 85 grams (3 ounces)...now you need to hide the fact that it's been cut down. A 3 ounce serving is only about the size of a pack of cards. It doesn't look very impressive on the plate when it's served as one piece...but you can cut it up and put the meat in a curry/stew/whatever and it looks a lot bigger.

What are you paying for your meat? I aim for around £6 a kilogram which should make a 85 gram (3 ounce) meat portion cost 50p. If I find meat at £5 a kilogram I'll just serve myself a bit more such as 100 grams and it will still be 50p per serving. However meat such as super cheap sausages may cost around £3 a kilogram but they are half filler(rusk), fat and water so I might serve 3 sausages from a 454gram (8) pack which still costs 50p but still has enough protein and 3 sausages looks a bit more impressive on the plate over 1 premium 90%+ pork sausage which also costs 50p.

Carcluster

I totally understand that one - I seem to always need to "just pop to the supermarket to pick up a few things" almost every alternate day.
I get the feeling I am just topping up the same food items, but there are more things in cupboards (and the freezer?) that remain lurking week-in-week out.
A concerted effort to dip into those items and make something with them can cut out the odd trip or maybe a portion of the regular trip?

there is a good thread on cooking for the freezer - i.e. buying the mega-deal bargains when they are around and then cooking a big vat of something and freezing for later.

niksyg

I would suggest that finding a friendly someone who shoots, or a farmshop that sells game will help meat costs. You are obviously limited to the season (Oct - Feb1st) for pheasant, but stock up your freezer an you have cheap white meat for months!

OH and I both shoot and we use pheasant instead of chicken as much as possible, in stews, soups, roast, in sarnies. We give a lot away to friends and often there are birds left over at the end of the day, so a great way to find free/cheap meat!

Barbeduk

I drastically cut back our supermarket spending in 2012 when our finances flatlined. The Grocery Challenge on the old Style Board is a must, even if you just read the tips on page 1. Great recipes too.

Every time I slip, I go back to paying cash. I keep all my receipts. I stock up when the things I NEED are on offer. I cook in bulk and freeze, adding lentils to things like bolognaise sauce. I buy lidl dishwasher tablets and cut them in half! Everything is either basics or lidl, except baked beans which I stock up with when they're on offer.

I can't feed the family of 4 for £50 a week, but if I'm really careful I can do £60, but that includes 1 bottle of cheap wine!

I refuse to play the supermarket's game any more, getting people to buy more than they need, selling rubbish food as 'ready meals' at a huge mark up. I delight it going in with my list and not buying any extras. Makes me feel like I've got one up on them!

SpagBol

merlot123 wrote: »

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).

[COLOR="rgb(255, 0, 255)"]Finish 52 Dishwasher Tablets £5.90 [/COLOR]- Tesco are currently half price at £7.

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

[COLOR="rgb(255, 0, 255)"]Hovis bread £0.99[/COLOR] - 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.

In lidl get their own brands! The columbian coffee is delish and only about £1.60 a jar! Much nicer than nescafe. Ditto the bread and dishwasher tabs...much cheaper and nicer own brands. The £3-4 bottles of wine are v nice too

I love lidl...the amount I spend in there is lower than in Mr T or S, however it is a small one so I have to buy other things through the week. The quality is excellent though. Normally I buy economy EVERYTHING from Mr T or S, in Lidl I might pay a bit more but it will go further. For example the weetabix equivalent is much more absorbent and so I need less.

I always thought we were miles away from an ALDI but there is one 7 miles away, only 3 miles beyond a Mr T I sometimes go to so I will try it this weekend

Thanks for this thread really enjoying it!

amr547

We get all our cupboard bits from B&M and Home Bargains. I tend to use those Heinz Squeezy Soups and Mug Shots for my lunch at work. They're normally 60 p in the supermarkets - I get them for 20-30p each in these bargain shops! We also buy things like packets of curry sauce for 20p so that we can have a 'homemade' fish & chip shop night. A bag of battered sausages from Morrisons are a couple of quid at most (sorry, haven't got the patience to batter them myself haha) Make chips from leftover potatoes and we're sorted.


Sadly I'm still fairly loyal to Morrisons and ASDA! However we pay for our chicken (breasts, whole chicken, burgers) at the local chicken factory that opens to the public once a month - it's cut our food bill massively!

We spend around £50 a week for two people and I'm trying to cut it down, especially as OH said he no longer wants to buy bread (after seeing 50 shocking facts about food and diets, lol!) and we've both agreed no more fizzy pop!

Might have to check out LIDL and Aldi, as we have both. I like FarmFoods for frozen bits and pieces.

SpagBol

Tried Aldi this morning but think it works out about the same price overall as Lidl so not worth the extra 5 miles really as there is a lidl very local to me. Worth looking though and did a v good weekly shop for £61 so I am pleased with that thanks everyone :T

(Should say we are a family of 4, that £61 included lots of meat, fish, veg, frozen and dried stuff with some sweets for the kids and 3 bottles of lager for us )