Help, need to cut weekly shopping bill

rellaella

Ok so money is really tight this month, I need to cut my weekly spend to less than £50. Was thinking I should take cash for the week and go to the butchers and the local greengrocer once a week then get the other bits from tesco? I have recently bought a double compartment slow cooker, it's great but need to use a bit more often I think!
Any advice greatly appreciated x

HappyMJ

Do not buy any branded goods. Buy only the supermarket value foods. Make food from scratch. Do not buy any meat.

rosie383

If you have an Aldi near you, try there instead. Firstly, check out what you have in your freezer and cupboards, write it down and make yourself a menu plan for the week. Then make a shopping list.
You will be surprised how much you will save that way. For example, you may want to do a recipe using courgette.... do you need a whole pack? Or can you just buy one?

foxgloves

I can really recommend the meal planning. Base each weekly meal plan on what you already have in stock. Then think about what other meals you'd like to eat that are cheap & nutritious. Cook from scratch rather than buying ready meals. If you buy a ready meal, it will usually do one day. If you get the stuff to make say a stew or cottage pie, you can deliberately stretch the ingredients to make two, then freeze one (a tin of cheap beans can pad out the mince really well & make it lower fat as well. Shop around. It's almost never cheaper to use just one supermarket. That's what they want you to think. We use Co-op, Aldi, Waitrose, local butcher & local market, having worked out which things it's best to buy from each place. Getting fruit & veg from local market can save loads & it's loose stuff, so if your recipe says '1 parsnip', they are fine about selling you as little as you want. Batch cooking when you have time & getting a spare one of whatever it is in the freezer is a good idea, also if you base one meal a week on a roast, you will be able to get several other meals out of the leftovers, as well as a decent pan of soup. There's only 2 of us, but from a chicken, we can get one roast dinner, further dinners on Mon & Tues, sometimes another on Weds & then chicken & vegetable soup, which make enough for the freezer too. Watch those BOGOFFs, I think i've finally convinced partner that 3 packs of something we don't actually need this month, when we need to stick to a budget, is not always the bargain it first appears. Also, as you have a slow cooker, look for cheap cuts of meat in local butchers. Last week, I cooked a stew in my SC using some skirt of beef.......it cost about £3-50 for over 600g & made a huge amount of stew, padded out with plenty of veg, enough for more than 1 day. Good luck....sounds like you are determined. Good for you.

maman

Do an inventory of your storecupboard and freezer and 'shop' from there first for your meal plan. Only buy essentials to turn what you have into meals. Have you a tin of tuna you could turn into a pasta bake? A tin of corned beef to make a pie? A few sausages in the freezer to make a casserole?

Go on the mysupermarket site to give you an idea of prices for what you need. If it comes out too expensive then look at ways of cutting back blike non-branded. Just use the site for a price guide, actually buy what you need from somewhere cheaper (Aldi, Lidl, Farmfoods, Iceland) if you can get to these stores cheaply.

tessie_bear

if u have a mo have a look at the grocery challenge that has recipes and peoples approach to staying with in a budget....i like aldi and find the prices good and the lack of choice a money saver

u could have a look at the libary or google cheap cuts of meat/cheap meals and see if that could save u any cash
good luck tess

rellaella

Right have got a little organised - meals for the week so far made from things in the cupboard/freezer -
Monday - Prawn noodles
Tuesday & Wednesday (slow cooker meals) - Chicken curry/beef caserole
Thursday & Friday (slow cooker meals) - Chorizo pasta/Jambalaya
Saturday - not sure yet
Sunday - Roast beef
feel better already now that's done x

lizziebabe

When I go shopping I ask and make a note of the times that they (the supermarkets) reduce their food. Then when I return I grab a few bargains. Usually I have to freeze whatever I buy as their sell by date is the same day.
Remember - it is only a bargain if you need it.

Also, as others have said plan your meals and just buy what you need. Make a list and only be tempted by 'real' bargains that you can freeze.

Join the Grocery Challenge. There are loads of ideas to help plan/cut costs of food shopping.

Happy Shopping

Mollymoonlight

I think you'll find a big difference if you don't go to Tesco, even without the CC points. Try Lidle, Asda or even Iceland. I also think butcher meat is so much better value for money because you can stretch good meat further. Good luck with it, January is always a tough month!

415SanFran

Could the Sunday beef do you two days, say a stir fry on the Monday, it really is surprising how little meat you need if it is cut small enough and you can see lots of pieces, same with cold cut ham or chicken if you can see that YS at any point.
All you need then is a handful of frozen veg, rice and an egg.

krlyr

rellaella wrote: »

Right have got a little organised - meals for the week so far made from things in the cupboard/freezer -
Monday - Prawn noodles
Tuesday & Wednesday (slow cooker meals) - Chicken curry/beef caserole
Thursday & Friday (slow cooker meals) - Chorizo pasta/Jambalaya
Saturday - not sure yet
Sunday - Roast beef
feel better already now that's done x

It's a good start since it's stuff you already own, but longterm I'd consider how to adapt these meals with cheaper substitutions. Depends on how much you want to compromise..but for example, roast beef is something we'd have as a treat cooked by a relative, rather than something that would feature on our menu, unless I stumbled across a very good offer/reduced piece! Instead, we might have a roast but I'll serve loads of veggies and cut a (large-ish) chicken breast in half - meat is the expensive portion of many meals and you look like a regular meat eater from your plan, so that could be a good place to focus on cutting costs. Perhaps consider some 'meat-free' days - not saying become vegetarian (we love our meat too) but I do the odd meal without meat and we actually quite enjoy it - e.g. falafel served in wraps with salad, salsa, etc. could replace fajitas and it's still quite filling (serve with extras like chips if needed), or a jacket potato with cheese and beans. If the meal is tasty, we don't miss the meat at all!