Menu Planning - does anyone else do it I saved £55 a week!

zippy99

I started 2013 on a mission to be more sensible with money.

The focus shifted to our food shopping - we were easily spending over £100 a week for our family of 4 (2 adults and a 15 & 13yr old)

I decided to plan our meals and have an online shop delivered fortnightly. I am now in week 5, having just had our 3rd delivery made and we have averaged a weekly spend of £45 a week!! (including our milk & bread top ups)

We have been able to feed all of us Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner for just £11.25 each per week!

We have simple rules - although a different dish is allocated for each day - they can be swapped with another and also all Lunch box snacks are hidden so no picking! Leftovers form adults lunch/sandwich fillings

We do not eat mainly value or processed items - my hubby had to use double the amount of Asda Smart Price chopped tomatoes as they were too watery - therefore not a saving!

Typical Planner

Breakfast - Waffles/Scrambled Egg/Cereal or Toast

Lunch - Sandwich/Roll/Wrap with crisps, fruit, chunk of cheese & bar (kids) and leftovers/wrap for adults!

Dinner - 2 weeks worth
Roast Chicken, Roast Pots, Homemade stuffing & Veg
Home Made Meatballs in tomato sauce and spaghetti
Cottage Pie (using rest of mince & load of veg)
Jacket Potatoes
Pasta Bake with veg & chicken
Pie, Mash & Veg
Pizza & Chips with salad
Roast Gammon
Chilli Con Carne
Curry
Pork Chops with Mash & Veg
Pasta Bake with veg & chicken
Home Made Burgers & Chips
Toad in the Hole with Mash & Beans

When I did my first online shop I thought surely this won't last - how can I have spent so little - but imagine my surprise to find it actually works! The children are always home first so make w dish from the list rather than snacking on items destined for their lunch boxes

In 2013 I have saved £220 in the first 4 weeks.

I hope it is ok to share this - but having looked for ideas to save money on food shopping previously - most threads spoke of individual bargains. Nothing that stood out as being easy to do.

Hope it helps someone else!

HappyMJ

It amazing how much food is wasted when you don't meal plan...well done and it looks reasonably balanced too with plenty of fruit/veg.

Meadows

I never meal plan I like variety and to eat what I fancy on any given day, sometimes totally spontaneous and other times working around what I have in that can or needs to be used.
I never waste foods but we also seldom eat the same thing twice and if it was a meal that had been done before it would not be eaten again for a long time.
Even with a basic meal I tweak, adjust and create, often I get certain things out of the freezer to do X and as I start to cook it changes to Y.

The other day I defrost a turkey and as I did not want to cook things to add back to the freezer (well not most of the turkey) I chopped it all up, we had glazed Turkey breast for dinner that night, I also made up two curry's, one from white meat and one from dark meat. Then I made a big Turkey Chowder served with home made Butternut Squash baguettes. I froze one of the curry's.

I got enough meat from the Turkey for 8 large portions (for a £9.99 turkey). I could have made these go further if I had needed to stretch the meat out, but we tend to only have a light breakfast and seldom anything else until the main meal.

Yes we had turkey for three days on the trot (only because I need to make space in the freezer and did not want to put loads of cooked food back in), but it did not seem like the same as each dish was varied.

This is about as far as my meal planning goes and we had no set/planned order in which we were to eat the other dishes, we left it to how we felt on the following days.

zippy99

I know what you mean about not wanting to over plan - it was our concern when we embarked on this. However, we are not forced to eat the meal set on a particular day as we can change with any other dish that fortnight. In fact last weeks Lasagne became a Spicy Chilli Bolognaise

Our Christmas Turkey did (a large £17 breast joint from Hubby's butcher)
3 Roast Dinners (sliced and wrapped and reheated in gravy)
1 Curry
LOADS of sandwiches
8 Christmas Pasties (turkey, roast potatoes, veg & Cheese sauce - in other words - Xmas dinner left overs)

I also just finished the last of the Turkey stock - Hubby showed me how to make stuffing - now all our 'crusts' go into the breadcrumb box!

Many of our dishes are based around who is cooking - a cottage pie made the night before is perfect for the days when hubby and son play Tennis or - Pasta Dishes are great on the day when I go straight to the Gym after work and hubby is still working.

For me it has just bought structure to our shopping to ensure we have what we need.

maman

You've done really well.:T to you and your family. It sounds as if you've got everyone on board with this which helps hugely. It irritates me when women (it's almost always women) come on here and are desperately trying to save only to be sabotaged by their partners and children.

I do have a couple of comments:

it sounds as if you're doing an Asda shop. I can see the advantages as you don't make impulse buys with internet shopping. I like to buy all my basics at Aldi. It was the tinned tomatoes that alerted me. If you have an Aldi and can be disciplined give it a try.

You mention 'top ups', that shouldn't need to happen with meal planning unless you want fresh perishable veg. Frozen veg is a good stand-by.I'd also never buy bread and milk in a local shop as the prices are crazy but if you can't store/freeze enough then I suppose you have no choice.

As the weeks go by you'll be building a storecupboard so you won't need to buy rice, pasta etc every time. I'd also look out for offers on basis that you know you'll use. It might push your bill up short term but you'll save in the long run.

Keep it up!:)

elantan

Have to admit I have been meal planning and so far I have spent more on my shopping, I'm hoping this is just a blip and will settle down once I am established

[Deleted User]

Menu plannning is definitely the way to go.I live alone so can please myself what I eat and often do.As I'm retired I sometimes find that if I cook at lunchtime then I am usually not in need of a second cooked meal in the evening yesterday
I had potatoes and a gammon steak with carrots and the last of the mushrooms at lunchtime, and by the evening I only needed a sandwich and a piece of fruit as I was full up still.
I usually have about one or two days meals in the fridge so I can swop around a bit depending on what time I get back from my childcare duties at my Dds.Its suprising what you can save by simply thinking in advance .My Dds both work and make a list on Sundays and stick it on the fridge so the children know what's for dinner that night .At my youngest Dds tonight she is having sheps pie(which I will make for her from left over Sunday beef in the fridge)I often do the prep for her as she doesn't get in till gone 6 or does her OH so it saves them time and I'm there anyway looking after the boys.

Chris25

well done zippy, you've done a great job &, as maman says, the family too, deserve credit.

I have tried meal planning several times & it never lasts beyond a few weeks - unexpected work trips away & suchlike foil me. But, our homelife is more settled these days so i think I may have to try again!