Help me reduce our food bill

macpep1

All PM's replied to this morning x

jackieblack

kboss2010 wrote: »

He also likes my Hairy Dieters bacon and pea quiche (google the recipe it's on the channel 4 website)

My Google must be broken, I can't find it
(I could just be being thick )

Would someone kind enough to post a link, please?

Shoey1610

Thank you for the chicken pie recipe, its DD's favourite meal and I can make one much cheaper than I've been buying one in Sainsburys.

I've been to Aldi today (used the small trolley to help me feel it was still full!) and then popped to Sainsbury's for Rooibos tea as they don't do it in Aldi. I've spend £47.29 for the week and easily have enough for the week and more, I won't need any top ups, and it includes all the toiletries and cleaning stuff I will need for the month.

I'm feeling quite excited that I could easily spend less than this if I keep working at it, but I'm hopeful that its a good start :j

minniemaus1970

Morning everyone,
I used to spend £100 a week too (but I could afford it then, married both working full time)
I am now divorced working part time, but I love where work and will only leave if when I have to.
I wish I knew then what I know now
here are my tips - being organised is the key
We re 3 adults in our household.........
sorry if these were mentioned before

my weekly foodbill is on average about £30, and my majority of shopping comes from Ald#s, but I sometimes get reduced items in T*sco, mainly bread (which goes in freezer) sometimes veg - which gets used up in soups and stir fries.
My Cleaning cupboard consists of:
washing up liquid
white Stardrops
White vinegar
and bleach
wash powder & softener
i have 2 spray bottles with a vinegar/lemonjuice/ water & washing up liquid mixture, one for the kitchen one for the bathroom
bleach -for that little 'umph' to clean the toilet
stardrops - floors, windowframes and all things plastic
washing up liquid - any other surface
washpowder - I only use a 1/4 of recommended amount, a bit more if its my partners and really dirty. Instead of 30 washes - as it's stated on the box it now lasts about 80 !! So it goes further
Mr Ts value baby bath as showergel and to refill soap dispensers
My DD is vegitarian so meat is calculated at 200g per meal/ 100g per adult, I cook the meat seperate than add once I taken hers out. (hers are quorn or veg based)
The only luxuries we have is PG T"ps and H&S shampoo and real butter & Virgin Olive Oil,
everything else is none branded from Ald*s
Most meat packs get split into freezerbags/ individual meal sizes
baconpieces - I buy a large 2k pack for £4 which makes about 8 meals - 2 brunches ( English breakfast late or as dinner with chips) and tomato or cream pastas, fried potatoes, fried bits with salami and sprinkle on frozen pizza )

Gammon or Roasts (chicken/beef/ham) get stretched over 3 days, as a roast dinner the first day, in a sauce the second day and in a soup or stir fry the third day ( which only leaves another 4 days of main meals.....)
Yellow sticker/ reduced items - I only buy them if: its something we like, something I can freeze or if not - consume on the day, otherwise its just a waste!
I always have porridge/ cereals or bread in freezer for breakfasts
and I always have eggs/ veg/breadcrumbs/stock cubes/chopped tomatoes / passata and baked beans and other pulses available
We all eat well and healthy in our household

onions- I buy a bag and chop them into small chunks and freeze in a plastic tub, I can add a handful to any dish as I need it, without any onions going off

MM x

PS leftover sandwich ham/ meat - cut into chunks/ strips and put on pizza, in pasta sauce red or white, with fried potatoes and egg, scrambled egg/ omlette

karren

all brilliant tips, thanks, i do try my best to be money saving but every now and then i lose my way, and after reading this ive had a good think of what i can cut back on again.
One tip i read years ago was to batch cook and its saved me fortune and lots of time over the years and both children eat well with no fuss x

minniemaus1970

Change comes with time, you can't drop your shopping bill from 100 to 30 in a week. I changed a bit every week and have now perfected it. It's too much of a shock to your system if you do it too quick, it will feel like a punishment not like an achievment

:T......and we sometimes have a treat too, whats the point if you never get a reward? :j

good_advice

Congratulations Shoey on bringing your shopping bill down to £47.29 for 2 adults and 1 child. What did you buy?

I did my weeks shopping today too = 4 adults, 1 is veggie.
I was going to Lidi but after a chat with OH he dropped me off @ Tesco. I had a lot of coupons for tesco only.
What did I spend? The bill started off @ £66.05.
Multi buy savings = £ -1.95 Coupons = £ -14.57
Paid = £49.53

Meat =
500g minced beef £3
x4 chicken legs £2.83 & 1x jar of chicken tonight £1
x4 chicken pies for son £2 . will cook as wanted when the oven is on and leave in fridge.
Gammon joint £3.18

Dairy =
Flora spread = FREE with coupon
philadelphia £1.20 for toast or sandwiches
My favorite, Dairylea cheese spread. On offer 2 for £2
2x box of 12 f/range eggs 2 @ £2 each
fresh milk 2 @ £1 each

x2 box's fish fillets in batter 2x £1.50 each

Then the usual piles of bread, veg, fruit. Bits & bobs....

Large Ariel £4 to make sure I had spent over £60 to use a voucher.

No crisps, yoghurts. I did buy 2x apple strudel as it was on offer @ £1 each for the freezer.

Shoey1610

We have a treat planned for the end of the month if this all goes well, a nice takeaway and bottle of wine for the last day of term, lemonade for DD!

I had a nice surprise this evening, postman tried to deliver a packet yesterday when I wasn't in. DH picked it up for me today, it had 4 individually packaged filled brioche inside! I don't remember filling in anything for brioche, but they will make a nice addition to breakfast on Saturday.

If I make flapjacks or the flaky bars from the index, can I use honey instead of golden syrup? I have lots of honey but no golden syrup.

I told DH how much I spent today and showed him how much is in the fridge. He is impressed!

bluebag

minniemaus 1970

I noticed one of your luxuries is H&S shampoo, I used to use the same but changed to TOsco own brand 99p for 200ml. I find it better than H&S.
I have used other supermarket dandruff stuff and found them useless but the TOsco one is the bomb. You also need very little of it too.

I used to use the posh tea bags too but am a total convert to SAinsbuggs cheapies. Best I have ever tasted.

Every little is better in my purse than the shop till.
bb

Tessie_Balloon_Juice

Well done on cutting your budget! I always use the little trollies too.

Now that you've cleared some space in your freezer why not try filling it back up with reduced to clear meat? I never ever buy full price meat. Or fish for that matter. I stock up my freezer with whoopsy meat and fish and then when it comes to writing my shopping list I plan to make meals using what I have frozen.

I second the Internet shopping idea. If you're going to try that my advice Is not to stay loyal to one supermarket. Use a comparison site like mysupermarket to find out where it's cheapest. They all offer money off your first shop. By the time you've claimed the new customer discount on all the websites, the first ones you shopped with will be emailing you vouchers to entice you back. My friend does this and claims to get £10-20 off her shop every week. Definitely worth a try!

I'm not sure about honey in your flapjacks. Honey tends to burn at a high temp. Even if they don't catch I think they'll be crunchy rather than chewey. There's no egg in flapjack so they're still safe to eat if undercooked. if you're going to try it I'd bake them for less time than the recipe says so they don't get too brittle and "snappy". Let us know how they turn out if you try them!