what would be the cheapest solution

mumofthetwins

food snobbery has gone out the window in my house ... im taking my boys on a suprise trip to florida in january and have managed to cut the bill massively ... its just me and them 2 but they eat loads, and thats 3 meals a day (packed lunches during term time) and feeding there freinds that come round most weekends.
I am baking alot more and freezing meals nut the kids and there friends keep saying they love my cakes and whenever there friends come they ask if ive been cooking !
the boys think they are saving for a new xbox one each but im gonna get them in anyway
like i said id much rather drop down a brand and have a fab holiday to look forward to ...
ive noticed a massive saving by drinking fruit squash instead of fizzy drinks(was only me drinking them in anyway) but now saving around £2-£3 a day
Lisa

patchwork_cat

The cold meat at Aldi IMO is much better than other supermarkets and a fraction of the cost. What did you buy?

GwylimT

I do wonder how much Aldi stores vary, personally I wouldn't buy meat, fruit or veg from there. I do get a quite a few household things from Aldi, but since moving I have found our Aldi to be fairly poor.

Our local Lidl is a bit better, I did recently try their ripe at home plums and apricots but they went off before they ripened.

There are three of us, but one is only three years old, we spend between £80-£100 a week on groceries, but this includes household products as well. That is three meals a day for seven days (one being a pack up for my wife, sometimes two depending on her hours that day).

We do plan our meals for the week and buy what we need in one go apart from things that need to be bought fresh on the day, we get all of our meat from a butcher, although sometimes I go for the delivery option which is £2, we get our fish from a Grimsby fish van every 8 weeks and then freeze it. Veg, sometimes green grocer, sometimes the market, it just depends on when I go shopping. Most of our household stuff, toiletries etc come from Sainsburys.

fannyadams

Hi :waves:
here are two sites I would recommend you look at:
http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/
and
http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/index.html

I also look at Froog's (Frugal Queen's) blog
and A Girl Called Jack
for inspiration when I can't think of something to make with the ingredients I have in.

winniepooh

maman wrote: »

Thanks. So if we take the roast out that's 60 meals.

Based on me doing much the same for two people for around £50 then I'd say you could come in at about £75 and so shave some off your budget.

People have given various bits of advice on how you can shop more cheaply and the biggest block seemed to be your DH and his 'food snob' habits. I'm curious as to how committed your DH is to saving money. Is this shared family finances or are you just trying to save on your part of it? The reason I ask is that (I think) you said DH funds the Sunday roast so it didn't count. So presumably that's not from the family budget.

Don't mean to be nosey or preachy but it seems unfair for you to be doing the proverbial 'scrimping and saving' if DH is refusing to embrace change or even see the need for it.

I sort all the finances and bills. I bet he doesn't even know how much we have in the account.

maman

winniepooh wrote: »

I sort all the finances and bills. I bet he doesn't even know how much we have in the account.

I just re-read you're first post and you said 'I'm on a money saving mission...please help'.

So, as well as the practical ideas I'd say you need to get your DH on board with the money saving. My DH leaves the finances to me too so I am speaking from experience.

lobbyludd

I'm the only adult in the house and my kids have no conception of food snobbery.

Getting DH on board will be a massive help, can I suggest though that for now you leave his coffee alone? If that's his thing, then let it be for the moment, as you are doing the cooking from scratch I'd concentrate on the ingredients for that.

I've seen stats that people with less disposible income are more likely to buy branded goods than those with more available cash partly because of access to large shops, but also because of a feeling that whilst not being able to have most of life's luxuries, at least the food is good quality. Unfortunately, (and I know I'm preaching to the converted here) "brands" are not better quality/more nutritious than own label - sometimes they are a different taste/texture (not always), but that is a preference/habit thing, most often we are simply paying for the packaging and advertising.

I buy very few branded goods, but the ones I do are very specific - twinings lady grey tea for example. For the 3 of us (only one adult), I spend under £100 a month for all food/toiletries, plus money for school dinners of £80 per month.

you sound like you have a lot on your plate: working, cooking all meals from scratch and all finances, I imagine shopping around on a weekly basis for food from different shops is likely to be more than you have time for until you know what works?

I buy monthly (saves on delivery fees for a start), I cook from scratch (apart from fishfingers!), planning and batch cooking, and top up with fresh fruit/veg (alongside the frozen), this means that I don't have to find a shop that does both the staples and the fresh stuff well, I can mix and match without it being a weekly chore. I've also a large full store cupboard and freezer, so if wherever I monthly shop has an offer on e.g. tuna I'll buy loads, and that then lasts for months.

as you're cooking from scratch and have mainly meat based meals - cheaper cuts of meat? they usually taste much better just need a little more prep or longer cooking, and adding in a greater proportion of veg.

but these are ideas for the long term - small changes finding what you like/don't as others have said is the way to go!

well done on the smoking!

Honey_Bear

As Lidl seems to be the only place that doesn't chill tomatoes I start my weekly shop there and was very surprised last week to notice that Morrisons were cheaper on some items of fruit and veg. (I can't bear the local Aldi - it's permanently scruffy and seems very dirty in comparisons to Lidl which is always less crowded. I loathe Asda since Walmart took it over.) I'm not loyal to any supermarket and often shop at the Co-op, Sainsbury's and M&S if I happen to be in town and feel a yen for something that they do best - as a very, very special treat. A combination of Lidl and Morrison's are the cheapest, imo.

For guidance on how to cut down on food cost, try the Grocery Challenge thread. You'll be amazed at the shared knowledge on how to reduce your monthly bill.

sonastin

Like one of the earlier posters, I use aldi for basic stuff and other supermarkets for certain brands and things they do best and I've found over the years that the proportion I get from aldi has increased and the amount I get from the other SMs has decreased. Its definitely a case of start small and let it grow as your DH gets used to things.

I'm in the situation now where I need to visit pretty much all of them at some point in the month - OH only likes Tesco soya milk, but he prefers asda smart price biscuits. The aldi I use near home is next door to sainsbobs so I tend to do my big stock up shop at the beginning of the month in those 2 together then top up from tesco on my way home from work one week and get a months supply of soya milk and top up the biscuit barrell whenever I'm passing asda (on my way to visit my mum usually!). We live over 6 miles from the nearest SM but I pass loads on my way home from work or visiting friends and family so try to only make a special trip once (if that) and get the rest while I'm passing.

I have found that it helps to take OH to aldi every now and again. He likes to play in what he calls the "man zone" down the middle - and he's managed to pick up some half-decent tools from there when he's been in. I try to time his visits to the weeks when I know their specials are things he's likely to be interested in! It has helped having him in the store because he then starts to see other products that we could "try" which I might not have dared go for for fear he'd reject it. But I don't take him too often because the extra bits and bobs he throws in the trolley (cake and chocolate usually - he pays for his own tools!) all add up.

elaineandmark1

Has anybody else noticed how poor Aldi Magnum premium original (green) washing up liquid is now?
Bottle labels ect exactly same, but product is much more runnier, it used to be not unlike leading brands but now you might as well buy leading supermarkets own cheapest label.