I could use some advice to help get my grocery bill down...

its_maths_not_magic

Hi all. I've jumped in to this money saving thing with both feet and have sorted almost everything out with bills, rent, debt repayment and savings but Im stuck on the grocery bill. I would love some advice on how to cut it back more.

Heres what I have been doing:

* For three weeks now I have been creating my list, using "my supermarket" to get the cheapest I can buy and then hitting Lidl first. If its cheaper in Lidl, I get it there, if not, I go where is cheapest. So I usually end up buying from Lidl, Aldi, Asda then Tesco.

* I stick to own brand stuff on most things, except with bread, and that only sets me back .50p a week. I don't buy cleaning products, but use whats around me if I need to (I live in a caravan so cleaning is not much of an issue, and neither is tp since I use the parks)

* I keep a spreadsheet of prices, so I know if any specials come up if its really a bargain and I only buy what I need - its not a bargain if Im buying something cheap that I don't need.

* My husband and I eat pretty much veggie, although he might get some ham for a sandwich occaisionally. And we try to eat fairly simply, beans and rice, oatmeal, that sort of thing.

* I stick to a meal plan, unless there is a great special on and then I will work that into the plan.

* We pretty much cook everything from scratch, I hate processed foods anyway. We don't drink alcohol often and try not to eat alot of junk food either. Neither of us smoke.

* I look for and use coupons whenever I can, but again, only for things I need.

Despite all of this, Im not really cutting my grocery bills down all that much. This week cost us nearly £60 (for two people, and a dog, he gets fresh chicken but luckily we live near a chicken farm and can get raw chicken at .75p per kilo and he's only a small dog that doesn't eat much). I should say that this week was a bit different being my husbands birthday he got a few extra sweet pastries and we needed a cheap blender to be able to make felafel, houmous (sp?) and smoothies at home.

Is there any other way to get our groceries down more? The only thing I can't do is grow my own veggies as I live in a caravan, but I am thinking about growing my own herbs (since I only buy parsley, I can't see that making a huge difference.) Or is it expensive to begin with but will probably get cheaper as we go along?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Amys

If you are buying things from the cheapest places, the next thing to look at is what you are buying, and how you can change the menus to get better value for money.

Also, if you are going around a lot of places, you may end you may end up spending more in petrol that the money you save in the process.

its_maths_not_magic

Thanks for your reply. A sample menu for a day would be

Breakfast: Beans on toast
Lunch: Cous cous salad
Dinner: Soup and a roll
Snack: pot of yoghurt

So Im not sure how to scale that back. But if anyone could point me to a better menu, I'd love that!

Luckily, my supermarkets are pretty close together so its literally pennies in petrol to go from one to another. I also tend to only go to another shop if the savings I get is considerably more than the petrol it takes to get there and back.

cdodd

you need to go to the old style thread there's loads of advice there for meal planning on a buget

downshifted

Post your weekly shop on here. Based on your sample menu sixty pounds for one week sounds way over the top. I spend that but eat too much meat, cream, eggs, cheese etc etc......

quintwins

downshifted wrote: »

Post your weekly shop on here. Based on your sample menu sixty pounds for one week sounds way over the top. I spend that but eat too much meat, cream, eggs, cheese etc etc......

I agree i spend less than that on 5 of us and we eat meat most days.

OP do you have alot of food in your cupboards? it could be that your overbuying.

mummybearx

downshifted wrote: »

Post your weekly shop on here. Based on your sample menu sixty pounds for one week sounds way over the top. I spend that but eat too much meat, cream, eggs, cheese etc etc......

I would agree, I spend a bit less than you a week and I spend nearly £20 a week in the butchers. And that's just for my husband, I'm veggie! About £15-£20 on fruit, veg, milk and tinned goods, then maybe £10 during the week topping up the milk or juice.

Jasper1

Eggs and liver are cheap generally and quite nutritious. Also if you buy chicken and cook it be sure to use the bones to make a soup as with any other meats. You can use the fats from the soups for cooking as well.
Be careful when you start budgeting that you don't cut out the good fats.

maman

I'm surprised you spend so much as DH and I spend less than £50 a week (no dog) for two of us and seem to eat far more than you do if your typical menu is anything to go on. However my freezer is my friend (batch cooking, portioning up large packs, YS bargains, some frozen veg) and maybe you don't have that facility living in a caravan.

I'd agree with downshifted that posting up a typical shopping list for comments might help.

rachbc

I don't quite understand how you are spending so much either. I spent £60 last week for 4 of us and still have food left. We ate meat everyday and had duck and king prawns this week and a bottle of wine.

Have you still got your receipt so you could see what was actually food and what was 'extras'. What did you actually buy?

flubberyzing

Just echoing what others have said. Based on your sample menu, it seems quite a lot for what is quite a plain diet.

The best tip I was given for supermarket shopping was to know your weaknesses. For instance, I know that I'm just better off not going down the isle with the yoghurts, because that's where the Cadbury twin pots live! If I don't even see them, I don't buy them!

Luckily, I know my store really well, and know where the things I want are likely to be in each isle. That way, I can, "eyes forward" down the isle, straight to what I want. And not be distracted by other things that I don't really need.