Help me reduce my astronomical food spends.

shoei

Morning Guys,

I wondered if anyone can give me any advice for reducing my huge food bills. I would be grateful for any meal suggestions etc.

I shop online as we live in a rural area and the cheapest delivery is cheaper than me going to the shops, I also try only to buy offers but recently some finest things have dropped in the basket!!!

There are 3 adults in our household and I am going to try to make sandwiches etc for lunch.

So far since the 23rd Jan I have spent £407.80 on food! This includes £65 in meals is restaurant and £33 on takeaways (subway, McD's when I am late home or we are out)

However, it also includes a big shop yesterday so hopefully maybe able to eak stuff out until pay day on the 27th.

I have a freezer full of frozen veg, loads of chicken breast, a bit of mice and for tea tonight I am going to make turkey/chicken curry and hopefully be able to freeze some for times when I am to tiered to cook.

I work full time in the week and do 35 hours p/m in the weekend. I'm really the only one that cooks at home and I don't really have time to take hours cooking stuff. I have a slow cooker which I would like to utilise more too.

Oh and I also have a sack of potatoes

Thanks for any help.

Shoei

dingdongsaving

Hi Shoei

What would you like to be spending on food each month? Everyone has a different budget and that's probably your 1st thing to think about.

Best place to look is the 'grocery challenge' thread for spending bits and pieces...and the 'what's for dinner' one is a good place for meal planning/cooking inspiration.

We easily used to spend £600 a month on food/toiletries/cleaning and pet supplies...plus £200-300 on eating out.

We realised we were nuts and could be adding a holiday or 2 a year to our repertoire and decided to change last year. It's so easy...we just made a list of 30 meals we all love and plan our weekly shopping list around what we fancy in the next 7 days. We also always have lunches packed to take to work/school each day and tasty treats planned for the weekend.

We usually spend £30-60 on eating out now, and we only go to places where the food is really nice and different from what we just make at home anyway. It's made it such a nicer 'experience' and not just a routine grab a sandwich, pizza, burger job.

We also set a budget of £400 a month on groceries (including toiletries/cleaning/cat, dog, guinea pig supplies) and have never come close to it. Our average monthly grocery spend is £350 over the last few months (including Christmas/December).

So far we've saved enough to book a 2nd August holiday AND a trip to America. It's really ridiculous how much we were throwing at food that wasn't well thought out or tasty.

Good luck!

Edit: Should also add that me and my hubby both work full time too...it's not been any more work...just buying 'planned' food makes it easier to grab stuff from the freezer, fridge and cupboards instead of staring at hundreds of food items and having no idea or inclination to actually make anything! We used to throw away a LOT at the end of the week as we'd eaten out instead of cooked.

Linda32

shoei wrote: »

There are 3 adults in our household and I am going to try to make sandwiches etc for lunch.

So far since the 23rd Jan I have spent £407.80 on food! This includes £65 in meals is restaurant and £33 on takeaways (subway, McD's when I am late home or we are out)

I work full time in the week and do 35 hours p/m in the weekend. I'm really the only one that cooks at home and I don't really have time to take hours cooking stuff. I have a slow cooker which I would like to utilise more too.

Well, to be honest, I don't see where you have the time to make much more than a sandwich anyway


I have to ask, do you need to reduce the bill for financial reasons or do you just think the bill is too high?


I would suggest writing down everything you have in the cupboards and freezer which you can make meals out of.


Then match them up, like you say above, the chicken with potatoes and veggies.

AnnieO1234

I'm sorry but food is easy to cook in advance and if OP has time to go out to eat then she has time to batch cook at least!

When you say there are three adults, is this an older teenager? Or an OAP? That will have a bearing obviously. If it's an older teenager, do they pay rent or board? That's another option for you to look into.

Are there any dietary needs including allergies? This just seems like a high spend is all and I'm trying to work out why. Do you always buy premium produce for example?

Which shop do you have delivery from? Have you looked at my supermarket.co.uk and seen if a different store would be cheaper?

You say you are rural, farm shops might, MIGHT be cheaper for veg.

Xxx

maman

dingdongsaving wrote: »

Hi Shoei

Edit: Should also add that me and my hubby both work full time too...it's not been any more work...just buying 'planned' food makes it easier to grab stuff from the freezer, fridge and cupboards instead of staring at hundreds of food items and having no idea or inclination to actually make anything! We used to throw away a LOT at the end of the week as we'd eaten out instead of cooked.

Totally agree with this. When people qualify their posts with 'I work full time' I always think that it makes their time more precious so meal planning and the shopping list to go with it are even more essential. Shoei, as you're doing online shopping then that should make it easier not to do any impulse buying.


I think you could easily get your budget down to £75 per week but not including alcohol or meals out. I'd suggest having a separate entertainment budget or personal pocket money and using that for meals out/take aways/booze. Then you can make choices of whether you want to spend pocket money on a take away or eat what's planned.


What I'd suggest to get you started:

• you don't say who the other adults are but they need to be on board with this if it's going to work. They'll have to accept what they're given for meals at home but if they want any extras (like snacks) then it must come from their own spending money not the grocery budget.
• Any chance the other adults could do something to help out? Other chores if not help with cooking?
• write a meal plan for the week based on what you've got in (sounds like loads) and only buy the absolute minimum on top of that. Try to tailor your meals to your working patterns. Have SC meals or easy stuff (jacket potatoes, pasta or HM ready meals) when you know you'll be late from work. Make your packed lunches the night before.
• Keep doing that as it'll be rare (if ever) that you've got nothing in at the start of the week. Only buy offers of things that will last/can be frozen.

Good Luck!

meg72

shoei wrote: »

Morning Guys,

I wondered if anyone can give me any advice for reducing my huge food bills. I would be grateful for any meal suggestions etc.

I shop online as we live in a rural area and the cheapest delivery is cheaper than me going to the shops, I also try only to buy offers but recently some finest things have dropped in the basket!!!

There are 3 adults in our household and I am going to try to make sandwiches etc for lunch.

So far since the 23rd Jan I have spent £407.80 on food! This includes £65 in meals is restaurant and £33 on takeaways (subway, McD's when I am late home or we are out)

However, it also includes a big shop yesterday so hopefully maybe able to eak stuff out until pay day on the 27th.

I have a freezer full of frozen veg, loads of chicken breast, a bit of mice and for tea tonight I am going to make turkey/chicken curry and hopefully be able to freeze some for times when I am to tiered to cook.

I work full time in the week and do 35 hours p/m in the weekend. I'm really the only one that cooks at home and I don't really have time to take hours cooking stuff. I have a slow cooker which I would like to utilise more too.

Oh and I also have a sack of potatoes

Thanks for any help.

Shoei

Come on over to the grocery challenge thread loads of friendly support and advice there. Plus almost any recipe you could ask for
a whole section on slow cooking and batch cooling.

You may not have the time to batch cook a load of stuff but an easy way to start is to make a double quantity, you could start with your curry tonight. Make twice the amount and freeze one,
make sure to divide it before and not leave anything for seconds.

I live alone and don't really like cooking for one to be honest so I tend to make enough for 4 as I would have done when family were home, and freeze the extras.

I do this with lasagne, chilli, cottage pie, curry, sweet and sour.
I buy a joint of say beef, roast and slice up into portions, a slow cooked gammon is lovely and makes lots of meals.Plus of course any cooked meats are handy for sandwiches.

I note you have loads of chicken breasts, do you ever buy a whole chicken, much cheaper check out the rubber chicken advice, you can easily et two or 3 meals for 3 from a medium chicken.

Good luck.

richardw

shoei wrote: »

....I shop online as we live in a rural area and the cheapest delivery is cheaper than me going to the shops...

What is the cost of going to the nearest Lidl or Aldi?

fannyadams

http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/
now includes Morrisons and ALDI in comparison shops.

melanzana

I love my grub!

But I live alone so really had to look at what I was spending on food. Couldn't figure out where my Loot was going TBH!

Anyhow, I realised that if I buy ONLY what I really like to eat, and not get caught up with Bogofs and yellow stickers that I MIGHT use, I have saved a fortune.

So now I go to Aldi with my list. Buy what I KNOW I will eat and enjoy, and no Bogofs there either!

I do buy the odd treat in M+S. And I look forward to that.

But honestly, how many cupboards and freezers are choc a block with bits of this and that, that sometimes never get used, despite best intentions.

So my tip, once again, is write down the meals/food/treats you like, and stick to that. No Bogofs just because they are cheap, no yellow stickers for same reason.

Unless you will enjoy that food, forget it.

My freezer now has fish, quiche, mash spuds, veg, homemade soup, chilli, spag Bol, butter, milk, bread ,cheese ,bacon, sausages, all in portions.

I sometimes add a free range chicken and gammon joint.

They are all foods that I know I love, so I dnt have to ponder "what will I make with this!"

Best of luck OP, it is a learning curve alright...

Butterfly_Brain

It seems an awful lot for three people to be quite honest, I feed four to five adults (DD is a vegetarian and her BF is a fussy eater) for £160-£200 a month. I do use Aldi but we buy most of our meat from the local farm or butcher, a little more expensive, yes but it tastes like meat and I stretch it out.
I grow my own veg and did so when I worked full time which helps on food costs. I also use the farm and local market which is much cheaper for fruit and veg.

We rarely eat out, mainly because we have had some pretty horrid meals when we have had takeaways and from restaurants and had to pay through the nose for them :mad:

I batch cook so we always have a HM ready meal that can be heated up quickly.

In my freezer I have all of these HM ready meals

• 2 Bolognaise sauce
• 2 Lasagnes
• 1 Moroccan tagine
• 1 sausage pasta sauce
• 1 bacon pasta sauce
• 2 sausage, bacon and mushroom crumble
• 2 Cottage pies
• 2 Sausage toad
• 1 sausage stew
• 1 chicken stew
• 2 beef stew
• 1 lamb hotpot
• 1 Mediterranean pork stew
• 1 Beef in black bean sauce
• 1 Chicken in hoisin sauce
• 1 Chicken jalfrezi
• 1 Chicken Korma
• 2 Roast Lamb in gravy
• 2 Roast Beef in gravy
• 1 Roast pork in gravy
• 2 Steak and kidney pies
• 2 Ham and Pineapple pizzas
• 2 Pepperoni pizzas
• 3 cheese and tomato pizzas

I also have

• HM potato wedges spiced with all purpose seasoning and some plain
• HM roast potatoes
• HM yorkshire puddings

Mainly because I am waiting for an operation and will not be able to cook for a few weeks and I do not want to live on DH's cooking for any length of time :rotfl:But if I have a bad day and haven't the energy to cook there is always something that the family can rustle up that is not full of chemicals.

melanzana

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

It seems an awful lot for three people to be quite honest, I feed four to five adults (DD is a vegetarian and her BF is a fussy eater) for £160-£200 a month. I do use Aldi but we buy most of our meat from the local farm or butcher, a little more expensive, yes but it tastes like meat and I stretch it out.
I grow my own veg and did so when I worked full time which helps on food costs. I also use the farm and local market which is much cheaper for fruit and veg.

We rarely eat out, mainly because we have had some pretty horrid meals when we have had takeaways and from restaurants and had to pay through the nose for them :mad:

I batch cook so we always have a HM ready meal that can be heated up quickly.

In my freezer I have all of these HM ready meals

• 2 Bolognaise sauce
• 2 Lasagnes
• 1 Moroccan tagine
• 1 sausage pasta sauce
• 1 bacon pasta sauce
• 2 sausage, bacon and mushroom crumble
• 2 Cottage pies
• 2 Sausage toad
• 1 sausage stew
• 1 chicken stew
• 2 beef stew
• 1 lamb hotpot
• 1 Mediterranean pork stew
• 1 Beef in black bean sauce
• 1 Chicken in hoisin sauce
• 1 Chicken jalfrezi
• 1 Chicken Korma
• 2 Roast Lamb in gravy
• 2 Roast Beef in gravy
• 1 Roast pork in gravy
• 2 Steak and kidney pies
• 2 Ham and Pineapple pizzas
• 2 Pepperoni pizzas
• 3 cheese and tomato pizzas

I also have

• HM potato wedges spiced with all purpose seasoning and some plain
• HM roast potatoes
• HM yorkshire puddings

Mainly because I am waiting for an operation and will not be able to cook for a few weeks and I do not want to live on DH's cooking for any length of time :rotfl:But if I have a bad day and haven't the energy to cook there is always something that the family can rustle up that is not full of chemicals.

Oh yummmmmmyyyy!

Will you adopt me please? I am house trained and easy to live with, honest!

(you have given me loads of ideas there too, so thanks)

Best of luck with the op, hope all goes well for you.