Average monthly spend?

[Deleted User]

I can do it comfortably, and as another poster said it will depend on what you buy I don't eat take-aways or eat out.I very rarely drink and don't smoke.My £60.00 is in my seperate food budget purse and is spent only on food bought for the home.I don't buy newspapers or magazines I don't have to buy shower stuff or hair stuff as being of a certain age ... I get given boxes of the stuff at christmas.I had to let my grandchildren know last year that I really didn't need any more slippers :):) My youngest DGD buys me shampoo by the gallon bless her and I have enough body lotion to open my own branch of Boots I think.
So what is in my 'food' purse is just for that and nothing else.I set out monthly various small plastic bank bags with different amounts in them I have £15.00 for the weekly pub quiz (£2.00 for the quiz and a pound for a soda and lime) This is on a Tuesday night and we get a plate of pasta or a jacket spud thrown in with the £2.00 Great night out for £3.00 :):) So Tuesdays if I go to Quiz I don't need to make a dinner :):)
£20.00 per month is for my History club on a Friday afternoon
£6.00 for the window cleaner and £24.00 for a fortnightly visit from my gardener.So none of the extra expence comes from my food purse at all.I only shop for essential and then only about twice a month.I live fairly close to a small shopping precinct and only a short bus ride from a bigger one so I am lucky with that .My eldest DD usually treats me to ground coffee for my perculator as we are the only ones who enjoy it on Sunday mornings.To me I don't think I could get it any lower than what I do ,but nothing is ever wasted .
I bake a cake for my DDs in-laws and they give me in exchange all of the apples from their tree which gets cooked and frozen to use during the winter.My DGS and I forage for blackberries in late summer.Great to freeze and I can use them to flavour value basic plain yoghurt.Why pay £3.00 for flavoured yoghurt when you can do it yourself.I like banana's and oranges but don't eat many eating apples unless they are on special offer and then not that often.
Last night for dinner I had for a change some spag bol sauce from the freezer and a jacket spud, followed by some plain yoghurt with some frozen berries from my freezer mixed in.The value yoghurt is 45p for a large carton and the berries were free from the hedgrows.My yoghurt carton will do for almost a week for puds or if I fancy a curry will have a dollop stuck in to make it creamy.It's quite suprising how you can make food streeetch when you want to I love finding recipes that will extend my food stocks.A piece of fresh fish for a quid will make a double portion of fish pie for very little more than the addition of potato's grated cheese and a few frozen peas/sweetcorn.

250 gms of mince can be extended to make several portions of spag bol sauce with just a small carton of chopped tomatos and some lazy garlic and a few chopped onion and a diced up carrot or two, and a handful of oats or lentils can bulk it out a bit.
Why pay £3.00 for a quiche when for a couple of eggs and a few ingrediants that I already have indoors I can make a decent sized one with some HM pastry.Costs about a third of that and lasts for several days with salad bits. or with some mash and peas.I bake my own biscuits and cakes so I don't need to buy those.its definitely do-able

lottie3000

Now I know that time and effort is a really poor excuse, but that's the one i'm sticking to, I don't really enjoy cooking that much and the thought of making home made quiche although the thought would be there I just haven't got the effort when i've finished work to do it and I know i'd dish it up for my hubby and with a salad it wouldn't be enough for him for tea. Although he's very much up for saving money on our grocery bills he still needs a well packed out lunch and a filling meal at tea time. Yes I do think at times we're both greedy but it's what we've both got used to. Tonight for tea i've made a pasta bake from a jar sauce, added some pre-cooked chicken and will serve with garlic bread, that will satisfy the three of us, so that's a bargain and easy peesy. But I have to have variety in my meals and i've got two very fussy people in the mix too. Although I watch every penny I spend I really think £400 is where my budget will stay.

maman

Just out of curiosity Jackie, what fish are you buying for £1? Is it YS?


At our local Asda they sell offcuts of fish for pies and kebabs, smaller than a small matchbox for 50p each.:eek:


I tend to buy frozen fish from Iceland or Farmfoods or fresh from Asda or Morrisons when it's a good price.

[Deleted User]

JackieO wrote: »

I can do it comfortably, and as another poster said it will depend on what you buy I don't eat take-aways or eat out...

...I could get it any lower than what I do ,but nothing is ever wasted ....

I bake a cake for my DDs in-laws and they give me in exchange all of the apples from their tree which gets cooked and frozen to use during the winter.My DGS and I forage for blackberries in late summer.Great to freeze and I can use them to flavour value basic plain yoghurt.Why pay £3.00 for flavoured yoghurt when you can do it yourself.I like banana's and oranges but don't eat many eating apples unless they are on special offer and then not that often.
Last night for dinner I had for a change some spag bol sauce from the freezer and a jacket spud, followed by some plain yoghurt with some frozen berries from my freezer mixed in.The value yoghurt is 45p for a large carton and the berries were free from the hedgrows.My yoghurt carton will do for almost a week for puds or if I fancy a curry will have a dollop stuck in to make it creamy.It's quite suprising how you can make food streeetch when you want to I love finding recipes that will extend my food stocks.A piece of fresh fish for a quid will make a double portion of fish pie for very little more than the addition of potato's grated cheese and a few frozen peas/sweetcorn.

250 gms of mince can be extended to make several portions of spag bol sauce with just a small carton of chopped tomatos and some lazy garlic and a few chopped onion and a diced up carrot or two, and a handful of oats or lentils can bulk it out a bit.
Why pay £3.00 for a quiche when for a couple of eggs and a few ingrediants that I already have indoors I can make a decent sized one with some HM pastry.Costs about a third of that and lasts for several days with salad bits. or with some mash and peas.I bake my own biscuits and cakes so I don't need to buy those.its definitely do-able

I cook everything from scratch and grow strawberries, apples, pears, quinces, rhubarb, blueberries, blackberry and raspberries. Also, hazelnuts and the usual veg too.

We also throw nothing away. The money I costed for food does not include cat food, shampoo, newspapers etc. I also, don't buy flavoured yogurt, ready meals, pre-made quiches etc. just basic ingredients. We do not do take-ways as there is nowhere near us to buy them from.

The simple fact is that the cost for the ingredients where I live means that there is no way I could spend so little on food. I cannot buy either fresh or frozen fish for £1.00, or yogurt for £0.45 - I think the cheapest I can buy is about 65p - 70p for a tub.

We eat very little meat as I am a vegi (husband is not). We do not buy lots of junk food, fizzy drinks etc and any other thing that is expensive. Treats will be a nice bit of cheese, or the occasional beer.

We were visiting another location often over Christmas due to family illness. We were amazed at how cheap things were from car parking, food in the hospital etc. It was at least 1/2 the price we pay.

DPJames

So what's your point? Unless you are going to move to a more convenient location, you had better get used to paying a premium for living out in the sticks. Petrol costs money.

maman

DPJames wrote: »

So what's your point? Unless you are going to move to a more convenient location, you had better get used to paying a premium for living out in the sticks. Petrol costs money.

While there's a definite financial advantage to living close to a range of shops this doesn't mean that OP couldn't cut his bill massively by planning and not wasting the food he buys.

DPJames

He doesn't say he lives out in the countryside though. And as he gets his work bait from McDonalds and Tesco, it sounds like he's a town boy. Although he would have to confirm his, which may be difficult as he's said very little since his original post. Not even a quick 'thankyou' to the people who have tried to help him.

skogar

I'd also be interested to know what fish Jackie O is buying, because she may have an idea I haven't found yet! She's a legend!

I have had some fantastic deals at the end of the day at the local market, so maybe she is doing something similar. I'm not sure I'd get enough fresh fish for 2 portions of fish pie at full price for £1 though. But there are bargains to be had especially if you buy the less common (often bycatch) fish. My best ever was a huge spotted catfish for £5, which provided enough delicious fish for 3 ridiculously extravagantly fishy meals for 2. If we'd realised how much fish was actually on it we'd have cut it into smaller portions after filleting it before freezing it!

Many of the fish I buy I couldn't find on any of the supermarket's website. But if you are prepared to buy frozen fish then Mr T has white fish fillets for £1.68 for 520g which would probably be fine for a fish pie. You could also live it up with value smoked salmon at £3.00 for 400g. I'm sure Jackie O would get at least 3 lots of fish pie out of that and that's without using yellow sticker stuff. So it IS possible. I've seen packs of kipper fillets for 99p for 200g, whole mackerel are £1.24 in Mr M according to the website. I don't actually shop in these supermarkets normally but the websites are useful for ideas of prices. They also had fresh Basa filets for £2.19 for 260g (enough for 2 portions of fish pie there I would think).

I'd go for the obvious and least impact first of not buying stuff that isn't going to get eaten so meal plan and make sure everything goes. It is easier for us as there is only 2 of us (and for Jackie O I'm sure) to turn a few left overs into a meal. It becomes more difficult when there are more of you so if you haven't bought the things that will get left then at least you will have saved some money.

The other thing is making extra portions for when you are eating at different times. When making something like bolognaise / stew etc it is very little extra effort to make double the amount and freeze portions (either individual for you to take to work or to eat as a ready meal at home). I do this all the time as it means that on the days when I can't be bothered to cook I have HM ready meals to eat.

Another thing is trying to eat up the contents of your fridge (or planning the contents of next weeks menu based on what you've already got in) reduces the throwing away. Pizza tonight to use up some left overs, base made in bread maker is really cheap to do, a ball of mozzerella is less than 50p and a tin of tomatoes will make enough sauce for quite a few pizzas.

I keep a list on the freezer of what is actually in it and periodically every 6 months or so) we decide to eat the contents (clears out the freezer and usually only need to buy veg to go with it) although our freezer is only small it usually takes us several months even intending to eat the contents to get through it. Usually due to 1lb mince taken out becoming 3 x 2 people portions of sauce, 2 of which go backin the freezer and so on. Means it doesn't get left full of things I bought on cheap and then forgot about!

All those things shouldn't leave you feeling too deprived. Then you get onto the smaller portions of meat / fish, padding out with vegetables, oats, lentils, making pasta sauce type dishes. Depends on how far you want to go.

tessie_bear

i think u can get yogurt for 45p for a big pot in aldi...not sure on £1 fish but a big bag of value white fish may work out at a £1 a piece but you would have to buy the whole bag

doodygirl

We're a family if 4, 2 are my kids 1 and 2 years old we spend around £500 a month but that including nappies, milk and wet wipes etc