Food planning/shopping advice

tryingtocutback

I feel that we have not been very efficient recently and have been popping out for "bits and pieces" and spending more than we need to.

My "new" plan is as follows:-

1. Do a meal plan for evening meals
2. Keep 2 running shopping lists - 1 for Tesco and 1 for Lidl
3. Shop once per week at Lidl (probably Thursday when their offers start)
4. Shop once per week at Tesco (probably Friday to capture things we couldn't get at Lidl).

To be honest sticking to a food plan for evening meals will be a challenge which is why I haven't suggested a meal plan for b/f or lunch - these tend to be rolls/bread, cold meats/cheese etc.

I know you are real experts on here so I just wondered if you can advise me as to whether this sounds like a good plan or if there is something else I could do?

Thanks in advance.

Dozey_crow

Hi trying,

One thing that really helps us is having a separate purse for food. We budget £160 per month for food (2 of us) and the of bottle of wine. Having it in cash in a separate purse means that we can't delude ourselves about what is there and what we have spent.

Hth
DC xxx

Linda32

Hi, when you say that sticking to a plan will be a challenge, may I ask what makes it so? Is it different meals? Activites at night which means you rush?

Just wondering if plans could be made to include your needs and lifestylesrather than say thinking you are likely to cook from scratch when you get home from work, frazzled and hungry.

good_advice

Hiya, a shopping list of needs is a good idea.
I always keep bread in the freezer since i noticed when we run out oh goes to smaller local shop. much more costly and extra's can be added to bassket.

I shop at Tesco's around 4pm onnce a week and that is it.
I have a routeen. Look in all Ys area's first. Then shopping list. Freezer things last then pay.

A lot off our dinners last over 2 days as I now cook for x2. Most dinners and geared up for x4 people like a jar of cooking sauce. sausages, beef for casserole. Large steak pie.

I always buy fruit, veg and sandwich meat.

I do not meal plan with a list. I do tend to have a good idea the day before what we will have for dinner. From YS shopping or i have got some meat from the freezer to defrost.

googlejuice

There's two of us and we find creating a weekly menu of what we're going to eat keeps our cost down. We then make a list of what we'll need based on the meals and only buy those products.
We usually have a roast on Sunday and the left over meat is used for a dish during the week, and sometimes can make a few more meals for other weeks.
The secret is to only buy those things you need, and not get swayed by the "special offers" in supermarkets.

googlejuice

Oh I also use mysupermarket website to check out the best prices at the different supermarkets. It does mean having to make separate trips but worth the savings.

good_advice

Brand down. I often buy Tesco label or value.

I like value kitchen roll, value flour and Packet of value golden rice.
Value biscuits, I transfer into a plastic box at home.

trailingspouse

I don't meal plan specific meals, but I plan the main ingredient - for example, instead of 'Monday spaghetti bolognaise', it'll be 'Monday mince'. Then when Monday comes around I'll cook something with mince, but what exactly I cook will depend on what is in the fridge and what we fancy having. It could be home-made burgers, or mince and tatties, or spag bol, or lasagne etc.

Living_proof

I buy marked down meat and fish and freeze it, then bulk cook and freeze in suitable quantities. - it's just me now. I also save a lot of money by refusing to pay the asking price for things like toothpaste, mouthwash, flora margarine, etc. For instance I need some Corsodyl daily mouthwash and checking round on the web this morning the 'asking' price is £4.79 but there are 3 for 2 offers, 2 for x, etc. but Tesco is the cheapest at £3.19 so a huge saving on this item alone. I will by a couple and I never 'run out' of these things and can plan to buy when on offer. Flora is always £1 a tub somewhere but the 'asking price' is always £1.70. By judicious planning I think you could probably save 40% on food and household goods and who wouldn't want a 40% tax free increase in their salary?

maman

Rather than keep two lists I write down anything we run out of during the week then add what I need for my meal plan all on one list. Then I go down the list writing A (Aldi) or S (Sainsbury's) after each item or with A? if I'm not sure if Aldi's sell it. I go to Aldi first, get whatever I can then onto Sainsbury's (nearest large SM so saves on fuel). In the past year what I buy in Aldi has grown. This week I didn't go to Sainsbury's at all. I really would recommend only going into a shop once a week and making do if you run out of something.


I don't plan for breakfast or lunch either. I just buy ingredients and I'm careful to limit the amount of fresh stuff that would be wasted if not used.


For evening meals I write one a day (unless I know we're out) and try to have a mix of things I'll do from scratch on days I have time and HM ready meals from the freezer for busy/CBA days. So perhaps a good idea to set aside some time for batch cooking too.