Budget Shopping List

Brambleberry

Perhaps a good place to start would be to get your family round the table and find out what their favourites are, including whether they consider them to fall into mid-week, weekend, lunch or treat categories.

You can then begin to plan these recipes into a weekly or monthly outline with an eye to cheapness, swap out an ingredient here or there, check what's on offer at your preferred stores, adjust your plan if need be and then run with it.

If you share the meal outline plan with your family, everyone can see when to look forward to their particular favourites.

HTH

maman

Thanks for getting back OP.:)


I think you're going about this the wrong way. You don't need to start from what some random person on mumsnet thinks is a budget shopping list and fit it round your family. You need to start (like brambleberry said) from what your family like to eat and then devise the best value ways of providing that. Obviously if, in discussion, they say they want lobster and caviar for every meal then that can't be but within reason you need to accommodate what they like to eat or your efforts will be wasted.


One way of starting discussion is to look at menus for pubs and restaurants. Lots of them do budget meals (like sausage and mash) to keep costs down too. Or just list the things you know from experience they like.


When you can tell us what they like to eat roughly then we can probably tell you where and how to shop to get the best value for money.

skogar

Just looked at the net mums site. Seems like this is a basic weekly list and then there are meal plans for a few weeks, each week there are a few extras that are added to the list so that the menus are slightly different.

Link is here http://www.netmums.com/family-food/budget-shopping-list

Hopefully that will make a bit more sense. Also it explains the lack of mince. It appears as an extra on some of the weeks.

I suggest you have a look at the suggested main meals and decide if they are things your family will eat. If not decide which ones they will eat and look at the ideas for other weeks to see if you can swap things round a bit. Brambleberry and Maman have made a great suggestion to consult your family and see what they like to eat for ideas.

I must admit I find it easier to start with a hunt through fridge / freezer / cupboards to see what needs using up. Then agree a meal plan with OH and then go and buy the missing items. If you think using the netmums list will work and save you money then give it a go. You can always adapt it later to save money / suit your family better.

Good luck.

Towser

No chance of a meal plan for this particular budget shopping list then?

NewShadow

Why don't you give it a go, and we can give you tips and suggestions when you're done?

Try looking at each 'main' ingredient (like chicken breasts), and think of something you could cook with it.

Then think how much you might have leftover, and what you could do with that...

So, if you bought a whole chicken as suggested, you could make a roast chicken dinner, then use some leftovers to make a chicken pie, or chicken pasta bake.

maman

Towser wrote: »

No chance of a meal plan for this particular budget shopping list then?

I appreciate that autism might be an issue but why are you determined to stick to this list regardless of whether it's what your family like to eat? Have you actually bought these things? or is it a hypothetical exercise?

HappyMJ

Towser wrote: »

No chance of a meal plan for this particular budget shopping list then?

Have you ever made a pizza base from scratch? I don't...I really can't be bothered. I buy cheap pizzas for £1 each and put my own toppings on them and add a bit more cheese.

Another item you have is crumpets. Do you actually like crumpets? To me they get too oily with the butter melting and soaking through the crumpet. I'd rather a bit of toast.

You've also got porridge oats. Do you like porridge? I eat porridge about once per week if that...It's not high on my list of favourite breakfast foods. I make it up in a saucepan, put it in a bowl and put a dollop of jam on top.....but your list doesn't have jam. I buy jam, honey, Vegemite and Marmite to use as a spread.

Frugalsod

HappyMJ wrote: »

Have you ever made a pizza base from scratch? I don't...I really can't be bothered. I buy cheap pizzas for £1 each and put my own toppings on them and add a bit more cheese.

You can make pizza bases for pennies if you have the right source. I make mine from flour and yeast.

I would opt for a bulk bag of chicken from the butcher. Depending on how you use it. I use breast because nothing is thrown out.

Next sign up for http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk You do not have to use it. Just add everything you want to buy then check individual items for the best prices overall. This will then allow you to create a shopping list for every supermarket and then pick the cheapest items from each. If you are like me I will get a bulk online delivery at the cheapest rate possible so that the cost of delivery is minuscule compared to the overall spend. I will get as much as a years worth of toilet rolls and dry goods this way and all delivered for a £1. Though it could be more.

Getting a big online delivery has two advantages no impulse buys and it might be cheaper to pay for delivery than driving to that store. Plus less wear and tear on your own vehicle. I do it one or twice a year. Also you could even spread the orders out and get them delivered from a different supermarket each week or month, this way you get the best prices from each and minimise deliveries.

Look at everything that can be made, like pizza base mix, bread etc and work out the costs of making from scratch. It will give you a top price to pay for the mix. I found I can make bread (about 50p) for less than in the shops. Do that with everything. I also make my own peanut butter and it is nicer than the branded versions and no additives. You will discover that you could probably halve your shopping bill by completely eliminating anything that is processed or ready made. Though some items will not necessarily save you much money. Home made pasta is about the same price as dried pasta but much cheaper than fresh pasta.

Ditch the sunflower spread and use butter, healthier and can be cheaper, plus you can store in bulk in freezer. Using a freezer also allows you to bulk cook which can save money as well.

I make a big slow cooker chilli which I then store in individual containers and can get as many as 18 meals out of one overnight batch. Freezing allows me to have meals over many days and only need to reheat in microwave.

Coleslaw can be made easily just google for recipes and make in bulk at beginning of week. Consider doing that with anything that you like.

Crisps, buy potatoes, slice and fry yourself. Cheaper and if you have to make them it might cut down your intake.

Take advantaged of bulk orders and get as much tinned items at the best prices possible and then get delivered.

Dried lentils should be cheaper than tinned lentils. Also value beans are pretty good nowadays so ditch the brands and drop right down to value brands if you can. I find I only have brands if there is no alternative.

Fresh veg are cheapest if you grow yourself. Next markets and then look at greengrocers before supermarkets. I found that my greengrocer might be more expensive but the food last longer. So very little is wasted.

I would also work out a meal plan for what your family likes and then base the shopping on that rather than a preset list.

ancientofdays

Home made pizza base costs pence, as previous poster suggests, is very quick to make and my family likes my pizza. Dried pulses are cheaper than tins but you do need to plan ahead and they take time to cook. I never buy passata, I whizz up ordinary tinned tomatoes with a stick blender. We buy several chickens on 3 for 2 deals, one for roasting and joint the rest, doing This saves a lot. If we want biscuits, I get those from the poundshop because although I can make them and used to make my own bread, I work long hours and cannot do everything, just not enough hours in the day.
I do sometimes decide to sacrifice a few pence for convenience, fruit and veg from the market is cheaper but they have to be lugged home as it is not close.

Pollycat

I too think it's a bit of a !!!!-eyed way of going about it.

Just because a list works for somone doesn't follow that it will work for you and your family.
Do they even like fish pie?

I don't know if there's some ideas for meals in this thread - you'd have to do your own shopping list though.
I don't know if it's that which is the problem for you
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5361046