Why is my food bill so big?

Air_Cooled_75

SailorSam wrote: »

When i was on the Cabs and working the Asda, women would often get in with an overflowing trolley and say ..... and i only went in for a loaf and some sugar.

Haha, 'the Asda'! We always used to say that but having lived away from the NW (not Liverpool, the 'Corn ) for well over 10 years I don't hear it anymore

Bollotom

Check what you throw away as well. £500 for two, monthly is really over the top. I can go through our freezer and see what the missus bought weeks, months ago. Also note, as I keep telling my lovely partner, cooking oil is more expensive than car fuel and spices more expensive than gold. Also we have gravy granules, sauces, pellets, capsules for beef, lamb, chicken, pork, fish. Sauces savoury, and sauces of the bolognaise, curry, casserole and various mustards, ground and whole pepper. Sometimes I think we have a mini asda in our cupboards. And do a 'Monthly shop' monthly, not weekly. :cool:

Horace

How much food do you waste each week?

Why haven't you posted details of your normal shop? You expect answers yet are not willing to provide answers to the questions that we ask when we are trying to help.

PasturesNew

You're buying too much, you're buying too much stuff that's luxury/not needed, you're eating too much, you're throwing out too much.

That's probably covered it

Any wine slide into that trolley? Magazines, all shiny and calling your name? Premium brand names? A new top you'll never wear, a cushion, some nice candles .... all that shiny stuff in the aisles you're not supposed to be in if you're food shopping ... DVD? Latest CD? New gadget?

It'll be a lot of things you're doing that combine to make the overspend and you need to pin them down and tackle each one.

Shop using a basket for starters.

FatVonD

So, you were spending roughly £125 per week before for 2 of you.

Your OH has been away 'the majority of September' so I'm assuming that's 3 weeks out of 4 and your monthly supermarket bill was £150 less so you've cut your spending down by £50 per week from £125 to £75 on the weeks he's not there.

I'm not saying there aren't savings to be made but you've already made quite a dent in the amount. It's unlikely that you would be able to cut it by half due to household stuff being the same whether there are one or two of you but if you expected it to be much more of a saving then you may have to consider that you have more expensive tastes that your OH!

You said in your OP that you buy fresh food but then said you'd bought a steak pie and those type of convenience foods don't come cheap (that's not a criticism, I work long hours too and rely heavily on ready meals.)

Do you have lots of stuff in your freezer? I've just looked in my fridge and planned a visit to the supermarket because it's pretty empty but in fact I have a whole chicken and everything I need to make a roast dinner in the freezer. I have a pack of sausages and mash, 2 packs of chilli, a quiche, fish fingers and chips , jacket potatoes in the veg basket and cheese in the fridge. It's not that I don't have food in the house, it's just I don't have what I actually fancy at the time

I sometimes ask DH to get something from the freezer cooking before I get in because it's all perfectly good food and we'll enjoy it once it's on the plate but don't always fancy it.

If you're the same why not get yourself over to the 'eat out of the freezer' challenge?

WantToBeSE

You say you have a slow cooker. There are loads more things you can cook in a slow cooker apart from chilli, spag bol and stews.


You just need to spend a few hours googling recipes.


Buy yourself a timer switch (if your slow cooker doesn't have a timer function) and you can come home to a meal ready for you.


Things I have made in my slow cooker recently are; Mexican Smoky Pork, Cakes, a whole chicken, sausage casserole, curries, lasagne.