Why is my grocery bill so high?

Meadows

It really depends on what you eat compared to others so hard to say where you can cut back.

We eat loads of fresh fruit and vegetables and there is no reducing their costs, yes we can shop around (and do) as we have all the supermarkets, Aldi & Lidl very close to us but Aldi, Lidl & Morrison's quality it not to my liking so it is false economy for me to buy these items from them.

Like others I love a bargain and am please when I can do a meal for two for less than £1 but on the same token I can spend far more than this per meal / per head, and will not compromise quality or what I want to eat for cheaper goods.

I would say always be on the look out for reduced goods, offers you can't pass by. Sometimes better to buy bulk than smaller quantities (example 250g Puy lentils £2 for 250g but on line (reputable seller/site) £6.54 2.5kg).

Buy lentils etc. to add to meals not only are they healthy, they bulk out meal and cost pence.
Nuts and seeds can be sourced on-line or bought locally if you spot an offer.

Don't waste stalks from Broccoli (trimmed of the outer woody bits they are lovely & tender) and leaves from a Cauliflower, this can be use like cabbage to get more from your vegetables.

Reserve vegetable water for stocks, boil chicken carcasses for stock etc. A soup can not only be a filling meal but cheap and a great way to use up bits of anything lying around that needs to be used.

Don't throw away left over food, freeze it to make another meal or add to something else at a later date.

Shop around on-line for best deals and offer codes, sometimes spending a few £'s more avoids postage (why not buy another item for £3/£5 rather than incur a £2.99/£4.99 postage).

Home cooking from scratch is not always cheaper but you know the quality of the meal and can provide ready meal for times you can't be bothered to cook.
Make you own bread, soups, stews etc. Bulk cook meals for the freezer if you have space.

Make your own nut butters or nut milks, really easy to do.
Make your own butter spreads rather than store bought with unwanted additives.

Rather than buying chicken portions buy a whole chicken and cut it up, far far cheaper.

You say you eat 6 - 7 meals a day depending on what you eat this can add to costs but smaller meals need not make weekly shops that much more expensive depending on what you eat.

Have cupboard / fridge / freezer space for that offer which would be silly not to get.

Sometimes bulk buying can up the cost one week / month but then will last you for a long while therefore reducing bills down the line (you should see my spare bedroom and garage with long life foods bought when offers around )

http://www.buywholefoodsonline.co.uk/nsearch/?p=2&q=puty+lentils

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=s9_acss_bw_ct_mpwdfc_ct_3_h?rh=i%3Agrocery&bbn=3581866031&rw_html_to_wsrp=1&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-5&pf_rd_r=1MH7KSTW90XEYV9RAJ7Q&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=591553747&pf_rd_i=3581866031

http://www.approvedfood.co.uk/

Shop around on-line, use cash back sites and discount codes.

DCFC79

Do you do a check as to what you have in the cupboards/freezer etc before you do your shop, you could be buying goods you already have.

mrsHall2b

use my super market to see if you are buying cheapest, bulk buy meat and egg stuff from muscle foods (they have a loyalty type scheme thing to i think) look for local markets,

turkey is cheaper than chicken and is better for body building than chicken (cant remember why but my ex did weight training and all that..) 'boney' parts pf chicken are cheaper than breast.

buy slighly imperfect fruits to use to make smoothies,

Cornucopia

In a previous thread, a poster Nicholas and I got into some quite detailed analysis of grocery bills (very MSE!)

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5212442

What it came down to was...

- Brands vs. own brands.
- Choice of supermarket (tricky if Sainsbury's is your only option, because they are second only to Waitrose in cost).
- Planning meals
- Not buying meat/fish specifically for each individual day's meals
- Not buying pre-prepared fruit & veg
- Not buying ready-cooked meat & fish products (unless the price is comparable with raw)
- Not buying branded cleaning products
- Using cheaper sources of protein like cheese, eggs and deli meats.

kathrynha

I spend about £50 a week for me, dustbin of a husband, 9 year old good appetite child and a cat. Admittedly I'm an Aldi shopper.


Repeating some of the same advice as others, but with bit more detail about how I do it.


Plan - I start my shopping list by writing the days of the week down the right hand side and writing what we are going to eat for each day.
I generally only plan the evening meals, as lunches and breakfasts are pretty much always the same, but you possibly need to plan all meals especially at first.
I then write my shopping list based on the plan.


Always shop with a list - Made from the daily plan. Write down everything you need for the meals, then look in your kitchen and cross off anything you already have in.


Stick to the list - Whenever I go over budget it is rarely the food that is the problem. Obviously look at offers, but only for stuff you normally buy and will use, but other than that stick to the list.
I always put "1 treat" on the end of my list, and leave it till the end of the shop so I can decide on the way out what treat I want. Otherwise I can end up with multiple treats in my trolley that I have seen as I have gone round the shop.

Check out yellow labels - If you are buying a lot of meat you could save a fortune. Bag it up in individual portions and freeze it as soon as you get home.


Bulk stuff out - Grated carrots, courgettes, mushrooms, etc are good and cheap to add to mince dishes. If you are wanting more protein, lentils and beans are good. Grated veg or cooked lentils can be prepared beforehand and frozen in small portions if time is an issue.

enjoyyourshoes

sarah1972 wrote: »

To be fair, I do most of things that you have mentioned above but I still spend easily £100-£120 a week for 2 of us.

I think there is no right or wrong, we all buy different things i.e. organic, non organic, branded, non branded, cleaning products etc etc
as long as people can afford what they are paying and not getting into debt then thats ok.

You are probably doing 80% of the things to reduce your bill but only delivering 20% financial output. As Pareto said focus on the significant little things; 20% delivering 80% of outcomes.

Edwardia

I spend £100 pw for myself and husband eating organic and wild food and that also includes toiletries, cleaning products and loo rolls.

The first problem is that with bodybuilding you want a lot of protein to build and repair muscle. So that's going to push up your food bill.

https://www.mysupermarket.co.uk to price compare. 12 organic eggs in Sainsbury's are 70p more expensive than in Tesco. If you could make up shopping lists of the best priced stuff at each supermarket maybe you could get a delivery from several during the month.

You could freeze some of the stuff eg crack the eggs and freeze a containers of say 4 beaten eggs for later use. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-202799/Is-safe-freeze-fresh-eggs.html and freeze fresh chicken, lamb, beef etc.

New Zealand lamb is GM free grass pastured stunned before slaughter and can be found in Sainsbury's, Tesco, Waitrose, Ocado etc. I got 7 Sainsbury's Basics NZ lamb chops for 4.60 - look in the frozen section too.

Fish - there are often offers like 3 bags of frozen wild fish for £10 in supermarkets and you can pick up tinned wild fish in Poundland etc.

Nuts - you could buy these online in bulk - have a Google - and freeze
http://www.favoritefreezerfoods.com/Freezing-nuts.html

Personally I'd never suggest supermarket non-organic meat or poultry to anyone trying to eat clean because I've found additives and added water in plain chicken and pork cuts.

Prosciutto (Parma ham) with the gold crown is nitrate free, just pork legs and salt. The only nitrate free organic bacon I've found is Laverstoke Park Farm's but it is a nasty grey colour though it tastes great.

surfsister

FWIW, I eat 6-7 meals per day but they are not "meals" as such[/QUOTE] This is probably the problem try to eat porridgefor breakfast (75p for a kilo in lidl/sains) then a cooked main meal or sarnies and fruit then a cooked meal at night - sure you'll save money. Buy a chicken for 4 quid and cook it whole for 2 meal/sarnies etc then the leftovers for curry etc. A slow cooker is great as you throw the chicken in with boiling stock and it cooks itself using a light-bulb amount of energy and you eat it anytime! good luck! also eat pasta 39p for a kilo with home made sauce from a 30p tin of toms or tuna.

elsien

Give us a day's typical diet for you - there's little point suggesting things that aren't going to work for your eating pattern.

geordie_joe

Edwardia wrote: »

You could freeze some of the stuff eg crack the eggs and freeze a containers of say 4 beaten eggs for later use. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-202799/Is-safe-freeze-fresh-eggs.html

Not sure about that, it says you have to add half a teaspoon of salt or sugar (depending on what you intend to use the eggs for) per egg. We don't know how much salt is in the OPs diet, so adding another 2 teasooons may, or may not be a good idea.