Need to stop buying so much food.......

lhead123

Hi

We really need to cut back on our grocery bill...Last month we spent £525 on food/nappies/wipes/cleaning/washing.......

We are a family of 2 adults, a 5 year old and a 1 year old. The 1 year old eats what we eat, and the 5 year old gets a free hot meal on school days.....

I just can't fathom how we are spending around £130 a week! I Use Ynab so I know where it's all been spent, but I don't know what we bought...

I want to spend £100 or less, preferably around £80 per week. I know it can be done. The main problem I find is my very fussy OH won't eat the same meat twice in a row and doesn't really like chicken. I try to do a vegetarian meal once a week too (normally pasta based).

I'd quite happily eat the same food over and over to save money, but I have to keep the rest of the family happy.

I meal plan and cook as much as possible from scratch. It's the top-up spends that cost the money (e.g. we need milk and end up spending £20 on nothing).

How do you stop yourself over-buying? or buying junk which is not healthy for the bank balance or my waist...

Also is a bread maker worth it? We go through 3/4 sliced loaves a week.

My OH used to be a chef and say's bread is easy to make, but i never have the time. I'd much rather put the ingredients in and press a button, and deal with an OH moaning about the hole in the bottom afterwards...

VJsmum

Why can't he make the bread then?

themarsbargirl

Freezer- bulk cook and freeze leftovers then OH can have rotating meats. Simples.

Do you look for reduced meat when you're shopping?

pigpen

I eat the same thing day after day...

It is possible to make a big pan of mince/onion/veggies and then make it a lasagne or cottage pie or pies or chilli etc.. it will save for a few days in the fridge rather than freezing portions just alternate days.. Mince can also be mixed with cereals and veggies or cheese to make burgers or meatballs or even fritters..

I use Mysupermarket for shopping.. it gives alternatives which are cheaper or better value than what you put in your basket.. definitely worth looking at.


Check out the reduced sections.. I LOVE them.. grabbed a few large trays f mince today.


Tbh.. I'd tell him to make the bread himself if its that easy or just buy cheaper bread! I get a Kingsmill one for 75p.. the value ones are nasty and the expensive ones are just not to my liking. I do stock up from the reduced sections here too. I found a breadmaker was useful when I was making packed lunches but it was quicker to just walk to the shop and buy it than it was to load the breadmaker.. and I hated slicing it and I hated the hole in the bottom.. My sister inherited the BM a couple of weeks ago. There are easier ways to save more money than making your own bread which would save you maybe £2 a week.. a cheaper cut of meat, or a day or 2 of no meat. would save you MUCH more!

ampersand

Yeast is free from Mr T.

Used some earlier and the &squat smells beautiful right now - 2 loaves: one wholemeal multi-seedy[chuck in what there is] and one white bulked with jumbo oats[needed another 100gms flour]

Bread is forgiving and easy: kneading and working dough is good for your hands - mine are [a] little, nearer 70 than 60 - and your soul.

DO THIS FIRST - SMEAR YOUR TINS/TRAYS THOROUGHLY WITH LARD OR BUTTER. Use your fingers - yes. A thin neat coating will not do the job. Loaf will stick.

Chuck in a big plastic bowl:

400gm any strong flour[one or combi], a generous tsp salt, approx 25-30gms fat OR 3tbs oil[lard, unsalted butter, olive or other pure veg.oil, rapeseed, walnut, avocado - use what you have or what you fancy]. Crumble in about 25gms FREE fresh yeast.

Lastly, add approx. 250-300mls hand-hot water[you'll soon know if you need a bit more - read on]and bring everything together into a dough with your hands.

Add any seeds, herby bits, nuts, olives, cheesy extras, dried fruit about now-ish.

DON'T LABOUR TO WORK ALL THE FLOUR IN - you'll make a tough, heavy, low-rise loaf. Add more hand-hot water and work the dough using your hands.

Suddenly, it loosens/peels from your skin.

Now, tip it out on your work surface.
.
Start stretching and pulling and rolling it, just heave it about this way and that- 10 minutes minimum, no skimping.
DO NOT SPRINKLE MORE FLOUR.
Have radio on, watch out window or sit outside with bowl in lap...you'll find your own way.

Oven on next = Mark 7, 210 celsius / 425F
Optional extra: pan of hot water in bottom. Steam helps rise while baking.

Now the dough rises - cheaty once[which I did today] or goodygood twice[better flavour]
Enclose it in lightly oiled plastic bag[prevents sticking]
Disposable shower caps are another easy cheat.

Today I shaped my loaves to rise straight in their tins[short of time]. Other times, the dough has 1st rise in bowl[ 1.5-2hrs], then a 2nd rise/shaping in tins or on tray. If it all happens too fast, you can knock dough back and start again.

Crusty loaf - brush top with a small egg+2 tsps salt mix
Tiger top - sesame paste+ light veg. oil
Soft top - milk or milk+egg. Play about and experiment.

Dust the top with flour if you want[I don't] or more seeds etc[sometimes i do].

In they go, top half of oven, 30-ish mins. You can check if they're ready. Turn them out. Tap their botties - hollow sound is what you wnat. If you're unsure, put them back in oven for a few minutes. I usually turn mine out and put them back even if cooked, just to dry bots slightly. Depends how you like your bread.

It's so easy - much easier and quicker than thinking and writing this out.

No machine, please - just hands and bowl. So good.

Cathartic feel-good, taste exceptional. No silly holes, mucky washing up.
#
Solitary now, I let them cool, then slice, bag, feeeze. Frozen bread makes best toast.

Cheap too and one of the best gifts you can give.

YORKSHIRELASS

Mealplan. It will save you money and time, although it takes a bit of practice at first.

Sit down with a pen and paper and make a list of every single evening meal that everyone likes. Then use that to decide what you are having for tea for the next week/fortnight. The idea is that you then only buy the ingredients that you need for those meals, plus whatever you need for lunches/breakfasts etc. I bet you could live out of your cupboards and freezers for a while before you have to buy much of anything.

Cut waste. Do you use all that bread or does some get thrown out? I used to be terrible for forgetting that things were in the fridge or buying things and not using them. Beware of BOGOF offers on perishables that you arent going to eat - I actually ignore offers in the supermarkets now, they are designed to make you spend.

Shop less often. Try and make your weekly shop last a week. Unless it's essential try and do without if you run out of something.

Use less cleaning products. Most of them are a waste of money. A bottle of stardrops, a bottle of bleach and a can of furniture polish are about all I use for cleaning these days, except good old hot soapy water.

Try the cheaper supermarkets if you have not used them before. Again takes a bit of getting used to. I didnt used to have a clue how much things cost, I just picked up things that I thought I needed. Its easy to get a bit more savvy about prices.

Good luck, I was like you once. Now I can stick to a food/cleaning/toiletries budget of £75 a week for 2 adults and 2 teenagers.

YORKSHIRELASS

Sorry, just read your post again and saw that you do already mealplan, but maybe just try to shop less often and do without some of the extras.

Rainy-Days

I am a bit like Pigpen and use Mysupermarket's website and I always see what Top Offers are on. From that I can then meal plan ahead for the week.

I don't know how much time you have to shop around but I am pretty savvy when it comes to food shopping. We have an Aldi but it is about six miles away, I do a bulk buy from them once a month. I freeze allot and my goodness my chest freezer I love it couldn't do without it, because it deals with bulk buys as well as BOGOF stuff and pre-cooked stuff. We have a good Lidl in the town and I get quite a bit from them, they always have some good offers on and I use their online leaflets page as well to see what they have coming up. They often do different festivals of food week, say Italian one week, German the next, Chinese and so on.

Would he eat turkey mince or turkey breasts instead of chicken? Turkey joints are not too bad in cost and you can make a nice meal out of those.

Have a look at the thread of what people are eating this week to give you an idea of meal planning. Use your local market as well for fresh fruit and veg.

The very best way to cut your costs is to get to be a really good cook and learning to do everything from scratch. Mary Berry's BBC2 programme is on at the moment and she shows in very simple easy steps how to make simple meals, but with good results. She did a sausage lasagne and I followed it and it was really, really nice. sausage meat from the butcher and it was cheap! Nigel Slater is pretty good as well with his meals if you can catch one of his shows. Learned loads off that guy!

theoretica

Plan better so you don't need to do top up shops or adjust your usage when you see you are running low. You can freeze emergency milk or have some UHT/powder around.

PlutoinCapricorn

Yorkshire lass said:

"Use less cleaning products. Most of them are a waste of money. A bottle of stardrops, a bottle of bleach and a can of furniture polish are about all I use for cleaning these days, except good old hot soapy water. "

I use a microfibre cloth and plain water, or water with some vinegar, for many cleaning tasks. Stardrops and washing soda are cheap and safe too. There is absolutely no need for all the products people buy, and sprays are not good to breathe in. I have been complimented on my windows many times since I started using these products. You will save a small fortune over the years.

pigpen

stardrops is evil.. it is responsible for wheezing for many people. I can't bear to open the bottle! I definitely cannot clean anything with it and there is nothing wrong with my breathing/chest at all, no asthma, nothing.

I use dilute bleach .. a gloop of bleach and a Belfast sink of water.. that cleans all my kitchen and then I mop the floor with the same water..

washing up liquid or bleach and water cleans everything in my house.

I do have a bottle of fizzy flash in the bathroom.. I use it to clean in there and that is all.