Food Bill help

Ladyluck1

It really does depend.

What you like to eat, if you eat a lot of meat, if you buy free range/organic.
Drink alcohol?

We spend £50-£60 a week 2 adults and 2 children but we dont drink alcohol. I cook everything from scratch and only buy free range meat and a local veg boxes.
Then snacks, bread milk from supermarket.
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PasturesNew

Why do you need to cut back? If people have left the household you should have more money! All you do is buy less food than you did before.

I live alone and spend about £10/week on food. I spend about £5 on "stuff I really don't need to eat/drink, but I do it because I can and I damn well enjoy it", it tends to be things like a packet of pastilles, a pack of mini cheesecakes and a serious Pepsi habit.

Loo roll, shampoo, cleaning stuff, etc .... is about £2/week MAX.

Mojisola

Paige wrote: »

I need to make some serious cut backs.

Have you gone through all your other bills to make sure you're getting the best deals - that can be a very quick way to save money.

Goldiegirl

I'd suggest that you don't worry too much about what other people are spending - just concentrate on your own spending, and reduction of your spending to a level that your find comfortable and suits your lifestyle.


There's loads of ideas on the boards about how to achieve a reduction in expenditure, so you can use the ideas for inspiration, and see what works for you - and if it doesn't work, there's always something else to try.


Good places to start are buying supermarket own brands/buying from Aldi or Lidl, meal planning (I meal plan for 2) and cooking more meals from scratch.


Good luck

Paige

Such good advice from everyone. Thank you. Going to start by visiting Aldi for my shop next week and have a good look around.

Cornucopia

Paige wrote: »

Such good advice from everyone. Thank you. Going to start by visiting Aldi for my shop next week and have a good look around.

I would suggest that you maybe convert to Aldi gradually - perhaps have a good look round and pick up a few things that look nice & are good VFM. Try them, and if you like them, add them to your regular shop. Alternatively go department by department (I would start with Deli & Dairy, where their offering is as good as any other supermarket - dozens of cold meat options and dozens of cheese, many/most of which are less than £1.50 per pack).

Aldi is very close to stocking a wide enough range for a full week's shopping, but there are still one or two omissions. Therefore most Aldi shoppers will still occasionally visit another supermarket to make up the shortfall.

In my case, I don't find their choice of wholemeal bread to be particularly good, so I tend to get that somewhere else (Morrisons or Lidl, usually).

Ladyluck1

There's a good thread somewhere on what's good and not so good in Aldi and Lidl.
Tbh we buy a lot in lidl now and the instant coffee, Mayo and ketchup is just the same as big brands.
My husband actually prefers the coffee to Nescaf! and its 1/4 of the price....

suki1964

I wish we had aldi in this country

We have lidl and truth be told I shop there only because other then the polish/Spanish special weeks, their meat, deli and dairy is all from Ireland and they support local charities and communities

The only things I can't get from there is strong flour but then I can't buy that in any local store as wheaten is the hm bread of choice here

Paige

Wow. I went to Aldi today and was amazed at the price. 59p for 3 peppers !!!! I found everything on my list except fennel seeds.
The fruit and veg was about half of my usual shop.
I spent 25.00 for 2 people for the week. I made a meal plan before I went using up all the bits and pieces already in my fridge. So I am very pleased. Lets see if husband notices any difference.