Food Shopping

[Deleted User]

Thanks FrugalWorker. Yes it is beans in tomato sauce she hates!! She does help cook and as she has just starting Food Tech at senior school, we have been working out portion costs etc. Breakfast is easy in our house egg on toast, fruit and yoghurt etc.

I managed to do last weeks food shop for under £32 which wasn't bad considering I needed fabric conditioner and some cleaning supplies.

Tink_04

I always shopped around and still struggledo to get my bill down but now I meal plan and do one or 2 online shops a month and used cash in aldi or where ever for fresh stuff. I didn't believe people when they said it was cheaper to shop online but it saves me time and I only buy what I want from the list and can add to it and price check as I go.

FrugalWorker

Mrs_Gloomy wrote: »

Thanks FrugalWorker. Yes it is beans in tomato sauce she hates!! She does help cook and as she has just starting Food Tech at senior school, we have been working out portion costs etc. Breakfast is easy in our house egg on toast, fruit and yoghurt etc.

I managed to do last weeks food shop for under £32 which wasn't bad considering I needed fabric conditioner and some cleaning supplies.

Sounds like you're doing great. By the way, when I'm cutting down my bill, I write out all the things I buy everyday (then I mark down if they are essential or non-essential. Toothpaste - essential, fabric conditioner - non essential (well for me), vegetable - essential, relish or ketchup - non essential. I then look at the list of non-essential items and it makes me re-consider them. Now, I'm not saying only to buy 'essential items' - we all need a bit of fun, but it forces you to pick the bit of fun consciously. A cup of coffee is a real treat for me. I found that I cut back on the junk, stuff that isn't good for me - very quickly!

Towser

Budget Shopping List - Can you show me a more frugal way?

Fresh, frozen & chilled
Chicken breast pieces
White fish fillets
Bacon
Chicken wings/thighs/legs (depending on preference and price)
625g cheddar cheese
2 x 1% fat/semi skimmed milk 4pts
8 Pork sausages
Sunflower spread
2 x 6 pack fromage frais
Vanilla ice cream
Frozen mixed veg
Coleslaw

Dried goods
1 kg rice
Pizza base mix
Cornflakes
Porridge oats
Variety pack biscuits (remove from list and bake your own if you have biscuit ingredients at home)
12 pack crisps
Jelly

Tins, cartons & bottles
500g dried pasta
Tin of sweetcorn
Creamed tomatoes/passata
Tomato puree
Tin of red kidney beans
Tin of green lentils
2 x tins of baked beans
Tin of haricot beans
2 x tins chopped tomatoes
2 x bottles high juice squash
4 x 1 litre cartons pure fruit juice
1 tin tuna

Bakery
1 large baguette
2 x 8 pack crumpets
3 x sliced wholemeal/white loaves
2 x 6 pack pitta bread
12 pack scones (remove from list and bake your own if you have scone ingredients at home)

Fresh Fruit & Vegetables
Bag of of mixed peppers
Bag of onions
Bag potatoes
Broccoli (for fish pie)
2 leeks
Bag of carrots
Garlic
Bag of apples
Basics bananas
Basics pears
Mushrooms
2 x lemons

Mr_Singleton

Towser wrote: »

Budget Shopping List - Can you show me a more frugal way?

Out of interest what makes that a "frugal" shopping list?

for instance on Saturday I bought 2 Baguettes from St. John Bakery for £2.50 each. Also (cheddar) cheese from Neal's Yard at £27.50 Kg so just over £17 for your 625 grams. I'm also very partial to Ortiz Ventresca at £6.95/tin or about £60/kg

Am I being frugal?

:beer:

Islandmaid

Mr_Singleton wrote: »

Out of interest what makes that a "frugal" shopping list

Am I being frugal?

:beer:

No - but I,ll pop in for a posh tuna melt:D

Goldiegirl

Mr_Singleton wrote: »

Out of interest what makes that a "frugal" shopping list?

for instance on Saturday I bought 2 Baguettes from St. John Bakery for £2.50 each. Also (cheddar) cheese from Neal's Yard at £27.50 Kg so just over £17 for your 625 grams. I'm also very partial to Ortiz Ventresca at £6.95/tin or about £60/kg

Am I being frugal?

:beer:

If you can afford what you paid, felt that you got value for the money paid, and enjoyed it when you ate it, then it's all good

[Deleted User]

I stopped buying conditioner for clothes after using white vinegar instead.One capful in the washing machine drawer is more than enough to make the washing soft.Towels should never have conditioner on them anyway as it makes them go like boards.A bottle of white vinegar in say MrT's costs 39p for half a litre. No smell of vinegar on the clothes afterwards either.Vinegar is great to use on the sink taps as well to clean.My late Dad used vinegar and newspapers scrunched up to clean the windows.I too endorse the Girl called Jack's burgers they are so inexpensive to make and taste lovely

FrugalWorker

Towser wrote: »

Budget Shopping List - Can you show me a more frugal way?

- We don’t buy or keep in the house Ice-cream, biscuits, crisps, jelly - that's not because I'm on a diet, we just don't keep them unless there's a party/special occasion

o But having said that treats are supposed to be that, treats, and occasional thing. I’m not saying I don’t eat these things occasionly, but I don’t keep them at home.

- Use dried beans instead of tinned, then cook up the whole packed and freeze cooked beans in sensible for you portions. They can be added from frozen to a dish as you would a tin. Takes a while to boil up, but very little of your time.

- My fruit and veg are based on what is nice/on special in the shops. I wouldn’t be constrained to a particular one for a recipe (e.g. you said broccoli for a fish pie, try carrots, Kohlrabi, cauliflower... Now having said that broccoli is typically very cheap, cheaper than the examples I gave, but don’t be afraid to think outside of the box when following a recipe)

- Juice / squash – just drink water or eat the fruit. It’s bad for your teeth and causes an insulin spike. I know that 1 glass (regardless of how many you drink) can be counted towards your 5 a day, but just eat the apple or the orange, drink the water and be done with it.

- Chicken breast piece and separately chicken wings / thigh/etc.. Why not buy a whole chicken. Roast it and then use the left overs to make something else – lookup rubber chicken. Or learn to joint it yourself – Havn’t bothered myself as we really enjoy a roasted chicken. But you’re paying quite a premium for that extra packaging/butchering than if you just bought a whole chicken.

You don’t say how many you’re cooking for or what your menu plan is. People may be able to make suggestions here.

[Deleted User]

Frugalworker Here, Here I have never bought a chicken breast in my life I may, if they are Y/S or on special offer buy a chicken quarter but usually a whole chicken is far better value in terms of what you can make with it I do mine in the slow cooker and the meat just falls off the bones and the stock makes fantastic home made soup win-win.You can make so many more meals with a whole chicken even the odd scraps can go into a decent hearty chicken soup so virtually no waste at all