How much is your food shopping bill??

GwylimT

Two adults and two children, allergies and coeliacs disease so nothing pre-made, we spend around £25 per month including any packed lunches.

We use lidl/aldi and our local market for most of our food.

We also batch cook, so last night when I made chilli I made eight portions and froze four so they can be used as home made ready meals as buying a larger amount of fresh ingredients works out cheaper in the long run.

[Deleted User]

GwylimT wrote: »

Two adults and two children, allergies and coeliacs disease so nothing pre-made, we spend around £25 per month including any packed lunches.

We use lidl/aldi and our local market for most of our food.

We also batch cook, so last night when I made chilli I made eight portions and froze four so they can be used as home made ready meals as buying a larger amount of fresh ingredients works out cheaper in the long run.

£25 a month???

GwylimT

Deleted_User wrote: »

£25 a month???

Haha, sorry no, I don't know why I typed that it should be per week!

tori.k

3 adults and between £50/60 a week for food and sundries.

OP it would be worth looking over your receipts and working out how much is in food and how much is stuff like baby stuff and cleaning.

meal planning and bulk buying would see you save in your grocery budget as other have said the old style forum is great for this.

linz

2 adults and we spend £120 a month in Aldi/Lidl. Money is put in a 'food tin' at the beginning of the month. We do a lot of things learnt off this site, batch cook, use up leftovers, meat-free meals etc. We grow a limited amount of veg in our small garden and also pick and freeze elderberries and blackberries in the summer to make our own wine and crumbles. If we do fancy a takeaway/fakeaway this comes out of our own money as a treat.

CJYP

Ive only just come back to look at this post and wow, didnt expect so many replies! By looking at your posts its clear I can make some cut backs somewhere.
Thing is, I do already cook 6 out of 7 meals a week fresh! Itll be at the weekend when Ill be too tired from work and head to the freezer for some form of beige food! I also already do shopping lists and once weekly shops.
I will definitely pop into lidl to try some of their tomato sauce as my daughter goes through so much of it, she eats it with everything! And im paying around £2 for it! ( I bulk buy when its on offer)
To be honest i think alot of my food bill goes on 'junk', biscuits crisps etc etc.. I dont buy branded though, I already buy these tescos own brand so will I really be making much of a saving by going aldi/lidl?
I feel like I cant do a whole shop in Aldi as there isnt everything I need there, so it puts me off of shopping there as it means i then need to waste petrol going to tesco to get the bits i couldnt get hold off! Such as 6 pints of milk, we go through so much milk, the last time i checked Aldi only had the 4 pint size? Isnt it more expensive to pay for 2 x 4 pints?
When i have some free time I will pop over to this Oldstyle board and get a list of my spending habits and see how u can all help!

determined_new_ms

we spend between £150-200 pm for 2 adults and a toddler. Would be less but we do like a bottle of wine or 2 a week...

I've been trying *really*hard to reduce our wastage - not big amounts big amounts but a couple of quid a week. What I have been doing is going through the fridge/cupboard each day and basing meals/lunches/snacks on what needs to be used and doing the same with meal planning. It is definitely helping and reducing costs/waste

Cornucopia

CJYP wrote: »

To be honest i think alot of my food bill goes on 'junk', biscuits crisps etc etc.. I dont buy branded though, I already buy these tescos own brand so will I really be making much of a saving by going aldi/lidl?

Difficult to say, as it will depend on exactly what you are buying. Biscuits are a strong area for L & A, though. (Milk Choc Digestives: 60p Tesco, 44p Aldi).

I feel like I cant do a whole shop in Aldi as there isnt everything I need there...

That's less and less the case these days. I rarely set foot in other supermarkets, though there are some products I prefer from L and some from A. What items are you missing in A? Could you alternate - one week at A and one week at Tesco?

The trick to shopping at A & L is to ignore the bewildering and unfamiliar brand names - 99% of the odd brands are effectively own brand, anyway. You just have to pitch in and try things. Having done that, you may prefer Tescos or branded, but at least you'll have answered the question as to whether you could have saved money on that item.

In some product areas, you will find possibly only one option (e.g. only one Decafeinated Instant Coffee) in other areas, there are dozens of options (e.g. dozens of different types of Ham). Becoming an A & L shopper is also about becoming comfortable with that.

Such as 6 pints of milk, we go through so much milk, the last time i checked Aldi only had the 4 pint size? Isnt it more expensive to pay for 2 x 4 pints?

Tesco 6 pints milk £1.48, Aldi 2x 4 pint £1.90, so the cost per pint is basically the same.

SailorSam

I'm here by myself i doubt many weeks are over £10. Rarely or never do i buy any junk food, everything is done from scratch and in batches.

SailorSam

[QUOTE=Cornucopia;70969286

Tesco 6 pints milk £1.48, Aldi 2x 4 pint £1.90, so the cost per pint is basically the same.[/QUOTE]

I usually get milk from Farmfoods, theirs is 4lts for £1.