Where to begin with controlling food spend?

Lydia42

Hi
I recently had a proper light bulb moment over our debts. I'm currently trying to re-jig finances to 0% cards, etc and get a clearer picture of where we stand.

Already from pulling info together for our SOA i can see that our food spending is ludicrous! Whats the best way to start getting food under control? I thought i was pretty good as i cook from scratch quite a bit, but clearly i am an epic failure in this department! Is it best to do a stock take? Do any of you keep a running stock list? Do you meal plan from a stock list? Do you run everything down low and then just stock up based on a meal plan? I really need to not spend anything else until pay day if i can just get away with buying milk and bread etc. Any tips appreciated - completely over-whelmed.
TIA

Pollycat

Meal plan, batch cook and try to build up a stock of non-perishable items when they are half price or BOGOF - if you have the space to store them.

KxMx

Look at what you are throwing away. Any items you don't seem to use, stop buying them. Consider smaller quantities for those you do use.
Prioritise, by this I mean if you've opened something that needs to be used up, find a way to use it up for your next meal.

FoxFace

When I get to this point I do the following:

-Make an inventory of everything I have in the cupboards/fridge/freezer
-Try to make a menu plan only from those items, but including any fresh veg etc as needed.
-Keep leftovers and make sure to use them. Same for food that needs to be used soon... find a way to incorporate that before you open anything else.
-Rejoin the Grocery challenge thread as linked above.

I am currently 2 weeks back to the grocery challenge and am still mostly working from stuff I already had in. Fruit, YS (reduced) veg and bread etc are pretty much all I've needed to buy, You can set a target and keep updated on the thread... it's really motivating and rewarding when you manage to stick to your budget

I have also taken to removing my debit card from the equation and taking out my grocery budget in cash. It really helps me to remember that it's money I'm spending. Although some people reportedly spend less when they only use the card, so whatever works for you

Good luck
Fox
x

Lydia42

Thanks everyone. I'm planning on doing a stock take of the cupboards and freezer etc tomorrow when the kids are at school.

Dinner tonight was roast - all from food we had in except for swede which i picked up on the school run (we like to use the water the swede has been cooked in to make the gravy - gives it a yummy sweet taste and has extra vitamins in). Made roast spuds with some potatoes that needed using up, and had carrots in the fridge and peas in the freezer.
Breakfast will be toast or cereal for everyone (2 adults, 2 kids 8 and 10). Got enough in to do their packed lunches for the rest of the week.
Actually looking forward to seeing what i have lurking in the freezer.

WeeMidgie

Hello Lydia, I'm interested that you're having a roast on a weekday. What plans do you have for any leftovers?

If meat features heavily in your menus, how about saving money by having a roast once a week only, with meal planning for leftovers (rubber chicken, shepherd's or cottage pie, or stovies, or stir fries, etc). Then make meals with meat as a condiment rather than the main feature. And a couple of meatless meals. Padding out e.g. mince with grated carrots, lentils and the odd handful of oats really helps as well.

I suggest you ask JackieO for her terrific file of tasty and frugal family recipes, they are superb!

If you're making changes to what the kids are used to eating, it's a good idea to involve them in choosing and helping with the prep of new recipes, as a fun thing to do.

Good luck, and well done with recognising the need for change. Others with better and different ideas will give you plenty of good advice, and lots of support too.

suki1964

How I got to grips was

Inventory - also gives a great excuse to get cupboards, fridge and freezer a good clear out and clean, dumping the odds and sods that had been there a zillion years "Just in case"

Changed how I shopped. No longer a mindless dander around the biggest superstore throwing things in the trolly because I always buy tinned tomatoes. Headed to Lidl and thought about what was good value for money - ie their savers at 2 or 3 pound and working around them

Ensuring that all fresh food that was bought was eaten before it rotted in the fridge and only buying in season and stocking up on the 29p/39p savers

Down grading on brands wherever I could ( certain things I cant because of allergies, those I pick up only when on offer, I
only ever pay £5 for persil, not the £10 Tesco tries to sell at )

Cutting out the treats. Chocolate, ice-cream, crips etc are not necessities, they are TREATS and treats are not every day foods. I do buy them now and then, when they are on the best ever offers, once gone they are gone

Keeping a running shopping list. I work on one open, one spare. Soon as the one open is used, it goes on the list. Not to rush out to buy but to pick up when I see it at a price Im happy to pay. ~example this week was Colmans mustard. £1.55 sainsburys, picked it up for £1 today in B&M. We weren't ever going to die for not having it if I hadn't got it today cos no way was I paying £1.55

I do this for cleaning materials as well. Means Im never having to buy more then one or two items a month. Also keeping the cleaning stuff to a minimum is a good idea, you really don't need a zillion products

I meal plan around what it is Im buying. I don't decide Im buying a beef joint or a chicken before I head to the shops, I see whats what then decide. I also only go pick my veg after Ive chosen my meats so I can match veg around meals and not decide mid week I need a cabbage

The less time I spend in shops means the less I spend. Id rather buy an extra loaf at the corner shop then go inside a supermarket mid week. May cost 20p more but stops me spending an extra tenner impulse buying

Thats how I work and it works for me, others work differently. Everyones way is valid, its trial and error as to what works for you and yours

Pollycat

Lydia42 wrote: »

Thanks everyone. I'm planning on doing a stock take of the cupboards and freezer etc tomorrow when the kids are at school.

Dinner tonight was roast - all from food we had in except for swede which i picked up on the school run (we like to use the water the swede has been cooked in to make the gravy - gives it a yummy sweet taste and has extra vitamins in). Made roast spuds with some potatoes that needed using up, and had carrots in the fridge and peas in the freezer.
Breakfast will be toast or cereal for everyone (2 adults, 2 kids 8 and 10). Got enough in to do their packed lunches for the rest of the week.
Actually looking forward to seeing what i have lurking in the freezer.

I label everything that goes in the freezer and the date it went in.

I also keep an Excel spreadsheet of what goes in - separate lists for raw and 'ready meals', the date and weight - and use this to meal plan.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Consider going vegetarian for a couple of days a week and making meals out of seasonal veg or Aldi offers (no need to buy weird expensive meat substitute products).

Cappella

Lots of really good ideas here.
I'd start by auditing the fridge, freezing what was in danger of spoiling and trying to menu plan to use up everything else. Then I'd move on to cupboard and freezer audits and do the same.
I'd try to buy as little as possible until I'd used all of my fresh produce up, then work through my store cupboards and freezer; and only replace in them items I know I use regularly.
I have a grocery book hanging on the pantry door and a list init of everything in the pantry. It saves me rebuking things we have a good store of and ensures that stock is rotated. I make the book with scrap paper, cross out as we use stock and list at the back things we need to restock when I do my fortnightly shop.
I only shop once a fortnight, not shopping is the easiest way to save money I find

C_J

Another useful tip (as others here have said) is to stretch any meals you make, to get more for your money. For instance I have bought two nice chunky salmon fillets, and I will poach them : one will be flaked into a pasta dish along with some peas and asparagus (turning it into at least two suppers) and the other one will be put into a flan with some garlicky chopped leeks (turning that into at least two more meals).


This Sunday I am planning to slow roast a leg of lamb, and we'll be eating that all week (roast on Sunday, possibly again on Tuesday, shepherd's pie on Wednesday, and a spicy Turkish lamb pilaff on Thursday (and possibly Friday). I can make a £3 chicken from Aldi feed us for a week too, the trick is to bulk up with veg and use plenty of spices etc to make each dish different so you don't get too bored with the repetition.