It's time to start digging up those Squirrelled Nuts!!!!

MallyGirl

sheslookinhot said:

I’ve introduced a self imposed ban when shopping. I can easily double the bill.

My husband is the same. He prefers Waitrose so I know that is where he will go if he does the shopping. Most comes from Ocado but we top up from Aldi or the local Co Op (which I like to use as I value it being there).

DT2001

Anonymous101 said:

michaels said:

Family of 5 (inc 3 teenagers who are happy to eat) we spend about £100 per week on supermarket shop which also includes toiletries, cleaning products etc.

No alcohol probably helps a lot though.

I'd say the £100 a week mark is pretty accurate for our family of 4 (two young children) including the household products.

Alcohol does make a big difference. Mrs. Anon doesn't drink and I only drink occasionally, I'd say on average <£5 per week including wine for cooking.

Our £100 is split between ASDA (for which we receive 10% blue light discount + 4% reloadable card discount from my employer), Aldi / Lidl and the local farmers market and butchers. We buy as good quality ingredients as possible as cheaply as possible but don't scrimp. Certainly not on quality for health reasons.

We do have a rough list but aren't strict with it. We are strict on waste though, nothing gets thrown out. We are organised and if its not cooked and eaten its cooked and frozen as future prep.

Family of 6. When the two are home from Uni I work on max of £150 p.w. Exceeded that for the 1st time pre Xmas. We use Tesco and Lidl, I have a list but adapt as I shop, for items that are reduced for club card holders (they have to be part of my normal larder stock) and yellow label items (I look for more expensive meat or fish). Only one alcohol drinker helps, reducing meat intake and lots of freshly prepared meals. On retiring I would hope £2.5 - £3k would be reasonable.

Sea_Shell

Do 'high grocery spenders' routinely have puddings/deserts?   We don't.

What about portion sizes?  Do you weigh or measure stuff out?   We do.

Maybe that's the difference?

Does money spent = calories consumed?

zagfles

Sea_Shell said:

Do 'high grocery spenders' routinely have puddings/deserts?   We don't.

What about portion sizes?  Do you weigh or measure stuff out?   We do.

Maybe that's the difference?

Does money spent = calories consumed?

There's probably a link - rubbish like crisps and chocolate are very expensive for what they are and of course highly calorific.

The other major thing is probably meat, our kids were veggies at uni because they were too tight to buy meat

Also how much cooking from scratch you do, or do you buy ready made pizzas, pies, sauces etc. Plus do you insist on top brands for stuff like coke, cereals etc or have you tried the supermarket's equivalent which is often far cheaper and quite often unnoticably different.

arnoldy

Also how much cooking from scratch you do, or do you buy ready made pizzas, pies, sauces etc. Plus do you insist on top brands for stuff like coke, cereals etc or have you tried the supermarket's equivalent which is often far cheaper and quite often unnoticably different.

Yes dead right.

Tesco prices: 

Leading branded tomato ketchup 460g : £3.40 cf Stockwell 63p
Leading branded Mayo 430ml/450ml : £3.40 cf Tesco 85p
Leading branded Vegetable soup 400g: £1.25 (if you buy 4) cf Tesco 60p

So £8.05 vs £2.08 - almost quadruple!!!

Branded cereals are the worse for price gouging - you are paying top dollar for unhealthy processed stuff. But it is supported by the advertising and people fall for it.

It always puzzles me when you see trolley full of this [branded] kind of thing. You do wonder if the people buying the stuff are wealthy, they often don't come accross that way but you never know. Ditto families buying stuff at services stations [£30 for 4 of them] a few bottles of pop, processed sandwiches and some crisps/choccies/biccies. Would have cost <<£5 and 10 minutes to make at home before journey.

In terms of ready made stuff you do have to shake your head at buying a packet of say chilli con carne spice mix for 90p when a few teaspoons of cumin, cayenne etc would cost you 20p.

The other big killer on cost is the number of people unable (or unwilling to put the effort in) to meal plan, buy to a list and cook with due recognition of leftovers and links between meals. 

It all adds up. 

michaels

zagfles said:

Sea_Shell said:

Do 'high grocery spenders' routinely have puddings/deserts?   We don't.

What about portion sizes?  Do you weigh or measure stuff out?   We do.

Maybe that's the difference?

Does money spent = calories consumed?

There's probably a link - rubbish like crisps and chocolate are very expensive for what they are and of course highly calorific.

The other major thing is probably meat, our kids were veggies at uni because they were too tight to buy meat

Also how much cooking from scratch you do, or do you buy ready made pizzas, pies, sauces etc. Plus do you insist on top brands for stuff like coke, cereals etc or have you tried the supermarket's equivalent which is often far cheaper and quite often unnoticably different.

We are also own brand for crisps and avoid soft drinks where possible too currently do 1 x 19p aldi lemonade and 1 x 63p aldi fanta each week plus 4l long life juice - easy to spend 10x this if you insist on branded carbonated drinks.  Also just own label tea bags and no coffee drinkers helps.  We do spend a lot on green veg (broccoli, beans etc) but save by getting basic cheese and mostly eating chicken.  Pizza?  69p Aldi cheese/pepperoni, 1 between 2

Sea_Shell

Guilty of buying chilli mix packets!! 😉

But I agree totally on the 'branded' goods stuff.

Bravepants

michaels said:

zagfles said:

Sea_Shell said:

Do 'high grocery spenders' routinely have puddings/deserts?   We don't.

What about portion sizes?  Do you weigh or measure stuff out?   We do.

Maybe that's the difference?

Does money spent = calories consumed?

There's probably a link - rubbish like crisps and chocolate are very expensive for what they are and of course highly calorific.

The other major thing is probably meat, our kids were veggies at uni because they were too tight to buy meat

Also how much cooking from scratch you do, or do you buy ready made pizzas, pies, sauces etc. Plus do you insist on top brands for stuff like coke, cereals etc or have you tried the supermarket's equivalent which is often far cheaper and quite often unnoticably different.

We are also own brand for crisps and avoid soft drinks where possible too currently do 1 x 19p aldi lemonade and 1 x 63p aldi fanta each week plus 4l long life juice - easy to spend 10x this if you insist on branded carbonated drinks.  Also just own label tea bags and no coffee drinkers helps.  We do spend a lot on green veg (broccoli, beans etc) but save by getting basic cheese and mostly eating chicken.  Pizza?  69p Aldi cheese/pepperoni, 1 between 2

"Rola Cola...40p for 8 litres!"

Sea_Shell

We buy the Aldi 19p lemonade...it tastes...lemony. 

Pensions_matter_2

Shop at Tesco (at least DH does) and buy bulk when any deals are on. Probably spend about £350 pm (quite a bit extra at Xmas when family back home), though expect that will go up this year. We spend very little on alcohol. Meals are planned out (not by me!) which helps a lot. We eat loads of vegetables and hardly any meat (none by me). Mostly cook from scratch. Another culprit when it comes to spice packets!