The hardest challenge yet

Dark_Star

Could you buy whole lamb/pig from your butcher (obviously butchered first) ?

Works out much cheaper to buy a “whole” animal.
Perhaps keep a food & spending diary.

Unless you’re buying gold plated food I really cannot see how even organic food can be that much for two people.

Could you grow your own? Definitely organic if grown right....

euronorris

Well, I think it depends on what is important to you then. If buying local and supporting the smaller shops is important to you, then by all means do it, but sadly it does usually come at a higher price.


That doesn't mean that you can't make savings elsewhere though. And I do think that meal planning and batch cooking can help provide the biggest savings there.


With regards to Costco, have you double checked that it is cheapest to get some of your items there. ie, my brother used to rave about buying pampers nappies in bulk from there, as he believed it was cheaper. But when I compared their price, with those available elsewhere, I was always able to find a better deal. That probably isn't the case for everything, but it is always worth checking. And of course, eventually we swapped to Lidl's own as they were fine and much cheaper again lol.


When I have looked at our shopping, one of disproportionately large costs is fizzy pop and treats (ie crisps and chocolate). So I try to limit those now. Just wondering if you have a similar vice? If you're working shifts, are you taking (or buying) snacks to keep you going when you can't get a break on time? If so, I wonder if making some treats in advance to take in with you would save you some money?


x

lessonlearned

Euronorris......I am an ex Costco member too. In the end I gave up my membership because my family size had shrunk. However I agree, I too did find that their prices weren't always as competitive as we might think.

elantan......I would agree with the suggestion of keeping a spending diary....it will show you exactly where you might be able to cut back.

£800 is a staggering amount for 2 people, even just cutting down by 25% would give you an extra £200 a month to boost your savings, that's £2400 a year. That's £24,000 over a 10 year period which could significantly boost your pension pot.

And tbh that really shouldn't be that painful.

One you've got it down to £600, stay at that level for a while and then try and reduce it again....£400 to £500 should be plenty, you can still eat organic and still enjoy a tipple and the odd takeaway or restaurant meal.

For eating out.....do you have the Meerkat 241 deal. Also lunch or early bird menus are cheaper. Many restaurants do their own half price days or have loyalty schemes.

Alcohol......Aldi and Lidl are both famed for their great alcohol deals. Their wines often win awards and outperform many other more expensive brands, for example Lidl's Prosecco has won an award this year. I shall be stocking up.....Aldi's own label Irish Cream is just as good as Baileys, one of their gins also scooped an award this year too.

Also places like Asda and Sainsbury's also do some great deals, branded spirits are often reduced by as much as £6 or £7 a litre and they both have regular 25% off promotions for wines.

Tbh you really don't need to be spending £12 a bottle on everyday wines. Save those for really special occasions.

Do you have the likes of B&M or Wilkinson's - great for tins, dry goods and cleaning materials. Look at the £ shops.

It's really is all about shopping around, a bit of a faff sometimes but once you get in the habit you can work out a rota. So Asda one week, Aldi another....even if it is a fair drive to Aldi, it would be worth it say once a month.

As a yardstick for you........

I eat a largely paleo diet for health reasons, so no cheap carbs for me. I reckon I spend an average of £150 to £200 a month for one person and that includes entertaining a couple of times a month. I love giving dinner or supper parties for friends or having my family round for a feed and I do like to push the boat out when entertaining.

My family call them feasts :rotfl:

(That figure includes cleaning materials, toiletries and OTC meds, the odd newspaper, bunch of flowers or houseplant etc).

I too only drink Filter coffee (Aldi Italian blend, gorgeous), indulge in good chocolate and enjoy a glass of something.

I know I could cut back more if I had too but it would mean eating more carbs and I'm not prepared to do that because they don't really suit me. (IBS and need to keep a close eye on my blood sugars).

I do that think you can cut costs quite a bit without compromising your lifestyle.

Good luck.

Pollycat

Elanten
Have you done the 'downshift' supermarket challenge?
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/cheap-supermarket-shopping/#tips-3

Wednesday2000

elantan wrote: »

Hi all,
so I started on the DFW board, slowly making the changes to get on top of our finances. Then I graduated to the MFW board and started working on that part of the plan. Were now mortgage free and any debt we have is under control 0% finance etc.

Were now aiming for F.I.R.E and in the whole it's going slowly but in the right direction. However, the one area throughout all of these changes that I just cant get a grip of is money spent on food, takeaways and alcohol.

I was having this same discussion with my husband over the past few days. We are debt free and mortgage free (we paid our mortgage off in 15 years instead of 25) and we want to be retired in a few years. My husband is aiming for retirement at 53 at the best or 55 if something goes wrong! He had cancer and wants to leave work as soon as he can to enjoy life. I'm 43 years old and he is 49 years old.

We have seriously overspent on concerts, nights out, takeaways, clothes etc... over the past year and we need to get back on track if we want to retire so early.

This week I have only ordered groceries like loo roll and cat litter and not bought any food at all apart from bread. I am going to run down our fridge, freezer and cupboards before I buy any more food.:)

Suffolksue wrote: »

having nursed our daughter and then looked after her children ,( they lived with us for 3 yrs) ,then her husband got a new partner and so they went back to him .
We thought now it is our time ,but my DH has got a foul degenerative brain disease and can no longer move etc ( no dementia ,he is completely aware of his situation .i will care for him until the end

I'm really sorry to read that.xxx

lessonlearned wrote: »

Alcohol......Aldi and Lidl are both famed for their great alcohol deals. Their wines often win awards and outperform many other more expensive brands, for example Lidl's Prosecco has won an award this year. I shall be stocking up.....Aldi's own label Irish Cream is just as good as Baileys, one of their gins also scooped an award this year too.

I was going to say the same thing. I looked on the Aldi website the other day and was amazed by how much cheaper the alcohol is on there.

PurpleJay

£800 sounds an awful lot for food, alcohol and takeaways for 2.

I think the best way to work out how to cut spending is to keep a tally of how much you spend for a month and break this down into food, cleaning/toiletries, pet food, takeaways and alcohol.

For instance you say you spend £250 on alcohol but I cannot get to this figure with the amount you say you both drink..
£12 wine x 5 = £60
£3 beer x 25 = £60
£20 baileys/pernod x 1 = £20
That comes to £140 - forgive me if I am misunderstanding. I wonder if you are including food or drinks out? If so, you need to separate these out and look at them apart from food. For instance if you are spending £200 eating and drinking out each month, you can look at reducing that. If you are spending £200 on takeaways, you can look at reducing that.. do you see what i mean? It is easier to tackle the individual elements.

I know you husband wants to think he is working for something and I get that but he is getting high quality food, wine, lots of takeaways and meals out. Once you have a breakdown, you can decide together where you want to cut back. Eg if you eat out in a week, you don't have a takeaway as well. Have one or the other as your break from cooking.

I would be inclined to get my alcohol at Asda most weeks and save the wine shop for special occasions but its great you are supporting your local shop. Maybe the compromise there is buy beer at Asda and wine at the local shop.

How much do you spend on a takeaway? Do you have favourites that are more expensive? Have those once a month and choose a cheaper option on other occasions or get some really nice pre-prepared food which you can make with minimal effort instead. M&S, Sainsburys and Tesco do meal deals round here which are great value.

You have had loads of good advice about doubling up meals, this works especially well with things like pasta sauce, curry, stew, chilli soup etc.

What do you do about lunch at work?

Join in with the grocery challenge to track your spending.

Hope some of this helps. Good luck.

elantan

so much to reply to,

thanks everyone for your input, Pollycat, great idea about the measure, I will try and get one as I think it will help, and cutting down on alcohol isnt a bad thing, I'm just noticing whilst not over the weekly recommended limit i am over the daily limit so maybe i need to address this as well...

this challenge is deff throwing up many curveballs I didnt think of, maybe that's why it's been an ongoing one for years that I've never yet managed to suss out

Am picking the car up from its mot just now will reply better when I get home

PurpleJay

A couple of other things I would really consider is an inventory of your cupboards and freezer and then meal plan working with ingredients you already have where possible. When you meal plan, you don't have to decide what days you are eating what, just what meals you are having that week. If you don't like to eat the same thing 2 days running, miss a day (or two). Most things keep fine in the fridge. If you keep a food (and drink) diary for a few days and post it here, I am sure people will comment usefully. Finally, online shopping is great for only buying what is on your list. I often have in mind an amount I want to spend, add what is on my list plus a few thinkgs on offer and if I over spend, I go through my basket and take things out again!

I am also trying to cut down on spending so am watching this thread with interest.

You also mentioned holidays and that your husband likes to go abroad on a plane as well as caravanning. How often are you doing these things as cutting down somewhere could help with your overall goal. I have wondered about the idea of getting a caravan on a seasonal pitch but it would be instead of holidaying abroad, not as well.. I like to go abroard though so that is one thing stopping. I would like to have both but..

elantan

Dark_Star wrote: »

Could you buy whole lamb/pig from your butcher (obviously butchered first) ?

Works out much cheaper to buy a “whole” animal.
Perhaps keep a food & spending diary.

Unless you’re buying gold plated food I really cannot see how even organic food can be that much for two people.

Could you grow your own? Definitely organic if grown right....

I had thought about this previously but was worried incase what we got wasnt food that we would enjoy so just left the idea, I think a spending diary will help, I do mark up on the wall the amounts we spent and where but I dint put down in what, alcohol and takeaway has a separate list, I dont understand how we are spending it either I really dont hence why I came here

dreaming

elantan wrote: »

this challenge is deff throwing up many curveballs I didnt think of, maybe that's why it's been an ongoing one for years that I've never yet managed to suss out

I think a lot of us pick up habits (good and bad) through our lives and often don't give much thought to them as they become engrained - until we have to think about them that is. When I worked in a very demanding job I got into the habit of shopping on a Friday after work and would "treat" myself to a nice bottle of wine, or a magazine, or some nice cheese etc. When redundancy loomed and I started to think about whether I could retire early (aged 58) I started to really note down what I was spending and started highlighting the "treats" on the till receipt. I was astounded to see that they had crept up to form a quarter of what I was spending. No longer a bottle of wine or a magazine, or some nice food, I had slipped into buying all of them most weeks. I did take retirement and 6 years on manage very well on my company pension but still find things can creep in so I do tend to check my spending habits regularly.
I did see in one of your earlier posts that you do freeze leftovers food, and preserve things etc. My question would - do you actually use those? I tend to "stock up" on certain things when they are on offer, and do cook one eat twice but can find (as I live alone) that sometimes I end not using thigs up so quickly. Every now and then I make a real effort to use up what I have and often find I can make do for 2 or 3 weeks with just the addition of a few fresh items. It's too easy to chuck stuff in the freezer and then cook fresh each day. I think just by starting to ask yourself the questions about how you spend your cash you will find you start to find ways to cut back a bit. I agree that life is for living in the present, but just keep any eye upon planning for the future you hope you will have as well