Monthly Grocery Budget ?

t14cy_t

Rosa_Damascena said:

t14cy_t said:

hi, we are a 2 adult 10 chicken and one large dog household!! our monthly budget is £200, this includes everything except alcohol!! i am a big coupon/voucher/yellow sticker/olio/tgtg fan!!

Even so, how do you keep the budget so low with a big dog to feed?

im very lucky that he loves lots of fruit and veg!! so olio comes in very handy for that!

Toonie

Two adults, we eat meat or fish every day, cook from scratch for most things and use a variety of supermarkets/local shops/fruit and veg market and currently the budget is £265 max for the month, but I want to reduce this to £215 if possible as money will be tighter from April and I'm concerned about changes to benefits as I'm disabled so I'm trying to lower budget in advance. I have some food restrictions due to my health and but my partner eats almost anything.

andywallis1

Family of four here. I put a side £800 for food a month. We don't always spend that much but we come close. That includes, cleaning products, food, everything needed for the house.
How you you guys get shopping costs down?
I always try looking for own shop brands and try and avoid that isn't nutritious. Other than going B&M to maybe save a few quid on sauces etc I'm at a loss.
We also have two huskies, £100 a month for a quality dog food.

RipleyG

2 adults here, budget of £200 a month for food, toiletries, any household products. Alcohol not included, but we mostly make our own, so that's fairly cheap 😊 Very mixed diet, lots of home cooking and packed lunches keep us within that most months. 

t14cy_t

andywallis1 said:

Family of four here. I put a side £800 for food a month. We don't always spend that much but we come close. That includes, cleaning products, food, everything needed for the house.
How you you guys get shopping costs down?
I always try looking for own shop brands and try and avoid that isn't nutritious. Other than going B&M to maybe save a few quid on sauces etc I'm at a loss.
We also have two huskies, £100 a month for a quality dog food.

re b and m, always visit 8am on the dot, this is when all the bargains are there! i regulkarly get milk for 10p and pop it in the freezer, along with any other 10p goodies!

RipleyG

andywallis1 said:

How you you guys get shopping costs down?

For us, the following make a big difference, but you'll find lots of tips around the forum if you search:

1. A big freezer means I can buy food when it's cheap - yellow stickers, special offers, member prices. 
2. Reducing meat/fish consumption: using cheaper options (smoked mackerel instead of salmon, pork instead of beef), rarely making it the focus of a meal, or using 90-100g portions when it is. All the normal tricks here - padding out curries/casseroles with veg or beans, using chipolatas rather than full size sausages, switching to some veggie meals, making more interesting meals (burritos, bibimbap) so it doesn't feel like you're 'downsizing' the quality of your food. 
3. We don't buy a lot of the things that seem to push up the price of shopping - e.g. crisps, biscuits, fizzy drinks, breakfast cereal, ready made meals and sauces. 
4. Critically assess your use of cleaning products and toiletries. Most people buy lots of different products and use them way too frequently. Other than laundry and washing up liquid, I have a limescale spray for the bathroom, and a surface spray for the kitchen. I doubt I get through 2 bottles of each a year. 
5. Cook from scratch/close to. It genuinely is cheaper.
6. No food waste - EVER. We assess the cupboards and fridge regularly to spot anything that 'needs using up', and make sure we plan in a meal to use it. Dinner leftovers are lunches, or 'tapas' depending on what they are. 

RedLipstick

I mainly shop at Sains (only Sains and MS where I am, one of the reasons my budget is quite high ). I have all my regular stuff I buy added to a basket on their website, including food, cleaning products and toiletries. I check the basket once a week to check for discounts/nectar prices and this helps me to cut the cost and plan food for next week - I hardly ever buy stuff on their regular price now, it's already expensive as it is. E.g. I see this week LF milk I use is on promo, tea, chopped tomatoes and passata, shower gel and some other things, so I will be heading to the shop to stock up. I have an extra standalone freezer (got rid of a cupboard for this), I keep meat and veggies in one, and meals in the other. I also use slow cooker for curries etc, then freeze it.

Love this tread really, makes me think what else I can do to cut costs, e.g. I didn't think of using chipolatas in place of full size sausages, great tip, thank you!

RipleyG

RedLipstick said:

Love this tread really, makes me think what else I can do to cut costs, e.g. I didn't think of using chipolatas in place of full size sausages, great tip, thank you!

Ah, thanks - always nice if someone finds something useful. The tip that makes me smile is my husband's use for leftover stuffing balls - he puts them in a pitta with salad and mayonnaise and calls them "English falafel". I laugh every time, but it makes for a crazily cheap packed lunch 😂

YorksLass

RipleyG said:  The tip that makes me smile is my husband's use for leftover stuffing balls - he puts them in a pitta with salad and mayonnaise and calls them "English falafel". I laugh every time, but it makes for a crazily cheap packed lunch 😂

Another thank you, @RipleyG - I have some stuffing balls in the freezer to use up so might give this a whirl.

Mnoee

I use lots of frugal batch cooking recipes where after years of tinkering, I can't see how to make them cheaper and still delicious, so when the costs of the ingredients rise, so will my 'budget'. I don't have a fixed £ amount I limit myself to, as between batch cooking and bulk buying good dry store offers, it'd be pointless - I can afford to stock up when offers are good and have very cheap months when the cupboards are run down, and I'm thankful for that.

The only thing I do that I've not seen mentioned is pay for supermarket shops with giftcards - there's an older mse article on it here - https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/employee-discount-schemes/

I'm not part of any employee scheme, but there's a few new apps that have popped up that anyone can use. Everup and Cheddar spring to mind. Instant saving of 4-5%, which is really significant on regular spending.