Need all your fantastic help!

destiny_star2006

oK Guys need your help we are a family of four me and dh 1 daughter whos 4 and my brother whos 16!
Im sick to death of spending £80 per week shopping {asda}
and then after 2-3 days theres nothn left to eat lol dont ask how as i dont know!
I buy lots of fruit not so much veg as we dont like it {i no i no}
i buy potaotes mince soups salads the norm really but it doesnt seem to go anywhere can anyone give me at least 5 days meals no recipes needed just like chips sausages beans shepards pie etc etc!
Ive done this a few times when ive went shopping and it has cut down my bill quite a bit from 80 to 40-50!
Nothing special with requests lol we dont eat posh nosh were a typical english family like sunday dinners chips pies bits of pasta etc carnt eat lasagne and stuff just not our taste!can get away with pasta sauce dishes as long as there not tomatoey!
We are a really picky family but i really need help with my shopping as i feel as tho im wasting 80 quid per week does anyone else on here feel like this maybe we can swap hints tips etc!
Normally i make hot dogs in buns one night salad chips another very simple spag bog next and then maybe a roast on sunday but the other days for both dinner and tea i carnt think!
It didnt help when i was growing up my mum was poor with 5 kids we lived on a 5 stone bag pf potaotes and several loafs of bread pmsl lots of chips and mash etc but i just dont want to feed my daughter like this i want to try and vary her intake so she hasnt got such a bland taste like i have any help advice etc on this would be greatly appreciated:A

pollyskettle

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=33

The link above is for the Old Style forum on here - it contains fantastic advice on bringing your grocery spends in line with your budget and is so good for recipes and meal planning, it's always my first port of call. It's a brilliant, friendly place that is an absolute goldmine for advice

melissa75_2

I think asda's prices have gone up recently as well!!! I haven't been shopping there for ages but I decided to go for some xmas things and my normal weekly shopping. I couldn't believe that they had put the prices up on normal everday items so close to christmas. I also noticed that they had changed the multibuys so rather than say buy 3 for £1 it was buy 4 for £1.50, it really annoyed me. I wont be going back.
I normally spend about £60 week on groceries, thats for me, the other half and two kids, 5 and 4. We go to the iceland, home and bargain and the netto, and we manage to pick up loads of treats as well.

Enterprise_1701C

In our house there is 4 adults (me, dh, daughter and son (18 & 20)). I spend around £40-£45 a week with top ups amounting to about £10, so well under £60. I do my main shop in Tesco, top ups in Lidl. We will have whatever is on offer with oven chips one night, shepherds pie, chilli, spag bol, left-over roast (I always buy enough for two meals) in some curry-ish form, even beef stew with baked potatoes one night. I buy the bulk frozen mince and drain off the fat between browning and cooking.

I use value cheese, milk is cheaper from Lidl, offers are picked up as and when.

What do you buy the soups for? Very simple home-made soups are often very tasty and very filling. Every year I go chestnutting and make quite a few batches of chestnut soup, again very tasty!

Good luck in trying to weed out the unnecessaries.

destiny_star2006

went shopping tonight and got my bill down to 50 pound after looking at the slow cooker recipes etc but it looks like theres nothin in so we shall see!

Jnelhams

I stopped going to the supermarket for the weekly shop, on a regular basis. I found it cheaper to order on-line, as if you look on the forums here there are often discount codes, and you don't end up buying the 2 for 1 one offers for stuff you never finish and the Special Offers that again are not what you set out to buy.

If you can get someone to take you to a Makro or Costco, then it can work out cheaper to buy the Loo rolls and Soap powder in bulk.

Your local butcher is probably going to be cheaper than the supermarket, and it is a good idea to stock up on stuff from the markets that you can freeze.

I also grow quite a lot of fruit, and things like Raspberries, Blackcurrants, Gooseberries, Rhubarb need very little work for an average crop, and they freeze for pies etc.

We bulk out the Sunday roast, with Stuffing, Dumplings, Yorkshire puds, and diced roast potatoes, you can make a £3.50 Iceland fresh Chicken feed 4-5 easily.

A nice bread pudding or Bananas and custard for afters mean you can fill most tums.

Also try own brands in lidl , aldi, netto and visit the local markets.

I know it is boring, but if you can list all the things you buy for a month, and look at switching you gas , electric, phone etc. then you can save a few quid. As they say look after the pennies the pounds look after themselves.

I am quite happy to get my clothes in Primark and Tesco, often better than the designer stuff - Cotton Chinos are good value for your lad.

Check to see if you qualify for tax credits and benefits (even the unemployed pay taxes - so it is not a hand out or freebie.) http://www.entitledto.co.uk/

Hope I've helped.

hilton

You say you eat lots of fruit,well if possible use a local greengrocer where you find their prices are nearly always cheaper.Unfortunatly not as much selection as a supermarket.If feasable shop two three times a week buying sufficent food for a couple of days at a time. As for recipes go to the BBC website find Home then Food then Recipes.This allows you to enter three items press search various recipes will appear.Hope this is some help.

destiny_star2006

thanks very much for that hilton

chezza262

I have also used farmfoods and can usually fill the freezer for about £30. The BBC website also has a recipie list which I try to use for new ideas.
hth

C x

Olliebeak

Hello destiny star - First of all good luck with trying out new stuff on your family. I know from past experience how it can be difficult to cater to everybody's tastes in one meal. You don't say which (if any) veg your family will eat.

1lb of mince can make many things that would feed the four of you.

Shepherd's Pie - minced beef, chopped onions, add some dried herbs and some beef stock (using cube if necessary), (some grated carrot worth a try to disguise if you want to give it a try!), make gravy - put in a dish and top with mashed potatoes and serve with tinned peas or whatever veg your family will tolerate.

Savoury Mince - very similar to above but try adding a tin of chopped tomatoes with the stock cube, mushrooms(?) and serve with boiled potatoes, chips, croquettes, jacket spuds, rice or pasta. The use of a tin of chopped tomatoes doesn't make it 'too tomatoey' - I can't stand the thick tomato taste of spaghetti bolognese but find this quite tasty.

Chilli Mince - doesn't have to be hot. I use the minced beef and onions browned in the pan along with a crushed clove of garlic. Drain off any excess fat, add 1 (or 2) tins of kidney beans in chilli sauce (try blitzing them with a hand blender if the family will object to the sight of kidney beans), tin of chopped tomatoes and some dried mixed herbs - add some chilli powder and some paprika to taste (but check first to see how hot your family will tolerate the chilli). Allow to simmer for about 20 - 30 mins. Serve with rice or pasta (we prefer it with pasta!) or put into a dish and cover with mashed potato for mexican shepherd's pie! Again the tin of tomatoes isn't 'too tomatoey'.

Minced Beef Cobbler - same as Shepherd's Pie but top with some plain or savoury scones instead of the mashed potato.

Minced Beef Pie - same as above but make pastry and line a deep plate and put filling on top and cover with another sheet of pastry. Bake in the oven till pastry is golden brown and serve with chips.

Chicken portions, drumsticks or breast fillets make lovely chicken casseroles - and so does the diced turkey thigh (from ASDA) - with the portions/drumsticks either brown them first in a heavy based pan to crisp the skin and remove excess fat from them OR remove the skin before using.


Will your family eat eggs? Omelettes are a good standby with chips and/or salad (if they'll eat it). My grandkids adore eggy-bread! - some will have it smothered in tomato sauce, one likes sweet and sour sauce (the dips snaffled from McD's) and one of them likes either sugar or jam on top (both if I'm not watching her!)

Toonie

I've been making a list recently of the dinners my boyfriend and I tend to eat to prepare for meal planning when we get our own place. Most meals tend to be based around potatoes, meat of some sort and then veggies. Here are a few examples:
One tin chicken (peel, slice potatoes, chuck in roasting tin with a little hot oil, put in chicken drumsticks, cook til ready-can do same with sausages)
Toad in the hole
Eggy bread with baked beans
Steak Pie + veg
Mince, potatoes and yorkshire puds
Jacket Potato and various fillings

Perhaps if you tried meal planning you could make your food go further. Start with writing down the meals you'd have during the week and shop for those meals. There are many posts on meal planning on here which can help.