Cheaper to buy meal offers when you see them or have a weekly budget?

lindseykim13

I like everyone is trying to cut shopping costs and have done well over the last few months by getting by on £50 a week with 4 of us.

My Q is, now i have started getting offers when i see them like bogof on meats/meals and the reduced meat to freeze for meals later. How do you know if that works out cheaper of not? Anyone that does this that has worked it out somehow!

As i norm have a weekly budget but i have just bought 2 weeks worth of meals and was planning on adding the extra shopping that i need over the next few days like fresh veg etc and then i will just pop into the shops to pick up reduced meat/meals when i'm passing, so will have a constant supply of meals.

so i'm kind of stocking up meals and buying the rest when i need it so not the same as one weekly big shop, is it going to be cheaper? I hope that makes some sence!

Sola

I keep a spreadsheet of basic costs eg. price of meat per kilo, and update it. I also log everything I spend so I can compare and work out weekly averages. Generally if meat's on offer I get it for the freezer. We do a large shop around the 25th when we both get paid, and then top up weekly with bread/milk/veg.

Angelraesunshine

It might feel like you are spending a lot now but in the long run it is much cheaper, if i see anything on offer or in the reduced section i buy it. i know my freezer at any time will always have at least 2 weeks worth of food in it and at the beginning of the month when the shopping comes in it will have nearer 6 weeks worth of food in. i don't keep any spread sheets but i do meal plan a month at a time so i know exactly what i have then in the last week of the month when i order online, i check off what i have in the freezer put that in my meal plan then order the rest but i always order the same amount roughly so if i have 5 minces already in the freezer and i normally order 6 depending on how tight the budget is ( if i am close to an over spend) i would still order at least 4 if not the whole 6. That way if something happened on the following month i know i could get by and i always have lots of food should people just turn up or if i have forgotten something etc.

not sure if i have answered your question but i think as long as you are buying the stuff you need and usually have and not spending on other things when you top up then you will be saving money, just do it to a style that suits you your budget and your freezer space.

Fitzio

If I see something on offer than I know I will use, I will buy it to keep in the freezer, knowing I will spend less another week. My problems start when I buy things because they are on offer but cannot be frozen and then I feel I need to use them up!! Meat for freezing would be ok, but buying things like doughnuts that I would not usually have bought, just because they are BOGOF is not cost effective (or good for the waistline!). I have stopped doing this.

lindseykim13

Fitzio wrote: »

Meat for freezing would be ok, but buying things like doughnuts that I would not usually have bought, just because they are BOGOF is not cost effective (or good for the waistline!). I have stopped doing this.

Very true! i stopped buying goodies a long time ago and if i want any i have to bake them myself! So yes i do only buy meat for meals or the ingredients i would have bought anyway, i am easliy tempted to get take-aways when there is no food in the house so having a constant supply of freezer meals is a help in that department.

sunshine6650

I do this, mince, all meats really, the one mistake ive made a few times is tho buying something i think i can make a couple meals from, mince for example then frezzing it straight away so when i defrost it i have to make the 2 meals days apart as ive already frozen the meat..if you understand, i should either mass cook & have them ready to heat or divide them 1st! im learning so im getting there!!!

Olliebeak

I also buy meats when on 'whoopsie' but I divide it up into usable amounts i.e. 500g of mince into 2 x 250g or even 1kg of mince into 4 x 250g and a tray of chicken 4 breast fillets gets divided into 1 x 2 fillets and 2 x 1 fillet! I've also started buying the very large pizzas even though they won't fit into my tidgy oven - I just divide them up into quarters or sixths and re-wrap with clingfilm before freezing. (I used to just look at these pizzas and bemoan the fact that they wouldn't fit in my oven!). If you don't eat much bread - or live alone - it's a good idea to divide the slices between sandwich bags (4 or 6 to a bag) before freezing - saves having a tussle to remove just a couple of slices while frozen or defrosting a whole loaf at once.

overlykeensaver

I think it works out cheaper in the long run if you buy the meat etc when it is on offer. As long as you take it into account the next time you go shopping, or incorporate it into your menu in the weeks to come. Otherwise, you are just always topping up your freezer, paying a little more and not actually eating.benefitting from it (hope that makes sense!)

mary43

OH does the food shopping and he always gets the BOGOF so long as its something we'd eat anyway. We always have chicken breasts at some time during the week so if they're BOGOF, even if we've already got some for that week, he grabs them and sticks them in the freezer..........same with most meats and anything else, as long as it's what we normally have.
It can be very easy to buy something just because its BOGOF then find it never gets eaten because its not the normal menu.