Grocery shopping experts - how little do you spend

recovering_spendaholic

I always read these kind of threads with great interest because I have tried and tried and cannot reduce my grocery spend much below about £120 a week for three of us, plus DD1's boyfriend who is pretty much here for all meals and who eats like a horse. I went to Sainsburys yesterday and spent £107 (included £16 for tampax and ST's for me and DD1) and whilst I have a fully stocked fridge, freezer and larder now, I know it won't last. I had to go and buy another loaf on the way home from picking up DD2 this afternoon! Yesterday DD1 and her boyfriend and friends ate two loaves made into toast with nearly a full tub of Flora, two 300g blocks of cheese, the contents of my biscuit tin (hm shortbreads and flapjacks), a pack of bacon, half a packet of weetabix, a 2 litre of semi skimmed milk, goodness knows how many tea bags, 10 bags of crisps, and this was on top of the meals I made (although I didn't cook for her friends). I have to point out that I went out last night with DD2 and this lot was consumed whilst I was out or I would have said something. I don't buy steak or other expensive meat - although I do buy free range organic chicken and organic eggs. I am not trying to get down to anything like £60 a month as I know I can't do that given that I buy organic and outdoor reared meat and so on, but I would like to be able to reduce my monthly spend to about £300.

thriftlady_2

Ok,I know this is American, but it might be useful as a framework. I think generally what is cheap there is probably cheap here. $45 is £22.80 at the moment, so still not low enough, butit might be of some use.

$45 family meal plan

There's also this, American again, but may be useful.

robpw2

Sassamac wrote: »

Belfastgirl, I like your theory of working out how much the 'necessary' foods cost to give a base for the budget. I might do that at the ned of the month because this is the first time I have kept all my receipts. I could have a rough guess at the amount we spend on bread, milk, cheese and other such things we cant live without, but I dont know how accurate it would be.

there is a f&v market in town but on the occassions I have used I havent noticed a significant saving, perhaps because I buy a lot of 'value' f&v at Tesco, the market cant compete with that. I might sit and work through my receipts and write down pence per piece of fruit etc.

I might have to go farm shop hunting if I can find 20 per kilo spuds! it seems that the cheapest staple is rice then pasta then spuds, unfortunately thats the reverse of popularity in my family. I have no clue how to cook with lentils, beans etc as its not really food I like but I guess if it could bulk out a stew cheaply its worth a go.

Im not a fan of vegetarian food, and have little idea how to cook it. We live on mince, white fish, chicken (whole not fillets etc), and sausages. We only eat beef if my parents bring it for a Sunday roast (like yesterday so the leftovers are in the oven tendering up for dinner). They had duck half price on the reduced counter today and I still couldnt afford to bring it home.

My littluns are only 3 and 1 BTW so its not as if they're helping themselves to the fridge all day long (as per the average teenager), but according to my Mum who works in a primary school kitchen, both my kids eat more than the average 4 - 7 year old.

ok as for cooking vegetarian food its pretty much the same as cooking any food .


You should shop around like we do NEVER buy all your shopping in one place as whilst you get some cheap stuff other things may be more



Places to visit.

1. home bargains -althought some of the food is nearing sell by date they have great deals on tinned food .

2. aldi great place to buy things like bread and cheese (thought would not reccommend buying vegetables )

3 asda - really cheap on home basic saver items also on things like noodles you can buy 24 packs for £1.92 they are always use ful to have in the cuboards and can be added to soups or eaten in place of pasta etc.


4. dont buy all your shopping in one go . this prevents you from buying on a whim .

5. Visit your local butcher for meat i know where i live gabbots does a value pack for £10 and it can be frozen but contsits of chops sausges a joint etc but these vary depending on seasonal items and usually come with a free cooked chicken .

6 check out the reduced counters of places like tesco * always visit after five pm because they tend to reduce prices again then and see if you can make food from these items .

7. be adventourus dont be afraid to experiment .

i hope you will find some of these tips useful ..



you could cook a meal for 4 every single night of the week for about £1.00 *total (this is using just basic ingredients)

robpw2

ok cheap lasagne
asda smart price lasgane sheets £0.32
asda smart price tomato pasta sauce £0.27
asda smart price beef mince £0.74

this total amount comes to £1.34 and will serve at least 6.

this is what im saying if you know where to loo you can make a nice meal for around 1.00 per night.

bandraoi

robpw2 wrote: »

ok cheap lasagne
asda smart price lasgane sheets £0.32
asda smart price tomato pasta sauce £0.27
asda smart price beef mince £0.74

this total amount comes to £1.34 and will serve at least 6.

this is what im saying if you know where to loo you can make a nice meal for around 1.00 per night.

Yes but £60 is £2 per day, and you've just used £1.34 on dinner.
You still have to provide Breakfast and Lunch and snacks for 4 people with the remaining 66p.

(and the lasagne needs cheese!)

Cazzdevil

£60 a month for 4 people equates to about 50p per person per day. It's impossible to have a health balanced diet for as little as that unless you're growing your own veg or something like that.

You simply have to find more money for it and for a family of 4 I'd think you'd need to double your current budget. If your claim of only having £60 left for food is because of debts using up other money then have a rethink - food comes as a much higher priority (especially with children to think of).

Good luck xx

Sassamac

we live in what the media call 'Tescotown' - there are 6 for a population of 30,000. The nearest other supermarket is over 8 miles and the budget ones are all 15 miles in any given direction. So next time I happen to be passing I may well go and stock up cheaply but its not worth burning a fiver in petrol to get there. When I was a student I used to alternate between Sainsbury and Tesco and it worked very well but they were equidistant.

That meal plan looks interesting. It is basically all beans and rice meals, so it looks like thats the way forward. I might try to gradually introduce some changes.

Have thought about the mooncup but it doesnt appeal I must admit. DH thinks its funny that tampons are taxable as luxury goods. But it would take 6 months for a mooncup to earn its keep so Im not convinced.

Maxjessdru it covers breakfast and dinner everyday (though DH and I rarely eat brekkie), a hot lunch for DH 3 days a week, often a hot lunch for us at home, failing that its beans on toast or something. DS has lunch at pre-school 3 days a week which is £1 per lunch (includes a hot pasta lunch, milk, fruit or yogurt).

OMG Jane starting charging DD's b/f rent?!

robpw2

yes thats easy too ..

[URL="javascript:showProductDetailsPage('551888','null','/asda_shop/rc03_trolley/web_rc03_a_trolley_body.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1752922704.1199724838@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdhaddmkmmkfdhcfkfcfkjdgoodgmh.0','I','No')"]Cornflakes 750G[/URL] again asda smart price 0.43 p and one bag should last 4 you a week at least so your looking about 6p per day for the cornflakes

cheese again you buy 1 block to last you a week [URL="javascript:showProductDetailsPage('935778','','/asda_shop/rc03_trolley/web_rc03_a_trolley_body.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1752922704.1199724838@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdhaddmkmmkfdhcfkfcfkjdgoodgmh.0','I','')"]Smartprice Cheshire cheese (price displayed is average price per pack)[/URL] approx 2.07 -0.29 approx daily charge

milk 1 litre uht milk [URL="javascript:showProductDetailsPage('531281','','/asda_shop/rc03_trolley/web_rc03_a_trolley_body.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1752922704.1199724838@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdhaddmkmmkfdhcfkfcfkjdgoodgmh.0','I','')"]UHT milk - skimmed[/URL] 1L 0.44 approx usage 3 dayss approx 0.14 a day

you see you its easy to budget . 1.83 including the lasgne

bread again is something you could buy and at 17p per loaf 3 a week would work out at approximately 6p per day

then something to go on sandwiches you already have cheese lol but you would hav 11p per day to add to lunches which over 28 days is an extra 2.80

Yategirl

Sassamac wrote: »

Have thought about the mooncup but it doesnt appeal I must admit. DH thinks its funny that tampons are taxable as luxury goods. But it would take 6 months for a mooncup to earn its keep so Im not convinced.

I can see your point and I know it is not for everyone.... but otoh... I have had my mooncup for 5 years now... so 4 1/2 years free if you like! It is very wrong that tampons are luxury items... they are not a luxury at all :rolleyes:

bandraoi

Cazzdevil wrote: »

£60 a month for 4 people equates to about 50p per person per day. It's impossible to have a health balanced diet for as little as that unless you're growing your own veg or something like that.

You simply have to find more money for it and for a family of 4 I'd think you'd need to double your current budget. If your claim of only having £60 left for food is because of debts using up other money then have a rethink - food comes as a much higher priority (especially with children to think of).

Good luck xx

I disagree, I think it might be possible, but not with meal planning and normal shopping lists.
I think it'd be a case of buy the biggest, cheapest bags of
1) pasta/rice/spuds/flour
and
2) beans - kidney beans/butterbeans/lentils etc.
This probably involves a trip to your local asian supermarket or wholesaler and will probably cost you £15 - £20 of your monthly allowance.

Then every two or three days going to the shops and markets and buying whatever is a the absolute cheapest knockdown price that day for veg -tinned or fresh and whatever bargain basement meat you could get occasionally. Suppose you go every third day, so you need to get 3 days vegetables and meat for £4 - £4.50 and probably cook it up that night.

In the markets around where I live, I think that's just about doable.
i.e. going after anything that needs to be cooked immediately before it goes off.