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Whats on your shoping list/ meal planner? .... I just spent £108 at ASDA for2people

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Comments

  • Queenie
    Queenie Posts: 8,793 Forumite
    Hi,

    Right, after doing my first shop of the year and trying to stick to my DFW resolution i have realised that i need to do a meal plan.

    To be honest I dont really know what to do eg cook a chicken and save some for the next day- thats the sort of thing i need help with i think. I'm sure some time sitting down will help this.

    Do you do yours weekly? monthly?

    What sort of things do you buy?

    I've been looking on here and have seen that some people have excellent ideas eg home made soups etc (how do people make the soup bit! a blender?) I've noticed some good recipes like tuna pastas which i've pinched.

    Whats on your list? and what do you do with what you have?

    It might be an idea to post a copy of the shopping list from Asda and then maybe we can offer suggestions on how you can make that last and give recipe ideas? Is that £108 for a months worth of shopping? A week? :confused:

    Starting off menu planning can seem pretty overwhelming, but there are some strategies to start you off and get you into the habit.

    Firstly - take a look at your shopping list and menu plan from that! See how many days that will take you up to. Then, I suggest you do an inventory of your cupboards, fridge/freezer - make up a menu plan from those too!

    Second - write on your calendar/diary what you have each day for your main meal. By the end of one week, you will have already made up a week's menu plan ;) Keep doing that for a month and you will have a month's menu plan etc., etc.

    Third - make your freezer work for you! As there are two of you, you can make up meals that are based on four people and freeze the extra two portions = ready meal for another week :D This is known as "Cook Once, Eat Twice" :D

    The Shopping List program, mentioned by dlb can be found in this thread: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=665445
    it does take a bit of time to set up but as you have a shopping receipt already to hand, that will speed up the process. From the program, you could make and save as many different shopping lists that you like! You could have a weekly one, a bi-weekly one, a monthly one, a daily one, a Christmas/Easter/Birthdays one. I have used a code for different shops next to the ingredients so I can print out shopping lists per shop (T= Tesco; L= Lidl etc.)

    Best of luck, it does seem overwhelming when you begin - and, even though I've been doing it for many years, there are times when I find it overwhelming, even with all the organisational aids I have :rotfl: , but take baby steps and it will all soon begin to fit into place. :beer:
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    PMS Pot: £57.53 Pigsback Pot: £23.00
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  • moanymoany
    moanymoany Posts: 2,877 Forumite
    This is my main meal meal plan for January. I did the shopping for both January and February and paid £98. I will spend about £50 a month for milk, eggs, fruit and some fresh veg (I use a lot of frozen in the winter). I homemake my pastry in bulk and freeze it. Same with the pizza bases. I roll them up, uncooked, in paper like a swiss roll - it makes them easy to store in the freezer.

    January 2008 menu plan


    9) Mock Goose

    10) Frozen Quiche

    11) Frittata

    12) Pizza – frozen base

    13) Workman’s Goose – breast of lamb

    14) Frozen Quiche

    15) Dhal Curry and bulgar wheat

    16) Homity Pie – frozen pastry

    17) Frittata

    18) Bacon and Pasta Bake

    19) Quiche – frozen pastry

    20) Toad in the Hole

    21) Bean recipe

    22) Fish

    23) Vege burgers

    24) Pizza

    25) Mock Goose

    26) Mince dish

    27) Baked macaroni and cheese

    28) Stovies

    29) Pasta and garlic with bacon

    30) Vegetable hotpot

    31) fish fingers
  • Heres my list:

    Food storage 1lt - clear
    Kitchen scales
    Toothbrush holder - frost
    Crisp box
    Red lentils
    Casserole mix - chicken chasseur
    Sausage casserole mix
    Italian pasta bake - tomato and herb
    Pasta bake - spicy tomato and pepperoni
    Classic green pesto
    Good for you sauce - green pesto
    Pasta sauce - tomato and chilli
    Cooking sauce - Jalfrezi
    Cooking sauce - Korma
    Fusilli pasta
    Penne pasta
    Peaches in syrup
    Pear quarters in juice
    Strawberry jam
    Peanut butter
    Smartprice Bourbon biscuits
    Instant malt drink - light
    Tea bags 80s
    Baked beans
    Baked beans
    Hot dogs
    Spaghetti
    Red kidney beans in water
    Sliced carrots in brine
    Smartprice chopped tomatoes
    Chicken soup
    Pea and ham soup
    Potato and leek soup
    Scotch broth
    Soup - chicken and noodle
    Soup - cream of tomato
    Soup - lentil
    Soup - vegetable
    Tomato soup
    Vegetable soup
    Mash
    Family Pack Super noodles - Chicken
    Good for you chicken and sweetcorn noodle break
    Chicken stock cubes
    Sage and onion stuffing
    Real mayonnaise
    Mixed herbs
    Brown sauce
    Smartprice tomato ketchup
    Cloudy lemonade - diet
    Orange & pineapple
    Pear and blackberry - no added sugar
    Frosted flakes
    Scottish porridge oats
    Asda Good for you bars - apple & rasp (6x25g)
    Shower gel
    Mint fresh family toothpaste
    Shampoo - normal hair
    Smartprice medium eggs
    UHT milk - skimmed
    Square cut white loaf - medium
    Hero Beef and spring veg foil
    Hero Chicken and ham in jelly
    Hero rabbit and kidney
    Hero select cuisine - duck and liver
    Dog toy - puppy - 6 balls
    Glass gel - orange
    Aerosol - outdoor scent
    Smartprice multi purpose cloths
    Bread rolls - Continental
    Smartprice twin air freshener
    Tumbler - frost
    Batteries - AA
    Diced carrot and swede
    Smartprice pasta sauce - bolognese
    Stuffed chicken - sage and onion (please note that the price displayed is the price per kg)
    Crispy chicken grills 2s
    Diced beef
    Fruit smoothie mix
    Hot Pockets - bolognese 2s
    Garlic baguette
    Wafer thin honey roast turkey ham
    Semi skimmed fresh milk
    Gel Freshener
    Concentrated - original
    Big Saver Salad - leaf and carrot
    Smartprice potatoes
    Onions - large
    Seasonal vegetables
    Beef mince
    Lamb mince
    Irish recipe pork sausages - thick 8s
    Smartprice mild white cheddar (price displayed is average price per pack)
    Pick n Mix sandwich fillers - cheese and onion
    Sandwich filler - coronation chicken
    Crunch corner - assorted
    Healthy balance corner - crunch variety
    Creamy coleslaw
    Smartprice swiss roll - raspberry
    Kitchen towels - white
    Chicken breast fillets
    Chicken liver
    Pork steaks
    Chunky cod fillets - battered
    Chicken kievs - garlic
    Cheese and broccoli chicken toppers 4s
    Oven chips - rustic
    Sliced green beans
    Smartprice mixed vegetables
    Crumble - apple
    Loaded deep pan pizza - sweet BBQ chicken
    Ristorante pizza - picante
    White potatoes
    Carrots
    Parsnips
    Leeks
    Broccoli


    I have wrote down ideas for meals, allowing that i may need to get extra veg, bread and lots more choped tomatoes. I have amazingly made 48 meals! eg, 3 pasta sauce jars = 6 meals, cooking family size spag bol, cottage pie, chilli, curry using sauce jars, chicken, sausage and beef caserole = 2 maybe 3 small meals each. I'm going to try a roast and then use left over chicken from that for my chicken meals. Iv also stolen some ideas for things like tuna and cheese potato melts, omellettes etc (thank to this website :) )
    One day, I AM going to be out of debt. I'm just not sure when.
    MSE to do's: new mobile contract, get contents insurance, get a better paid job!
    Ebay March challange - £15
  • csarina
    csarina Posts: 2,557 Forumite
    You don't need to buy chopped tomato's open a tin of ordinary tomato's and use a pair of scissors to chop them in the tin!! You can make your own sauce for pasta too with a tin of tomato's.an onion, clove of garlic and some herbs, much nicer than the jars you buy and it will freeze too. It actually tastes better if you cook it one day and keep it in the fridge to use the next day. The same with mince based dishes and stews.

    There are two of us and my monthly shopping allowance is £100 and we eat very well on that. You can save a lot of money by making a weekly/monthly menu list and shop with that. Take advantage of any reduced items that you can freeze for later use. This morning I got 1 kilo of best beef mince for £2, that will make 8 meals for us.

    Have a look on the recipe thread, you will get lots of ideas from there. Soup is so easy to make and you can freeze it. We have soup most days during the winter. Chicken carcass can be used to make stock, and I steam vegetables and use the liquor for stock for soup. The stock from a gammon or bacon joint can also be used as long as it is not too salt, although I have used gammon stock to make leek and potato soup.

    Personally I do a freezer and cupboard audit and make up my menus, then make out a shopping list from that. I shop once a month, except for fruit and veg. We do have an allotment so grow a lot of our own fruit and veg, but there are still things like apples,pears,grapes etc we do not grow.

    You do not need to buy lots of cleaning materials, most of us use vinegar, microfibre cloths washing soda and some bleach. There is also a thread on cleaning as well as one on laundry, I buy 3kg of Tesco value washing powder and add two bags of washing soda to it, it lasts me months. I cup of the powder mix in a wash load is quite enough, and I have no probs with whites. Vinegar in place of fabric softner, kills the soap and your clothes do not smell of vinegar, even if they have to be dried in a tumble dryer. The washing soda will also keep your washer free from limescale. If you live in a soft water area you will need less powder. When we lived in Scotland I used just half a cup of powder to
    a wash load and you did not need salt in dishwashers either.
    Was 13st 8 lbs,Now 12st 11 Lost 10 1/4lbs since I started on my diet.
  • I am definatley going to create a spread sheet for easy editing- six attempts later I have a (diner) meal plan which amazingly takes me up to 4 march! I found it quite hard not to have all chicken one week, but lots of scribbing out has sorted that out.

    When I have time I am going to meal plan using ideas on here thne just buy what i need for the list. I think I'll need a tally shart for all the half onions etc.

    I like the idea on monthly planning but i think what i will do is at the weekend go to the market(where there is convieniently a meat market too) as i think thats meant to be cheaper.

    Once I get a dab hand at the dinner planning I may start to include lunches into it, at the tho mo its usually soup which is pretty boring but chunky hm soup mentioned above may sort this out!
    One day, I AM going to be out of debt. I'm just not sure when.
    MSE to do's: new mobile contract, get contents insurance, get a better paid job!
    Ebay March challange - £15
  • Skint_Catt
    Skint_Catt Posts: 11,548 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    I've got a list of whats in the freezer and have mealplanned (excel spreadsheet) for the entire month around that. My shopping list came to £11 this week (though taking OH with me turned into £55). It's just veg and additional ingredients to make meat into a meal really. We're a house of two (me and OH) and we spend £50 a week though trying to get this down to less than that by checking out the offers with the flyers in the local paper (for Morrisons etc) and www.mysupermarket.com.

    Catt xx
  • My supermaket looks great and i like how it imports your favorites. I'm hoping that there are delivery vouchers on here for all the supermarkes so its definately a good idea.

    Obviously i dont need it for a little while but I am def going to use it next time. Just wondering, if a different supermarket has something cheaper do you have to do each shop seperately or can you do abc from asda def from tesco and ghi from sainsburys in one go. that will be pretty handy if you can.

    Looks like you can get points too!

    Another great MSE find.

    oh, and i've just been called a geek by my oh for becoming MSE obsessed.
    One day, I AM going to be out of debt. I'm just not sure when.
    MSE to do's: new mobile contract, get contents insurance, get a better paid job!
    Ebay March challange - £15
  • pavlovs_dog
    pavlovs_dog Posts: 10,217 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    there are some fab ideas in this thread... it will be invaluable whenever i get round to doing my household manual :o:D
    know thyself
    Nid wy'n gofyn bywyd moethus...
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