cut down food spend

lilmoi1985lm

thank you - i've been thinking of joining in the last few months but we always have something that comes up and i would hate to go well over budget!

maybe i'll join in march...at least i can prepare for it. £200.00 saved is a good win, well done for that.

Becky_2

Lilmoi,

Hope you enjoy the musli, once you get the time to do it.

Please let me know what ingredients you put in yours.

Becky:T

lilmoi1985lm wrote: »

hiya Becky!

I havent got there yet - planning too on my next shop - funny i seen this post today ive been thinking about going out to buy it the last few weeks and havent had a chance to go into town.

Definately going to and i'll tell you all about it! £7 for 5 weeks is pretty good, we get through quite a bit of cereal in our house i really need a kick up the ar3e and start doing this! at least i know exactly what will be in it.

first job for tomorrow i think!

mhe

lilmoi1985lm wrote: »

i would hate to go well over budget!

I thought like that but joining helps you to stay focused - the thought of admitting you have spent over on your food budget is a good way of stopping you buying the rubbish - if you go over on other things cos they come up it doesnt matter - thats not your food bill so it wont matter.
Lurk on the thread for MRS MACAWBERS receipes !!

lilmoi1985lm

thanks each - will get cracking!

stenephe

Sorry for replying to your message, but new to this and can't work out a way to ask for everyone's help without doing it as a reply... I'm struggling to work out what to do and to be honest, after trawling the forums, the best think I can think of is to ask for the MSE peoples help.

We're a family of four (two toddlers) with an extra toddler with us more than half the week. In an ideal world I would buy only organic meat, veg, dry groceries and obviously only organic household/personal product.

However, I also need to reduce what I spend (part of that will be facing up to do a breakdown of spend and income). Please can you wise people please give me a good guide as to what to do? To date I have a stack of ecover products in the cupboard (bought on 3 for 2) and a stack of nappies from the bambo/nature baby ranges. Previously I've used washables, but my girls are nearly 3 and 2 plus my extra 2 y.o. so I now struggle to still use them. I've also swopped over to asda's organic (SLS/Paraben free) wipes and Green People products for me and the babes. I've also been using a local veg/fruit delivery, but am having a month off from it (only because of costs, as I believe being 'prompted' to use the veg/fruit was invaluable).

Help. How do I reduce our spend and keep fuel costs down (we're in a village) and keep it in line with what I believe is right and good (chemical free, healthily produced and where possible, organic).... and save money? I really feel completely confused! stenephe

lilmoi1985lm

stenephe vbmenu_register("postmenu_8607969", true);


if you click back onto the moneysaving old style tab - top of this page there will be a little btton near the top saying post new thread - not that i mind you posting on here just think you will receive more of a response posting a new one - any probs let me know x

StressedSteph

We are a family of four (2 adults / 2 young children) my weekly shopping is £40-£50 but then I have the milkman on top which is £12 per week :-O

I don't know how you guys get it any lower? I am only buying Tesco Value and making everything from scratch ??

Well done to everyone who manages this as it must be a real struggle

Olliebeak

Could you try buying the milk in the Supermarket, StressedSteph? That may bring down your milk bill. However, it's often the little trips to the supermarket midweek to top up on milk, that result in a bit more overspending - so not always a good idea.

Have you noticed yourself throwing away anything in particular? It's worthwhile keeping an eye on this part of your 'kitchen goings on' as this can show you somewhere where you can perhaps cut back, or change something.

Have you checked out SammyKaye's thread? She has a great example of her shopping list on there and it's worth looking at for somebody with a couple of kiddies.

This is the link for her thread.

purpleivy

Stressed Steph, I use powdered milk for all cooking, sauces, soup, custard etc etc It's cheap, it's easier to get home from the shops and it has a good shelf life. We use UHT for some stuff, but dh/ds likes fresh semi on his cereal. THis is the one I find difficult to gauge. It's schoolhols this week and the fresh milk is going off. Why? because ds is cooking himself brekkie instead of cereal (cheese on toast, beans on toast).

squeaky

Hide the bread or the toaster

You can freeze the milk if you have space for it.

Sour milk is perfect for making scones with btw.

Also see:- Help - Milk has gone off..... ( sour milk )