Spending too much !! HELP

Bella79

Hi all

after reading lots of threads on here ive decided i defenity spend too much on food there are two of us with a 1yr old daughter and i mus spend about £90 a week and always seem to have nothing in or nothing for sandiwches > Im so inspired by this site tommorow im gonna do a list of everything i have in (food) and tr to use some of it up i may need some help !
thankyou in advance xx

whatatwit

Hi Owens.

Top tip, as well as listing what you've got, start a spending diary, noting down every time you spend something. I keep the receipts also.
Then you can see what you are missing off from your main shop and ending up with a loaf and a carton milk costing over £10, because of the other bits and bobs that leap into your basket.

Good luck.

sammiboo

Hi there

Maybe it would help to meal plan for the week before you go shopping?
Especially if you find that you throw away food quite a lot as you are buying more than what you need?

Fruball

I used to go shopping every week on the same day spending well over what I needed to.

First I decided to ditch my thursday shop and go on different days - this means I can last longer before I go shopping and therefore spend less over the month - probably only go 3 times per month now rather than 4 times

Also, I make sure we have a day in the week where we eat very cheaply - ie HM soup and bread or pancakes

We do like to eat well tho and I love to cook so we still spend more than we should.

charleybabes

hi there

ive only been a member of mse since beginning of jan but already ive been saving a lot on my shopping bills
there is just the two of us plus our 18 mnth son and we were spending stupid amounts and running to the lateshop every night for milk or bread..

so what ive been doing now is meal planning.. it can be boring but its so handy knowing that what you buy is what you are going to eat..

we've made a lot from scratch aswell things like spag boll, chilli and lasagne
quite basic things but you can chuck a load of veg in aswell so its healthy and also really cheap
and if you make big enough batches you can just stick some in tupperware and put in freezer and you've got a tea for next week aswell

we do a weekly shop which helps us know were we are
so each week now before we go shopping i go through my cupboards and write down what i already have and then that way im not buying in extra aswell

keep looking on here for tips and recipes though its great !!!!!

this week my shop was only £26 and i bought milk, bread biscuits and cold meats aswell

Bella79

im defenitly wastefull with food untill 3 weeks ago when i cooked a chicken i used to throw the legs out !! not anymore u will be pleased to hear my hubby pay has droped and were both trying to lose weight so i think it will do us good .......i dont buy a lot of ready meals but i make a lot of things with doube cream and goose fat etc etc all not good for hips or purse strings i will do this !!
ps......thankyou for your replys i may need some inspiration for meal ideas tomoorow after ive been through cuboards !

Kaz2904

Go, do it and get yer list up! I'm sure that there will be plenty of ideas.

meanmarie

Welcome Owens,

This is the best money saving site you could find...makes you think and that is, IMHO, the first step to a saving, waste free life

Marie

angelavdavis

My tips:

- as you have suggested, post up your fridge/freezer and cupboard contents to do a storecupboard challenge. I keep this updated on the doors so I can see what I have used up ready for shopping.

- note down what you are throwing away for a month or so. I found I was throwing out quite a lot of veg that was going off before we had the chance to use it. I then started slicing and freezing veg before it had the chance to go off - expensive things like peppers, etc. I think we all get into the habit of buying for the sake of it - even though we don't always use everything up!

- Meal plan as suggested

- Join the grocery challenge for February - I find it really helps me. Start by reducing by £10 per week and see how you go.

- Use recipe sites such as bbc.co.uk/food/recipes, uktvfood.tv, etc that allow you to enter ingredients to search for new ideas.

- Post up on here if you need support

Good luck

rygon

I find making a food list of what im going to eat that week the best way as then i can buy around that..using the same ingredients for 2 or 3 dishes.
Also learning to cook stir fries, soups and omlettes etc has helped me get eat what evers left over as most things can be chucked into onr of them.

Also bulk buying dried food saves a bit of money (large packs or pasta and rice etc) and are great for easy meals (ie pasta with a bit of pesto and cheese on top is the easiest meal you can make...although you can add garlic sausage, red onion and green/red/yellow peppers to make it that bit nicer)

mioliere

I find I waste money if I forget to take a shopping list with me and, also, if I shop when I'm hungry, because everything seems so tempting. I definitely recommend keep an inventory of all the food in the store cupboards, fridge and freezers, plus meal-planning every week which really helps you stick to the list. The spending diary (just Google spending diary) is very useful - it shows just how much money you spend and can help you identify where to cut down! Also, look on the OS Daily thread for some great tips and money-saving ideas. It has saved me a fortune! Everyone on there is well-practised at making the most of money! Good luck - you'll soon get into the swing of it.