BBC: " Family food shop up '£15 a week'"

LillyJ

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

My sister is a coeliac as well, it's veyr boring for her.

My son eats what we eat - fewer spices, and carefully with the salt there, but otherwise the same. When he was younger, he ate mashed up what we eat (-:

That is exactly how my parents fed me when I was young and I think it did me good! And I learnt to cook from my mum.

Phirefly

I've not noticed the food price increases as our food bill is already pretty whopping. I apply MSE principles to many areas of our expenditure, but when it comes to food, I'm sensible but will not compromise.

Lucky for me Mr P is not only easy on the eye, but an amazing cook. I can glance in the cupboard and think '!!!!!!-nothing to eat' but he'll push me out the way and whip up something amazing out of nothing. He often gets home after 8pm, but he'll dutifully start chopping an onion and gazing in the cupboard for inspiration. It helps to have a really well stocked larder. We've got masses of herbs, spices, pastes, vinegars, oils, condiments etc etc.

We buy local organic milk and bread which is already more expensive so I've not noticed any price increases there. All our meat comes from the local farm shop. Its more expensive than supermarket NastyMeat, but cheaper than their fancy-packaged organic ranges. Rather than buying a couple of weeks' worth of waterlogged enemic chicken breasts from Tescos, Mr P will buy one whole chicken from the farm shop that can be transformed into several meals. We've also made friends with the fishmongers on the local market and they let us have whopping cuts of pollock and bagfuls of dabs for next to nothing. I appreciate that feeding a family is a whole other story, but I'm pretty sure we'd not change these fundamentals a great deal no matter how stretched we became.

There are a million and one things I'd much rather compromise on than food. We don't have Sky, rarely blow wads of cash on nights out, don't have fancy holidays etc etc, but my Cheese Spend is not for negotiation. Never.

LillyJ

That is one thing I really miss out on living in a city is farm shops. My mum buys her eggs, milk, bread and homemade cakes, asparagus, mushroom, etc from the farm shop down the road. I like it because it helps the farmer who is predominantly a dairy farmer, who in my opinion have got a raw deal the last few years.

abaxas

Phirefly wrote: »

I've not noticed the food price increases as our food bill is already pretty whopping. I apply MSE principles to many areas of our expenditure, but when it comes to food, I'm sensible but will not compromise.

Lucky for me Mr P is not only easy on the eye, but an amazing cook. I can glance in the cupboard and think '!!!!!!-nothing to eat' but he'll push me out the way and whip up something amazing out of nothing. He often gets home after 8pm, but he'll dutifully start chopping an onion and gazing in the cupboard for inspiration. It helps to have a really well stocked larder. We've got masses of herbs, spices, pastes, vinegars, oils, condiments etc etc.

We buy local organic milk and bread which is already more expensive so I've not noticed any price increases there. All our meat comes from the local farm shop. Its more expensive than supermarket NastyMeat, but cheaper than their fancy-packaged organic ranges. Rather than buying a couple of weeks' worth of waterlogged enemic chicken breasts from Tescos, Mr P will buy one whole chicken from the farm shop that can be transformed into several meals. We've also made friends with the fishmongers on the local market and they let us have whopping cuts of pollock and bagfuls of dabs for next to nothing. I appreciate that feeding a family is a whole other story, but I'm pretty sure we'd not change these fundamentals a great deal no matter how stretched we became.

There are a million and one things I'd much rather compromise on than food. We don't have Sky, rarely blow wads of cash on nights out, don't have fancy holidays etc etc, but my Cheese Spend is not for negotiation. Never.

Very good points and well put.

The problem is that most people have (not yourself) assumed price is proportional to quality. This has never been the case.

Also some people go the other way and buy only cheapo products when they could spend a few pence more and get something much better.

I shop at 3 different places.

1) Sheffield market - great for fruit and veg and much cheaper for most basics. Also you find things thet supermarkets dont sell or deals so cheap you feel almost obliged to buy! Eg last week strawberries were ultra cheap so we have dehydrated some for putting on muesli and made summer puddings for the freezer:P

2) Aldi - The true champion of tins,cheese and cold meats.

3) ASDA - definitely the cheapest of all the supermarkets.

By optimizing your shopping you can save money and eat well. Why buy something for £10 from waitrose when you can cook a better version for a pound.

HINT : always go to your supermarket near closing time :P u never know what you'll find.....last night it was fresh nan breads for 5p, I think we'll have curry tonight.....:>

LillyJ

Ooh I love bargains, I once got 4 custard tarts for 10p! I was very excited! Birmingham has a very good market, although unfortunately it is in the centre of town, so you either have to pay a fortune for the bus and struggle with all your bags, (which kind of defeats the object as you wouldn't be able to buy as much!) or drive in and park in a ridiculously expensive car park! So annoying as I love markets.

I like Asda too, but also Tesco and Morrison's. Our nearest is Sainsbury which I find very expensive. I just laugh at the people who shop in Marks and Sparks or Waitrose! (I can understand for a special occasion as a substitute for going out somewhere to eat or instead of a take away but for normal food it is just weird!)

neverdespairgirl

abaxas wrote: »

Aghgh, I love them too.

There is something so 'puritan' but also so nice about them. Only problem is they tend to explode cracker bits everywhere :P

Yes, which is why (to cross-reference another thread) wooden floors come in so handy!

danm

I agree that quality food cannot be comprised on. Dry goods i'm happy to buy anywhere, but for quality fresh ingredients, i believe in that you pay for what you get.

My opinion of order of quality

Waitrose
M&S
Sainsbury
Morrisons
Tescos
Asda

Opinion on Prices, cheapest first

Asda
Tesco
Morrison
Sainsburys
M&S
Waitrose

Notice a pattern starting to emerge here.....

I also think alot of it has to do with the staff and service. If you want to go somewhere talk to a trained butcher about the different cuts of meat, the best way to prepare it etc etc, go to the first. If you want to be grunted at by a school kid, go to the latter. (maybe a bit of a generalisation, but you get what i mean)

neverdespairgirl

LillyJ wrote: »

That is exactly how my parents fed me when I was young and I think it did me good! And I learnt to cook from my mum.

So did I. And my mother makes everything - bread, cakes, biscuits, wine, beer, the lot!

neverdespairgirl

LillyJ wrote: »

I just laugh at the people who shop in Marks and Sparks or Waitrose! (I can understand for a special occasion as a substitute for going out somewhere to eat or instead of a take away but for normal food it is just weird!)

We mostly shop at Waitrose, plus butcher, greengrocer, etc. It's our nearest supermarket, and isn't as expensive as you might think.

LillyJ

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

So did I. And my mother makes everything - bread, cakes, biscuits, wine, beer, the lot!

Wow homemade wine and beer, that sounds amazing! I do think it is difficult for people whose parents can't cook. My boyfriend never learnt from his mother as she tends to eat stuff like salad with cold meat just straight out of the fridge(which is fine but doesn't involve cooking!) and ready cooked chicken wings etc.

Since living with me he has learnt alot and he now likes cooking. He especially likes to make stuff from the store cupboard when it looks like we have no food!