How do you all spend so little?

skintscotslass

hi madsmum - have you tried using the value ranges? Thats made a huge difference to my grocery bills.

floss2

If you can bear to start from scratch:

First list EVERYTHING in your fridge / freezer / cupboards.
Then plan as many meals as possible from that list.
Then make a list of anything you need to make more meals until you have enough for 1 week / 2 weeks / a month.
Then do an online shop from that list.

Continue the meal planning process for the next period, adding or repeating meals your family love & dropping the ones that didn't go down well.

If your family are cake/biscuit/bar eaters, look for recipes on here like Sammy-Kaye's banana-loaf, Twink's hobnobs, D&DD's apple braid etc. You will find that batch baking makes your snack/fill-up items better value for money too, and you will know exactly what is in them!

Have fun!

count_rostov

We live about an hour and half drive from any supermarket so I usually go to Tescos once a month, or once every three weeks if we've had guests or something. It usually ends up at about £80. We're two adults and this covers breakfast every day, one packed lunch every day and tea every day. My fiance is a landscape gardener and eats enormous quantities of food, really, twice as much as an office worker.
I would usually get:
loose carrots
value onions
lettuce
celery
tomatoes
cabbage
turnip
sweet potatoes
aubergines
courgettes
peppers
parsnips
value mushrooms
value bananas
value apples
value pears
unwaxed lemons
oranges
ginger
chillies
maybe lemongrass?
but supermarket vegetables are a bit hit and miss so if something looks good I buy it, if they only have stringy and old we do without
butter
cheese
natural yoghurt
cream
sour cream
milk (some goes in freezer)
value tinned tomatoes
value beans
dried butter beans, chickpeas, blackeyed peas
big bag of mixed seeds for bread
breadflour
plain flour
self-raising
cornflour
cocoa powder
value dark chocolate for cooking
caster sugar
porridge oats
pasta
basmati & risotto rice
noodles
soy sauce
mustard
mayonnaise
vinegar
herbs/spices if I've run out
sunflower & olive oil
leaf tea
ground coffee
washing up liquid
washing powder
shampoo
soap
toilet roll
tampons
j-cloths
foil
silicon paper
clingfilm
but obviously some things I don't buy every month like toiletries, cleaning products, condiments. We have chickens and sheep so I don't need to buy meat or eggs, I realise that keeps the bill down a lot. I usually buy value products and I think that probably keeps the cost down more than I realise too. I also buy big sacks of tatties directly from the farm. The fishmonger comes in a van and I spend about £5-6/week on fish. We get cat/dog/hen food from the agricultural feed merchants which are really cheap.
I can keep a track of how much we spend by doing big shops less frequently. I keep a list of what we need through the month and stick to it. I try to stockpile so we don't run out.
Oh, also, I don't meal plan but I always have an idea of what we have and what I can make. It's easy because neither of us are fussy, I guess it's more difficult with children. We have that to look forward to!

Nitha

Count rostov do you freeze your veggies? If so do you blanche first?

count_rostov

No, I just use up the most perishable ones first (we think of aubergines as being a really exotic treat for the start of the month!) and leave the turnip, cabbage etc till last. We're doing up our house and currently only half of it has wiring so I have no freezer and keep everything in the fridge. If anything starts to look ropy I make emergency soup which does my fiance for lunch (with a doorstop sandwich, natch). Tinned tomatoes come into their own at the end of the month!

cobbingstones

floss2 wrote: »

If you can bear to start from scratch:

First list EVERYTHING in your fridge / freezer / cupboards.
Then plan as many meals as possible from that list.
Then make a list of anything you need to make more meals until you have enough for 1 week / 2 weeks / a month.
Then do an online shop from that list.

Continue the meal planning process for the next period, adding or repeating meals your family love & dropping the ones that didn't go down well.

If your family are cake/biscuit/bar eaters, look for recipes on here like Sammy-Kaye's banana-loaf, Twink's hobnobs, D&DD's apple braid etc. You will find that batch baking makes your snack/fill-up items better value for money too, and you will know exactly what is in them!

Have fun!

Twink's hobnobs should have a health warning on them!!!! Too yummy by far.

cobbingstones

We are also trying to cut meat out of our diet so I'm now buying Quorn.

Thanks for all your replies. Keep 'em coming!

MM

BrandNewDay

The Value/Smart Price/Betta Buy lines definitely make a difference. I've read the "What to avoid" thread and I see that there is a wide variance on what people like and don't like. Maybe it's my crass Yankee tastebuds, but I do not find the Smart Price tea bags horrendous. So, I advise giving things a try. (If you have a fussy family member, try switching the cheap stuff into the name brand packaging. )

I have also found shopping online to be helpful. This saves me from going to the store "just for milk/bread" because I can't go into Asda and just buy milk. (Some people actually prefer to shop at the corner shop for perishable top-ups in order to avoid the big supermarkets.) When I shop online at Tesco, I am able to take my time, use my calculator, double-check what's already in my cupboards/how much room is left in my freezer, and there's usually several days in which I can go back and change my order before it ships. Plus, the vouchers board on here can give you codes good for £5-£10 off your order, which more than covers the cost of delivery. (And, of course, you get Tesco card points, which means another 1% savings.)

Uniscots97

madsmum wrote: »

We are also trying to cut meat out of our diet so I'm now buying Quorn.

Thanks for all your replies. Keep 'em coming!

MM

check out the soya mince in places like Holland and Barratt (though some bigger Tesco's have it) much cheaper than quorn brand.

exlibris

You will also find that home-made cakes, pies and meals etc are more filling. Shop bought stuff seems to be all air and water. I have had to stop baking though - I eat it and my hips expaaaaandLOL