New start for me... food budget advice please!

pixiechick99

Hi there,
I've just recently realised how awful my money situation is and with a lot of help from this forum I've been sorting myself out a bit over the last few days! Been reading all the diaries which are inspiring, I hope to be able to be so organised and dedicated!
I'm in the process of moving house due to my marriage ending last year, so selling this house and moving to rented with my 2 daughters. So in a few weeks I'll know my outgoings in more detail - bills, insurance etc. I'll also have a few thousand free from the house sale to pay off some debt - although the 'old' me would rather keep the money in the bank and live well for a while, but I know that's daft!! I'll pay off some debt and see how much I have.
Anyway, I think my main problem is frittering money away - I live with my girls of 11 and 9 so we can't need to spend at least £60 a week on food can we?! I find myelf nipping into our local shop for milk and spending £20 on bits and bobs we fancy, ridiculous.
So, what I really came to ask is - what is a realistic food budget to have for the week? I'm often able to use Morrison's where I can use my Mum's 10% discount, which is good. I'm thinking of trying to do £35 a week now, and stopping buying coca-cola, biscuits by the truckload etc!! Any advice would be sooo welcome.
I've joined Quidco, I'm on £26 I think, it's fab. This is a fantastic website, I'm getting obsessed with it now!

Bye for now,;)
MS

SuziQ

Hi MS, I am pretty new and in the throes of divorce etc myslef,so know how you feel! I am also learnig loads on here. I think your best bet,like me,is to join the June grocery challenge. You keep all your receipts the first month so you can identify what your spending on and what you can cut down on. I have no idea what my budget should be so have guessed £180 for the month for myself, 3 children (17-12- 6 years) and 2 cats.I will be keeping my reciepts and if I fail the first month,at least I will know where it all went!
I have also started reading all the other money saving threads- having no spend days, cooking from food you would normally throw out or from store cupboard-the challenges on here are an inspiration and my kids say they have never eaten so well as in the last week and a half!

pixiechick99

Hiya,
That's a really good idea-keeping all the receipts. I could start today as I was paid yesterday (thank goodness!) - it feels like a new start. Havne't actually spent anything on food yet since Monday so that's a good start! And my girls are with their dad til Sat morn so won't buy anything for a while, I'm happy eating stuff out of the freezer/cupboards.
I probablyhave been spending in the region of £250 on food a month, which is daft for 3 of us. Too many treats I think.
So, going to have a look for the June challenge and get going on that..
Thanks for the reply, I'm at last starting to feel in control of my life - taken a while but getting there!

Pink.

Hi MS,

Welcome to Old Style. :hello:

It's hard to give advice about a realistic budget as all our needs/wants/family circumstances are different but I agree with Suzi that a good place to begin is the grocery challenge. The one for June has just begun here. It's a great thread where you'll get lots of advice and support.

I would also recommend reading Martin's article on Supermarket Shopping which has lots of tips on saving money on groceries.

Menu planning is a good idea...where you plan what you are going to eat for the next few days then shop only for those things. If you look in The Complete Menu Plans Collection there are lots of threads with good advice.

Finally, there are lots of great ideas for cheap moneysaving meals on these threads:

Cheapest recipes???

Meal for two for 50p. Suggestions?

The Cheapest Healthy Meal Ever!

Feed 6 for £1.62

Cheapest meal

Your Cheapest Evening Meal.

cheap, easy family meals

Good luck!

Pink

Penelope_Penguin

Hello and welcome, millyscarlet and SuziQ :beer: Have you tried posting on the Old Style Daily Thread (today's is here). I's not advice, but we talk about what OS we're doing in our day and give help and support to other Old Stylers.

Good luck to you both

Penny. x