£304.71 to last the month

jo1972

NUF!!!!ter wrote: »

Shopaholic - You CAN do it! You will be great, I have done 2 weeks under £50 on groceries for me and my 3 kids (who eat as if it is their last meal all the time). YOU WILL MAKE IT!

How the he11 did you do that?? I know this isn't the OS board, but can you give me an idea of your meal plan?

Nutty_Tart

I am sure you can do this. We have been living off off £50/week for nearly 2 years now (thats shopping & petrol for myself & 2 kids) and still have change. Have you a lidl/aldi nearby? Have you popped over to the OS board? There are lots of threads over there which you may find useful. Let us know how you get on.

Good luck NTx

shopaholictiedtheknot

Nuttytart, we do have a lidl and an aldi, I haven't been for ages, my problem is I get sidetracked by all the different foreign foods (feel like am on holidays!) and buy things I don't really need!

Nutty_Tart

Ahhh - perhaps a list/meal plan would help you? Maybe allowing yourself one or two different foods as a treat? Or have a 'foreign food' night? How about turning it around and challenging yourself to 'get this weeks groceries for £xx?' and [STRIKE]if[/STRIKE] when you achieve it you can reward yourself with your treat? Am sure other people will have some other (probably better :rotfl: ) ideas and you could have a go at which one would be best for you?????

NTx

jak

We live on much less than that for 2 of us a month. In fact this month was the first time we've had spends money so total money spare for spends and groceries was £285 for 2 of us and we've managed fine!
I think it's all relative really. It was a treat for us this month to have money spare to spend on whatever we liked, we aren't used to it! lol!

Def. meal planning is the way to go. I do a loose plan based on how many meals dh is home for (just have simple food when it's just me!) and then go and buy as many yelow sticker items as possible in ASDA along with the alocated list items. We also use coupons to get 10% off our shop at ASDA so although I use aldi for some stuff, I find it cheaper to use ASDA for the majority of our shop.

Aldi is good for fruit and veg, sun dried tomatoes and cheese.
Iceland is 2 for £2 on milk.
ASDA is good for reduced items for the freezer.

I then re-do my meal plan based on what we've managed to get cheap. Veg. risotto is a good one (Asda sp rice is on offer for 49p for 1kg) as very cheap.
Another fav. follows:

Cook pasta (21p for 500g Tescos) drain
Fry onion and garlic, add pasta to the mix
chop up and add half a jar of sundried toms from ALdi (£1.19)
Add half a pot of macapone cheese (99p Tescos)
melt cheese and stir
add basil (dried or fresh)/parmasham cheese
Eat. Yum yum.

Total cost: approx: £2.45- this does 2 rather large meals twice! If that makes sense as you only use half the toms and mascapone.

I realsie this isn't os board but I thought it might help!

Good luck and let us know how you get on! Def. treat it as a challenge!
J
X

shopaholictiedtheknot

Thanks for that Jak, wow you have paid off £12k debt? how long did that take if you don't mind me asking? Other question, how do you get 10% off at asda?

Ames

Oooh that recipe sounds good, might have to try it I think even I could manage it!

jak

Ok what you do is use coupons for any product you can find- order free samples online and they usually send vouchers with the sampples for 50p off etc. Als online printable coupons are really good too. ASDA will usually take 10% off the price of your shopping in these vouchers. ALso - you don't have to buy the product! Totally fab! The bigger Tescos will also usually do this- if in doubt ask for their coupon policy! Also if a deal such as bogof etc. has sold out you can ask customer service for a smiley voucher at asda and then they'll honor the deal the next time you go! It all helps. My dh gets SO embarrassed..but then I remind him of all the nice extra things we can have because of the money saved..and he shuts up...

My paying off has taken 4 years...bl**dy long time. BUT I'm determined NEVER to get myself into that situation again. I'd rather eat beans on toast for every meal! (Tho I hope it doesn't come to that!)

Good luck this month, you'll be fine!
J
X

shopaholictiedtheknot

Jak, thanks for that information, I usually shop at Morrisons but have an asda just near work so may switch if I can save that much! I always clip out coupons but they are rarely for things I actually buy so just end up binning them once they reach their expiry date!

I still haven't spent any of my money:eek: I decided that the cats could make do with some Tesco's own brand which I had at the back of the cupboard (they don't really like it) and we had sweet potato mash instead of mixed so that saved me buying the ordinary potatoes! I am so pleased with myself!

Tomorrow OH and I are going to the Imperial War Museum in Manchester - it is free :T we are going to have lunch out but will make sure it is a cheapie!

OberonSH

Hey Shop - we budget £50 a week for 2 adults, a small child who eats like she's got hollow legs and a baby in nappies (and includes his nip-naps)

The key is to plan. We sit down on a Friday, see what's in the cupboard and then see if there are any requests. Then I work out what we need to buy (not forgetting lunches and breakfasts) and then order online from Asda (no car, so the £4 charge is worth it to me for not having to hump 2 fridge packs of coke around, plus not tempted by stuff not on the list). Every few weeks there's enough in the freezer to have a freezer tea week (or 'mystery meat', as OH alls it, as I never label eanything!), and then there's extra money for debts or to take the kids out.

I have a black diary, and I write down everything in it. appointments, what tea is, what I need to take out the freezer for the next day, my to do list, and numbers I need to phone, birthdays etc. If I lost it I'd be screwed! It really helps keep everything in one place.

Basically, this ramble is supposed to say - get organised. It's a massive effort at forst, but once you get the hang of it, and find a system that works for you it'll be really easy, and it'll be second nature to spend less and less on the groceries, plus you take the pressure off yourself to sort tea out once everyone's yelling for it.