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Eat Well for Less...Live on MSE

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  • ani*fan
    ani*fan Posts: 1,554
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    edited 16 September 2016 at 3:56AM
    I've just done another shop since I have the day off and it'll save trips later on when we're more pushed for time.

    Quorn steaks are still on offer so I bought 3 packs in Asda. The rest I got in Aldi, enough toilet roll to last the month, washing up liquid, their ground coffee because it's so good, a cheap pizza and various other bits, bread at 36p, you just can't go wrong in there. I love it.

    We have 11 meals and there are only 14 days left before pay day. We will need more bread, cat litter and OH's lunches, plus another 3 meals. I have the purse strings pulled so tight, even with OH's little splurge last week which I think included pre prepared things like onion bajis and little nibbles for dinner. In the past this would have included £20 dominoes and goodness knows what else so this is still good progress.

    Total spent so far this month = £100.33.

    £149.67 left :j:j:j Feeling good about that!

    mirry...I'm sorry to hear about your empty nest syndrome, I'm sure your daughter will have a brilliant time at uni and come home lots to tell you all about it, I wish someone had taught me how to budget when I first left home, I maybe wouldn't have all the debt I have now. £50 for you, OH and your dog should be well manageable. I'm optimistic that this month we'll come in at less than £200, but trying not to get ahead of myself. :)
    If you know you have enough, you're rich. ;)
  • mirry
    mirry Posts: 1,570 Forumite
    It's sounds like your going to smash it this month which is brilliant, do you have plans for the money you've saved?
    Kindness costs nothing :)
  • ani*fan
    ani*fan Posts: 1,554
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    Whatever's left (and it might be nothing, I'm trying hard not to count my chickens) will go towards debt repayment. :)

    I will also redo my budget to include a lower food bill, at which point the excess will be split between the wedding fund, house deposit fund and paying off debt.

    I keep thinking I must be missing something, though I can't think what that might be. I just need to keep plodding on and see what comes up. Less than 2 weeks now until payday. ;)

    How's everyone else getting on?
    If you know you have enough, you're rich. ;)
  • Wow, you're doing great!! :D

    I have a similar situation as in I need to reduce my grocery spend, we currently spend at least £300+ per month on three people. I am a bit of a food hoarder though (break out in a cold sweat if I have less than 8 tins of tomatoes in the house!!) so much of the stuff I buy sits in the storecupboard for a considerable period of time :o

    I'm vegan (the only one in the house, but I cook so unless they can be bothered, we all eat vegan!) so thankfully no quorn addiction for me, but I tend to meal plan, buy lots of food then discover that no-one is eating that week!

    I also have the problem that I cook such a ridiculous amount that it ends up being binned because no-one can face eating the same stuff for a week!:rotfl: Part of that is the fact that I used to feed a large household with big appetites and I am finding it very difficult to adjust quantities - in the past couple of years my dh's appetite has definitely declined and mine has always been a bit hit and miss!

    I cook pretty much everything from scratch - my one real processed food love is vegan hotdogs which are simply fabulous but eyewateringly expensive :( - and try to have a lot of variety in my diet. I make my own tofu, soya milk, preserves, wines, condiments etc. In all honesty, I don't think that I necessarily save that much cash with some of them, but I enjoy doing it and I know what goes into it so I'm happy!

    I am fortunate that I used to buy a lot of locally grown stuff from stalls in front of gardens but at this time of year that dries up a bit and as I had a lack of freezer space over the summer I haven't got my usual stocks this year. I live over 20 miles from the nearest Aldi, although there is a lidl about 8 miles away so I think I will start to use them for fresh fruit and veg - my closest supermarket is about 5 miles away and it's a Tesco which I will not use if I can possibly avoid it, the quality of pretty much everything is just appalling. :mad:

    Cleaning products, I use astonish and a few other vegan options, toiletries are much more difficult and scarily expensive but that's a price I'm willing to pay ;)

    I'd like to reduce my budget to £250 per month so will be subscribing to see how you do and cheer you on in your quest :D
  • suki1964
    suki1964 Posts: 14,313
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    ani*fan wrote: »
    Whatever's left (and it might be nothing, I'm trying hard not to count my chickens) will go towards debt repayment. :)

    I will also redo my budget to include a lower food bill, at which point the excess will be split between the wedding fund, house deposit fund and paying off debt.

    I keep thinking I must be missing something, though I can't think what that might be. I just need to keep plodding on and see what comes up. Less than 2 weeks now until payday. ;)

    How's everyone else getting on?

    I can tell you what you are missing

    You. Are going to the shops too much :)

    Seriously, you pop into the shops for two items, and before you know it, the basket is full and that's £20 :)

    We have all been there

    Supermarkets rely on us to impulse buy, they entice us with their special offers, their displays are meant to tempt us, and it works

    The only way to stop it from happening is to stop putting yourself up from temptation, so avoid the shops like the plague :)

    This is why we bang on about meal plans and lists. I shop on a Saturday mid morning. I go to lidl every week, tescos once a month, chicken factory every 6 weeks or so. I buy the lot in one go. I don't have freezer space for bread or milk so they are the only top ups I buy in the week and I will buy them at the local petrol station because even though it's a tiny bit more expensive , it means I'm not looking at the shelves thinking "mmmm what do I fancy" so I only buy bread or milk

    Last Saturday lidl's shelves were near empty. So this week I've had to improvise on the meals I wanted to make this week. So my shopping was just £12. Still got the three of us fed for the week ( even if I have used tinned veg) and so what if tonight's him cheese and onion pie and oven chips and baked beans isn't the healthiest of meals, it's a treat :)

    Meal planning is a pain, I get that. But it's the only way you resist those impulse spends. Every day you stay away from a shop you save money :)
  • ani*fan
    ani*fan Posts: 1,554
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    squirrelgirl best of luck with reducing your shopping budget. It's addictive once you get started. I get it about the ethical issues, it's a tricky one when you're trying to save money, but you need to do what you think is right. ;)

    suki1964 thanks for your comments, but impulse shopping isn't really a problem I have. The reason we go to the shops so much is because we don't ever do a big shop. We don't own a car and mostly bike or walk everywhere, so one big shop is not practical. I've meal planned for quite a while now, long before I started this challenge, and yes it can be a pain but I'm in the habit now. I only ever duck in for what I know we need. Like I said earlier in the thread, I hate supermarkets with a passion and going in for a few essentials is far preferable to a big shop.

    I'm planning a final post for this thread, assuming I succeed in reducing my spends, to figure out what has made the difference. I have a few ideas already but I'll wait and work it all out at the end.

    Thanks to everyone for your ongoing thoughts, muchly appreciated! :)
    If you know you have enough, you're rich. ;)
  • mirry
    mirry Posts: 1,570 Forumite
    Hi ani*fan, your doing so well, I'm looking forward to reading how you do at the end of the month. I'm trying to make my meal plan, I have a huge sack of potatoes to use up, and eggs so I'm thinking egg and chips, roast potatoes with quorn sausages, and fish pie with mash topping, then egg and chips again, lol.
    I have a freezer full of food, and now only two people to feed so should be cheap for a while.
    I alsomanaged to get money off vouchers for tesco and Sainsbury's through my door, £2 off £20 shop and £3.50 off £20 shop, so will carefully plan how to use them.
    Kindness costs nothing :)
  • mirry
    mirry Posts: 1,570 Forumite
    Iceland have the 500g of quorn mince and chicken style pieces for £1.39 a bag ATM. :D
    Kindness costs nothing :)
  • Flat_Eric
    Flat_Eric Posts: 4,060
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    This is a great thread. Thank you to all. :)

    Firstly and a bit off topic.... My understanding of not naming the supermarkets in posts or rather spelling the name wrong is I think to stop said supermarket getting more hits on Google.

    I don't understand it too well to be honest but I have a friend who previously used to manage internet stuff \ look after websites. His job was to manipulate them I.e put stuff in the background (which you couldn't see when you visited the webpage) that meant for example if you googled
    butchers \west london \ sausages \ burgers etc then said butchers would come up high \ first on the Google search result list. I think Google stopped this practice but if this site was full of mentions for the blue and white supermarket then I guess this would mean blue and white would come up first when you searched
  • Flat_Eric
    Flat_Eric Posts: 4,060
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    edited 22 September 2016 at 7:57PM
    I have found this thread very interesting. I want to save money but continue to make the same mistakes which is not to plan properly, buy the same products rather than stocktake and use up what I have amongst other misdemeanours.

    I don't drive so have my showing delivered topping up as and when and of course the usual, go in for a pint of milk and spend £20...

    I have been having shopping delivered from both the blue and white supermarket and the nect ar supermarket recently. Splitting my shopping according to what I prefer from each and what's on offer. One of my delivery savers expires in a couple of weeks (blue and white) I can renew using my points for half price which is very tempting but I'm not sure if this is a bit silly so would welcome thoughts. As I said I don't drive and my local supermarket is more a convenienc which means ,\ choice \bulk buying and offers are limited.
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