Keeping it cheap!

sparkle83

Full Member
I'm pretty broke. Last time I quit SW because our grocery bill went from £60 to £90 a week ! So I need tips and tricks to reduce spending but still follow the plan.

Which are the most cost effective hex's?
Best ways/alternatives to avoid expensive branded products?
How much do you usually spend?

Thank you :D
 
I tend to get everything from Aldi. I avoid muller lights as they are expensive. Instead I get the Aldi Yogurts that are free on the plan. I use my hexa on skimmed milk and hexb on porridge. I get the super 6 veg on offer as well.
 
I buy all Tesco's own brand. Packets of penne pasta are 29p! Instead of buying packets of vegetables I'll buy the loose ones, saving money and then you can buy only the amount you eat so you're not wasting food. Tinned fish is cheap. I'll buy meat in bulk if it's on offer and freeze it. 500g of lean mince in Tesco is 3 for £10 but I wouldn't use the full packet so I quarter it into freezer bags.
 
Buy frozen veg instead of fresh. I usually buy a massive bag of frozen veg from Costco or if I can't get to Costco, I'll buy frozen veg from Aldi or basic frozen veg else where. I buy meat/poultry in bulk from a butcher, much cheaper than supermarket and freeze it and it lasts us a while. Like the previous post said you can get extra lean meat sometimes 3 for £10 in sainsbury's and morrisons. Just check that is not the small 250g packs. I think they're usually 400/500g packs.

Following slimming world can be very expensive. I use almond milk and find it very expensive so trying to see where I can buy it in bulk.

Good luck x

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I have never found SW expensive, because the extra expense on some things is more than balanced by what I don't spend on other things.
 
Hopefully spending less on junk will help, though still have to cater for dh!
I was thinking of sticking mostly to milk and standard cheese rather than expensive cheese spread (I'd normally on buy value for these!), and then cereal and bread rather than alpens. Also sourcing muller alternatives, and using syns wisely to bring the cost down.
 
I only buy yogurts like muller when they're on offer otherwise they are too expensive. Asda have them on offer atm 10 for £3. Alpen light bars are 2 for £3.

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I feel your pain I'm constantly skint. I buy the bags of frozen veg from asda or tesco (same price and same veg) All £1 each - sliced peppers, diced onions and sliced mushrooms. I buy the big packs of eggs from asda (smart price) I got 15 for £1.25 the other day. IMO eggs are all the same no matter what brand and they last ages. I find I do buy the muller lights as they are a good size and are free and are usually on offer somewhere! I would love if someone could advise of yogurts of the same size that are free and cheaper. I buy the extra lean mince when it's on offer and always freeze what I'm not going to be using straight away. I sometimes like to have mugshots for lunch at work and most of them are free. I always have them with either 2 x wholemeal 400g bread (HEB) with philadelphia (HEA) or with ryvitas (aldi's own brand) which were only 60 odd pence per pack.
 
I try to hunt the bargain thread for yoghurt/mugshot offers

Otherwise
Aldi super 6/ Morrison veg - cheap
Fruit - I stick to citrus mostly as its around 70p a bag & bananas

Tinned sweetcorn & tomatoes - value ones around 30p a tin

Quorn only on offer
I mostly use rolls for hex b

I try to stay around 20 quid a week.. sw is pricey...but worth it!

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Share with a friend or two. Three colleagues at work are following SW. We created a lunch club and take turns of providing lunch, re-heating in the microwave things like curries. It We switched our main meal to lunch-time and just have a snack meal of soup, fruit & yogurt in the evenings. Another benefit is we don`t need to bring food everyday and we get to try new foods that we might never have cooked by ourselves.
 
Hopefully spending less on junk will help, though still have to cater for dh!
I was thinking of sticking mostly to milk and standard cheese rather than expensive cheese spread (I'd normally on buy value for these!), and then cereal and bread rather than alpens. Also sourcing muller alternatives, and using syns wisely to bring the cost down.

You can make your cheese stretch further by mixing grated cheese with quark (syn free) so you get a nice cheese spread. Only problem is quark can be expensive sometimes but its really nice.

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For HEXs, look at the price per portion size. As an example, milk is the same price per pint no matter what fat content it has. But the HEA allowance for whole milk is half that of skim so it works out a lot cheaper. I actually do this because I don't like milk or cheese so the less I have to have each day to meet allowance, the better!
 
I tend to get everything from Aldi. I avoid muller lights as they are expensive. Instead I get the Aldi Yogurts that are free on the plan. I use my hexa on skimmed milk and hexb on porridge. I get the super 6 veg on offer as well.

Aldi is fab by loads from there. My food bill is about the same before sw just what I buy is a lot better. It's shocking how much I used to spend on chocolate/desserts:eek:

If you're looking to reduce spending use the calculator on your phone, or actual calculator while shopping. It definitely makes you think about whats worth the money. However we've all notice food going up in price and we always need the essentials.
 
Keep your eye out for the oatso simple offers , I got the multi grain on offer in morrow ons and stocked up . I think the food bill goes up at little at first as you are getting the basics in .

i adapt my cooking to what fruit or veg is on the super 6 at aldi or things I find in the reduced section. I have also found that batch cooking and stacking the freezer works out more economical too.

X
 
Freezing fruit works a treat if you find you are not eating it fast enough and saves wasting it. My OH loves frozen grapes and banana slices for snacking.

I've not tried Aldi before so will pop there today to seek out some cheaper veggies.
 
I've been making soup this week

Under 1.50 a pot and makes four lunches! !

Pea soup has been divine !

Also just generally cutting back - not buying milk or cereal or mugshots or pre made lunches

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I've not really found it expensive generally but do find I'm spending more on fruit and veg. I just try to stick to 3 meals a day without the snacking in-between, except fruit.
If I fancy yogurt I will buy Aldi ff greek and I refuse to buy the cheese triangles etc as I'd rather have a matchbox size of the real thing. I don't buy mullerlights, mugshots, supernoodles, flavoured rices or pastas. I cook from scratch foods that we all eat, spag bol, chilli, shep pie, curry, hunters chicken with sw chips, etc. I do keep crabsticks in the fridge for a quick snack fix in front of the telly. I also keep a large tub of fromage frais in the fridge for either mixing with low cal hot choc or making coleslaw. I think sw can be as cheap or expensive as you want it to be imo.
 
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