Food Costs!

[gemma_]

I have a budget of £50 a week between me and hubby and we don't scrimp on anything, and we're never hungry! But it does reduce the amount we waste!

I plan what we're having for dinner/lunch for the week. Once a month i'll buy a big pack of turkey mince and split it in two, make a big pot of chilli and a big pot of bolognese, then freeze it in meal sized tubs for during the month. It's also handy if you don't have time to cook something from scratch!

Once i've planned the meals for the week, I write down all the ingredients i'll need to buy to make them. I try to have things that use similar ingredients. I use a lot of peppers and chicken in recipes so I'll buy a big pack of chicken and split it down into pairs of breasts in food bags, then shove them in the freezer (to stop them going off before I use them).

I also try to get the furthest away dates (obv.) and use the meat in order of date that it goes off.

I use a lot of frozen veg which quite often works out a lot cheaper than fresh/tinned and tastes just as good! I always have a bag of chopped onions, peppers and peas in my freezer! I use them in EVERYTHING.

If you have an Aldi near by, go there and get your fruit and veg. It's always good quality and they do their super 6 every week where they have 6 fruit or veg priced at 69p. Excellent value. Well worth the detour!

And as others have said, own brands as far as possible. I too only buy coca cola brand diet coke, but try other things, some of them are just as good as the big brands!

sorry i dound stupid.... can u freeze onions peppers from fresh? this would save me loads

 

[jaylou]

Tesco do a 500g bag of frozen sliced peppers for 85p. Whilst these are not good in a salad they are fab tipped into a curry or chilli and as one single fresh pepper is 80p these days, these are a bargain!

 

[ilovelife]

I can not believe how muh peppers are. Abag of cheap thrills peppers from Sainsburies for about 5 is 1.50 but I also have the frozen peppers to add in spag bol and what not

 

[~Lucky~]

sorry i dound stupid.... can u freeze onions peppers from fresh? this would save me loads

I always buy a big tub of mushrooms and big bag of onions, slice them up and chuck them in the freezer (in separate bags). I don't have to worry about them going off and they don't freeze together in a clump so I can just grap a handful and chuck it into whatever i'm cooking. Aldi have big packs of mushrooms really cheap too!

And I second the frozen sliced peppers from Tesco, you get so much more for your money than buying fresh and there's no waste!

 

[soccermom]

I shop around for the best bargains! lidl at the minute is great for red peppers and blocks of cheese.

Tesco is good for baked beans and Alpen lights, free range eggs, ainsley harriott cous cous and extra lean mince.

Asda does not seem to be doing so well for me at the minute they have changed some stuff, eg extra lean mince is now coming in smaller weights for the same money feel like they are trying to con me

I use mysupermarket.co.uk but they dont have morrisons on there which is a bind but I like to check the top offers.

Its very rare that I do all my shopping in one place. Now I am walking more I like to use my local high street for my veg its definitely cheaper

 

[avisk]

I am retired and live on my own, so my experience won't be of use to everyone here, but anyway . . .

I find that I spend more if I do a once-a-week shop. If the fridge and the vegetable rack is full I tend either to forget what I have in stock and I find it when it is too late to eat it, or I eat more than I otherwise would just because it is there.

So I do small shopping trips, just buying what I need for the next day or two. And if I want two carrots and an onion for a recipe, for instance, then I will just buy two carrots and one onion. If I buy a packet of carrots it might look like better value, but I doubt if I would actually eat them all. If I want to have a jacket potato, I will buy one large potato - that way I don't find potatoes several weeks later, green and sprouted!!

Obviously I have tins of stuff, and packets of pasta and rice, and other non-perishables in stock so I won't starve if I can't get out for any reason!

But I don't buy anything processed in packets, such as pasta and sauce, or sachets of sauce mix (a very expensive way of buying cornflour!) or Oats So Simple (ordinary rolled oats are so much nicer, and cheaper). I don't buy flavoured couscous, jars of sauce, or ready meals.

Big packs of things are not necessarily cheaper than small ones. I always check the unit price on the shelf edge. Tesco had a special offer on a huge pack of kitchen rolls the other day - a closer look revealed that it was cheaper to buy them in packs of two!

 

[jaylou]

Another great tip I heard was to only buy a replacement of something once it had run out. So just because your pasta is nearly gone there's no need to buy a bag to replace it until it has actually gone.
I do try to do this and whilst I buy beans, tuna and tomatoes by the bucketload when they are on offer because I get through lots of these, I only replace storecupboard stuff once it's gone. Another way to see what you actually have in the cupboard!

 

[soccermom]

Another great tip I heard was to only buy a replacement of something once it had run out.

We said exactly the same thing this weekend.

We top up with beans and toms every week despite the fact we still have some in the cupboard. Its a good tip x

 

[Mel2]

To the person who lives in Devon...(kissme???) where abouts are you? Im in Paignton and have a company called 5aday deliver my fruit and veg and they are brill. Google it and it even tells you how much you save compared to the supermarkets, worth a look.

I'm in Plymouth and unfortunately this company doesn't deliver here.

 

[Mel2]

have you tried fruit/salad/meat box..... was thinking ordering meatbox but seems expensive?

I have had a fruit box but although it was lovely, we eat an awful lot of fruit in a week and it just wasn't big enough and I think worked out more expensive for me (hpwever if you buy organic fruit normally it would probably cost a similar amount). You get salad items in the large veg box every week anyway so i don't get a salad box and the meat boxes are amazing. Really great, good quality 'happy' meat but unfortunately this does come with a price tag. I treated myself to one a while ago and the meat was beautiful, but unfortunately I can't afford these regularly. I don't think it's anymore expesive than free range organic meat from the supermarket though, so if that's what you usually get then it's probably of a similar price all told. As much as I'd love to eat all free range and organic all the time, unfortunately my budget doesn't allow this. The veg however is very reasonable for what you get and I'd highly recommend it.

 

[mummy84]

i spend £40 but that lasts about 2 weeks - i also go to nettos & job lot as they sell stuff cheap

 

[olliebog]

Do I sound like a miser if I say that I look out for reduced fruit and veg? I do because most of the time the fruit is unripe anyway but according to the packaging it says it's on it's last date, now how this goes for green bananas reduced to just 10p a bunch I have now idea...lol.

Because we enjoy green days so much (both hubbie and I are doing SW) we do now tend to get ALOT of vegetables more so than we used to do. It does tend to work out a little bit more expensive than before we were on SW. But, we don't waste anything anymore and we use every single piece of fruit and veg. Aldi's and Lidls are the best I think, very cheap fruit and veg. I don't drive but if I know my mum is going to one I will always ask her to pick up any special price veg even if it's something I haven't planned to use, because I will change my plans around what she brings back.

The most expensive things when not on offer are Mullerlights and cereal bars. I know these things aren't essentials but they do make a difference to our adapting to the new way of living. And once we have established ourselves in our new life, we will probably find cheaper alternatives.

I am on a extremely limited budget for 2 adult and 2 childrens for approx £40 per week , this doesn't include 2 cats and 1 dogs food, so say £200 a month maybe sometimes a bit more when money allows. But at the moment we are managing, so it is possible.

 

[olliebog]

allie... our fridge is too! I have things planned for meals.. and get the reduced stuff and then re-plan...lol.

 

[Wacky Jacky]

Peas have NEVER been FREE foods on Original Red days, have they? Not sure who posted that they're "no longer free on red days"! Have I missed something?

I can hardly believe some of the convenience foods people are buying and then complaining about the price of them! If time is short, then by all means buy these convenience foods, but we DO need to pay for the pleasure ........... makes sense to me!

All fruit and veg CAN be frozen straight from fresh, just clean them, chop them and freeze them ............ no need for ANY waste at all ...... EVER!

 

[Babysham80]

I dont buy the extra lean mince - far too expensive for what you get. I buy the normal one, cook it and then rinse it with hot water and clean the pan to get rid of all the fat.

 

[gemma_]

this will change everything.. im obsessed with peppers i add them to everything.. wth prices sometimes gets expensive my freezer gonba be ull of god things my ohalready moaning fridge is too healthy LOL

 

[Gettingthinnerbytheday]

Peas have NEVER been FREE foods on Original Red days, have they? Not sure who posted that they're "no longer free on red days"! Have I missed something?

I can hardly believe some of the convenience foods people are buying and then complaining about the price of them! If time is short, then by all means buy these convenience foods, but we DO need to pay for the pleasure ........... makes sense to me!

All fruit and veg CAN be frozen straight from fresh, just clean them, chop them and freeze them ............ no need for ANY waste at all ...... EVER!

It was me that wrote that - but you have read it different to the meaning I was trying to type

I just ment that pea's are synned on a red day so therefore they are not a free food.

 

[Wish]

I am on a extremely limited budget for 2 adult and 2 childrens for approx £40 per week , this doesn't include 2 cats and 1 dogs food, so say £200 a month maybe sometimes a bit more when money allows. But at the moment we are managing, so it is possible.

Thats fabulous, I don't know how you do it, please tell, do you have meal plans etc? I would love to get my shopping bill down, I used to do pretty good spending about £300 per month, 2 adults and two kids, but since SW and OH's low fat special diet I just seem to be forever in the supermarket, buying fruit, vege, yoghurts tbh its really getting on my nerves.

 

[Daisyboo]

Thats fabulous, I don't know how you do it, please tell, do you have meal plans etc? I would love to get my shopping bill down, I used to do pretty good spending about £300 per month, 2 adults and two kids, but since SW and OH's low fat special diet I just seem to be forever in the supermarket, buying fruit, vege, yoghurts tbh its really getting on my nerves.

I would love to know how you manage too - can to post a list of what you buy and where you buy it?!?

 

[Wacky Jacky]

Sorry ~ Gettingthinnerbytheday, I really didn't mean to offend, I just thought I might have been missing out on them because I wasn't prepared to Syn for them, and if they had turned out not to be Syns I was a bit miffed ......... probably that's why my post sounded a bit "abrupt" :ignore: so just ignore me!