How to keep weekly shopping costs down?

autumnflower

Full Member
I'm usually not too bad when shopping for food on SW, but this week has been horrendous!

I've spent so much money, even with my OH picking up half of the things we share; so he's picked up around £15 of the bill, but in total i've spent.... in a week..... wait for it.......


£50!!

argh! so much money! Just wondered what people buy to make it cheaper? I think my downfall this week has been fresh fruit. I always check out the deals thread, and buy some stuff like quorn, mullerlights and alpen bars when it's on offer, but this is slightly ridiculous! Any tips? thanks!
 
Do you have a satuday market near you as seriously do not buy your fruit and veg form a super market so expensive. Your best going to a market. You might have to buy a lot of it but you can make sauces, soups and meals and freeze for when you need it :D
 
i spend so much money on fresh fruit and veg now.... its scandalous :(
 
I do have an Aldi, and usually get strawberries from there (£1.50 for a massive box) but when I was in there I thought the selection of veg was a bit miserable?

They didn't have any iceburg lettuce, or large baking potatoes, the cucumber was thin as. I did get some frozen fish fillets from there for cheap though. Maybe i've drawn the short straw on Aldi's!
 
I just spent £180 on shopping this week for a fortnight for 2 adults and a teen, it's ridiculous. To be honest, not spending that much more now than we were pre SW, used to spend a fortune on junkfood any way so it's only gone up a wee bit with all the fresh stuff.
 
I think food in general is getting more expensive. I just try and make sure I don't waste anything, so I go to the supermarket every couple of days on my way home to get fresh fruit & veg - that way I don't throw anything away. I always buy smartprice etc for onions and carrots and peppers cos they don't last long enough to warrant buying the expensive stuff. I don't have a car and don't live near a market or aldi/lidl so this is the only way I can really cut down costs.
 
£50?!?! For a whole weeks shopping thats good isn't it?? I spend around £120 a week for 2 of us, I've not noticed my bills going up due to SW maybe as I always ate a lot of veg just now its not swimming in butter lol

I also manage this and thought £50 was quite good!!

I would never buy frozen fruit and veg to eat on there own as you lose alot of the goodness, however i do buy frozen onion, peppers, spinach and mushrooms to put in meals (like curry, spag bol, chilli, etc) this works out alot cheaper as they're only about £1 a bag
 
Our budget is meant to be £30 in total to feed both of us, and i'd seemed to be sticking to that quite well untill this week. I'm a student, so the money I spent this week on groceries was half my weekly budget!
 
You could also try buying the family feasts for a fiver cook book from SW. In theory you could feed a family of 4 for a week on £35 using these recipes and you could take leftovers for lunch.
 
I shop online, then you can keep track of your spending.

I spend approx £75 a week on food for 2 adults - used to be £50 but cost keep going up! :(

Its hard being frugal.....try doing a lot of green days - meat seems to be the main culprit in rising food costs - and only buy seasonal fruit on offer.

x
 
mememe I seen you are from belfast where is the aldi thats an hour away didn't know we had them here thanks xxx
 
I seem to be spending a fortune too,with all the fresh fruit. I live near a large Asda so just "popping in" for a few items end up costing me a fortune, always end up buying more strawberries,melons,grapefruit,applies, and kiwi fruit. And of course the yoghurts, fromage frais and cottage cheese. In there nearly every day, mad!
 
I'm exactly the same, I live three doors away from a co-op, and i'm always 'popping in' for little grape snack punnets, lettuce, cucumber maybe some pickled onions if i've run out.. ect. It soon all adds up!

I've even stopped buying muller lights because they're too expensive, even when on offer. Alpen Lights are another thing I go through at an alarming rate, sains near me discontinued their cheap HEB friendly cereal bars now though too.
 
Praise the lord we have an allotment £30 a year and all the veg and salad we can eat sell and give away, but my supplies are running low and I notice how expensive bags of salad are now we are not growing it!
 
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