Shopping costs £££ since eating more healthily

[xAlisonx]

I've been getting more and more worried about the run away amounts of money I've been spending on shopping each week since I've been eating more healthily. No idea if it's just the price of everything going up or my healthier lifestyle! How does everyone else manage their budget when it comes to buying food?
The last few weeks I've been spending £90 to £110 on a family of five (with 3 cats lol) and I wondered if this was the norm or excessive.

 

[everton04]

Shopping costs £££ since eating more healthily

I spend €100 a week on food and it just the two of us in the house! Fruit and veg are the most expensive part of my shopping bill. Some weeks €100 isn't enough! It's mad the way fruit and veg are so expensive you would think they would lower the price of it to get people to eat ur and have a healthy diet


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[Dan8317]

I find mine stays around the same because I don't buy as much 'rubbish' foods. There are things I do though to keep my shopping bill down like planning my main meals for the week so that I only buy what I need. Buying seasonal fruit and veg keeps cost low and also if you go shopping near closing time you can often gets lots reduced (mainly meat, bread and fruit/veg). Plus if there's an aldi near you they have their super 6 (I think its called), fruit and veg for 69p.

Also if you have a freezer you can get frozen veg/ fruit often cheaper than fresh and I also freeze bread and meats that I get reduced. Iceland and farmfoods are good for ww meals if you like them as they are usually 3 for £3 and are good for cheap meat. Sorry for rambling on but hope it helps.

Good luck,
Dan x

 

[UKSerena]

Hey Sweetie,

My suggestion for Fruit and Veg would definitely be to go reduced, yes you can't be choosy about the type or country etc but the savings to be made are massive!!! For example yesterday I bought this...



It would of cost £25.24 at Full Price, I paid £3.26, yes it wouldn't be stuff I would necessarily buy but it was cheap and there's a good few snacks/meals there!!!

I also stock up on WW Friendly ( Non Fruit & Veg) things which are reduced and stick it in the freezer, always do that with bread, never pay more than 10p a loaf and always have brand names!

I also make big batches of 0/Low PP Soup,much cheaper and nutritious than shop bought!!! I then freeze it in tubs, I bought soup veg last week for I think 30p and got 6 Portions out of it!!!

Another thing to remember is I never buy WW Products, take as an example Caramel Wafer Chocolate Bars, yes u can buy WW ones which are 2pp and about £1.50 for 5 but I can get Asda Smart Price, 40p for 5 and also 2pp! Don't be sucked in by the WW name!

Sorry if I waffled a bit, hope I answered your questions, anything else,just ask!!!

Lots of love.x

 

[stace77]

Hi alison, if its possible try and go to the supermarkets at certain times of day, the one where i work reduce stock at 11am, 3pm and again at around 8pm, also sunday afternoons are good for bargains. If there is an aldi near you, stock up on the "super 6" fruit and veg x

 

[Cherry Cola]

My shopping bill is much bigger since being on ww, fruit and veg is such a rip off out of season, I can't believe a pepper costs 80p!!!

I try to stick to frozen veg and tinned fruit such as pineapples and peaches but they're like £1 a tin, as a PP said you'd think they would be cheaper since the government want us to eat better.

I want to be able to meal plan but eating a hot dinner with a 12 week old and 3 year old toddler is a challenge in itself!

 

[xAlisonx]

Hi, thanks for the helpful info. It's crazy how much we have to pay for fruit and veg when we are all told to eat healthily now as well. There was a programme on TV this last week about people struggling to feed their family and it was really interesting. The one woman was feeding her kids hot dogs and baked beans regularly!! Three chefs came in to help the families and they struggled to do a healthy meal on the amount the families had per head too. I do buy the WW bread which is a bit of a rip off in price but I love bread so with it only being 1p per slice I can still have a reasonable amount. I'll have to try to work out the reduction times at some of my supermarkets though definatly. I spend a fortune on fruit but I like the more expensive fruit now I'm dieting, like strawberries, as I feel I'm having a treat then.

 

[UKSerena]

Hi, thanks for the helpful info. It's crazy how much we have to pay for fruit and veg when we are all told to eat healthily now as well. There was a programme on TV this last week about people struggling to feed their family and it was really interesting. The one woman was feeding her kids hot dogs and baked beans regularly!! Three chefs came in to help the families and they struggled to do a healthy meal on the amount the families had per head too. I do buy the WW bread which is a bit of a rip off in price but I love bread so with it only being 1p per slice I can still have a reasonable amount. I'll have to try to work out the reduction times at some of my supermarkets though definatly. I spend a fortune on fruit but I like the more expensive fruit now I'm dieting, like strawberries, as I feel I'm having a treat then.

I saw that program! I was shocked at how cheap the processed 'junk' is, Ravioli for 24p! I don't think it will ever be Cheaper to eat healthier unless you get Reductions :-( x

 

[xAlisonx]

I saw that program! I was shocked at how cheap the processed 'junk' is, Ravioli for 24p! I don't think it will ever be Cheaper to eat healthier unless you get Reductions :-( x

Yes you're right there. Shocking really the price of the junk food. I did feel really sorry for the single mum going without but making sure her daughter ate healthy and the pensioner too, not much of a life for him. I felt with the family though, some of it was down to poor choices, I'm sure it wouldn't have cost them any more to have got a tin of value tuna and some bread instead of feeding all that stuff to the kids.

 

[UKSerena]

Yes you're right there. Shocking really the price of the junk food. I did feel really sorry for the single mum going without but making sure her daughter ate healthy and the pensioner too, not much of a life for him. I felt with the family though, some of it was down to poor choices, I'm sure it wouldn't have cost them any more to have got a tin of value tuna and some bread instead of feeding all that stuff to the kids.

I thought they could all make better choices to be honest, less brand names and widescreen tv lol x

 

[xAlisonx]

I thought they could all make better choices to be honest, less brand names and widescreen tv lol x

Yes that's for sure. Did you watch the benefits programme on straight afterwards? I'm sure some of the benefits families were on something like 18k a year. I was like, how much???!!!!!

 

[UKSerena]

Yes that's for sure. Did you watch the benefits programme on straight afterwards? I'm sure some of the benefits families were on something like 18k a year. I was like, how much???!!!!!

I've got that one recorded to watch later, apparently there's going to be a whole season of programmes in this theme? X

 

[xAlisonx]

I've got that one recorded to watch later, apparently there's going to be a whole season of programmes in this theme? X

Yes I think so. I think it concentrates on some of the people going into work trials next week. It was very surprising when some 'take home' figures were quoted as I guess to have a take home income of 18k, it would possibly be the equivalent of someone on 24k a year before tax? The single mum who was featured on the first programme about the food was only on minimum wage so there was no way her wages even got close to that so I can appreciate how much of a struggle it must be for her.

 

[UKSerena]

Yes I think so. I think it concentrates on some of the people going into work trials next week. It was very surprising when some 'take home' figures were quoted as I guess to have a take home income of 18k, it would possibly be the equivalent of someone on 24k a year before tax? The single mum who was featured on the first programme about the food was only on minimum wage so there was no way her wages even got close to that so I can appreciate how much of a struggle it must be for her.

I bet she wished that she was one of those benefit claimants when she watched that program! X

 

[ainsley_nee]

I agree, fruit and vegetables are expensive. Like everyone says buy reduced and frozen. I have a saturday market near me, and I cheekily asked the stall owner if he could do me a 'cheap and cheerful fruit bowl' for around a fiver. He loved the idea and now advertises it! The more I go, the more he throws on and gives freebies ;-)

 

[UKSerena]

I agree, fruit and vegetables are expensive. Like everyone says buy reduced and frozen. I have a saturday market near me, and I cheekily asked the stall owner if he could do me a 'cheap and cheerful fruit bowl' for around a fiver. He loved the idea and now advertises it! The more I go, the more he throws on and gives freebies ;-)

I love your resourcefulness! Asian Type Supermarkets are great for Fruit & Veg too, they tend to do Bags and Bowls of stuff for £1.x

 

[ainsley_nee]

We have a big store like that think it's called 'Medina' might have a nosey this weekend as it's always busy.
Also, I felt cheeky asking but work my biceps on the way to the car with the fruit. I will give it 6 months and move onto veg ;-) x

 

[UKSerena]

We have a big store like that think it's called 'Medina' might have a nosey this weekend as it's always busy.
Also, I felt cheeky asking but work my biceps on the way to the car with the fruit. I will give it 6 months and move onto veg ;-) x

If you eat much Rice or Pulses, those are always cheap in there too. X

 

[xAlisonx]

Discovered my local Iceland reduce all of the meat that has to be eaten the same day at 9am when the store opens so I went there this week and now have a few packs sitting in the freezer I'm travelling far more now to diff stores to get the best deals. No markets by us (apart from expensive farmers market) but I'm going to Iceland for grapes -£1.50 for large punnet and co-op for strawberry's -£2 but often reduced. Frozen veg all from Iceland but also popping into the Aldi for the super 6. All this walking around has increased my activity levels no end so it's win win all around!

 

[UKSerena]

Discovered my local Iceland reduce all of the meat that has to be eaten the same day at 9am when the store opens so I went there this week and now have a few packs sitting in the freezer I'm travelling far more now to diff stores to get the best deals. No markets by us (apart from expensive farmers market) but I'm going to Iceland for grapes -£1.50 for large punnet and co-op for strawberry's -£2 but often reduced. Frozen veg all from Iceland but also popping into the Aldi for the super 6. All this walking around has increased my activity levels no end so it's win win all around!

Gotta love the exercise which comes with bargain hunting ;-) All the heavy bags must constitute weight training too ;-) x