Grocery Spend

I tend to plan ahead for meals.  It costs us about £50 per week for groceries for the two of us, and we buy organic fruit, veg, and dairy, and either free-range or organic meat.  

And this pot of spaghetti will feed us tonight, tomorrow night and again for my tea on Tuesday - at the very least.

Yeah, that's kind of how we work as well - roast dinner on Sunday lasts for Monday's and Tuesday's evening meals as well, then we cook another meal to last Wednesday and Thursday nights, Friday is usually curry or fish and Saturday is pizza or spag bol. We take homemade sandwiches to work/school for lunch and breakfast is cereal and toast - all items that are pretty cheap to buy and make and can last a few days before needing to buy more.

We've always had to budget with things like food costs/eating out because my parents wanted to be able to pay for all our extra curricular activities when we were growing up - I have very sporty brothers (one is a gymnast and the other is a badminton player) and they often need to travel around the country for tournaments and competitions (the gymnast is currently competing in France this weekend), and require fairly expensive equipment/outfits/training gear, so the money we might otherwise use for eating out goes towards that instead.

Thats part of my problem, we never have leftovers, hubby is a human dustbin!    And my two boys are beginning to take after him!

DH doesn't like leftovers   

Cooking two portions is difficult, so I usually end up making more servings and most of the time we eat it all. 

DH doesn't like leftovers   

Cooking two portions is difficult, so I usually end up making more servings and most of the time we eat it all. 

What about freezing the leftovers?  That way you can pull them out again so much later that he's forgotten it even is a leftover?

I don't like leftovers either - except for spaghetti! - and I'm used to cooking for four (learned from my mama who cooked for four of us) so I usually just do that and we split the food three ways - one slightly larger portion for each of us and one for DH's lunch the next day.  DH doesn't mind leftovers at all!

my dh said its better the second time around, normally cause i cook a lot of egyptian recipes or middle eastern and he is kinda right!

I cook double meals on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, which means only having to cook twice during the working week.  My hubby is cool with leftovers.  He thinks soups and stews a much better on day two.

I cook double meals on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, which means only having to cook twice during the working week.  My hubby is cool with leftovers.  He thinks soups and stews a much better on day two.

I seriously need to take some notes, what kinds of meals do you make, I get so tired with the same old stuff..

See below the price history from 5/29/2006 and comapre with your bill ..

http://us.share.geocities.com/myoracledba/UK_price_check_3.html

kal

Mind, I have a lot of big dishes because I'm fixing eight servings at a time, but here's a few of my favs ...

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5925/onepan-salmon-with-roast-asparagus
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5987/parmesan-spring-chicken
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5596/sticky-chicken-stirfry-with-sesame-seeds
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5592/hearty-pasta-soup (current fav, great with salad and bread)
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4761/bean-chilli-tacos
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3112/mexican-lime-chicken

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3095/tabbouleh is great with salmon or a roast chicken
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3319/silvanas-mediterranean-and-basil-pasta I added pancetta to this

And then there's the old stand bys, like baked pork chops or spag bol.  Just make enough for two nights.

I asked this question to quite a few of my large group of Mummy friends about a month ago and I was surprised that everyone seemed to spend the same amount every week. For a family of 3 (3 adults and one toddler) it seemed like most everyone was spending anywhere from £70 - £90 a week. I thought I was spending more than normal, but I was please to see that I was just about average. We do a large shop every other week when we buy meat and dry goods, and every other week we do a smaller shop with a top up of veggies and fresh stuff. We don't buy Beer, but we do buy Beer and Diet Coke and Costco. (oh, our big shop includes nappies)

I don't think we spend too much money on our groceries, I think its normal. I cook 5 or 6 nights a week and we have a Chinese on Friday and we usually spend about £25 on that.

After reading the postings on the amount spent on your weekly grocery, all I can say is oh to be in England where all the money is.
I went to Albertsons in Las Vegas when we were visiting my D. I decided to buy the cheapest bread which ended up being "Sheppard's" loaf and it was kosher also. I ended up eating the whole loaf because it was so delicious. Went back the next day for another one but they had sold out. I will try at the local Albertsons this week. The cost for the round loaf was $1.85.

Mind, I have a lot of big dishes because I'm fixing eight servings at a time, but here's a few of my favs ...

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5925/onepan-salmon-with-roast-asparagus
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5987/parmesan-spring-chicken
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5596/sticky-chicken-stirfry-with-sesame-seeds
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5592/hearty-pasta-soup (current fav, great with salad and bread)
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4761/bean-chilli-tacos
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3112/mexican-lime-chicken

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3095/tabbouleh is great with salmon or a roast chicken
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3319/silvanas-mediterranean-and-basil-pasta I added pancetta to this

And then there's the old stand bys, like baked pork chops or spag bol.  Just make enough for two nights.

Thanks so much I feel inspired already!

We probably spend around £50-60 a week (give or take).  If we had full access to a kitchen whenever I wanted, storage, etc., this would probably be lower.  We eat meat, and although we do not buy exclusively organic, we almost exclusively buy free-range, outdoor reared, or similar eggs, and dairy.  When we get our own place, we will likely buy meat and dairy in bulk from a delivery service which will probably cut down on costs.

We don't have a car, and there's really not that many "value" grocery stores in the area.  The closest Aldi and Lidl are a couple of bus transfers away.  In fact, the only full size grocer within walking distance is Sainsbury's.  When I was in the States, however, Aldi was exceptionally helpful in cutting my food budget, especially during the summer when I could go to farmers' markets for produce.

Okay, so DH and I were just going over how much money we spent last month and on groceries alone we spent over £500 pounds!  There's only 2 of us!  This sounds like so much money to me to be spending on food and I really want to try to cut it back by as much as I can.  Can you give me an idea how much you spend on food per month and if we are just plain old crazy to be spending so much?

Dohhhhhhhhh..............Lissa..whats going on? That is way way over the top.

There are only two of us. We dont have a mortagage and we both dump £300 into a joint account every month. That covers everything, food,utilities,council tax,house insurance etc etc and there is usually still some left at the end of the month.

Top tips...find your best local supermarket

Look out for supermarket own brands...not the "value" rang but the next range up  eg Tescdo Baked beans, not Tesco value baked beans..get the picture? you'll find own brands are just as good as branded names.

Next look out for those BOGOFs and special offers...make sure they are genuine savings...

Plan ahead what you are shopping for so that you dont impulse buy..eg have some idea of a weekly menu if you shop weekly..

Make lunches to take to work,,,dont buy your lunch out every day,it'll cost you a fortune

Support your local quality butcher. Buy meat from him instead of supermarkets. It will be much better quality and may only cost a little extra.

Dont over buy..i,e buy more than what you need. Especially with food. You may end up throwing some of it out.