Keeping life the way your accustomed too on a budget..

We don't eat tons of fresh fruit and veg and still spend a lot! We shop at Asda or Tesco as well.

Uggh!!

Yup. We even started shopping at Lidl. The rest came from Asda. We would plan a weeks worth of cheap meals, take a friggin' calculator, and even throwing out every extra, would still always come in around £60-70 per week. Granted, that did include cat stuff but we even bought them the cheapy stuff.

Biggest frustration of mine ever in the UK. It's not so bad here in the US, but it's not hugely better.

The thing is that if you really want to or if you have to then yes, you can cut right back.  It's that you're chosing not to.  I've been in situations where I've had to tighten my belt as far as it would go and if you have to do it,  you can. Frozen mince isn't the greatest food on the planet but if you need to save money then it's something that will help you do that.

But as far as just changing a few things-perhaps look at ways of cutting back without cutting out.  Such as going out to eat once a month or to the cinema once every couple of months or only renting one movie a week.  It sucks, but it's doable.

Turns out I really don't need lots of new shoes/clothes/etc. I try to see how long I can go without spending any $.

Are you sure about that?    I am about to head back to school so this is one I am going to have to adjust to, I am making very good money right now and can afford mini shopping trips, this time next year I'll probably hurting for money.  Eck!  I'll be checking back to this thread often.  

The thing is that if you really want to or if you have to then yes, you can cut right back.  It's that you're chosing not to.  I've been in situations where I've had to tighten my belt as far as it would go and if you have to do it,  you can. Frozen mince isn't the greatest food on the planet but if you need to save money then it's something that will help you do that.

I agree completely.

Fortunately, things in our house aren't quite that dire yet! And, to me, I'd rather cut out movies, meals out, new clothes, etc. and still spend money on good food. It's all about priorities. But I do know that if we had to, we could cut back in all areas ... even food! Gasp!

It's all about priorities.

Absolutely.  For us, our priority is being able to live together in our own home...which we can afford fine on two incomes, but on one is a huge struggle right now.  But I'm willing to cut back everything down to the minimum if it means we can keep living here.  Everyone is different though.

Exactly.  It's all about choices.  And in my opinion there is a big difference between choosing not to cut back and not actually being able to.  You're making the choice.  We choose not to have two cars, but we do spend money on digital TV and broadband.

I agree to a certain extent. Instead of mince at all, we just had tomato sauce. We lived on beans and rice and noodles. But the boys had to have fresh fruit and veg and that's what killed our budget. And I am forgetting now, that our total shopping budget also included lots of milk, formula, diapers and early stage baby food because MIL's freezer died. But there is no way in hell I could (ok, would) ever have got the bill below £35 for 2 adults.

As Chary says, we cut back on everything else. We never watched DVDs, we axed Sky, we went out less than once a month, we rarely drove. DH even bought the cheapy lager from Lidl and quit smoking!

But there is no way in hell I could (ok, would) ever have got the bill below £35 for 2 adults.

And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that!  Everyone's choices are different, one is definitely not necessarily better than the other. 

It's funny though I'm reading this thread and thinking "people actually go out to eat?  And buy DVDs? And shop for new clothes more than once a year? Wow."  Hehe. 

My parents still like to work on the assumption that the average weekly food bill per person should be £15 or so (despite this being the average figure about 10 years ago)... so our weekly food bill (when we were all living at home) was about £75-£100 for 5 people. I remember a time (back in the early '90s) when our entire weekly food shop came to around £45... long gone are those days  !!

The other thing to consider when comparing food budgets is not only what people are buying, but how much.  Not everyone eats the same amount each day, or even cumulatively over the week.  Some people do three meals a day, some one or two.  Unless you're buying the exact same things as someone else, you can't really compare.

It's funny though I'm reading this thread and thinking "people actually go out to eat?  And buy DVDs? And shop for new clothes more than once a year? Wow."  Hehe. 

Oh yeah. I've had to get a few things here simply because I didn't have enough suitcase room for ample sweaters and cold weather stuff. But sadly, Walmart is my name these days. I hate supporting them, but right now I'm choosing cheap fleece tops to keep warm over my ethics. I just hope I get a job soon so I can stop frequenting them.

We never bought DVDs anyway. The ones we have are gifts from others for the kids.

MTA, just saw AN's post. Very true.

Another thing I'm doing to save money is to clip coupons, then wait until that item is on sale to get it. I got shampoo and conditioner -  buy one get one free on special and then had a dollar off coupon too! 

Something I do which might be considered to some as a faff but it works for me so I am sticking to it for now is to compose my shopping list on the internet...and rather than clicking forward to order the food for delivery at home...I then write out a shop list including specific brand names and stick to it rigidly when in the supermarket.  I have managed to see some savings here and there and also I can see offers clearly that I think if I was in a usual mad dash in Tesco I would just end up buying my usual brands because its easier to just grab.  Works for me really well.

Also another tip for spending less in the supermarket.  Eat before you go so you are not hungry and looking at lovely food and tempted to throw it into your trolley.  Also the biggest tip I have is to go alone of possible....no husband or kids because you end up tossing stuff in the trolley to keep them quiet!! 

Just thought of another....

If you meet up with friends for non alcohol lunch in a pub....rather than get a coke or a pure fruit juice ask for a soda and lime or a soda and blackcurrent.  Soda water is so cheap and so is the squash.  I always end up paying less than 50p! tight I know...but I prefer it to Coke or Lemonade. 

Also another tip for spending less in the supermarket.  Eat before you go so you are not hungry and looking at lovely food and tempted to throw it into your trolley. 

I noticed that also.
Pay cash over cc will help .