Following on from lil75's thread......

[pastafreak]

(below).....what do you actually spend your money ON???? (food only)
There is such a wide variation: from �40-�100+.....do you rely on fresh or frozen?....do you get readymeals? Do you cook meals from scratch?
Sorry...but I am nosy and curious-lol

[annie0000]

Hi pasta, for me it is a bit of all of the above - I do get some ready meals, but that is mainly specific things which tbh i would get in preference to a take away or going out or something so that probably saves rather than costs. I do make a lot of meals from fresh, but I like my quality ingredients!! And yes, I do buy some frozen standbys e.g. fish fingers.

My problem is that I don't skimp on what I buy - they laugh at me at work because of what I spend on apples for instance. I only buy organic apples because 1, they taste better and 2, the amount of pesticides absorbed by non organic ones is unreal and I dont think that washing them is enough. Anyway, you get 5 apples to a bag and they cost �2.70 a bag, I get through 6 bags a week so there is over �16 for a start. I also spend about �10 on grapes �5 on clementines �9 on pears and when you keep adding it on it really starts to mount up. We all take a packed lunch, so go through about 4-5 loaves of bread a week at roughly �1.50 a loaf. Add on cold meat, cheese etc. Then you have fruit juice, smoothies etc. We are about �10 a week for milk. Thats about 60 - 70 pound so far and we havent bought any breakfat cereal, or anything to make a main meal with.

[pastafreak]

Hi annie....I have to admit that when I posted my question I wondered just how much fresh fruit people ate. It can easily cost as much as meat..and is often not bought for just that reason. A few months ago I had my work hours cut in half.....and fresh fruit was a treat. i would find myself drooling over what I couldn't afford!

[annie0000]

Sorry to hear that pasta - god knows how we would cope without our posh fruit if anything happened to our jobs. The only cheap fruit at the moment is bananas, 1 child wont touch them and my husband can't eat them as they have a clogging effect in his digestive system (sorry if that is tmi!). I also love fresh pineapple, nectarines, cherries, strawberries, blueberries etc, but try not to indulge too much. We have the kids into a good habit with their fruit - struggle a bit with the veg, but we try! Trying to control the bills a bit, and are opting for carrots a lot instead of broccoli, but in general the veg are a lot more reasonable than the fruit unless you want all the pre-prepared stuff.

[pastafreak]

Not to worry annie...I am back on track with my fruit!!
Glad to hear that you have established good eating habits with the kids-that's the most important lesson they can learn

[annie0000]

that's good then pasta - we have our food issues the same as most parents - a little too many fish fingers and nuggets and not enough veg. But the fruit is definitely cracked!! They are not bad on sweeties either thankfully - still got last halloweens haul which they just forget about. They would however sell their souls for crisps. Always handy for a bit of bribery to get the peas cleared up from the plate!

[lil123]

I buy loads of muller light yogurts, loads fresh fruit and veg and pasta etc.
I am on the slimming world and cook everything from scratch
sometimes it works out more expensive but in the long run it isn't and it's so healthy

[redcrx]

mines pretty much the same as annie, a mixture of good and bad really.
Ive also got a fella whos addicted to eating it seems. He will eat half a loaf and a block of cheese between me going to bed and getting up lol. He also eats a lot of chocolate which also adds to our bills
the kids love fruit, not so much veggies, and again cheese and yogurts etc.
My bills range from �70-�120 a week depending of whether i need toiletries, washing powder etc. and will still have a takeaway or eat out at weekends.

[ummmm]

I spend app �100 a week on food. Rarely ever buy ready meals, only ever buy fresh veg except peas and cook most meals from scratch.

[CrazyCathy]

Fresh fruit and veg we're not great meat eaters but do like fish. I live near a couple of farm shops so buy what is in season

Use a lot of pasta, lentils,chick peas etc and usually cook from scratch

Use tins sometimes especially pilchards and sardines (my kiddies love them) tuna