Cutting shopping bills.

[bantingm]

This is such a boring question (sorry) but im desperatly trying to cut our monthly food bill down...currently we do a huge shop that we try to make last a month, and then buy the essentials if and when neeeded...however this seems to be costing an awful lot. Has anyone else found that doing a weekly shop has helped? please help me cut costs!! The food shop is just for my boyfriend and i, i use tesco mainly.

thanks in advance

[Ice.Maiden]

Lots of tips and recipes here....
http://www.cheapcooking.com/

[Sachs]

Hiya bantingm,
www.aldi.co.uk ( Has a store locater )
www.lidl.co.uk ( store locater bottom of page )
www.mysupermarket.co.uk ( Great price comparison site to get the best prices)

www.moneysavingexpert.com ( invaluable website for money saving in all areas! Sign up to recieve the latest info & bookmark in favourites )

[aniani]

You could also try shopping at 3.15pm on Sunday, many items are reduced to clear before the supermarkets close at 4pm.

[Sachs]

Thrifty lot aren't we!! ;0) xxx

[A.Guest]

Hi bantingm

Last year in an effort to reduce food bill costs, we decided to shop every 10 days instead of weekly.

The result was: Weekly we were spending �60, over 52 weeks that is �3,120. Shopping every 10 days and increasing spend to �75 works out at 75 x 36 weeks = �2,700.

An annual SAVING of over �400. Obviously Christmas took a little extra. But still worth having eh?

[bantingm]

Wow A.Guest that is a big saving...

i just need to start getting in the routine and realise i dont need to do a monthly shop and eek it out, resulting in no fresh veg or fruit (which i crave by the end of the month!!)

Thanks for all the links guys, not sure i fancy shopping that early on a sunday morning!
xx

[evedawn]

All the previous point were rlelevant but heres what I do to save money myself.
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Always look for the items on the LOWER /LOWEST shelf.
manufacturers pay a premium rate to have their wares displayed at eye level...and add it onto their prices to compensate.
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Check out 2 for 1 bargains on things you will use ONLY - I sometimes buy months in advance on special on things like cleaning products / washing powder etc
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Don't be shy of buying shops own (ie: tescos own) brands. Often the goods inside are just as tasty!
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At my local tescos I now know what time (5pm) the prices on the "bargain" shelf are reduced. (you know the shelf where things are placed just before expiry). Most items are then reduced by 25%. IN ADDITION on a Thursday at 5pm all the ittems that have not sold on the monday, tues or wednesday from the bargain shelf are reduced further - 75% off!
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Do not be scared by buying things close to sell by date. I often buy meat and thereafter freeze immediatley for another week or two without any problems to my health! (anyway did you know that "sell by and use by" dates are vastly different. many supermarkets only put the "sell by" dates on.)
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IF possible try go at a time when the supermarket is NOT too busy - when you are in a crowd you do not get the chance to hunt for bargains.


hope this helps as food shopping is getting more and
more expensive isn't it!!!! :-(

[Sachs]

Also,
if you use a lot of hard cheese i.e cheddar, buy a large block and cut in to several user friendly portions & freeze! No wastage!

[Im a BusyBee]

Get a slow cooker! brilliant for cheap cuts of meat and makes life much easier when you have been at work all day. Apart from meat dishes i make chunky veg casseroles/soups extremely healthy and a wholesome meal on their on - i add beans, pulses etc. My daughter would not be without hers.

[CheekyChops]

You haven't actually said how much you spend per month (including the big shop and all top-ups) for the two of you. What you class as huge may not be really.

Do you meal plan? I.e. work out what you will have for your meals for the next week/2 weeks etc and then buy ingredients accordingly? Or do you just buy what you fancy or what you need and hope that you will use it somewhere in the month?