26 Feb 2015

A question about : Household food budget issues

Hi, we have the some issues trying to keep the food bills down, and argue about the costs daily. but we end up justifying it by the argument that we both have demanding jobs, work hard and therefore we eat well, good quality food etc we look at these forums and my wife says there is no way you can feed a family of 4 adults and a child on Ј100 a week or even Ј125 !!!

There are 2 adults, 2 late teenage boys and 1 child in our family . The lads work and have hard physical jobs, often out 10 hours days - they take 2 pack outs a day ! My wife estimates their packouts cost Ј30.00 a week at least. My wife works for a major supermarket & gets discount so she does not bulk buy she tends to shop on a daily basis as we live in the middle of nowhere.
We spend approx Ј150-Ј175 minimum a week that includes dog food toiletries etc Add a few bottles of wine and we are spending well over Ј200 a week / Ј800 a month.

We do buy savers items such as tinned kidney beans , pasta

I have had valuable advice from people on the forum before and i agree you can do some meals cheaply but my wife says unless you eat cheap food full of additives you cant go ultra cheap...she gives 2 examples of 2 of our meals last week

Roast leg of lamb - leg of lamb cost Ј11.77 - that was 1/2 price and with wife's discount - so by the time we had the meal and a bottle of wine the meal came in at about Ј20 for 5 - there was a little left for pack out the next day, but no where near enough for all the packouts

Fresh fish - we are good eaters(!) we had grilled fresh fish (haddock) for 5 of us, mashed potatoes & peas.. the fish cost Ј19.00 for this 1 meal !!!!

When you like to eat good fresh food and eat well how do you feed a family of 5 for a fiver - my wife says a large fresh chicken is Ј6 - 7 ! so by the time you have bought veggies etc your hitting Ј10.00 + for the meal

My wife says that you can by a packet of sausages for a pound but she wont touch them as they are full of additives etc - instead she will but 2 packs for Ј5.00 of the decent sausages etc
She says that even the meat for a stew can be Ј8

We chat daily about the food bill - my wife says we cant cut food bills - she doesn't have time to pre-cook & freeze etc or we cut bills and eat c**p !

We do tend to eat a fresh meat meal every day .

At my wife's supermarket there are offers like 3 meat items for Ј10.00, but she says that there is no where near enough for our meal in one of those items.

Another example is bread - Ј1.45 a loaf - we've tried the cheaper loaves but they are not good and don't get eaten , my wife gets the best wholemeal sliced or fresh baked bread.

We have 1 takeaway a week on a friday night - this is included, I know what you are all going to say but here goes.....

your thoughts !!!

Best answers:

  • Hi
    Decent food is expensive. However I get the impression that your meals are focused around a protein source.
    How about reducing the amount of meat in a casserole meal & add beans or chick peas to replace. Still tastes good, alot cheaper & good for you too !
    Also why not experiment with vegetarian cooking.
    Jen
  • Have you tried a wholesale butcher for your chicken? I can get 5kg of breast for Ј18.50.
    If you buy and eat a lot of meat, you need to start buying yellow sticker items and freezing them. I save hundreds of pounds by doing this. Sometimes there's very little but othertimes I can fill 2-3 basket's worth and I freeze it. Most items are at least half price if not less. Just a small one in a local tesco express on Sunday I worked out the full price of items to be just over Ј30. I paid 12.80
  • As above reduced price and freeze.
    Only buy the good stuff when reduced
    Get cheaper cuts as well
    Shoulder of pork is often down to Ј2.49kg cheaper than belly.
    Bulk out the meals with, veg and pasta rise, noodles breads(piza nans etc), more carbs for the physical jobs.
  • Do you NEED to get the food bills down, as you can't afford them?
    Or is it something you just want to do.
    If it's a need, then perhaps you both should sit down and thrash out where reductions can be made. Spending less just doesn't happen overnight. I'm currently in the process of reducing my spending on food, as I want to prepare myself for an early retirement, and will have less money coming in. It's something I'm happy to do, because I will benefit from it in the long run. I'm being much more careful about what I'm buying, buying in bulk, batch cooking, moving to the supermarkets own brands, making my own bread, cutting out ready meals etc. It needs working at.
    Your wife seems happy with your current expenditure - if you can afford the current expenditure, then it's not a problem. But it you simply want to reduce the expenditure, then you'll need to convince her of the benefits - eg, the money saved can be spent on an extra holiday.
    She needs to have a reason to agree to a reduction in spending - something she sees as worthwhile.
  • Smaller portions, more veggies. I know you won't want to eat these type of meals ALL the time but things like bolognese 500g pack of mince bulked out with vegetables and lentils if it suits you or just veg if not (I chuck in grated courgette, carrot, onions, peppers and mushrooms) serve with salad/garlic bread and pasta or baked spuds.
    Home made pizzas with quality fresh toppings, rocket, nice peppers and cheese? 1.5kg of strong bread flour makes around 24 pizzas in here and costs about 84p and dough freezes, we serve with salad.
    I agree with pork, I bought a massive shoulder this month for a fiver, it was half price and it done my son and I around 10 meals each, so maybe 6-8 normal size adult portions.
    Bulking beef stew out with things like pearl barley is another great idea, filling, and full of protein.
    What about Aldi? We go here for all cleaning products, toilet rolls, biscuits (not branded but taste the exact same) cereal and other cupboard products. Iv started bulk buying meat from diff companies. I got 10kg of chicken breast fillets for Ј19 recently, it was Bogof on 5kg as a new customer deal but the fillets were huge.
    As a whole I find supermarket quality meat not as great as butchers but you do need to weigh up cost to quantity etc.
    I feed 4 adults and a toddler 4 nights a week, and 3 adults and a toddler 3 nights a week, my weekly bill is around Ј90 and I could cut it if I really tried. We eat fresh home cooked meals every night, 2 people take pack ups every day. My toddler and I tend to eat cooked lunch too quite often.
  • Even attempting to do a weekly shop would help IMO. I've worked in a supermarket and buying things daily works out expensive, it's those impulse buys. If you only go through that till twice a week you only spend twice a week.
    I meal plan, make a list of what I have in the cupboards to suit the meals, and what I need to buy to complete the meals. Breakfast in here is 4 options, porridge (value oats) weetabix (shops own brand) toast with eggs or beans (toast on its own isn't filling enough) or something more protein based bacon, eggs and beans. I don't pander to buying expensive cereals, no need at all IMO. Any yogurt eaten at home tends to come in large tubs and is portioned out into bowls, for the pack ups I buy single pots.
    Potatoes are very expensive ATM, so other carbs are definitely cheaper, rice, pasta, cous cous, quinoa for example. Serve dumplings with stew rather than potatoes? We all love them in here.
  • Teenagers eat enormous amounts of food! It's a good idea to bulk their diet out with carbohydrates.
    I think that what you are spending is probably quite typical. I tend to regard wine / beer etc. as a "treat" and not part of the general budget (although I do fudge it a bit as I use it a lot in cooking!)
    Your budget could come down with good planning, involving everyone in cooking carefully etc.
    But some of that depends on lifestyle: like organising a cheap pot roast to go in the slow cooker in the morning; making flapjacks for the kids' snacking instead of them taking a whole packet of biscuits to wolf; making porridge to avoid expensive cereals etc. etc.
    Loads of ideas on here & Old Style but they do involve time & oganisation.
  • maybe you could take control of the shopping and cooking for a month and prove that it can be done on a budget and then you can work together on it from then on
    put one day aside and plan out your meals bulk buy from butchers for meat.
    if you really want to cut down bake your own bread or find a bakery eat seasonally find a farmers market or grocers for high quality veg at a more reasonable price. lidls and aldi have good quality fresh veg although im not a big fan of their meat
    with lots of these smaller or independent shops you can haggle and make deals so if you know every week you buy 1kg carrots 10kg potatoes etc same with fishmongers butchers bakeries then you can see if they will do you a deal on having your basics there every week for 4 weeks for you to pick up at a cheaper rate and then add on the bits you want for each week
    unfortunately to eat cheaper you may have to put the leg work in but with forward planning and a bit of haggling will be be able to seriously improve on what your spending and not compromise on the quality
  • Leg of lamb is an expensive meat, compared to other choices. I live in a large market town with plenty of butchers stalls at a market that runs 3 times weekly. I regularly buy 3 joints for Ј12, usually 2 beef (silverside) and a pork shoulder. If lamb is included in the deal it is NZ, needs using within the next day or so and isn't a leg joint.
    You can get your shopping bill down, but you will need to vary what you eat. It doesn't mean that it's the choice between lamb and value-basic-smartprice sausages.
  • Try frozen, cheaper types of fish instead of fresh, and cheaper cuts of meat such as chicken thighs, pork shoulder or brisket and make sure lots of vegetables and pulses are also used.
    Make stews with dumplings to make them more filling for less cost. Have a cheaper meal such as omelette or pasta once or twice per week
    Fresh fish and lamb are probably two of the most expensive sources of protein available, so if you are having these twice are week or more, it is going to bump up your shopping bill, especially when feeding 4 adults.
    If your wife can avoid unnecessary impulse purchases, her bringing stuff home from work is probably the most efficient way to shop unless you have easy access to a cheaper supermarket. I think the 'shop once a week at a regular supermarket' isn't necessarily the cheapest way to shop.
    Also make sure your sons are paying a decent amount towards their keep - at least a third of their take home would be appropriate, and make sure they are also saving something on top of that.
    Far too many young adults are living with their parents, paying little or nothing towards their living expenses while their parents pay all the food and bills and struggle on much lower disposable incomes.
    The adult children are sometimes spending almost a grand or more on socialising and stuff every month - some even getting into debt on top of that.
  • we got a new Waitrose recently, not used a lot so some great reductions if you go at the right time, high prices but seems better quality, when reduced cheaper than the cheapest othe supermarket.
    Yesterday in Tesco, hit the reductions just as the meat counter dropped it's load.
    Ј2.22 Rack of lamb 3 portions(450g)
    Ј1.46 Rack of Lamb 2 portions (smaller eaten)
    Ј1.31 Belly pork pieces (730g) 2-3 portions
    Ј1.93 Belly pork slab rolled just over 1kg 4 portions.
    Ј4.40 Lamb Shoulder 1.4kg 4-5 portions.
    Ј3.06 Two ribeye steaks (400g), 1 eaten
    Lamb is expensive only buy now when RFQS
    Pork slow cooked and great crackling(shoulder pork good for this also)
    the chicken at tesco when reduced is starting to leach the bulking fluid so avoid them.
    One thing I have noticed is chicken wings have shot up in price, they used to be Ј1.80kg late last year, now they are Ј4kg.
  • Approved food without the referral!
    https://www.approvedfood.co.uk/
  • The 3 for Ј10 offers should feed a family of 5. The mince tends to be 500g so more than enough forma spag bol/chilli. Pork chops are at least 5 to a pack and the chickens are fairly large too.
    Indivdual fish portions are expensive. Its cheaper to buy fish and bulk it out. Either as a fish pie or kebabs
    Do your sons have two packed lunches and a cooked tea? I would be looking at giving them bulkier pack-ups,like pasta or cous-cous (cheap but more filling than, sarnies, crisps, etc). Or even taking flasks of home-made soup
    As already said. I hope your sons are paying for all they eat, plus rent
  • Do you have a market near you?
    We buy a sack of potatoes for Ј7 at the market and it works out vastly cheaper than buying individual bags. There's also a good quality meat man (judge carefully - one at our market is rotten, the other is really good) who does brilliant value meat. The potato guy does other veg. It's a bit hit and miss because it simply depends what he has, but they are much better value than the supermarket (as long as you don't mind squinty carrots). Bulk cooking can help as well. I spend 3 hours on a Sunday cooking and although it can seem like a pain at the time it's great on a weekday to know that something just has to be pulled out the fridge or freezer and heated up that night.
  • First thing, do you have an asda nearby? I'm guessing that the loaf at Ј1.45 is warburtons? Asda have price locked it at a pound, and it regularly cycles at two for Ј2.
    Download the mysupermarket app or use their website to make sure you are getting value for money and check prices and offers.
    Don't shop daily. This is guaranteed to increase your bill.
    Look to buy meat wholesale, or from your local market. You will get a lot more for your money and without the bulking agents etc that a lot of the supermarkets use.
    Look to meals like pasta, chilli and casseroles that can easily be bulked out with beans, extra veg and even grated carrot.
    Buy frozen veg, it's usually healthy and only buy fresh veg in season. If you use a lot of potatoes get a sack for around five pounds. Don't store them in the fridge, but try to keep them dark and cool, they'll last you ages. Certainly don't be buying prepared veg or pre-cooked mash. You can make mash easily, just do some jacket potatoes in the oven alongside a joint or whatever, cut in half and the centres will drop out. Make mash as normal, divide into portions and freeze or chill until needed. It's a few minutes to do.
    To be blunt, it sounds like your wife isn't willing to listen to what you're saying. You need to thrash this out with her. Even the busiest people can take a little time out to put a slow cooker on in a morning, it's not going to take any longer than cooking up some chicken or steak. If she didn't spend as much time shopping she maybe would have more time to cook. Don't also be fooled by whatever discount she gets at work, it still doesn't necessarily mean that you're getting a good deal.
    There are a number of fish companies that deliver, you ought to look at buying in bulk and perhaps changing the types of fish for something a little cheaper. Obviously this will depend on what you're doing with it.
    The teenagers who are working should really be buying their own stuff for pack up, and doing it themselves if they're not already. You say they do heavy work, they need carbohydrates not just protein.
    Cut down on the alcohol, look for cheaper brands that are as good or cut it down to just the weekend.
    Oh and FYI certainly Tescos basic range doesn't have the nasties in it like msg, as does Iceland. (Even though I'm not inspired enough to shop there, it is an option!)
    FWIW I definitely think it's more than possible to bring your shop down. The main bit seems to be protein and just by way of example the other week I spent less than fifty pounds on 3 beef joints (with your size you might need 2 of these), 27 large chicken breasts no water (2/3 cut up is more than ample for a casserole, stir fry etc and 8 large rump steaks. Another example is I've bought 2 16oz ribeye steaks for Ј8 today on special.
    I know you said you were in a somewhat remote location but check which stores deliver (this may work out cheaper for you) and also investigate where your nearest Aldi or lidl is.
    Basic ingredients like chopped tomatoes etc can be bought most easily from Aldi, lidl and value ranges. I really see no point unless you're serving them for breakfast in buying expensive ranges for these store cupboard basics. The same with flour, sugar etc.
    If you really want some extra help, collect all your receipts for a week and out them on the old style board here asking people to work out meal plans and how to cut things out. You will get some great responses and maybe will be able to prove to your wife that you really don't need to spend a lot to eat well.
    Good luck!
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