The cost of shopping!!!

[Llamasoks]

You know I don't really think that it is to be honest. From what i've seen it's often people's eating, shopping and cooking habits that make it expensive rather than healthy eating in itself. I save a packet because I don't eat out at lunchtime, don;t have that latte and danish pastry on the way to work, don't have that £20 pizza at the weekend or the chocolate and popcorn at the cinema. I honestly think it can be done as inexpensively as you need it to but it does take a bit of planning and effort

^^ Exactly! Our food works out cheaper despite us shopping in "Upmarket" places because we plan, we use the same kind of ingredients throughout a week until they're cleared, or use leftovers in another dish and freeze for a meal the following week. I think part of the problem is that people need to make diet food exciting so they don't feel deprived so they have multiple varieties of foods everyday, rather than using the same ingredients to make multiple meals.

I also think people throw too much away, I was mortified yesterday when my OH chucked an apple in the bin because there was a bruise on one side! Could have quite easily cut it in half, had the good half and still gotten a fruit fix!

I know that buying crisps is cheaper than buying apples, but surely cooking from scratch can't be more expensive than all the rubbish we used to eat?
X

 

[Happy Holidays]

Fair point ^^^ I think of those bolognase sauces or any sauce really, how expensive are those, & so cheap to do yourself, it is in the planning & not wasting foods, I use tinned toms a lot and chickpeas, both are cheap staple foods, as are rice, pasta & noodles.

 

[Bethanie]

Actually, and sorry to be in disagreement with everyone, but I've found over the past 3 weeks I have saved a lot of money on food. I suppose it all depends on your habits but here's why dieting is so budget friendly for me:

First I'll look at supermarket shopping. Ok so there's about £10 a week added on for fruit and veg which I bought much less of pre-diet. And I can't just choose whatever ready meals / cheese / snacks are on a special offer. So say + £10 for more eggs, low fat cheese and some fresh or frozen meat instead of cheap pre pack lasagnes etc. However, I've more or less stopped buying over £10 a week worth of crisps, chocolate and biscuits. Instead, I'll choose one pack of healthier snacks a week (more if on offer and skip the next week etc) like say a pack of WW cake slice plus a pack or two of Alpen lights.

Another thing that I am avoiding completely is my terrible old habit of stopping into Greggs, Starbucks, corner shops at least every couple of days. No wonder I needed to be on a diet! The savings here are easily about £20 a week.

Then there's the takeaways. We still have a takeaway but it's limited to no more than once a week. One week where work etc was crazy, we had 3! I've been making and freezing meals and soups for convenience instead and taking leftovers for lunch instead of buying things in shops.


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[AnnaFaraday]

Bethanie, you definitely have a point there. I know people who talk about their shopping bill, referring only to what they spend at the supermarket. Snacks bought on the run, or takeaways, don't figure into that budget at all.

Apart from the occasional Chinese takeaway from my sister's excellent local restaurant, I never have takeaways and was quite shocked the other day when I actually read on of the many leaflets that come through the door (they usually go straight into the recycling!) and saw what the costs were.

Especially pizza!! What a ripoff!

 

[Tubby&Chubby]

Although Aldi and Lidl are cheaper, some stuff is disgusting!

The mince is vile with hard gristle in so you have wasted money there straight away (Well I did because I chucked it in the possible event of breaking a tooth!!)so I just buy ASDA's 5% or less fat extra lean which is on offer at the mo for £5 rather than £6.

This can easily be made in to like 3 meals, do a little something with the mince and fill up on veg etc! 49p for broccoli, 89p for a BAG of carrots etc in ASDA and Morrisons. These last ages!
Also, a massive bag of potatoes are like £3.50 too so that lasts us ages!!

Try and get to the supermarket when they are putting the 'whoops' stickers on, always a bargain to be had because the best by dates are a joke!!

It is only expensive if you make it.

 

[janetelizabeth]

I agree....just need to be savvy shoppers wherever we go!

 

[Carrielou]

You're so right about also factoring in the snacks and goodies that I used to buy throughout the day! My grocery bill has gone up but I actually don't spend money anywhere else on food - no takeaways, no bars of chocolate, no bag of chips after the pub, no jam on from the garage when I stop for petrol and get the smell of them!! I'd forgotten all that, ha ha

 

[Bethanie]

Morrisons were selling bags of Maris Piper potatoes last week reduced to £1 from £2 and they were also in a 3 for 2 offer. If you have room to store them then this is definitely a bargain. The Maris piper variety are very versatile and make lovely mash, roasties and chips.

 

[Abbylouise]

To be fair to everyone it depends what you use to buy and eat before.

If you ate out, takeaways, restaurants, sandwich shops etc. Slimming world friendly healthy home made may be cheaper.

Where as if you use to live off frozen, processed, tinned and dried stuff (the unhealthy ones that is) you might find when you switch to more fresh the cost may increase.

Either way definitely agree planning is the key!

 

[AnnaFaraday]

Unfortunately the original poster of this thread hasn't been back here for several days, so won't have seen all your helpful advice.

Still, I am finding it interesting and useful!

 

[Wirik]

I know that since I have moved in with my partner, my shopping bill has decreased slightly as I'm only buying stuff once, rather than at his and at mine, and his has decreased significantly. I spend about £75 a week on groceries, and then usually another £10 on bits I've run out of by the end of the week. OH used to spend a lot more; he'd buy cereal, bread and milk at home and that would be it. He'd buy bags of haribo and bags of crisps at the office, then something from the greasy spoon over the road for lunch and a takeaway on the way home, so he would easily spend £10 a day not taking into the bits he'd have at home, and that fed one person. I've essentially halved our food bill and could definitely reduce it more if I went to aldi here, but I'm new to the area and I know where I am going to get to tesco, but less so anywhere else at the moment!

 

[janetelizabeth]

Good for you sorting out his budget too. I have a feeling he won't let you move out any time soon!

 

[julie19]

I am restarting SW next week & have just been and planned a menu for next week and done an Asda online shop but so far I am still spending over £50, I agree with everyone else though, it is the fruit that pushes the prices up so I will try to make an effort to go to my local Aldi once or twice a week to get the cheap stuff - I am trying to stick to a budget and make sure I meal plan and try to cook in advance as I used to do before I had my little girl

 

[dudette2001uk]

There's some really interesting tips and comments here

I find that eating healthily for me is probably no more expensive than what I used to eat before, as even though I didn't have takeaways I would buy pre-packed sandwiches sometimes, and various ready meals that often weren't that cheap considering the teeny tiny size of them! Or lots of cheese (which is soooooo expensive!). My biggest problem is that I houseshare with 2 other people (sometimes 3), and we only have a small fridge and freezer, which makes bulk buying or cooking anything really difficult. This means I end up going shopping more often so that food doesn't go off, and due to my "oh, if it's on offer it's a bargain and I must have it" attitude, I end up buying stuff I don't really need or want sometimes.

I think online shopping would probably be the answer for me so that I only bought the things I needed and wasn't tempted by bargains, but again, probably not possible with such limited space available to store anything. Generally though, I try and do as much of my shopping as possible in Aldi, as I always find that our local aldi has good fruit and veg for a far cheaper price (I won't buy their tomatoes though as they go off within about 3 days!). I also don't tend to buy branded foods (apart from Branston Beans and Heinz spaghetti) unless they're on offer to the point where they're cheaper than Aldi.

In terms of my biggest expenditure, it's probably fruit. I wish I liked vegetables more, as snacking on vegetables would be cheaper, but it's definitely not as appealing! xx

 

[janetelizabeth]

I think I mentioned this issue somewhere back on this thread, or maybe somewhere else? But Lidl's are now accepting credit cards payments...I'm just waiting for Aldi to follow now. Using the credit card just gets me through the month with more ease.

At the moment my nearest Aldi is quite a few miles away in the next town but in November a new one is opening within walking distance from where I live!

 

[*Emsie*]

When did lidl start accepting credit cards? I went to use mine back in March and they wouldn't x

 

[janetelizabeth]

When did lidl start accepting credit cards? I went to use mine back in March and they wouldn't x

I first used mine a couple of weeks ago Emsie...I think it's a fairly new thing but was also on the door as I entered.

 

[*Emsie*]

I first used mine a couple of weeks ago Emsie...I think it's a fairly new thing but was also on the door as I entered.

Thats brill as I get a percentage cash back for shopping on credit card. Our bank mentioned lidl but when I tried they wouldn't accept it which confused us but it was probably in the pipeline x

 

[janetelizabeth]

That's a good incentive so glad I mentioned it again on here. I'm sure it must be nationwide and not just down in East Sussex.

 

[*Emsie*]

Yeah thanks for that! I think aldis will before long too, I think in Scotland some already do x