Budgeting supermarket shopping costs

Those prices are mental, how do you cook frozen eggs?
They're not frozen ..it's Farmfoods and they sell a bit of everything. If any one wants some vouchers I can post them on up. Carte door 1 litre chocolate brownie ice cream for 99p and £2 for six large Magnums ..I've said too much : /
 
My biggest nemesis is the custard donuts in Tesco.

Get into B&M mate and pick up some mayflower curry powder, Chuck some chicken in the pan, some frozen peas an onion boil off some rice and you’ve got yourself a Chinese curry…bloody lovely. You’ll get 3 or 4 curries for 2 out of 1 box for a quid I think it is.

Come the cooler months you can make a soup for a £2-£3 for a good size pot that you’ll get a few meals out of with some bread, leek and potato is a winner in our house, Mrs MB makes some cracking soups. I make pumpkin soup out of the Halloween pumpkin insides, use the good food guide cream recipe, tastes lovely to me but I’m not entirely sure your supposed to cook them pumpkins. We have an instant pot that you can do all sorts of things in including soup, probably the best thing in our kitchen - make a mean bean chilli in it which don’t cost a lot - 5 cans of different beans and some veggie stock is pretty much the main of it.
I do love my curries, Indian ones though, make an awesome Biryani, Jhalfrezi and Madras. My lovely Indian neighbour has taught me Indian cooking during covid lockdowns and he's now asking me for my recipes lol

I've got a whole giant turkey in the freezer and think I'll try and get a curry, mince some, make soup and few other things out of it. Need to find out how many days I can keep it after it's defrosted
 
I used to be an absolute fucker for spending on the food shop before I got with my mrs, it definitely works if you plan your meals for the week and have a list for what ingredients you need. I used to shop at Morrisons/Asda but now have changed over to Aldi with the occasional Sainsbury’s shop thrown in for when we get bored.

I’ll spend about £40-£60 a week in Aldi to feed a family of 4 (I think you’d struggle to spend more than that). Some people turn their nose up with Aldi but I can’t tell a huge difference between them and Asda/morries, other than they probably have a lot more branded items. The money I save now on food shops gets spent on days out so it’s a winner. I’d advise anyone who’s on a budget or doesn’t like the money they waste at the ‘big’ supermarkets to go to Aldi.
 
PS we did the home delivery shite too and as pointed out they fuck you over with the sell by dates. If you like cooking then you can pretty much jazz up everything and anything, just because you don’t want to spend a lot doesn’t mean you have to eat gash food.
 
I used to be an absolute fucker for spending on the food shop before I got with my mrs, it definitely works if you plan your meals for the week and have a list for what ingredients you need. I used to shop at Morrisons/Asda but now have changed over to Aldi with the occasional Sainsbury’s shop thrown in for when we get bored.

I’ll spend about £40-£60 a week in Aldi to feed a family of 4 (I think you’d struggle to spend more than that). Some people turn their nose up with Aldi but I can’t tell a huge difference between them and Asda/morries, other than they probably have a lot more branded items. The money I save now on food shops gets spent on days out so it’s a winner. I’d advise anyone who’s on a budget or doesn’t like the money they waste at the ‘big’ supermarkets to go to Aldi.
We're also a family of 4 so good to know £40-60 is about right.

Tesco now trying to price match Aldi on lots of items especially fresh fruit and veg. Apples, blueberries, Baked tatties, tomatoes etc.

ALDI have good stuff but I do find I spend a fortune on cheese, hams every time I visit there or LIDL. Bakery is second to none at very reasonable price.
 
Trying to save money at the moment and looking to try and budget our supermarket shopping

Going to try and do a weekly or every ten day Home delivery and just shop local for milk, bread and fresh fruit and veg.
Ideally £40 to £50 for the online shop so no delivery charges.

Anyone switched more to homemade delivery and do you think it helps save money?
I'm a bit of an impulse buyer so end up with much more than needed when we go for a whir round supermarket.
How much do you budget a month for your shopping?
Any tips to make the pounds go a little further for food shopping?

TIA
Do the shopping yourself, it is healthier than sitting on your arse doing nothing.
Impulse buying? Simply write a list of everything you NEED not want and don't deviate from it. If necessary take cash for what you think it will be so if you buy other items you won't have enough
 
PS we did the home delivery shite too and as pointed out they fuck you over with the sell by dates. If you like cooking then you can pretty much jazz up everything and anything, just because you don’t want to spend a lot doesn’t mean you have to eat gash food.
Today with my order three items were short dated, 2 mince and chicken thighs but they weren't listed as short date. I called and they refunded the items, no questions asked, so if it happens again give them a call as it's their mistake.
 
We're also a family of 4 so good to know £40-60 is about right.

Tesco now trying to price match Aldi on lots of items especially fresh fruit and veg. Apples, blueberries, Baked tatties, tomatoes etc.

ALDI have good stuff but I do find I spend a fortune on cheese, hams every time I visit there or LIDL. Bakery is second to none at very reasonable price.

Honestly mate, get a notepad and sit there and plan your 3 meals a day, dinners at work (another one of my former downfalls) etc etc. I used to hate having to walk around trying to think of meals there and then to feed us all.

I think Sainsbury’s are price matching Aldi aswell for a lot of items. Another one is get yourself a Sainsbury’s credit card and you get points for your shop (we save them for Xmas), you don’t have to spend more than normal just make sure you pay it and it’s free money.

Im the same with cheeses and hams, Aldi’s pickled onions used to be proper shit but I tried them again about a month ago and they were decent. I’ll agree with a poster somewhere up top who said the crackers aren’t the best. They’re improving their items everytime we seem to go, found a bottle of some shit called ‘Professor Pepper’ which our 10 year old has informed us it tastes exactly the same as Dr Pepper. It’s mad how Aldi get away with just blatantly trying to copy other brands products without really trying to hide it.
 
Today with my order three items were short dated, 2 mince and chicken thighs but they weren't listed as short date. I called and they refunded the items, no questions asked, so if it happens again give them a call as it's their mistake.

Good to know mate. I’m one of them people who won’t ring up or complain, I’d just not use that service again. Same in restaurants, my mrs is a right gobby cow and will complain if something isn’t right (which is fair enough), I’d rather not say anything and not go back. I used to be in the Navy so if it’s better than the food we got served there then I’m generally quite easily pleased! (that’s not to say Aldi’s food is shit, as the mrs enjoys it and she’s a fussy fucker!)
 
And when your out shopping for perishables never ever take from the front. It's called stock rotation but you all knew that anyway. Feel free to make as much of a mess of their shelves as you wish as they have tucked away all of the fresh produce to the back.

Ive been in a few shops where it’s the short dated stuff at the back and new at the front, they’re either cottoning on to our crafty ways or some spotty **** can’t be arsed rotating!
 
Sounds like a lot of work planning a weekly menu but must save a fortune

Agree with that, the own brands of stuff is often the same thing with just different labeling.
No point being a food snob when some of the ALDI/ LIDL stuff tastes better or at least not noticeably much worse than the premium product.
I plan a menu for the week, click and collect on Tuesday, delivery on Friday (I pay a monthly sub of around £7 which means i pay no delivery fee). It means fruit and veg is always fresh. We also get an organic veg box delivered weekly. Use our fish delivery service once a week and buy poultry and meat from a Butchers I trust 20 mins down the road. We spend maybe £500 - £550 a month. That is less than I used to spend when we did the supermarket trawl. Never buy ready made meals. Batch cook and freeze when I can. Sounds boring but what the fuck else is there to do nowadays and I like cooking, we eat very well whilst saving money.
 
Aldi veg and fruit is rank .

Puts me off going at all its all rotten within a few days last time I went they didn't even have use by dates on it .

I was.told its all frozen the fresh fruit and veg prob not true but would explain why it goes rotten so quick.

We spend 150 a week crazy but cant get it down as we're all fussy eaters and eat nice health food most nights we enjoy food so would rather eat what we want / like than something just cos its cheap.

Each to their own I suppose .
 
And when your out shopping for perishables never ever take from the front. It's called stock rotation but you all knew that anyway. Feel free to make as much of a mess of their shelves as you wish as they have tucked away all of the fresh produce to the back.
Yup I worked at supermarket so know how it works, you'd be amazed at how badly some places do rotate there dates though
 
Honestly mate, get a notepad and sit there and plan your 3 meals a day, dinners at work (another one of my former downfalls) etc etc. I used to hate having to walk around trying to think of meals there and then to feed us all.

I think Sainsbury’s are price matching Aldi aswell for a lot of items. Another one is get yourself a Sainsbury’s credit card and you get points for your shop (we save them for Xmas), you don’t have to spend more than normal just make sure you pay it and it’s free money.

Im the same with cheeses and hams, Aldi’s pickled onions used to be proper shit but I tried them again about a month ago and they were decent. I’ll agree with a poster somewhere up top who said the crackers aren’t the best. They’re improving their items everytime we seem to go, found a bottle of some shit called ‘Professor Pepper’ which our 10 year old has informed us it tastes exactly the same as Dr Pepper. It’s mad how Aldi get away with just blatantly trying to copy other brands products without really trying to hide it.
Great tip on the credit card, I don't have one since Flybe went bust, so no loss with that
 
Last edited:
Amazed at how many appear to go food shopping without a menu in mind for the days you are shopping for? We have always done that, otherwise how do you know what you are buying for??
I seem to reverse engineer what to cook from what I've bought. But now I think about it, the other way logically seems more practical. We don't really ever have food waste though and we're fairly flexible with what we cook. I'm a bit of an experimental cook so perhaps that's why I've done it that way in the past. Maybe time for change though
 

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top