Food Budget

beardybrewer

My wife and I have recently been trying to figure out where all our money goes and we've narrowed it down to Dunnes/Tesco/Joyces. We have two small toddlers and ourselves.

I do a big weekly shop at Aldi which covers lots of staples like chicken for dinners, lunchmeat, breads, fruit/veg, cheese, etc. That works out to be €100/week and includes the odd treat from their special offers. We're fine with that.

What's perplexing us is the spend in Dunnes/Tesco/Joyces. Now surely there is a certain amount of clothes hidden in the Dunnes bill as toddlers rip thru clothes. But we try to do most of our clothes shopping at Pennys. So something is not adding up. We do enjoy our wine/beer, get brand name items we don't like at Aldi like cereal, have the odd treat like pizza but nothing fancy. Even a generous allowance of another €100/wk for all these extras isn't adding up.

Please no lectures and this isn't a competition on how you feed your family of 8 for €400 a month. We are in the process of tighening our belts by doing a single Tesco shop online as well as our weekly ALDI. Our goal is €800/month.

We're going to start saving every receipt to see what going on. We don't throw away loads of food, our presses aren't heaving, and we eat well but aren't eating anything fancy either. We're generally cheap, so we're as perplexed as anyone on how we're spending so much.

So that's my story... do you really know how much you really spend? I would have guessed we spent a lot less, but the credit card receipts for the last year don't lie... What is your situation and budget? Extra points for checking your statement and seeing the real figure!!

netnerd

Ive just been through my bank statements for March, April and June. In my household there are two adults, two toddlers and and a baby. I also included the odd takeaway in the figures.

March - 624.19
April - 700.01
May -1056.26

Not sure why May was so much more, perhaps we did a "big shop" to replace store cupboard essentials that month.

January

800 euro per month for a family of four certainly is generous (is this just for food??), even including nappies... are your children still on formula?

The only advice I can offer is, MEAL PLANS. Sit down the night before shopping day and plan your meals, down to breakfast lunch and dinner every day. List out the ingredients you need for them (even get a rough idea of prices online on tesco website) and stick to it, therefore you're not wasting anything and you can stick more rigidly to what you're spending.

beardybrewer

Oh that's food, non-food like clothes, alcohol, pull-ups, the odd gifts, everything you would get from those shops as all my statements say is Dunnes or Tesco. This is why we're going to save our receipts for July. I can guarantee there isn't going to be a single obvious line item reading LOBSTER.... €30. It's just all the many little things adding up and up and up. I think we have a good strategy in place to reign it in (1 monthly online shop plus save all receipts).

But I've already told my story... what's yours?

Ayla

My story: there are 2 adults & 2 kids (one 4.5 yr old & one 21-month old) at our house. I know for a *fact* that I only spend GBP £200 per month for staple food items. Add to that up to €50-€75/month that we spend total for fruit, veg & meat (from our locals), and approx €20/month for milk. At most, then, that brings us up to €300-€350/month for all food items.

We eat cereal with dried fruit for bkfast with pure pressed fruit juice (kids) and coffee (essential! for adults). We have our main meal in the afternoon so don't have to do lunchbox stuffings (which are crazy expensive). Then evening snacks are dried fruit, toast, yoghurts, etc and water. Most of the main meals we make ourselves from scratch (very little processed crapola around here), and I'm working on trying to be organized enough to cook for the freezer. Ultimate goal: cook once a month for freezer, dinner's ready for everyday.

Oh, and by the way, I go grocery shopping once a month in the middle of the night (no crowds, no kids to juggle, and all the time I need to really work out the deals).

As for non-food items, this leads into other threads that have been live recently re: cost of kids, but we personally don't spend much on clothing, etc for anyone in our family. We've been given many hamidown clothes through the family, which we're grateful for, so all we really have to supply is vests, undies & shoes. I can guarantee you we don't reguarly spend money on any non-food stuffs, money's just too tight.

No lecture, just my story.

angeldaisy

I was only thinking the same this evening when my tesco delivery arrived!! We've had to cut down a lot over the last couple of years as I went back to college, hubbie works and we have a 6yr old at school.
I try to spend around 70 euro a week in tescos, but if something is on special offer and we use it then I try to stock up. So this week I bought 5 packs of cereal as they were half price. We spend very little on clothes a month, I try to limit spending to about 50 per month. We go to the kids club cinema on a weekend for 3 euro probably once a month. My biggest treat was to join our local gym which has a pool and I take my son swimming twice a week. This 'saves' me about 7 euro a week against going to the public pool.
I tend to buy meat once a month, unless there's a really good offer, and I freeze a lot. Also once or twice a week I cook at least double and freeze it. I also try to do a store cupboard meal every so often, so tomorrows dinner is chickpea & veg curry and basmati rice.
I find the easiest way for me to cut down my food bills is to shop online, I use tesco as its the only one that delivers to me. Typically I save about 20 euro a week as against doing the shop myself - too easily tempted in store:D

Ayla

angeldaisy wrote: »

...if something is on special offer and we use it then I try to stock up. So this week I bought 5 packs of cereal as they were half price.

Maybe it's b/c I shop in the middle of the night, or maybe it's b/c I wind up with 2 massive trollies, or maybe it's b/c I buy 18 litres of juice, 10 boxes of cereal, 6 blocks of cheese...I don't know *exactly* the reason why, but, funny enough, the folks working at the shop I go to seem to remember me each time. :rolleyes:

...once or twice a week I cook at least double and freeze it....I find the easiest way for me to cut down my food bills is to shop online...Typically I save about 20 euro a week as against doing the shop myself - too easily tempted in store:D

Good points. I'd love to have delivery but no one does the sticks. Also, I've found online frustrating b/c it never seems to have everything you can get in store. Of course, you're right, the store can be tempting. That's why I bring cash & a calculator, and when the £200 mark is hit, I stop shopping.

Fran79

Hi
I'd check the contents of your press.
When I really looked into our spending I found we wasted a lot of money on junk food. Things like crisps, biscuits, chocolate. Fizzy drinks, pre made kids drinks in bottles. That kinda thing. Also a few bottles of wine do add up (perhaps if you take those out of the equation the food billls wouldn't look so bad)

John Mason

holy god that is a fierce shopping bill.

do you buy convenience foods, like jars of pasta, curry sauce? frozen meals, biscuits etc.

i dont have kids but for the 2 of us we spend 100e a month in lidl, about 20e a month on fruit and veg(from the local farm shop - half the price of the supermarket and we only buy what is in season and grown on the farm) may be 20 in the butchers - i dont eat meat so i have no idea about that cost.

we make everything from scratch including pizza'a, wedges, scones, soups, sauces etc.

make sure you bring a shopping list with you, leave it on the counter and as you run out of things, just write it down. we went shopping a few weeks ago without a list and you would to see the crap with came home with and had to make loads of additional trips to the shops

Daisy M

Hi all, well we are a family of 5 3 kids ages from 8 to 14 and 2 adults, I have to be honest and say I dont know exactly how much our grocery bill is as usually need to go to shops a few times during the week for milk fresh bread ect, but I think approx 175e to 200e a week would be fair. It is a huge amount of money but this has been greatly reduced in the last couple of years! The children dont get free lunches in their schools so that adds to the bill too.
I have found the biggest saving I can make is on cleaning products, and hyginene products also dish washer tablets, washing powder and fabric conditioner, if I see an offer on any of these I stock up, and I am not choosy about which brand. However I do prefer named products on most of these things as I think they work better. Also these are the items that not alone been the dearest are the easiest to over use.
I am going to try and cut back to 150e a week from now on. I find lidl is great for fruit and veg and usually buy most of my meat in local butcher usually it is much better value and much nicer than supermarkets. In our shop we would have 2 bottles of wine each week, they are going no where!! But I always look for an offer on them.
Op just wondering if you have all your meals at home or if you and your wife have lunch at work? Remember a lot of people who have low food shops may not be taking meals for work and school into consideration. My husband buys his lunch from the work canteen everyday no choice, its he is coeliac and cant bring sandwiches, (no one where he works does anyway) and is a fussy eater. The rest of us have all meals supplied from weekly food shop.
I used to go to both lidl and dunnes/tesco each week trying to save money and I actually found it was doing the opposite. I started doing lidl one week and dunnes/tesco the following week and found I was saving 50e a week without really trying. I personally think its easier to do one big shop then your less likely to get carried away and also forget if you have already brought something.

deisemum

I have found my food bill dropped considerably when I did out an 8 week menu that I've stuck to my fridge. I try to include lots of variety. Sometimes circumstances such as being out for the day or forgetting to take something out of the freezer or if I get something on special offer then I cook something else.

Also it's worth checking your receipts and one particular supermarket is consistantly worse than the rest and not giving the reductions on special offers or overcharging. A lot of the times the special offers are not that special and work out dearer ie a large pack of something is often dearer than 2 x half sizes of the same product.

I have found local butchers are often cheaper than buying meat in a supermarket and is often of superior quality.

Tipsygypsy

Hi all, We are a family of 5 (+2 cats and a dog), 3 kids aged between 3yrs and 8yrs. Im really careful about our shopping, we went from being quite comfortable where I could chuck anything I wanted into the trolly to being really very tight.
My husband is paid monthly, so every month I do a big shop which includes all the household products (cleaning stuff, pet food, hygiene products etc) and all of the tinned goods and cereal type stuff, basically anything that will last til next payday, this shop also includes 1 weeks grocerys and comes to to between €250 and €300, (in 2007 this would have come to €450). So my weekly shop then comes to about €150 (used to be €250, Im actually quite proud of my reductions!). This is as tight as I can get it and there are very few luxury items - except some crisps/bars for the kids, I dont buy alcohol out of the household budget (if someone wants a drink they have to do that seperately), I go to lidl for some stuff that I know is cheaper and goood quality, otherwise I buy whatever is the cheapest option in Dunnes.

Of course theres always stuff on top of this, keeping boys in shoes alone would bankrupt you, their clothes, medicines, the school seems to ask for more money every 5 minutes. My biggest expense is petrol becuase I live a million miles away from anywhere, including the kids school. And then on the rare occasion that we go out it costs a fortune between cabs and babysitter (and lets be honest, booze).

I do up a meal plan at the start of every week and try really hard to stick to it (doesnt always work but it helps). When Im walking around the shop with my list Im adding up the prices as I go along, that keeps me focussed. I keep every reciept and write in everything on a spreadsheet (do I get those extra points you offered?) If you're thinking to yourself 'this one suffers from OCD', you're probably right, I probably do. But when things started getting tighter it became necesary.

So thats us. By the way, my own experience is that Tesco can be cheaper for brand name products but their own brand stuff is dearer and inferior to the cheaper brand stuff in Dunnes. I used to internet shop with Tesco for the monthly shop but find a saving of over €50 by doing it (taking my time to actually look at prices) in Dunnes.

ash23

I used to easily spend 150 euro plus a week on food for myself and one child. We went through a very very tight patch and I cut my shopping back to about 30 euro per week with one large shop a month of €70.
We now spend about €50-60 per week.

meal plans are a great idea. Also I avoid the shop at all costs aside from once a week for the main shopping. If I run out of something I bring literally enough money with me to get that item.

I do pretty much all my shopping in Aldi and only get a few brand name items from Tesco (coca cola, teabags, washing powder....actually thats about it for us in terms of brands).

There's a great recipe book on the MABs website with loads of recipe ideas. I started cooking everything from scratch so no ready meals/jars. It was expensive initially as I had to stock up on herbs and spices but it's saved money long term.
We eat a lot of fish and vegetarian meals and probably only have meat once or twice a week.

Moonbeam

You are all so organised compared to me.
We are 2 adults,a 2 year old and a baby.

I spend about 300 on shopping a month.
I buy nappies when they are on special offer and same with toiletries,so we have a press full of them.
The baby formula is on prescription so that costs us a small fortune,we get a take away on a friday night so I reckon on average 500 a month in total incl formula,food,take aways,toiletries,dog and cat food,cleaning products and nappies.

Justask

I found that Aldi and Lidl are NOT cheap because they dont stock some brands that we are used to. ie cereals, crackers etc.

I used to think it was great, getting all the bargins, but found I used to do 2 shops a week because i'd visit aldi/lidl and dunnes//tescos.

So now its just Dunnes for me.

And the best tip i ever got was go shopping AFTER dinner. If you go shopping hungry your doomed.

It complete rubish when people say they buy ie pasta jars, ready made meals etc out of convience. Its expensive horrid and takes the same amouunt of time to make something similar.

Neyite

You can save a few quid by getting your spices and herbs in a health food shop and decant into the jars you already have. The supermarket branded jars are a rip off.

How Strange

We spend about €100 a week in food for two adults. I shop in lidl and aldi mainly and find aldi great for everything except shower gel and a few other things I'm particular about. I can pretty much do a weeks shopping in aldi because they stock things like chickpeas and coconut milk.

I try to have lots of meat in the freezer
so some weeks we spend €150 and
others €50 depending on what we
already have.

I like to cook Thai food and buy all my ingredients in the asian stores as it's so much cheaper than buying from the supermarkets.

I'm always trying to cut down our food bill. We rarely buy alcohol or goodies and we buy fresh over convenience food but our average spend is €100 no matter what.

deisemum

My husband makes his own beer and cider and at around 45c a pint it's a saving.

Ayla

deisemum wrote: »

My husband makes his own beer and cider and at around 45c a pint it's a saving.

We're working on that too...beer, wine, cider, cordial, jams, chutneys...ahhh, so much to do, so little time!

cbyrd

I stopped doing a weekly shop when i 'retired' from work just over a year ago. We were on a budget and i found the cheapest way to shop was to literally shop in them all. Supervalu will have discounts on xyz and dunnes or tesco will have it on abc.. plus hickey's chemist do the j+j wipes 4 for €5 and i stock up.. childrens allowance day you're sure to get great deals on baby products (nappies esp)and i wait until things like washing gel are on special offer before i buy.. if you keep an eye out for the offers in the papers. and meal plans are the only way to go.

I don't scrimp on the meat and the butchers i use will do 2lbs of certain meats for a reduced price.. say 2lbs of round mince for €5 this is 2 meals.. a shepherds pie and a spag bol.. 3 items for €9.99 (meatballs, chicken fillets and the like)
Look for deals, and cut back on the brand names and plan..
Our shopping went from about €200 a week to about €110 for 2 adults and 3 kids (12, 9, 17months still on baby dinners) And penneys rules
and you can't beat lidl for the biscuits
I watched this programme recently called extreme couponing. . OH MY GOD there are people who need help

I got really annoyed in tesco about 3 months ago when i saw things being advertised on special offer that were more expensive than maybe 2 months before(i've a strange head for prices) so it does pay to keep an eye on the price fo things you put into the trolley, and hang onto old receipts and you can check to make sure the deals are actual true deals or just put up for 2 weeks and taken down to within a cent of the pre-deal price.. an example is sandwich bags i used to get (tesco value brand) went from 45c to €1.15 in about 3 weeks and down to 75c on a price cut ... i'm not dumb tesco

hacked

wow cbyrd fair play to you!! 110 is great for 5 people. Also, yeah, i've been noticing that a lot lately! I tend to go for tesco own brand everytime, and so many of the products have gone way up in price in recent weeks. Not impressed tesco, not impressed!!

Babyblessed

cbyrd....

I noticed the same in tescos.... just not their own brand butter has gone up from €1.95 to €2.19..... they used to compare the price with Lidl/Aldi now the compare it with the big brand.... Oh the joys, they must think we are completely daft!

I have access to a large chest freezer and try to buy in bulk when things are reduced. I went late last night and bought 10 packs of their finest range cumberland sausages (10 in a pack) for 40c a pack. BARGAIN!! They are normally €5 a pack...

dan_d

2 adults, 2 cats:rolleyes:

We have all the usual supermarkets around us, but I go to an individual irish-owned supermarket in a nearby town.It's friggin huge, stocks all the brands and many, many other things. Whatever way they work, their prices are much lower in general. They bring stuff in from the North and the wine from France - we always joke they buy stuff off the back of a truck! I recently got Tesco/Dunnes leaflets in the door, and was looking at the prices and mentally comparing them to where I go - they were more expensive nearly every time.

A weekly shop is anywhere between 60 and 80 eur. That will include biscuits, food for our lunches, meat/veg/bread/meat/yoghurts/orange juice for the week, and cat litter. The cat food we buy in 20kg sacks from a friend who owns a grooming business - 20eur for a bag that lasts 2- 3 months. It also includes the odd bar of good black chocolate. Every 5-6 weeks the bill goes to 80 - 100 eur (usually around 90eur) to include washing powder, cleaning products, razor blades etc.

I probably could get it a bit tighter, but we don't need to now, so I'm happy enough. The shop has a value aisle, where you get things like 4 tins of tomatoes for 2 eur, or cereal for 1.99 (brand name), or things like Nutella/babywipes/fabric softener/detergent/cleaning products etc, really cheap. They always have some shampoo/conditioner on offer, ditto for biscuits/olive oil/LOADS of wine (!)/meat...anything really.I switch around between brand names on a lot of stuff, and honestly, I never buy own brand stuff in Dunnes/Tesco etc, because they tend to have a lot more salt and fat in them than many brand names do, or just not be as good quality.


Some tips?!!

Definitely shop on a full stomach. It really saves you so much money. Make a list before you go (AND with a full stomach) - you'll only buy what's on the list!
Look at how much you throw out every week and reduce accordingly. Say you buy a 1kg bag of carrots each week because it's "cheaper", but you only ever use about 7/8 a week and throw the rest out? Then only buy 7-8 lose carrots - that's all you need. Ditto for all veg.
Bring the cash with you, and don't pay by card. I don't do this myself, but I can see how it would be a great way to be strict with yourself.
Go for the cheaper deals on cleaning products - don't only buy the same brand toilet cleaner/polish/bathroom cleaner/etc, etc every week, just because you always do. Switch around accordingly. Same for soap/shampoo/shower gel/toilet paper/kitchen paper....anything else you can think of!!

Hope that helps!!!

Ayla

Also, another incredible way to cut costs is to make your own laundry detergent, house cleaners, shampoo/conditioner, bread, youghurt, jam, etc. It's so amazingly simple to do and hardly takes any time at all. The laundry detergent I'm about to make will cost less than €0.05/load, whereas the store bought stuff usually costs at least €0.15 - €0.20/load.

In other words, for laundry detergent alone, it's quite reasonable to expect to save at least €100/year
Making your own beer/cider/wine can save €200+/year...we're estimating our savings for the next 12 months will be over €300
Making your own cleansers for the house saves (who knows?), plus you're also helping the environment & your living conditions

Things like that really add up!

Justask

Ayla wrote: »

Also, another incredible way to cut costs is to make your own laundry detergent, shampoo/conditioner, bread, jam, etc. It's so amazingly simple to do and hardly takes any time at all. The laundry detergent I'm about to make will cost less than €0.05/load, whereas the store bought stuff usually costs at least €0.50 - €0.75/load. Things like that really add up!

Making your own shampoo and conditioner How ya do that?

Babyblessed

Ayla wrote: »

Also, another incredible way to cut costs is to make your own laundry detergent, shampoo/conditioner, bread, jam, etc. It's so amazingly simple to do and hardly takes any time at all. The laundry detergent I'm about to make will cost less than €0.05/load, whereas the store bought stuff usually costs at least €0.50 - €0.75/load. Things like that really add up!

I'd also like to know how to make my own laundry detergent, shampoo & conditioner!!

I use own brand tablets and only use 1 each time... even tho the packet always says use 2! i got that tip off a washing machine engineer, years ago! I found making my own bread more expensive in the end. I will make my own blackberry jam this year and cant wait til I can successfully grow rhubarb... it refuses to take in my soil.

Cat food is usually my most expensive one off item! We have 4 cats, 2 of which are 6 month old kittens and they eat loads! Thankfully they arent fussy and will eat Lidl/Aldi or other own brand food! I keep mine in til they are at least 6 months old so cat litter is also a cost (1 of my older cats is in at the mo as she has just had a leg amputated!)

Justask

Babyblessed wrote: »

I'd also like to know how to make my own laundry detergent, shampoo & conditioner!!

I use own brand tablets and only use 1 each time... even tho the packet always says use 2! i got that tip off a washing machine engineer, years ago! I found making my own bread more expensive in the end. I will make my own blackberry jam this year and cant wait til I can successfully grow rhubarb... it refuses to take in my soil.

Cat food is usually my most expensive one off item! We have 4 cats, 2 of which are 6 month old kittens and they eat loads! Thankfully they arent fussy and will eat Lidl/Aldi or other own brand food! I keep mine in til they are at least 6 months old so cat litter is also a cost (1 of my older cats is in at the mo as she has just had a leg amputated!)

Sorry MODS for going off topic here.... But royal Canin cat food in the pet shop in Blanch do great offers. Specially if you buy the big bag..

Idea for new thread Saving tip ideas

Ayla

Justask wrote: »

Making your own shampoo and conditioner How ya do that?

Just ask (pm me if you really want to know)

And does everyone know that you can make your own cat/dog food too? really inexpensive & much better (no artificial crapola)

lucy2010

2 adults a 15 yr old a fussy 9 yr old & an 8yr old who would eat crap off the ground. Oh a dog & 32 fishes.

At the mo we have SW of 200.10 a week - long story which I wont bore anyone with. I spend about 100 a month on a big Tesco shop. This top s up the freezer which i drip feed out of. Local butchers spend about 30 a month - get super meal deals - 2lb mince 8 chicken fillets etc for a tenner..... Then bread & lunch meats as needed & the milkman. We have no choice but to keep it that low. But im now back not using convenience foods & making stews & spag bols etc etc. My biggest issue is the healthy eating policy in the school lunches...... Friggin price of healthy foods .... Their list is ridiculous ( im all anti obesity & feeding kids healthly but im also for living on a budget & ive been in many a time over it.Anything with an ounce of sugar or fat is banned EVery now & then the muller corner yogurts go on special 8 for 1.99 - whos gonna turn away from that offer but they will refuse to let them eat them in school. I wish their principal the best of luck trying to feed her family on my budget & wasting food in the current climate is a no go in my house. Things like tin foil & that kind of stuff I find always add to the bill hugely so now use a million different sized containers to save on the packaging costs lol.

Babyblessed

lucy2010 wrote: »

2 adults a 15 yr old a fussy 9 yr old & an 8yr old who would eat crap off the ground. Oh a dog & 32 fishes.

At the mo we have SW of 200.10 a week - long story which I wont bore anyone with. I spend about 100 a month on a big Tesco shop. This top s up the freezer which i drip feed out of. Local butchers spend about 30 a month - get super meal deals - 2lb mince 8 chicken fillets etc for a tenner..... Then bread & lunch meats as needed & the milkman. We have no choice but to keep it that low. But im now back not using convenience foods & making stews & spag bols etc etc. My biggest issue is the healthy eating policy in the school lunches...... Friggin price of healthy foods .... Their list is ridiculous ( im all anti obesity & feeding kids healthly but im also for living on a budget & ive been in many a time over it.Anything with an ounce of sugar or fat is banned EVery now & then the muller corner yogurts go on special 8 for 1.99 - whos gonna turn away from that offer but they will refuse to let them eat them in school. I wish their principal the best of luck trying to feed her family on my budget & wasting food in the current climate is a no go in my house. Things like tin foil & that kind of stuff I find always add to the bill hugely so now use a million different sized containers to save on the packaging costs lol.

Lucy, ''Healthy'' school lunches are the bane of my life... and I use that term very lightly!
I used to bake scones/buns for my sons but we were told they were a no-no cos they contained sugar.
I am happy to see suggestions for healthy eating for packed lunches but my 6yo is really funny about what he eats for lunches, otherwise he eats everything. If there was some way of heating shepherds pie at school he would be well away... but alas there isnt!

ppink

For the healthy stuff try Aldi's super 6 fruit/veg. The sometimes have good stuff.
Tesco do have 3 for €4 on fruit too i think.
yogurt is also much cheaper in Aldi/lidl where you can buy the big tub of natural and add whatever you like to it.
Popcorn....buy the kernels and pop it yourself?
raisens....buy a pack and dole them out into little tubs for school.