Food Budget

gcgirl

silverharp wrote: »

lisar816 wrote: »

i dont give my children fizzy drinks they get juice

but im addicted to them i have to buy a bottle of coke or the rock shandy will do

while not the worst kind of coke addiction:p, its not good for your overall diet. it means youll have a lot of sugar highs and lows which means you'll probably eat more then you need to

Less of the righteous stuff,I won't lecture you if you don't lecture me, its a price comparison piece, coke is also super for taking lime scale off toilet bowls

silverharp

gcgirl wrote: »

Less of the righteous stuff,I won't lecture you if you don't lecture me, its a price comparison piece, coke is also super for taking lime scale off toilet bowls

down the toilet is the best place for it. lol

Moonbeam

I get 24 cans of coke for 12.99.

The Aldi washing tablets are fine,bought them to try them out last week and no allergies to it yet.

The dishwasher tablets are good too,not as good as fairy but not bad.

Abi

I think I'm going to have to take a leaf from a few books here. I was reading through the posts in the thread thinking how can they get by on so little, but I think the problem is with me!


Rather than doing one large weekly shop I'm in Tesco every day. I'd go in to pick up some milk, bread, meat and whatever other basics I need. Though an offer or two might catch my eye and I'll pop those into the trolley too. I'll start saving my receipts because I'm sure each visit costs me between 30-50 at a time, so that up to 7 times a week. I've a few receipts in the car, I might just have a quick look over them and see what I can save on.


Typically which supermarket would be cheapest to shop in, or is it much of a muchness? I think I need to stay out of Tesco!

gcgirl

I shop in lidi or Aldi the only thing I'd get in tesco is the papers on a Sunday, it's been round the 100 mark that's me 3 kids and cat & a dog, washing up liquid and washing powder are pretty good and beans and all are just as good as named stuff plus veg & fruit are cheaper

How Strange

We alternate between aldi and lidl. I haven't been to tescos or dunnes in months. Last month we had money left in our joint account and I thought perhaps a direct debit hadn't gone through but it was because we spend so much less in food/household shopping now. When you see what a trolley of food costs in both stores it makes you realize how expensive the mainstream ones are.

Moonbeam

DO you not find that there are things that you need to go to a normal supermarket for too?

Fittle

I shop in aldi all the time now - it took me about 6 months of to-ing and fro-ing between there and the local dunnes or tesco (convincing myself I needed lyons tea and so on), but I rarely go near either place now! For toiletries (shampoo mainly), I get them in the chemist. I used to be in tesco (clare hall) every day too Abi - I would spend a small fortune, convincing myself I was 'only' getting bread and milk, coming out with 2 bags of shopping and very little change out of 50euro!

If I do it right, I can spend less than 50euro on myself and my son per week in aldi, which includes a huge amount of fresh fruit and veg.

Morag

Not really, I'd have been the same most shops are lidl/aldi and there's the once a month for the likes of household sundries and staples, washing tables, dishwasher tables, toilet rolls and then rice, pasta, herbs, sauces and then veg/fruit shopping once a week.

I might go to one of the asain stores for a 1ltr of soya sauce and some noodles but other then that the bulk of the shopping can be done in Lidl/Aldi who do carry compatible brands, it's just a case of adjusting your thinking and trying them. Lidl do Lyons tea now and nescáfe, they've been adding more better known basic brands over the last year.

How Strange

Aldi's tea bags are made by Lyons apparently and won a food/drink award. I go to boots for my shower gel and now only go to dunnes etc once every couple of months to stock up on things I can't get in aldi but aldi does a very wide range

Lola92

The only things that we go to dunnes for now are formula, wipes (when on special) and the coffee that my boyfriend likes, plus the odd pan of bread/ litre of milk. Everything else we get in Aldi.

We could get a weeks shop (2 large bags) for anywhere between €90-120 in Dunnes (depends on treats, washing powder, nappies etc.) or about €40-60 in Aldi... wish we had started shopping there sooner! The stuff is of just as good quality. It is incredible how dear the other supermarkets still are compared to lidl & aldi.

Abi

I'll hit Lidl tomorrow so, and I'll compare prices with my basics. Last time I was there I thought the meats were equally or more expensive though, but I'll see how I fair out

Daisy M

Personally I find the meat in Lidl to be signifigantly more expensive than our local butchers and indeed Dunnes.

gcgirl

Moonbeam wrote: »

DO you not find that there are things that you need to go to a normal supermarket for too?

Yep to me lidi/aldi are normal supermarkets

Moonbeam

Local butchers are often cheaper then supermarkets for meat.

cbyrd

I always keep an eye out on all the supermarket deals advertised in the papers and on leaflets.. and i'll hit all of them over the week.. this week for instance dunnes has haagen das on special and for christmas it's nice for a splurge.. and half price is always nice

littlebug

Moonbeam wrote: »

Local butchers are often cheaper then supermarkets for meat.

Definitely. I'd get better quality meat from my local butcher for similar prices to the tesco deal meats which I have found can be a bit iffy sometimes. If I've bought a few things he'll always throw in something extra too.

Good quality fruit and veg is harder to get locally, had tried a local organic farmer but it didn't work out so I'm back to stocking up in lidl until/ unless I find a reasonable alternative. Price wise the difference is startling! I suppose like most here I tend to get different things from different places.

lonestargirl

littlebug wrote: »

I suppose like most here I tend to get different things from different places.

I'm a complete supermarket s1ut. Within 5-7 minutes drive I have: 2 x Tesco; 2 x Lidl; Aldi; Dunnes: Donnybrook Fair; 2 x SuperValu and Superquinn. There are certain things I can only get in Tesco (Dorset Berries and Cherries Muesli) and I go there about once every 5-6 weeks and stock up. I'd buy passata, tinned tomatoes, beans etc. in bulk in Aldi/Lidl. I do my main shop in Superquinn online. It has a reputation for being expensive and I find if you go to the shop you end up with lovely and expensive deli and baked goods but for the branded things I buy weekly (e.g. Glenisk yoghurt) it's pretty much the same price as the others. I also wait until I can get a coupon before I shop, last 3 shops I've gotten €10, €10 and €20 off. I also get milk delivered which prevents the 'pop in for milk and spend €20' moments. I buy all my meat in the butcher - he often sells off stuff on a Saturday afternoon which just goes into the freezer, a few whole chickens for €3 recently. I am lucky that I'm in a financial position to be able to stock up like this, if you are living week-to-week you might not be able to.

qwertytlk

There are 3 of us, myself, my fiance and our 6 month old son. I shop at tesco. This tesco doesn't sell clothing or any extras, its just a food store. I dont save receipts but i do use my tesco clubcard every time i shop there. So anyway the clubcard statement comes out 3 monthly. Got one a few weeks back and it said we had 3086 points. Every euro you spend you get a point. So that meant we had spent €3086 in tesco just on food in the previous 3 months! We dont drink alcohol at all so it was just on food. I was shocked, gobsmacked. Still am. Really dont understand how a family of 3(one of whom-the baby, costs no more than 30-50euro per week) spends approx €1000 per month in a food store. Actually thinking of ringing them as it dont make sense at all.

deelite

I watched panorama last week and found another way of saving money - instead of buying pre packed fruit / vegetables buy them loose it works out cheaper. Also the multi packs aren't always cheaper - it's only convenience that makes us pick them up. Another big saving was on the big brand products with "value pack" in big letters on the product do not necessarily mean better value. The researcher found lots of products in the Uk supermarkets that were not better value, he also said there supermarkets put special offers on products for example a bar of chocolate for 1.00 or buy 2 for 2.00 - he said the minute a customer sees an apparent deal they will buy -Even though there's no actual deal. Check the price per kilo it's the tiny print under the price on the shelf.

How Strange

I heard that before about the value pack, 2 for 1 offers etc. I always check the price per kilo. Tesco seem to be the worst offenders for this. They put the ' 'special offers' to the front which are actually more expensive.

littlebug

lonestargirl wrote: »

Within 5-7 minutes drive I have: 2 x Tesco; 2 x Lidl; Aldi; Dunnes: Donnybrook Fair; 2 x SuperValu and Superquinn. .

My goodness My nearest Tesco is 10 miles, Lidl & Supervalu 14 miles, Aldi and big Tesco 16 miles & Dunnes 21 miles !

Anyway... this thread has made me look again at what I spend and where and have a look at how to reduce things so I'll be making some changes now.

cbyrd

qwertytlk wrote: »

There are 3 of us, myself, my fiance and our 6 month old son. I shop at tesco. This tesco doesn't sell clothing or any extras, its just a food store. I dont save receipts but i do use my tesco clubcard every time i shop there. So anyway the clubcard statement comes out 3 monthly. Got one a few weeks back and it said we had 3086 points. Every euro you spend you get a point. So that meant we had spent €3086 in tesco just on food in the previous 3 months! We dont drink alcohol at all so it was just on food. I was shocked, gobsmacked. Still am. Really dont understand how a family of 3(one of whom-the baby, costs no more than 30-50euro per week) spends approx €1000 per month in a food store. Actually thinking of ringing them as it dont make sense at all.

Don't forget though, that some times some products are offered with extra points.. and coupons with extra points too

LaLucy

Justask wrote: »

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.

can someone give me their recipe for sauces because I find I spend more making my own. I buy tins of tomatoes from lidl then add a lot of vegetables to it before blending then add more vegetables to the meal so am going through a pack of peppers for one batch of sauce. Been doing that for a few months then tried dolmio and the taste was delicious! I really want to make tasty cheap sauces but just suck!

Sleepy

No need to add the extra vegetables to the tomatoes for your sauce: just a bit of salt, pepper, basil and oregano. A few glugs of wine helps a bolognese as well (dregs from the night before are so good for this, I've gotten into the habit of saving the last glass in a bottle of red for the next day's dinner!).

My usual recipe:

Brown mince in the stock pot, add one chopped onion, one red pepper, half a pack of sliced mushrooms and the blended tomatos, good pince of oregano, similarly liberal pinch of basil, season with salt and pepper, add a glug of red wine and simmer the whole thing for about 20 minutes stirring constantly.

Other things I do occasionally: add more veggies to make the bolognese go further, slow cook it at a low temperature for a few hours, replace the tomatoes with cherry tomatoes (makes a much sweeter bolognese), add some chilli powder / flakes to give it some warmth.

barbiegirl

Agree, no need for the veg, for a good tomaoto sauce

Tin of tomatoes,
Tin of tomato puree,
Good big pinch of Italian Herbs,
Bay Leaf,
Dash of Balsamic Vinegar,
Dash of Worchester Sauce
and we like to add a couple of drops of Tobasco.

It's tummy, and great with chicken, pork and beef.

Also for a creamy one.

Fry up a couple of cloves of chopped garlic, add some butter and mushrooms, fry for 3-4 mins til mushrooms are golden, add in some cream, and let it thicken. Tasty, tasty and very cheap.

part time punk

Passata works well either with/instead of tinned tomatoes depending on how big a batch you're doing. .

deelite

I was buying tayto crisps for Christmas and saw box with 20 bags was 4.99 and the multipack bag 12 + 6 free was 3.60. The crisps weren't in the same aisle so just another thing to keep an eye out for.

Jesus Wept

How Strange wrote: »

Aldi's tea bags are made by Lyons apparently and won a food/drink award.

Bewleys I believe.
Aldi is the nuts.

How Strange

The-Rigger wrote: »

Bewleys I believe.
Aldi is the nuts.

Very nice in anyways!