Anyone have any good tips for grocery budgeting?

[Darlin65]

We really are trying to get our grocery budget in order (among other things) Because if I am able to do that and present a good plan DF has said we can start TTC at the end of this month. I need to find a way to still make tasty homemade meals that are hearty enough but aren't going to break my budget. It's just for the 2 of us. Come January 1st I will be a full time SAHM so I will have time to cook ahead of time and drive to more than one store for the deals.

I just feel like by the time I buy all the ingredients for a good home cooked meal it has gotten outrageous (esp with meat) I don't want to cut it out but maybe just some thoughts on how to make the cheaper cuts and things work to my advantage? We have tons of ground beef. We got 1/4 of a cow for Christmas last year from OH's parents and all we have left is tons of ground beef! it was about 80% of what we received

I like veggies but tend do not like them cooked in my meals. I like them as side dishes or raw in salads But no allergies or anything like that to worry about.

 

[Fizzyfefe]

Coupons, definitely!

Buy in bulk and then freeze.

Go to a farmer's market instead of the store for fresh fruits and veggies.

Buy cheaper cuts of meat and cook in a Crockpot to tenderize.

 

[wishuwerehere]

Shop online! I take about 3 ghours to do a shop but I check to make sure I'm getting the best deal on everything, and can see the total being added up so can make sure I don't go over a certain total.

 

[Jade--x]

I agree with online shopping but there's things I don't like to do online ie my meats or veggies because I like to pick them myself. If you're going to go and do it instore take out cash before you go in don't pay on card and either keep track of what you're spending mentally or on your calculator on your phone. I always find if I'm paying on my card I'm more like 'meh the moneys in there' but with cash I literally can't spend more than what I've drawn out
The best thing to do is get a slow cooker. Then you can buy the cheaper meats and chuck them in there turn it on go to work or whatever and by tea time its done and because its been slow cooked its much more tender. You can also make more than your usual portion size and just freeze what you don't use.

 

[moderntate]

We grow a lot of our veg and fruit and we get our own meat- but obviously not an option for some as we have the room because we live on a farm!

Best thing to do is right a strict list and work out exactly what you need of what- ie 2 chicken breasts, 1 pepper, 2 onions etc and set a money budget and everytime you add something to the trolley add it up- calculator on your phone/paper and once you reach the budget stop and decide what you can put back. It might mean eating small portions but the best way (and cheapest) is to bulk up your meals with vegetables.

 

[bumblebeexo]

- Plan out your meals. Write down what you're going to have each night, then all you'll buy is the exact things you need to get and you won't be buying extras.

- Quorn fillets work out a lot cheaper than chicken, and I personally like them. We sometimes buy that instead of chicken. A bag does two or three nights and is only about £2 I think.

- Buy supermarket own brand. A lot of things taste exactly the same, and if you didn't see the packaging you wouldn't know.

- Look out for special offers. But don't buy them unless you had already planned too!

- Buy in bulk.

 

[HorseCrazy91]

The one thing that has cut down our shop is we buy meat from the local butcher rather than the supermarket. All of the butchers round here offer various family saver deals; we get 6 large eggs and 1lb each of bacon, sausages, beef mince and diced chicken breast for £10. They also do a £20 deal that we get on payday each month so we get a bit more variety in our meals. So shopping around for local deals is worth it!

 

[wishuwerehere]

Another thing is to bulk out meat with veggies or pulses - so if you make bolognese or chilli add the volume of meat again in lentils, so you make twice the dinner but for pennies more.
Lentils are actually my bet money saving dinner trick ever. Learn to make lentil soup and always keep a bag of lentils, veg stock and an onion in and you will always be able to make dinner for a practically undiscernable cost per head. Other good recipes to learn are lentil curry, pea soup, chickpea/veg casserole etc etc.
i second the slow cooker as well - great for getting the most out of cheaper cuts.

 

[KayBea]

i always go into tesco about 2 hours before they shut & buy all their reduced meat & stick it in the freezer
saves a fortune.

i manage to get a whole Salmon resuced from £12 to £2.50 and will get about 8 meals from it for me & LO..

write a list & stick to it!!

dont buy too much fresh stuff in one go as you end up throwing half of it away as it goes rotten before it gets used.

 

[RachA]

My best tip is to do a meal planner and shop based on that - it doesn't matter if you do the shop online or in store as long as you stick to the list.

I used to do a monthly meal planner as i am not very good at planning meals and sticking to the list. By doing it monthly i could decide that actually that week i didn't want to do shepherds pie so would swap it for a meal from the following week.
I would do a big shop every other week and buy the food for the next two weeks. I would then do a very little shop in between as things like milk, fruit and veg don't always last 2 weeks. By doing this i would spend £70 on my big shop and around £20 on the little shop. So it would be £90 per 2 weeks for 3 of us. Oh and this was shopping at Waitrose too so apparently expensive!

 

[babyerin]

I swap meat options for veggie where I can, I get a bit bored of mince all the time.
we shop at Aldi and cook mostly from scratch, I also try the local butcher every now and again. We got a monster chicken last time (size of a turkey lol) and it did us a few meals and tasted so much better than supermarket chicken.

 

[rwhite]

We find that getting money out for the shopping and just using that really helps - I take a little calculator in with me (well, now it 's my iPhone) and add everything up.

 

[summer rain]

I use 'my supermarket' to stick to our budget and then I print out my list from there. Unfortunately though my OH does like his 'extra curricular' shops which were not in the budget or planned for, grr but hopefully if the main shops are dramatically cut down it will show on his budgeting software and he will realise that cutting out these little extra shops will be a massive bonus too. xx