Over the past couple of years our food bill has got bigger and bigger, to such a point now, I feel it is out of control. Yes, I appreciate we now have 4 children in the house and as they have grown so have their appetites, and not forgetting prices have soared, but that is no excuse! We spend (waste) far too much money on our grocery shopping. Since taking on our baby granddaughter earlier in 2013 I have said to my hubby a few times "we need to be more careful with our grocery shopping". It is a scary amount of money with how much we spend in Tesco's each month - we are talking into the 4 figures! So I say it is time for 'less talking and more doing' ASAP.
The biggest problem is we are completely disorganised when it comes to food and meals... many times we don't do a weekly shop, we end up popping down Tesco every day or every other day and getting dinner for that night - spending at least £30 a time. Why do we spend that much? On what? I don't know, crap I reckon - and we do not need to spend that much, that I am sure. How to combat this, well my plan is listed below:
- A weekly budget - Starting off with a budget of £150 per week that we must stick to, with the aim to lower this over the following months.
- Plan - Sit down with hubby and write a meal plan out for the week and a list of all the items that we will we need to cover us for the week. We will do this every Friday.
- Routine - Pick a specific day of the week to shop - Sunday. Whether it be in store or online - stick to the same day each week to do the weekly shop.
- Coupons/Cash back Apps. - I used to use coupons and did it quite successfully, so I need to pick this back up - printing and cutting a few out, saving between £5 to £10 per week. Also not forgetting to use the cash back apps with selected grocery products.
- Reusing/freezing left overs. - We never do this, and this is something we should do - When growing up my parents used to do this, for example I remember us having Roast beef on Sunday, then the following day left over beef cooked in gravy, with bubble and squeak- I loved it! So why don't I do that?
- Using cheaper brands, i.e. store brands.
- Start using cheaper supermarkets to buy the fruit and veg. Shop around more!
Starting this Friday and every following Friday, we will sit down and write-up our week meal plan, listing out all the items we will need and we will involve the kids as well so hopefully they will learn the importance of planning and organising. I do plan to keep you updated on my progress. Please wish me luck!
P.S. Feel free to leave me any of your hints and tips or experiences below. :)
