Trying to get the grocery bill down

I’m spending about £80-£90 a week on groceries. That’s without any alcohol or supplies for two cats. (Dh is in charge of those.) It seems more than I’d usually spend but I’m doing no top-up buys and not eating out at all. Hence I think £130pw inc for a baby & cat is reasonable.

I’m disappointed, Gabriella - I was visualising you throwing gladdies to your adoring public, a la Dame Edna!

I am really enjoying using up the contents of my deep freeze. I always fill in for the visits from the family and now they cannot visit, one friend said they had soup for lunch that was ancient. We got a click and collect from Asda to-day . It costs nothing to do it and we did not need to get out of the car apart from opening the boot . Not my nornal shop but Tesco have no slots free.

How do you shop Gaga? on line?

Yes. I have an annual pass and weekly slot booked. I stayed up till the early hours for 2 or 3 weeks until eventually I managed to get it.

As I've not been able to get a supermarket delivery slot for the last six weeks, I have resorted to using the little shop in the next village. They are providing a service as they will deliver free of charge if you spend £20 but their prices are extortionate - £2.40 for 2 litres of skimmed milk, £1.60 for a cabbage!

I'd just love to be able to go back to LIdl.

Mmm, so you are in control Gaga....how come it's gone up?

presumably your D pays half the groceries, but still does sound a bit steep.
have you tried Lidl or aldi, they tend to be cheaper.
or at least own brands wherever you shop.
i realise that i used to waste quite a bit. trying harder now, and am saving, going to shops less often, using up what i've got, dry goods etc.

The secret is meal planning.

A butchers gammon joint has done us a Sunday roast, a pea and ham pasta, ham sandwiches, ham and cheese toasties and tomorrow’s lunch will be ham, creamy leek and cheese pasties!
That will be the end of it!!!
It cost £13.00.

Every week we sit and plan the meals, some freshly bought meat and some fish and meat from the freezer.

I will only buy market fresh fruit and veg.

We do have some luxury items but generally £60-70 a week is more than enough.

Following Gabriella's post, my florist who has been really Ill with covid messaged today to say she is ordering tomorrow and do need any thing? Yippee from 2 points of view - she is better and I can have flowers!

I have fresh flowers envy kitty

We’re getting Sainsburys slots. We always do online grocery shops anyway and are spending about 50% more than usual on each one. But this is easily offset by the fact that we’re not topping up and buying our fresh stuff at other shops right now, eating out, going to the pub quiz, etc. And of course there are no £12 off your £60 shop vouchers now and deals are few and far between. I’m just grateful to be getting our stuff delivered.

Sainsburys weren’t offering fresh flowers on week 1, but have plenty on offer now.

The florist in the village is better than Sainsbury's and a business I want to support.

I had a lot of vouchers which we were going to exchange for a nice trip somewhere.
No chance now so I used them up on my grocery order which halved the first bill.

Eating out doesn't come under the same 'budget' although, of course, it all comes out of the same pot so our grocery bill did look larger.
Then, of course, I realised that we only got a slot every fortnight!

I'd probably buy toiletries, vitamins etc elsewhere too, but ordered them with the groceries.

My bills have doubled. I used to spend 30.00 to 40.00 per week but with home deliveries I cannot shop around for reduced items or offers. My last week's delivery was 68.00 and tomorrows is 57.00. I'm luck to get slots I realise but I dothink the shops have raised their prices. Also at Morrison's I pay 4.00 for delivery. I don't mind as I would have to give anyone a tip for doing my shopping. Also I have 20.00 for cat stuff where normally I would buy cheaper I have to get branded food.

Gladdies are not really my favourite flowers but even if they were, I'm too mean to throw them to members of the public, much less to fans which number few.
I don't encourage familiarity.

I get my flowers from London, the morning after the day they are picked and packed into large boxes surrounded by careful packing material.
Freddie's Flowers.

We are spending less. I'm not having family dinners or having grandchildren over; it's now just me and my husband. I am still doing my shopping at the stores, but not lingering over decisions... it's grab what is on the list and get out! If I've forgotten something, it gets added to next week's list. Normally I would pop back to the store the next day and of course one item would become a basketful.

We don't tend to go out for dinners, but occasionally a pub outing.

For those complaining about costs going up because they are doing three meals; wouldn't you normally have three meals?
If you were not making those meals, then most likely you were eating out which is much more expensive.

Gagajo, now is not the time to economise, unless you really have to. I think a good variety of nice food and treats keeps our spirits up.

Artdecogran, we're supposed to be shopping infrequently, not every few days. Why risk extra shopping trips? Stay as safe as possible.

I have everything delivered (since February) instead. I don't spend any more (with no family visits) and spend more time cooking/baking.

If there are no delivery slots, I do a click and collect instead. Three local taxi firms will collect and deliver to me - for the usual fare, which is very handy!

I don't think our food bill has changed. We are 3 adults (my son could eat for England) and the cat. We have been menu planning each week for a couple of years now, using a mixture of freezer, store cupboard and fresh bought food.
Average bill pre COVID £125 week but that includes all cleaning products, toiletries and random home 'n' wear items.
DH is doing the shopping and despite a detailed list he seems to spend the same amount even though there are no home 'n' wear items.

For anyone finding that they’re spending less at the moment and wanting to donate some of the savings to a good cause, Sainsburys are currently matching pound for pound any donation to the Big Night In appeal, effectively doubling any money given until 1 May. The money goes to Children in Need and Comic Relief to help those struggling most at the present time.

Our supermarkets are often criticised, but I for one think they and their staff are doing a great job at the moment.

www.comicrelief.com/sainsburys/

Gabriella I always have a house full of flowers. Living in the Netherlands it was the norm. I miss that and may give Freddie’s a go. I get letterbox flowers once a month from my DD but I am missing popping into the supermarket for tulips.

I need to be very very careful with money. I'm getting paid ATM but that may not be the case from next month onwards. I can keep us going for a while, but with no income, we'll run out eventually.

Supermarket bill has definitely risen due to the fact that all our meals are being eaten at home. And we are also buying more treats. But overall we are saving money on food because we are not going out for tea and cake, lunches or dinners.

I'm struggling a bitwith the grocery bill, too. I live with my adult DD2 (25) we're both furloughed on 80% and used to having one meal a day provided at work