Sticking to a budget

Batch cooking is your friend here .
You can also eke out meat ( if you eat it ) by adding cheaper things like lentils or grated carrot to many dishes such as cottage / shepherds pie , chilli con carne , spaghetti bol etc.

paddyann54

I have always kept household accounts ,I can tell you that in May 2020 my grocery bill for a month( not counting meat and fish) was £340.18 ,in May 2022 it had risen to £580.96 and last May it was £779.95 .
This doesn't cover my butcher or fishmonger or catfood and litter etc .Nor does it account for the missing things from the supermarket shelves.There are just 2 of us here most days although I usually have one of my kids and family for dinner once a week .
I shop at Morrisons mainly and dont buy processed or ready made food.I dont know how young families with children can cope withese rises in price

Gosh that's interesting to see the increases. I don't keep records, although I have good intentions. We are a bit random with our shopping, usually a combination of Aldi for groceries, M&S for some fresh stuff (their eggs, butter cheese are a fair price), and then the local Coop for veg. Although the Coop is more expensive, I think that by shopping as we need veg, we waste less. I have never been a menu planner, but am always aware of what is in the fridge, what needs to be eaten within the next day or so.

annsixty

And I am old enough to remember people putting 10 shilling’s worth of petrol in their car. (50p for youngsters)

In 1966 I bought 4 gallons of petrol for £1 1s 6d about £1.07p. I was earning about £20 a week and road tax was a standard £12.10s a year, spark plugs were 4 for £1. We must have been better off because I saved £600 and bought my home in 1972 after getting married in 1971.

I meant £600 for the 10% deposit !!

I agree with others that what we expected to be a pretty comfortable retirement is more expensive than we expected with the food and utility price rises.
We used to live near a Lidl but since moving we can't get to one easily. When we did the bulk of our fruit and veg shopping there it was significantly cheaper than other stores. The pork chops and beef joints were really good too, and also some of the wine.
Word is that we're going to have a new Lidl or Alsi very locally and we're all getting pretty excited, not least my husband who loves the "middle aisle"

grace56580

Thank you all for your messages, we have decided to get cash out, make menus. Were very lucky live near to Supermarkets and we shop daily. Today I went into Iceland and Farmfoods to be honest there is not much in it comparing it with Aldi/Lidl. MOH has been looking at Jamie Oliver's meals for a £1 ! I dont like the thought of living on processed food so maybe this is the way ahead, I like cooking so up for the challenge.

I think that the idea of limiting your spending by using cash is excellent, it removed temptatation!

I’m retiring in eighteen months and now starting to realise I will have to cut back. Sad that we’ve worked all our lives and will have to be careful in retirement. Wish I’d done a private pension earlier. But I want time with my husband and if we have to tighten our belts we will.

Sago

I think shopping every day is more expensive.
A good weekly meal plan means no waste.

We had a butchers chicken on Tuesday as a traditional roast.
This made a chicken, chorizo and butter bean stew last night.
Tonight is a chicken and lentil curry with spinach and as we speak I have celery soup in the making, I made chicken stock as Lidl were doing beautiful bunches of celery for 69p, two bunches will make plenty of soup.
Tomorrow we will have soup and left over cheese for supper with the bread I made today.
The chicken was £8.50.
I keep plenty of dry and tinned/ ingredients so I don’t have to nip out and spend any more than I have to.
Processed food is not necessary.
I buy double cream whenever it’s reduced or on offer and make butter to freeze.
Lidl often do XXL gammon/pork/beef joints I buy these and cut them in half or thirds and freeze.
Your freezer is your friend when meal planning.
I do prefer to use the butcher but sometimes the deals are too good to refuse.

I love your dishes Sago!
I try to cook well on a budget but have never heard of making butter from double cream as a budgeting trick. I can't see how that would work? A block of butter is - what- £1.89 at Aldi. How much cream at what price would you need to save money? I have only shaken milk in a jar to produce a little but of butter for fun, with children.
Please share your knowhow!

So, the tinned, dried and canned goods need to be counted in with a budget, as they have to be replaced.

If i bought a chicken for roasting, afterwards I would dismember it, freeze the cooked meat in two person size packs. then make stock from the carcase and freeze that. rather than have chicken in different recipes over consecutive days. Neither way is better or worse than the other, but just thought I would offer the alternative.

paddyann54 I am astounded by the amount you spend on groceries . We eat well and include wine now and again but do not spend anything like as much as you are quoting . I cannot imagine what you are buying would you like to give us an idea .
By the way someone mentioned private pensions. I took out one before my mean employer decided to include part time workers in their scheme . When I retired I opted to take some of my pp as a lump sum though I had no plans for it . This was a mistake I wish I had just taken the greater amount than I get in monthly pension.

I join you Floradadora9 I am amazed at paddyanne's expenditure. Usually I say nothing much about our expenditure because we are among the higher incomed pensioners, so do not feel the income pressures that so many others feel, but my expenidture on food each month is less than half *paddyannes and it is still less than half her quoted figure after I include meat and fish. For environmental and climate change reasons, our meat is all from Pasture for Life producers, so it is expensive. i shop in the local market and Waitrose. I am not criticising or disapproving. It is just given, I have few if any constraints on how much I spend and spend so much less I wonder what she lives on? caviar, hand massaged beef and hot house fruits?

I agree it is shocking how much things are these days. We seldom go out to eat. It was our wedding anniversary last week and we went to Miller and Carter for a meal, last year the bill was just over £50 and this year it was £73 for a main and a dessert, we didn’t have wine just soft drinks as it was £8 for a glass of wine. Our son had given us a £50 voucher for Christmas so it wasn’t too painful. We are also shocked at how expensive trades are these days, DH used to do everything but just can’t now, last year we had to have a new fence and had ridiculous quotes until we managed to get it done for just under £2000, we also had a new front door which was £1000. We are now bracing ourselves to get the bedrooms decorated, DH is saying he will have a go but realistically he just isn’t up to it now as he has T2 diabetes and AF. Food shopping is the least of our worries as both of us have reduced appetites and only have two meals a day and one of them is very light such as porridge with fruit, we get a big bag of oats from Aldi and make it with water, or a sandwich, we have even stopped the Sunday roast as neither of us can eat a big meal now. We also buy tinned fruit in fruit juice now as fresh fruit is so expensive. We used to spend a lot of time in America and eating out and petrol used to be really cheap but my friend in Minnesota tells me it is the same over there, everything has shot up in price.

Now that I am on my own, I just shop in Aldi usually, as it is just across the road, two minutes’ walk. I never buy more than I can carry in two bags. What used to cost around £7 is nearer £10. I do two small shops a week. Sometimes I spend around £25 a time if I include a bottle of wine or need to stock up on washing products or find a bargain in the middle aisle. I buy a pack of meat or fish : eat one, freeze one uncooked, cook several in the slow cooker and freeze in single portions.
I don’t really need to worry about the cost but I have always been careful with money. When DH was alive we had a delivery of good quality meat from the independent butcher. I cooked a roast every Sunday, then froze slices in gravy, a joint was enough for four meals for two people, so good value. I miss that, but my son often brings me a plated up Sunday dinner.
We used to have a supermarket delivery once a fortnight but after DH died it took me months to use up some of the store cupboard stuff we had accumulated!

Yes I echo Monica and Floradora, I spend far less than that, in the main it's the two of us, but even with family visits fairly frequently and factoring in expensive gluten free products for gd. I'd never get to nearly £800, my groceries tend to be split between Sainsburys and Waitrose, occasionally Marks. We're still waiting for our under construction Aldi to open, I'll give that a go once it does.

Can I make it clear I am absolutely not criticising paddyanne, nor am I doing anything snide with remarks about less well off peopk but given that we also have a very comfortable income and, like paddyanne can spend as much as we want on food - and we eat well because I love really good food well cooked - i am genuinely curious about what food paddyann buys and if she comes back and tells me it is none of my business, I will happliy accept that.

the one difference I can think of, is that although I buy expensive meat, I do not buy expensive cuts. I do not like steak, or joints or large lumps of meat so do not buy them. Instead I mainly buy stewing cuts, mince, offal to make into casseroles and stews.

£20? Wow that's impressive for the 60s. My first job paid £6, I then worked in a bank in London for £17 a week and thought that I'd made it!

In Lidl they have cooking bacon packs. (less than £1.50) We look for the leaner ones. It makes boiled ham after being wrapped tied and boiled. ( boil twice to get rid of the salt) There is enough meat for a hot meal, then salad or sandwiches for 2 days and stock to make soup.
I also look for the £1.50 boxes but you have to be there early for those.

There's plenty of good advice here, but I'm not sure what your budget is, or what you like. You say that you are near supermarkets, but don't mention markets, which we (and one poster) think excellent value - but I would agree that they are variable.
Neither do you say what you like - we do a 'big shop' every 6-8 weeks at our local wholefood co-op, and make most things from scratch. I use the pulses to bulk out soups, stews, salads etc.
We buy good meat from farmers and local butcher, and stretch it a long way by using veg & pulses. I also make stock with the left-overs. But I know some people find such things expensive because of the fuel. I do use both a Remoska & a slow cooker, and there is a lot of expertise on here around air fryers and 'Ninjas'.
Are you eating seasonally? That makes a big difference. We do get some treats - I have a couple of satsumas and a box of grapes in the fridge at the moment, but we mostly eat local (meaning stored apples & pears at the moment).
I hope all these different ideas help.

Quick Update well we made it just ! Last Thursday I took £110.00 out of the ATM and I have £1.27 left. That includes feeding a very fussy large Dog and having MIL for lunch on Mothers day +small bunch of flowers. It wasn't easy it made me think about every penny, we run of salt and I usually buy the grinder sort from Aldi /Lidl but its once in a while purchase but it still took £1.50+ out of my budget. This week we need Dishwasher Tablets ( I know owning a Dishwasher is a luxury) The whole experience has made me think were not well off but there is a bit of 'wiggle room' for which I am grateful but we will continue.

My bank gives guidance for a monthly budget.

50% of total income on weekly outgoing, including household, rates, fuel, energy etc.

30% for entertainment, holidays, gifts etc

20% for large expense like house repairs, car maintenance etc.

I keep to that - but I usually have sufficient left over from the 50% budget to save at least 10% of my total income for a rainy day.

Within that i budget £520 for food a month and never ever spend that. But I have noticed my bills going up and up and the pension increase is not keeping up.

I would add that other pensioners I talk to - all with varied income are finding life more difficult. Those (all women) on just the state pension with pathetic top ups. are finding life increasingly hard/impossible. There is real pensioner poverty out there.

The day my husband came home, in the 80s and announced that everyone was immediately on half salary to save jobs. That was when I got the envelopes out and calculated exactly how much cash I would need for everything every month. The envelopes were labelled and lined up in my underwear drawer

It worked, we stayed afloat, we changed meals to veggie eg broad beans and parsley sauce, tvp.

I have some cash but will not be doing envelopes again, I live alone and will be remaining comfortable wrt heating etc but who would have thought those days would be looming again

WWM2 Assuming the bank division is generic, where does rent/mortgage fit in. If all household costs come out of 50% of income, then some families will have given up on eating to do so.

I never like these generic guides. Every family is different. At one point, when mortgage rates were heading through double figures, our mortgage alone equalled half our income. At another time 25% of our income was accounted for by car costs. As for having 30% disposable income for presents, holidays etc. For most of my life that was an impossible dream.

I always find the "guides" meaningless too MOnica.

I spend just under a third of my total income on rent - and that's with housing benefit factored into my income.

From the remainder, I spend just over 10% on council tax, about which I have no choice. So that's 40% on rent and council tax. That leaves me with approximately the same as the full new state pension (even though I receive occupational pensions).

I have never in my life had 30% of my disposable income for presents, holidays, etc. I'd love the luxury of not having to budget, but it's not to be.

I do like generic guidelines for budget management, because I think far too many people over-extend themselves and get into unmanageable debt because they don’t think of the future. Therefore things they have to save up for but which are inevitable cause a crisis, and they have to borrow more money. These days far too much is available on ‘buy now pay later’ schemes. It’s helpful to know how much the bank recommends you should put aside for those eventualities, particularly for young people and those who are struggling with debt.
Having said that, I don’t worry too much about dipping into my savings for bigger purchases, because that’s what they are for. I’d be worried too though if it was necessary to use them routinely because once they are gone it must be incredibly stressful to have no funds to fall back on.