There will be as many pictures attached as I can to illustrate how I've done this budgeting.
A few of you know we have had a very limited budget recently and this has meant me having to choose between the basics each week. Simple things like gas electric and food. Our income per week was £82.60 and that's to pay all bills, petrol, food, AND we have prepayment has and electric meters! Having to choose between the necessities has been hard so I started researching how to trim my costs back so I can at least afford food, gas and electric! I have compiled a list of things that were helpful to me, and put these into action.
I have to point out that obviously there is only me and Ash in our home, but shopping well you could make savings like we have no matter how large (or how big of an appetite) your family has!
On average our weekly food shop would be a minimum of £40. Lots of tinned and frozen foods. Convenience meals of sorts. All had to be cooked but it was literally bang it in the oven and you're done. On a budget as dire as £82.60 per week £40 on shopping is unrealistic!
We had a good amount of food in our cupboard an freezer (and other than cider, butter, milk and cheese our fridge was empty!)
One blog suggested making a list of everything in your cupboards so you can actually see what you have and not go and buy another tin of tomato soup because you didn't realise you had one behind the beans! (I found a tin of soup which expired 2011, it meant it had moved house with us and still not been eaten...mental note: don't buy soup)
It took a little time writing down everything I had on each shelf, the amount of each thing we have; but it also gave me a chance to clean and organise my cupboards!
From what we had in the cupboards I compiled a 4 week meal planner. Just seven meals per week that I can cook on any given day. So if I felt lazy I'd cook chicken nuggets, if I could be bothered we would have lasagne or casserole. It meant it was flexible and I could cook what we fancied that night and it not be so strict on what we are eating.
And most of you know how much I love my baking, I made a list of what baking ingredients I have too, along with other items that are on a shelving unit, as we don't have very good cupboard space.
At least once a week I put down a large, freezable meal so that I could make our dinner in a ping but it was still a good meal!
I also wrote a basic shopping list I would need each week, "milk, potatoes..." the bare basics. If I needed anything else, or to replace something we had used up I can add it to the list if necessary.
Last week we needed some basic staples, rice, lasagne sheets, and some spices which brought our overall total up but as the would last a long time it didn't make a huge dent to our monthly total.
Whilst doing the shopping some of the things we usually buy were out of stock, so I spent a little time looking for an alternative. Luckily our tuna was out of stock, but the expensive brand was on offer which was the same price as our normal brand tuna. If it hadn't have been on offer I would've left it off the list, we had 2 tins at home and it could wait a week.
DON'T JUST BUY THE NEXT BEST THING! It may look like a bargain but you could end up spending so much more. If its on offer, double check the offer date, compare the price to what you would usually buy, if it's the same or cheaper then by all means buy it! Also be careful of 3 for 2 and BOGOF offers, especially on fresh food. You may not use it all before it spoils and then it's a waste of food. If you can freeze it then BOGOF can be a great deal.
IF YOU KNOW you eat a lot of pasta, buy the big 3kg packs. Trust me, it saves you a small fortune! I have a glass jar in the kitchen that is filled with penne, and once it's gone I top it up from the big bag. Means your kitchen can still look pretty, but cal also be practical. I also have smaller jars for tagliatelle, rice and macaroni as we still use these, but in smaller quantities.
I found that going to a greengrocer for my fruit, vegetable and salad items has saved me a small fortune!! Before I couldn't afford much in the way of fresh foods when shopping at Tesco, it was priced way out of my range, and just getting potatoes for the week would cost a small fortune.
Last week at the grocer's we got new potatoes, baking potatoes, 2 large onions, lettuce, cucumber, spring onions- enough for over a week for the 2 of us, and it only cost £7 and three chicken breasts and 2 pork chops from the butcher for £6
This week we got baking potatoes, peppers, mushrooms, spring onions, sausages, cheese from the grocers for £10.31 and two large portions of mince for £5.30
I made a massive lasagne for dinner tonight, using one portion of the mince meat, and after our meal tonight we still have 4 meals left out of it. So they've been frozen ready for a lazy day!
After eating Everyday Value mince for years, having butchers mince for roughly the same price was amazing. The mince today was amazing and you can definitely tell the quality of the meat you're buying.
We have been going to Biddles for our fresh food (vegetables etc) and Butcher Boy for our meat. These are the closest to us, but also ones I have shopped in before. Obviously you all don't live near me, or have a car, but find what's best for you. There are lots of local shops that sell veg at reasonable prices, and ask friends and family if they know a good butcher. Most grocers and butchers also sell things like eggs, milk and cheese so you don't have to go to the big supermarkets. With my planning I would probably only have to go to a big supermarket for our tinned an frozen stuff once a month. Armed with a strict list!
A little side note...many of you know of my huge love (and slight addiction) to Cola, I only like the named brand Zero type. Knowing its an expensive item, I only ever buy it when of offer, and always check when the offer ends. If it ends in 2 weeks time I know within a few days a new offer will start. If there is one thing you cannot go without, budget for it. Buy it only when on offer. If its a good offer get 2/3 of them.
This week the 12 packs are on for £4 each, so I bought 2, knowing they'd last me a little while.
Also to cut down on travelling and petrol costs I don't go on a trip specifically for shopping, I will do it after or before the school run, so I'm not doing numerous little trips in one day, eating up my petrol and wearing out my tyres!
My motto has always been "get in get out" when food shopping. Mainly because I hate it!! I always get hit by trolleys and rude people and my patience for mankind dwindles quickly. I arm myself with a list, get my stuff, add up as I go along, have the CASH in my hand and won't spend over that amount.
Today I went to the shop before the school run. Went to the cashpoint, grocers and butchers. Had £20 and some shrapnel. 15 minutes and £15.61 later our weekly shop was done and I got to school early, had an actual parking space, and was playing games on my phone. I would call that shopping trip a success really.
Please feel free to leave a comment, ask a question! I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have...
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