Decide on your meals for a week and write down along with your shopping list so you can buy exactly what you need . Just shop weekly, been doing this for a while now and it saves us a fortune and nothing is wasted
And never, ever, shop when you are hungry!
I had a spell out of work…and had a limited income…
I must say I enjoyed the challenge of making every penny count…
I must disagree (at least partially) with you Abbey.
Oweing to where I live, I do the major shopping fortnightly, so a comprehensive shopping list is necessary. However, unless I have something specific in mind, the list has items like “meat” or “vegetables” and I see what is available / a good deal on the day.
Flexibility is the key because if you go with a fixed list in mind, you might 1. miss out on offers / reduced items or 2. Find that you can’t get some of the ingredients or 3. find that some items cost more than you bargain for.
Cooking is a bit of an ‘adventure’ in my house - but there’s always something in the freezer.
Writing a menu ensures a blanced diet .
Some offers are not quite what they seem .
You might not like what is on offer .
Not buying meat saves a lot of money .
Obviously if things I do buy regularly are on special offers i do buy them but I don’t live on special offers .
Trouble is.the cheaper cuts of meat take more cooking…therefore ‘‘is it cheaper?’’
Abbey,
Being a university educated 60 something, I trust that my brain can still recognise what is good value, remember what I like and what I don’t, and think on my feet when the potential of a real bargain presents itself.
I don’t obsess about a “balanced” diet. I eat a healthier diet than many, grow as many veges as possible, buy fresh food from local suppliers and cook from scratch as much as possible. I regard 5-a-day as little more than an advertising slogan.
I don’t compromise on the quality of meat but if Tesco, Morrisons etc has an unmissable offer on prime meat, I’ll buy it. Do not confuse cheap cuts, with prime cuts sold cheaply.
I come back to my original point - Flexibility. Have a plan - fine - but if you see a bargain, be prepared either to change your plan, or stick it in the freezer and incorporate it in next week’s menu.
The original poster asked for tips I gave mine .
I don’t buy meat ever because I am a vegetarian .
I like to shop in the supermarkets after 8pm as that’s when they reduce perishable items down to almost nothing, a loaf of bread costs 9 pence as do bread rolls etc, it’s worth stocking up the freezer with bread to last a while, ready made meals and pasta dishes which I buy often are only 15 pence, I save a fortune!
I, like others re use carrier bags and will be stocking up before they start charging for them.
I regularly use money off vouchers and there are great savings to be made with a Tesco card, just got a voucher with £5 to spend in store
Yes! Sorry - forgot the translation !!:-D:-D:-D
Strange when we all call something by a different name.
We call it Bi-Carb Soda
Baking Powder is what we use as a raising agent in cooking.
I do shop around at different supermarkets but I’m not frugal.
I did enough of that when the kids were young…making clothes, baking, knitting and such like. I’ve reached the age of if I want it I buy it, think I’m in my second childhood cos I didn’t have any luxuries then, saw my first banana when I was about 9yrs old. Plus those ration books still give me the shivers.
I can just about remember the end of rationing. In my case, as I get older, I’m getting more of a liking for good food and I’d rather cut the quantity than the quality. Still, I can’t resist a bargain, like the half price salmon I bought in Morrisons, or the greatly reduced shoulders of lamb from Tesco. These went into the freezer and I’ll think about when to cook them at another time.
As I said before, it’s about flexibility. Buy bargains when you see them and then decide how best to use them.
Yes Grumblewagon. I also grab any bargains I see, put them in the freezer and then decide when to use them.
Have trained my daughter that when she goes in to buy a loaf of bread that she trots past the meat counters.
It’s a long weekend here and our local supermarkets are not allowed to open on the Monday Public Holiday, so late Sunday afternoon is the time to go around the different shops as they mark their meat down, sometimes by up to 70%.
Also all perishables like vegies and bakery items all get marked down.
Speak for yourself that is not the case in other states. the only restriction on opening is Christmas and Boxing day in NSW.
The local supermarkets and shopping Mall opened at 10am in my suburb.
Bruce I was speaking for myself. I said “here” which means Adelaide.
I’m sure the people on the forum are astute enough to realise that.
People can see Adelaide on my name and I said here. If I had meant all of Australia I would have said so.
You are just being obnoxious and picky as usual.
I am lucky enough to have a good butcher nearby. He sells locally produced meat/chicken and gives a generous discount on bulk buys. Also we have a farm barn just a mile up the road - also mainly local produce. The veg and soft fruits are all grown within a 5 mile radius so is wonderfully fresh and tastes delicious. Obviously some fruit - oranges, pineapples etc., is imported, but is still cheaper and fresher than supermarket stuff.
So - every few weeks - I do a ‘bulk buy’ raid on both shops - then spend a whole day in the kitchen making ready meals, soups etc., for the freezer. Tiring - but worth it in my opinion - and far, far cheaper than commercially processed stuff.:-D:-D
Would not have worked for my mother - she loathed cooking!
I doubt whether people not familiar with a federal system would realise that ‘here’ did not mean Australia and only SA. But there you go.
We are learning to be more frugal when we do our food shopping. We get vouchers through from Sainsburys with £12 off a £60 shop. We make sure that, that is the week we are going to buy our meat and don’t go over the amount.
We organise what we are having for the week and then buy the food accordingly. One thing we do have to keep a watch on is if we are having a salad we have to make sure that what we buy, if it is going to last for two to three meals then arrange the meals around that.
We used to be so wasteful with salad stuff have it for one meal and then throw the rest away.
We are also learning to reduce the amount on our plates as well.