4 months ago, I probably spent on average of £60 = $120 a week on food. I kept telling myself it was OK because I was buying healthy organic food and supporting fairtrade ventures. The reality is, yes buying fairtrade and organic is important and something I won’t compromise on, but I certainly didn’t need to spend anywhere near that on the weekly shop. Today, when I left the shops with a weeks worth of groceries for under £20 I started thinking about my top 10 tips to cut the grocery bill by half.
1. Stop buying all sodas, flavoured water, juice, iced tea and for those who are really ready to make major changes, tea & coffee. This has taken about £6 = $12 off my weekly food costs and that is for 1 person! If you want flavoured water, put cut up lemon in a glass of water, lime or orange slices work too! Since I gave up all soda and juice I drink a lot more water and my skin has become so fresh and soft!
2. You know all those yummy munchies like nachos with salsa, cookies, fruit squares and pretzels….well they don’t provide a meal, so you don’t need them! This alone cut about £6 = $12 a week off my shop!
3. Plan your meals! I’ll admit, I am someone who doesn’t like to know exactly what I’m eating each night – I am moved by flavours and smells, so instead I plan what the 7 dinner meals will be for the week and then make the one I fancy. When I tried to stick to a strict daily plan, I would totally not feel like having what I planned and then pick something else up on route home. With a little change, I made meal planning work for me!
4. Be careful about recipes! I have a friend who makes new recipes almost every night of the week, she spends a fortune on food and then has to ask her parents for money (she is 35!). New recipes can be expensive. If you like to cook choose 1 day a week where you try out a new recipe and always remember you can substitute for less expensive ingredients.
5. Watch your portion sizes. I’ve already mentioned how I’ve been able to get a meal stretched into 3 meals.
6. Add something to leftovers. Not sure if there is enough soup to last another meal, this often means you eat more than you need or throw it out, not needed, simply add extra lentils or a can of chopped tomatoes and you’ve suddenly got enough for another meal.
7. Shop in those cupboards! Make use of lentils, chickpeas, pasta, tinned veggies in your cupboards.
8. Cut that meat! Start by trying to have 2 meatless days a week, then stretch it to 3, then 4. There is nothing wrong with eating meat & fish, but you really don’t need it every single day.
9. Use basic alternatives. You don’t need small packages of brand name rice, cous cous, pasta etc. Get large basic bags and use spices to flavour. Why pay £1.50 for a small package of rice, when you can get a large bag of brown rice for under £1 = $2 that gives you 3-4x the amount!
10. Shop local, organic and fairtrade. May not be the cheapest all the time, but it gets you out of the precedent of thinking “oh I’ll buy that it’s only £1″ – and that I feel is the most dangerous way of thinking!
I’d like to add that one area I feel very passionate about is around cheap meat. I don’t buy it, I don’t promote it and I would urge everyone to read more about why
For an Example of My Weekly Shopping Bill, as requested, see below:
- Organic tinned peaches £0.44 = $.88 cents
- 2 loose organic oranges £.61 =$1.22
- 2 loose organic granny smith apples £.50 =$1
- 2 large baking potatoes £0.67 = $1.34
- Large bag organic rocket lettuce £1.59=£3.19
- 2 large onions loose £0.43 = $.86
- Large organic red pepper £0.68 = $1.36
- Large organic cabbage £1.28= $2.56
- 2 very large organic tomatoes £1.09= $2.18
- 1 small punnet organic grapes £1.39 = $2.78
- Small organic Steak £3.50 = $7.00 (my iron is low, so it was recommended)
- Celery £0.34 = $0.78
- Watermelon £2.49 = $4.98
- 3 courgettes aka zuchinni = £0.99 = $1.98
- Bag of split pea lentils = £0.65 = $1.30
- Bag of whole wheat pasta = £0.49 = $0.98
- Small organic skimmed milk £0.66 = $1.22
Total Cost: £18.90 = $37.80
Plans for meals include: rocket with peach salad and a baked potato, veggie stirfry with brown rice, steak with basil stuffed tomatoes and saute cabbage, zucchini pasta, split lentil soup with a salad and cabbage soup served with a baked potato! I will also be relying on left over yogurt and Wheetabix from last week’s shop as well as peanut butter from the cupboard -brilliant on top of celery for lunch!
Feels pretty good knowing I’m saving £40/$80 a week, with really minimal effort!
What great ideas. I’m taking notes, ya know? BTW… did you change your layout? Something looks different. I LIKE IT
By: Momma on July 5, 2008
at 7:33 pm
Those are all great tips! I do the same as you, with the meal planning… I have 6 or 7 ideas (I leave 1 night for leftovers usually) then I decide that morning or afternoon what I feel like eating.
You got some great buys!! I pay a lot more for fruits and veggies here, even the conventional stuff!
By: CanadianSaver on July 6, 2008
at 1:08 am
Hi Canadian Saver, my fruit and veg are cheaper as I go to a market and only buy 1 or 2 of each! The watermelon is about 1/4th the size of Canadian ones, did make me laugh when I saw how big yours were compared to ours! It’s my one luxury indulgence – although the food miles it travels makes me feel ill!
By: notesfromthefrugaltrenches on July 6, 2008
at 10:14 am
[...] Top 10 Ways To Cut Your Grocery Bill By Half [...]
By: Sunday Link Love | Remodeling This Life on July 6, 2008
at 3:39 pm
I menu plan the way you do, too. I’ve tried sticking to a ’set day plan’ but it just didn’t work me either.
I’m looking forward to seeing how much my grocery bill drops once my daughter moves out as she’s just a little too keen on snacky stuff.
By: Sharon J on July 6, 2008
at 11:28 pm
You are correct that trying alot of new recipes is so very costly. If I’m going to try a new recipe it will only be once a week. I cook a large amount of food–then the next day we warm up the left overs. This works well for me because the left over day is when I get to work more writing my blogs or playing the piano.
By: nichole3 on July 12, 2008
at 10:26 pm
If you have a balcony or window box, you can grow your own rocket (arugula). It grows like a weed. $3 per bag is a killer.
By: Diana on July 31, 2008
at 8:00 am
[...] don’t feel I need to buy the same thing every week. I also make sure I use my own tips found here and have no doubt that recording what I already have on the shopping list I take with me, plus the [...]
By: The great BIG shop costs oh so little….come shopping with me! « Notes From The Frugal Trenches - A Downshifting Journey on August 9, 2008
at 3:20 pm
i really want to grow my own rocket. but it didnt grow like a weed at all. can Diana give me more tips on this please?
I generally try this sort of thing, but I have abig man partner who is convinced that meat is an important part of every meal!! but we do go to our local very good butcher – and I do make stock from the bones. its hard with the portion sizes too – my man wants to eat very large amounts. he really should cut down too…. but its hard to control someone else.
By: moyra chestnutt on November 12, 2008
at 10:06 am
[...] Info on how to cut your grocery bill, please read this post and this one Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Emergency Fund Goals!Conflicting Goals, Maybe?Get [...]
By: Simple Living and Reducing Stress - Part I « Notes From The Frugal Trenches - A Downshifting Journey on November 16, 2008
at 1:59 pm
[...] I was getting concerned these days were over, I didn’t need to worry, sticking to my usual tips and system and I’m happy to report I left with my bags filled with good food and was only [...]
By: The £13 weekly shop! « Notes From The Frugal Trenches - A Downshifting Journey on January 17, 2009
at 10:06 am
[...] list and try making one new dish a week – that way it doesn’t blow out our grocery bill. Like Notes from the Frugal Trenches points out, it’s actually really expensive to be trying new recipes all the time, unless you [...]
By: I’m not gonna try to be a super chef « Musings of an Aberrant Aucklander on April 20, 2009
at 10:35 am
I am growing mesclun in a window box in the early spring and it is growing like crazy! (Rocket is one of the seeds that was part of the mix). This is the first year that I grew it from seeds, and I will never buy it from the nursery again.
Just buy a window box. I bought one that had a resevoir in the bottom to hold extra water b/c I am lazy and don’t like to carry water through the house to my deck if I don’t have to (I live in a 2-family house on the second floor). I filled it with soil until about 2 inches from the top. I scattered the seeds around (don’t worry about using too much -you can get rid of the extra seedlings later), and then covered it with a light dusting of soil. Three days later I saw seedlings!
And now I am eating the lettuce. They can tolerate a light frost (or you can give them a little blanket for the cold nights-use something to cover it up.), but they don’t like hot weather. 55-60F and wet, cool weather they enjoy.
It is SO easy that I can’t imagine NOT growing lettuce. And you can just take some of the leaves and leave the rest of the plant in the ground to keep growing.
I encourage anyone who wants to eat healthy and frugally to give it a try!
Kris in JP
By: Kris on May 12, 2009
at 12:53 am