I should preface this by saying I don’t buy cheap food. I don’t believe in buying processed nonsense and putting those toxins in my body. For a very long time my organic, local & fair trade (when not local) values meant I was spending £60 a week on food and saw nothing wrong with that, I eventually realized I could spend a great deal less AND still stick to my values.
So as promised, by request, here is how I did my shop!
The first thing I did today was get out a piece of scrap paper and go shopping in my fridge, freezer and cupboards. In my fridge I had: organic radishes, 1 large organic tomato, 3 potatoes, honey, 2 organic carrots, tofu pieces, 1 small avocado and a small package of green beans. In the freezer I had: quorn vegetarian mince, 1 piece of vegetarian lasagna (leftover), 1 portion of summer soup (leftover) and frozen broccoli florets. In my cupboard I had: 2 cans of tuna, 1 small bag of brown rice, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, 2 vegetable stock cubes, 1 bag of puy lentils, 1 small package of bulgar wheat, 1 small package of quinoa, 1 small package of barley, 1/2 a small package of penne, 6 large spelt Food Dr crackers.
Then on the same scrap paper I began building meals:
Bulgar Wheat could be made into a nice salad with veggies
Crackers with avocado & tomato for lunch
Puy Lentils and Rice could make a good combo to take to work
Tofu pieces would work well with green beans (stir fry) for dinner
As most know I am committed to 5 a day (minimum) for cancer prevention- so I then started on my grocery list, here is what it said:
4 mostly organic fruits
3 mostly organic veggies (I already have broccoli, green beans, radishes and avocado that must be used this week!)
2 organic dairy products – flexible depending on costs
Lemon – to make homemade salad dressing and to enjoy with hot water
1 dairy replacement drink with Omega 3 & 6
1 bread product
So, I then packed 3 bags from home, my calculator and my list and off I went!
Upon entering the store I immediately went around the magazines & flowers so I didn’t let my eye wander. I got out my list & calculator and got to work!
Veggie Aisle
I knew I wanted salad – looked @ the spinach, pea shoots and rocket. Firstly, the shop had NO organic salad mixes or lettuce left, so I had no choice but to get non-organic. I find I don’t ever get through a whole bag before it’s pretty tired, so I knew I wanted small portions. I found the smallest bag for £1 on sale and put that in my cart. It should do me for 3 small side salads and a couple of sandwiches.
I then picked up a small organic garlic.
Next was 1 small organic courgette/ zucchini
Then I found a small package of cooked organic spinach
I then stopped the cart, looked at what veggies I have at home plus the veggies I was buying and checked I had enough to have 3 portions of veggies a day between today and Friday. Yes, I did, so I could move on.
Fruit:
Fruit contains natural sugar that stops me craving the bad stuff, so I knew I wanted to find fruit that would give me many portions for the week. I also try to focus on low GI fruit (the type 1 diabetes friendly diet – diet meaning way of eating NOT reducing your calories to lose weight!). For me melons are out so despite the fact they were on sale, I decided not to go there. Instead I looked at nectarines and apricots. Both were available in organic form. I searched for other organic fruit and once again there were slim pickings this week! So I decided to get the nectarines and apricots. The nectarines will provide a great fruit to take to work, the apricots will be good as a snack and in a salad with the rocket and radishes. I then also got my small package of organic grapes which I love with spinach and found non organic Kiwi fruit for £1! Again counted up my portions and found I had enough to have 3 fruits a day!
Finally I got a lemon!
Dairy
As I knew I had a tomato left, I decided mozzarella would be a good accompaniment for a tomato and mozzarella salad! I found 1 small organic mozzarella ball left and placed it in the trolley! I would have liked to get feta as well but then remembered that I don’t need 2 cheeses this week and feta can be for next week!
I then looked @ yogurts and decided to get a tzatziki that was on sale – made with healthy plain yogurt. I knew this would provide a good dip for my carrots and broccoli but would also be nice mixed with tuna or on the side with a spinach dish.
Finally, I knew I had a craving for chocolate so decided instead to go for a chocolate calcium drink with added Omega 3&6 which was a healthier alternative and would give me a small glass to drink each day!
Meat Alternative
I noticed as I walked in that the butcher had several vegetarian specials. There was no queue but I let the couple behind me go first as I didn’t want to impulse buy. I had another look @ the list and could see I had plenty of protein via lentils, soya mince, my vegetarian lasagna and summer soup, so decided I only needed 1 thing. I decided on 1 organic vegetarian sausage that the butcher assured me was meat free & made that morning! It has lovely peppers and apple in it so I’m actually quite excited to try it!
Bakery
I indulged myself in my favourite treat – 1 flax,cranberry & pumpkin seed muffin which I very much enjoy having on a Sunday morning! This little indulgence is £0.65=$1.30 so I didn’t feel too bad. My calculator was telling me I had £1 left so I went searching for healthy bread – for me it needs to be brown, have seeds and be organic. Well no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t find one for less than £1.15 and this week I was determined to stick to the £15 grocery limit. I then thought about looking @ the rolls. I found a small package of 5 organic seed rolls that would be perfect. I was getting excited then because I haven’t had bread or rolls in a few weeks!
Review:
I then pull my trolley to a quiet corner and look again @ my list, add up my fruit & veggie portions and think about dairy or dairy alternative portions. I found I had enough to meet the recommended intake each day. I then took a look @ everything in my trolley and saw that the garlic wasn’t really needed as I wasn’t making anything this week that would require it. Rather then have it perish in my fridge, I decided to put it back.
I did a quick calculation again and while I couldn’t confirm the price of the grapes or courgette until I got to the counter, I was estimating my shop was around £14.75.
Off to check out I went and my final bill was £14.49 = $27.80 (US) and $29.60 (Cdn)
I think the only way I make my budget work is my flexible shopping list, my ability to make my own dishes rather than buying pre-packaged meals/salads and the fact I 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 fact I use my calculator throughout the shop, really helps!
So this is stage 1, over the next 5 days as I do my daily tracking I will make sure that I share what I’ve eaten each day and recipes where appropriate!
Knowing I haven’t compromised my values and yet have taken 75% off the cost of my weekly grocery bill makes me very happy!
I love how you ’shop’ in your fridge, freezer & pantry & do your meal planning before heading for the shops. Such a simple hint which really assists in avoiding those impulse buys or ‘overbuys’ of items already lurking in the far reaches of our pantry.
I try to menu plan ahead of shopping & will list needed items to complete planned dishes with a flexible ’something green or yellow’ approach to selection. A keen eye for reductions is a bonus as you can often stretch a planned meal to have leftovers for several freezable meals.
By: Kerry Lloyd on August 9, 2008
at 3:33 pm
Thanks for your comments Kerry! Yes, I think the flexible – green or yellow approach would be frugal too!
Because it is all on one list it makes me feel like I’ve bought more then I have and certainly works for me!
By: Frugal Trenches on August 9, 2008
at 3:45 pm
WOW I can’t believe you’ve been able to cut your spending so much and still eat healthy. We find that it is the processed and pre-made stuff that is expensive but get suckered in every time. I love how u shop at your house first.
We don’t eat anywhere near as healthy but spend probably $100 a week (for 2) not including the breakfast we eat out on Sundays and probably we have chinese 1x a week. Maybe I should try your tips!
Great blog BTW!
Annie in NY
By: Annie (NY) on August 9, 2008
at 5:34 pm
Great job!! There’s no way I could eat organic foods for the price that you do… but I’m taking advantage of the stuff we have in the garden.
You say melons are out, is it because you don’t like the taste?
By: CanadianSaver on August 9, 2008
at 5:48 pm
This post was really fun to read and I can’t wait for the next one! How much time did this meal planning – shopping process take? I noticed that you don’t have coffee or traditional breakfast items (i.e. oatmeal, eggs).
By: J on August 9, 2008
at 5:51 pm
Wow…I’m speechless. Here I am thinking I did a pretty smoking shop for “only” $128 today on my groceries and whatnots. My 2 green peppers were $2.54 alone! The plan, however, is to make this food last at least two weeks, if not longer. I have no excuse to not eat well for a lot less than I do, despite “no cheap eats.”
I did bring out some recipes before I went though and went through those to pick out some stuff I’d need for them, so hopefully they’ll be two-three day indulgences.
I’m simply floored at how dedicated you are to this. I have a long way to go, but that’s why I’ve started reading posts like this: to take ideas away and do better. Congrats!
By: Annie on August 9, 2008
at 6:41 pm
This is really clever! I’d never thought of taking a list of what I had at home to the supermarket with me – I can see how that would really help with planning your weekly meals.
Unfortunately I’d never be able to get my weekly shop that low. I feed two people, technically 3 since my boyfriend is such a greedy, and I also snack a lot on bananas, tomatoes and grapes throughout the day which pushes my budget up a bit.
Great tips though – thanks so much for sharing!
By: Holly on August 9, 2008
at 6:54 pm
Great post and very pratical to put into place – will definately get round to my menu planning next week now!
By: apieceofwood on August 9, 2008
at 7:14 pm
Annie in NY good luck, I’m sure you’ll be able to shave something off your budget, start small, something like 10%!
Glad you like the blog!
By: Frugal Trenches on August 9, 2008
at 7:19 pm
CanadianSaver, I am sooo jealous I wish I had a garden!!
I think the reason I can find cheaper organic is here in Europe you can get very small portions. When I lived in N.America I found things cheaper per kg, but much bigger portions so you had to shop in a stock up kinda way!
By: Frugal Trenches on August 9, 2008
at 7:20 pm
re melons – I have them sometimes but they make my blood sugar high and I’m trying to be good!
By: Frugal Trenches on August 9, 2008
at 7:21 pm
Hi J
Well I rotate my food – so while I wanted to buy oatmeal it wasn’t in the budget this week, so I went without!
By: Frugal Trenches on August 9, 2008
at 7:21 pm
Hi Annie
Yes, I love peppers too but they were too expensive this week for me. Maybe they’ll be in the budget next week!
Start small, maybe try to shave 10% off the budget? That’s how I started I went from about £60 to £50 then £40 then £30 and now, hopefully down to £15!
By: Frugal Trenches on August 9, 2008
at 7:24 pm
Holly, glad you liked it. It will be interesting when I have a guest for a week to see how it changes!
By: Frugal Trenches on August 9, 2008
at 7:25 pm
apieceofwood really glad it’s helped! You can do it
By: Frugal Trenches on August 9, 2008
at 7:27 pm
£15 for the week for food is amazingly good, especially as it is healthy and organic. I menu plan, cook all my own meals and am more or less vegetarian (sometimes have the odd piece of chicken or bacon as a treat) but my weekly shopping budget is much higher than £15. Mind you, I am a bit of a greedy pig with food so that is probably where I’m going wrong. I look forward to reading what you have to eat each day and any recipes you post too. Keep up the good work.
By: Elizabeth on August 9, 2008
at 7:33 pm
What an excellent post! Thanks so much. I will certainly use your tip of shopping in my fridge and pantry first. I have just started menu planning and it has really helping the family budget. I have also started soaking beans instead of using tinned and am very pleased with the savings.
By: Diana (Vancouver) on August 9, 2008
at 7:40 pm
Thanks Elizabeth, I have to admit I do eat less now on £15 budget then I did on £60, but not to diet, but to eat healthy! I don’t find I’m hungry but I do hope it will eventually help the waistline too! lol
Thanks Diana! I too buy chickpeas that need soaking, a lot cheaper then the cans!
By: Frugal Trenches on August 9, 2008
at 8:03 pm
Hi Frugal
Have you considered growing rocket on your windowsill?
See
http://www.tmseeds.com/product/414
By: Sandie on August 9, 2008
at 8:18 pm
Oh Sandie, I’d LOVE to but sadly in my flat there are no windowsill’s! I know it’s very strange….!!
Perhaps when I move that will be possible! I used to grow veggies in my garden so I really miss it!
By: Frugal Trenches on August 9, 2008
at 8:26 pm
J
I reckon it takes me 10 minutes pre trip of going through my stock (albeit very small!) and then an aditional 10 min in the store calculating costs, taking back things in the trolley and contemplating what to buy. But, because I purchase so little physically getting the groceries takes only 10 minutes!
By: Frugal Trenches on August 9, 2008
at 10:30 pm
this is a really helpful post! I love the way you are so organised and have the discipline to stick to your food budget. I really need to get my act together with the food shopping!
By: louise on August 9, 2008
at 10:45 pm
Wow, this is inspirational. My goal is actually to eat as you do – healthy, vegetarian (i’ll ignore the tuna
, and cheap. Unfortunatly my binge eating has given me weight issues, but I hope one day to get that under control.
Also, I am HIGHLY jealous of your veggie-sausage producing butcher!
You’ve made me look twice at tomorrow’s grocery list
More posts like this please!
By: Sarah on August 9, 2008
at 11:25 pm
this is great! i spent $70 last week on groceries and was appalled! but i also bought 4 pints of blueberries (i love them) and a big bottle of olive oil – that was $20 right there. this week i spent $4! i should have enough food for two weeks, so i should be within my budget ($25/week) over the 3 week period.
the sad part was not going to the farmers market, but i was determined to stick to the budget for the month!
i really think meal planning and knowing what you have in your pantry is really really important. two things i really need to work on (hmmm, there is a post in the making here!).
By: deepali on August 10, 2008
at 12:11 am
I plan meals for a fortnight using my list of what’s in the cupboard, fridge & freezer (I keep a running inventory of everything from herbs and spices to meat and veg). Since becoming more organised I’ve saved huge amounts and no longer have a cupboard/freezer full of stuff but nothing to make a decent meal from.
I do indulge a little more when I have guests for dinner but generally manage to stick to a budget of around £35-40 per week for two of us and a couple of guests each week. I don’t think that’s too bad. And, like you, we don’t ‘go without’.
Menu planning around what you already have is something I’d recommend to everybody.
By: Sharon J on August 10, 2008
at 1:43 am
[...] Tracking – money and food – Day 1 I’m really glad people enjoyed my last post, if you’d of told me 6 months ago that I would be able to slash my shopping budget by 75% I [...]
By: Daily Tracking - money and food - Day 1 « Notes From The Frugal Trenches - A Downshifting Journey on August 10, 2008
at 10:10 am
Hi Sarah
Glad you enjoyed it and I’ll try to do more posts like this, although I’m sure people would get bored!
Don’t blame yourself re your weight, I’ve really struggled with my weight myself I now just focus on eating healthy!
By: Frugal Trenches on August 10, 2008
at 10:44 am
Deepali
Can’t wait to see that post :0)
Yes, I too had to make sacrifices to stay in budget this month, but am very happy I did!
By: Frugal Trenches on August 10, 2008
at 10:46 am
Sharon I sooo agree!
By: Frugal Trenches on August 10, 2008
at 10:46 am
Thanks for taking us shopping with you! I really enjoyed it and wish I could shop with your self discipline (I am far too greedy!
but trying to overcome that!)
By: catz on August 11, 2008
at 8:05 am
This is amazing. And inspiring, I so need to make more effort on this again.
My biggest problem is that in the supermarket I can convince myself that I don’t need “nice things” (aka snacks) but in real life, I do somehow. This means that there are extra food shops to pick up snacks, which of course always means more expense.
Your food sounds nice as well. I’m accepting my own quirks are realising that I should priorities things that don’t need much washing up. Or preparation. Laziness is a terrible curse.
By: plonkee on August 11, 2008
at 12:18 pm
Oh catz I can be greedy sometimes too!!! Cupcakes are my weakness but I’m trying to only have 1 a couple of times a year!
By: Frugal Trenches on August 11, 2008
at 6:03 pm
Thanks Plonkee!
I think that’s why I buy my fruit and so much of it, I know what will happen if I don’t I’ll need snacks!
lol laughing about the laziness I feel lazy every single day!
By: Frugal Trenches on August 11, 2008
at 6:04 pm
[...] by deepali on August 13, 2008 This fabulous post at Notes from the Frugal Trenches had me thinking about how I manage to keep grocery costs [...]
By: how to keep grocery costs down without clipping coupons « Paradigm Shifted on August 13, 2008
at 12:32 pm
[...] I just got back from doing the weekly shop for the grand total of £14.85 = approx $27 US. I did my grocery shopping tricks and once again it [...]
By: Groceries and Daily Spending « Notes From The Frugal Trenches - A Downshifting Journey on August 27, 2008
at 6:49 pm
Thank you for posting this link in my blog, very much appreciated!!! and WOW!
That’s the first thing that came to mind. I am going to be cooking for 2 (and one of us REALLY loves his food). Looking in my pantry/freezer before i go out and purchase new food is something i admit, i never do! It’s funny how things may appear as common sense take us by surprise! Thanks again!! I will definitely be using these tips for this week.
By: Frugal Dreamer on September 1, 2008
at 8:14 pm
It’s so funny that I just stumbled up on this. I’ve been doing something so similar for the last 5 weeks & have lost 28lbs, even though I’m feeling like I’m eating more.
I’ve started to shop almost solely at Whole Foods, where I look for low glycemic foods and organic foods. I find that I’m spending way less per week, because I’m only buying 2-3 days worth of food to avoid spoilage and waste. But, I’m saving money, because I’m not buying frozen/prepared foods and junk food.
My one splurge per week is sugar-free chocolate, which I spend $2-4US a week on. It helps me out, knowing that on Monday night, I’ll be having some chocolate.
I also slowly weeded out the bad non-perishables I have. I live in a large apartment building (24floors), and I’ve twice put a bag or box of it in the mailroom. It never lasts there for more than 20 minutes before someone adopts it.
By: Lost In Wonder on September 17, 2008
at 1:19 pm
[...] Info on how to cut your grocery bill, please read this post and this one Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Emergency Fund Goals!Conflicting [...]
By: Simple Living and Reducing Stress - Part I « Notes From The Frugal Trenches - A Downshifting Journey on November 16, 2008
at 11:40 am
A very belated response to this topic, and also slightly OTT, but please forgive me. Frugal Trench – thanks so much for alerting people about what can be done: where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Now the OTT bit: For those of you who have the space – and you really only need a a square foot – Google square foot gardening. Basically gardening-in-a-box, it’s an amaxing way of maximising gardening space. I went way overboard, building 3 boxes, but hope to be able to feed not only myself, by also my gardener and housemaid & their families. Excess after that will be donated to an HIV/Aids group close to where I live.
I live in Botswana and, at a rough guess, 95 % of our fresh produce are imported, mainly from South Africa. Not much organic food, though. However, SFG gives me the chance to enjoy gardening, eat food that I know is organic, and save lots.
By: Kalaharikind on February 10, 2009
at 12:05 pm
[...] Firstly thank you for all the lovely comments on the last post! As promised, here is PART I of how I eat for a week on £20. I accomplished my shop this morning, using my typical weekly system. [...]
By: £20 weekly shop (aka grocery shop) Part I « Notes From The Frugal Trenches – A Downshifting Journey on August 6, 2009
at 11:42 am
[...] Overall I’d say I’m not a big spender, but as I’ve also said, I think I could get my £26 weekly spending down to £18-20. I plan to take a calculator with me too, what a brilliant idea! [...]
By: Frugal Food « Simple Wings on December 21, 2009
at 7:03 am