The FastDay Forum

I withdraw money once a month and that's all I spend for the groceries. AsI never take my credit card with me (which only use I have is to withdraw money anyway) and don't have cheques (which are more and more refused anyway) I can't go over the budget, impossible.

The prices are higher, for sure. I did a bit of a survey to compare prices and it's amazing. When I lived in Orléans, I used to go to Anchan, which is a big thing, and now, if I did still do my groceries there, I would spend 25% more, at least !

I go to Aldi, Lidl and Leclerc and the funny thing is a lot of things are cheaper at Leclerc if you take the supermarket brand, it's crazy when you know that the other 2 are supposed to be discounts supermarkets !

I will try to do shopping once a week, except for the water, cat food and we'll see

I don't plan menus except for fast days (and even then only a bit) and there's only me to buy for.

1. Because I live alone, I don't have a budget - my income is reasonable and as a foodie I don't stint on paying more but buying less (eg I'd rather have a really high quality steak of 100g than a cheaper one of 150g that will be chewy and tasteless). Despite being splashy, I *am* fairly frugal where it counts (see point 5). I actually try to avoid the supermarket for a lot of things - the Asian grocer (point 2) sells tinned tomatoes much more cheaply, ditto herbs and spices, dried pulses and couscous, etc. I find supermarkets quite expensive on the whole so I mostly only drop by to raid the clearance goods or pick up offers. Oh and to buy alcohol when I want some.

2. I aim to eat seasonally and I'm lucky that I have both a local outdoor market and a massive Asian grocer very nearby where I can buy just what I need, even if it's only one carrot. I can get meat and fish there too although I mostly buy my meat online from an organic supplier who does a "monthly" box sized for one person (and at £45 it's very good value for money). A spend of £7-8 a week is enough for all my weekly veg and fruit - at the supermarket I'd be paying closer to £20 and as a lot of it is prepacked I'd be buying more than I want or need. My only concession here is bags of onions and potatoes. Also, I never, ever buy veg or fruit that has been peeled and chopped already. You end up paying 3 times as much and it takes only 30 seconds to chop a fresh onion. Lazy = expensive.

3. Once every 3 weeks or so, I do an online shop for big stuff - I don't drive so I can't carry much shopping home. This shop is for cat food/litter, cleaning/laundry stuff, loo roll and toiletries etc. I rarely buy fresh food as I like to see it before I buy and even dry groceries only if I can't get them elsewhere locally, such as unsweetened soya milk.

4. I shop locally every 2-3 days to get whatever veg I need or other bits and bobs.

5. I make good use of my freezer. I keep frozen peas, broad beans and spinach in it, fish and meat (especially from the box above, but anything else I pick up - I like to raid the clearance fridge at the supermarket. On Saturday I bought a 650g pork fillet this way and when I got home, I cut it into 5 portions and froze them. And because I live alone, if I make a stew I make enough for 3-4 portions and freeze the ones I'm not eating on the day I cooked it.

6. I have 2 supermarkets opposite each other in my neighbourhood - I keep an eye on their specials and pick them up if it's something I want/need. Half-price weekend offers at Lidl are particularly good for veg and things like ground coffee (I drink a lot of coffee). I also use the supermarkets for dairy - cheese, fat-free Greek yoghurt, free-range eggs and half-fat crème fraiche (which I've been using for years as a substitute for ordinary cream).

7. I have a shopping list app on my phone (called OurGroceries) so I can add things as they run out or run low. When I do a shop, I can see what I need to buy fresh or order online. Sticking to a list means I'm less likely to buy stuff I don't really need. Supermarkets are very bad at distracting shoppers with special offers for sweets, cakes and fizzy drinks. That said, I will buy on offer if it's something I usually have anyway. And I do occasionally buy a treat.

8. It's cheaper for me to buy a whole organic chicken for £8-10 than portions. I can feed myself for a week that way. I roast the bird and eat a leg for dinner. The rest of the meat gets stripped off next day and split into portions. Some will be chilled in the fridge for sandwiches/risotto/salad, the rest I'll freeze. The carcass goes in the pressure cooker to make stock. I waste none of it. If I had more space in my tiny flat I'd bulk-buy other things.

9. I bake my own bread - 2 loaves at a time, freezing one once it's cooled down. It's not necessarily cheaper but I hate white sliced factory bread - I know exactly what goes into my own bread and it's healthier. I also make my own sauces - again it's healthier than whatever's in a jar bought at a supermarket, and cheaper. I know exactly what's gone in it. A pasta sauce of tomatoes, onion, garlic and herbs takes 5 mins to prep then 30 minutes on the hob. I batch-cook enough for 4-5 portions and freeze them.

(BTW, who ever said winter tomatoes are tasteless is only half-right - buy Dutch or Belgian and they will be as they are grown in vast hydroponic sheds under artificial light and in sand. Tomatoes need sunshine to develop taste so in winter you need to look for toms from southern Spain or Morocco. I eat a lot of tomatoes all year round!)

The cost of living has gone up more than 5% in the UK since 2010. It varies a bit as to where you live and what you include. I imagine similar in France.
I couldn't agree more about using cash limiting what you buy. Even ordering online, which I do regularly, I get tempted. I'm beginning to think I shall do what my mother did - have a row of jamjars, marked "food", "clothes", etc!
I'll be keeping my cash under the mattress next!
Seriously though, I wish I could think that making everything yourself was cheaper. Not so sure. What do others think?

I can't eat process food, I am sick everytime I try and the scandal about horse meat in some products we had this year taught me I was right all along. Is it cheaper to cook ? Well, I think so but it's my take on it and the best thing is I know exactly what I eat.

Another thing which costs a bit much is the meat and eggs. I only eat white meat, turkey and chicken and since I saw a documentary on chickens, I only eat bio chickens,, turkeys and eggs. I am not a big meat eater so the budget is not overwhelming and I prefer the quality anyway

It must be a question in the air, how to save money, I was watching last night a new Jamie Oliver serie "Jamie money saving meals". It can give ideas, which is always good.

My dad bakes me some bread I freeze from time to time. I am not a big bread eater so I don't see the point to buy some

And I'll watch for the app, if it can help me to not have post it on my fridge, it will be all good...

Pammy - I think it depends on what you make LOL! Personally I use expensive things like coconut oil and organic things, I could probably buy ready made stuff cheaper than what I make but the quality wouldn't be the same. Also there can be a big initial cost when you start making things from scratch for things like spices and other stock cupboard ingrediants, but once they are bought it should get cheaper!

[carorees]

I think the bottled water is costing a lot. Is there any way that a water filter would make it drinkable? the filter should remove the chemicals. I think that would save a lot of money even allowing for the cost of the filters.

No, there is no way even a filter would change the water. There is a lot of limestone in it andn I mean a lot (my skin and hair suffers a lot from it since I moved here) and a lot of chemicals. I tried everything, water filter, boiling it, and it doesn't change a thing. Worse, when boiled, it's undrinkable because the taste of the limestone and chemicals is even stronger so imagine your coffee or tea with a big taste of chemicals in it....

The water bottles I buy are the cheapest, it's not mineral water but big 5 liters spring water bottles and it costs me 4 euros a month.

[carorees]

Then it seems to me you're doing everything possible but you can't control the food prices

This is a very useful post. I am always looking at ways to save money on grocery shopping but have failed miserably. I always get sucked in by special offers and buy stuff we dont necessarily want or need. Got a fridge full of chocolate and instead of letting it deplete I add more and more because of the deals that Tescos run... A good tip about just using cash to shop - I will try that too.

It also depends what you eat. After all if you eat a lot of pasta, bread, rice, legumes such as beans, lentils chickpeas etc. you could eat fairly cheaply, but this is not an option if you are going low carb. I do agree that the veg and fruit offers in Aldi are very good and I tend to buy most of my veg there. I am eating low(ish) carb, so to feel full I am trying to lose my fear of fat and eating more of it, but as it tends to be olive oil, coconut oil, butter, cheese and cream it is not particularly cheap, but that said, a small amount is filling and helps plain veggie ingredients to taste delicious!
Cheap fish like sardines, herring and mackerel are a great choice if you like them, likewise liver etc. but I think it is now recommended not to eat liver too often. I find cheap cuts of meat like lamb shoulder or scrag end make really filling tasty meals, but one of the best and cheapest foods is probably the good old egg.

My kids went vegetarian at Uni because it was cheaper!

The cost of living has gone up more than 5% in the UK since 2010. It varies a bit as to where you live and what you include.

Food prices alone in the UK have gone up 4.5% in the last year and going up faster than other items such as travel costs, petrol and utilities. That's also an average - many individual food items have had price rises of 20-40% in the last 3 years.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... inues.html

I am also picking up quite a few good tips about saving money on grocery shopping. I live on a boat and in my small fridge is a freezing compartment which is just an ice box so I can't cook batches of food or buy in bulk. I also only eat chicken (breast meat) and occasionally a slice of ham so my menus are rather limited! Menu planning definitely helps and I have noticeably reduced my expenditure as does buying foods in season so I have a quick turnover of the perishables and there is no wastage. I walk everywhere and as others have mentioned I also have a master list of which supermarket has the cheapest price of each item (Lidl is not necessarily cheaper than the local shops). I take advantage of bogof offers. We eat a lot of non-meat meals (ie veggies and legumes not tofu etc).

To be honest,
5-2 and 4-3 helps you save money on shopping cause intrinsically we cut at least 20% off our food grocery bill. Thisis based on less consumptions, significantly on fast days and then on other days, many people are saying that they tend to eat the "bad" foods much less. And those "bad foods" are typcially the preprocessed stuff in the middle of the supermarket - e.g. muesli bars, crisps, soft drink, confectionary, prepackaged canned meals etc etc. All much more expensive than eating fresh and healthily.

on one of my earlier posts I worked out a person would save around $30 Aussie dollars a week. (say 20 UK points) for ever adult in a household and if thats too thats enough to buy a new car! 5-2-diet-chat-f6/topic4284.html

anyway this WOL lends itself to saving lots of dollars at the grocery store.

This may be true in Australia but not over here.

Since I began dieting I cut off a lot of things, alcohol and other stuff and, as I said earlier, I cook everything from scratch, no process food and no junk food either, only fresh and helthy food.

I eat less, but it doesn't matter, as the prices keep going up, I don't see any difference on my bill at the end of the day. I thought it was because I did too much at a time (once a month), but no, it's not that,

2 years ago I spent 30 euros and had enough food for 2 weeks (I am talking only food, not cleaning products on soaps and shampoos), now I have to spend 50 euros for the same results. And I live in a small town so imagine if I lived in a big city.

As I said earlier also, I recently compared prices from the big town where I lived before and here and the prices in the big town are 10% more expansive.

And I can't even imagine how it is if you live in Paris !