Shopping on a budget

Try the forums on www.moneysavingexpert.com - they have a number of threads on meal planning.

HTH

I'm using lots of turkey mince instead of beef mince for making bolognese/chilli at the moment, it's cheaper. I'm also using chicken thighs rather than breast for making curries and casseroles.

M&S do packs of sausages for 99p or 2 packs of slightly nicer ones for £3 which make a nice meal with oven chips and beans or tinned toms.

I was going to suggest cheaper cuts of meat. We've taken to buying chicken drumsticks instead of breasts. I marinade with a variety of different spices and batch freeze. They can be served with rice, salad, or potatoes. In addition to this I use thighs & legs in curry as it's 'meatier'. I discovered chicken livers recently, real cheap and delicious! I cooked them in a hot pan and served with salad. DE licious!

Lentils are always recommended on here but I've yet to try them.

Buying lot's of veg and making soup is also very good.

You can make fantastic home-made baked beans for next to nothing, and really very simply.

You can get dried cannellini beans for about 50p for 500g, dried haricot beans for about a pound. Soak about 1kg of mixed beans (cannellini, haricot, borlotti - whatever) in water over night, drain and boil for 15 mins. drain and put the beans in a large pot with a couple of tins of tomatoes, any veg you have handy (peppers, courgette, celery - whatever) and cook in a low oven for a few hours. You can add sausages (brown them first) or bacon ends. Season as required, but don't add salt until near the end, as it can toughen the beans.

I don't really have a recipe for this, I do it by feel, and trying to remember it is hard! but it really is very simple, and very cheap, and very tasty!

Veggie meals

Cheap cuts of meat then bulk out with veg (so not meals with big chunks of meat like chops, chicken breasts, etc.)

Buy in season fruit and veg off the market if possible or check out the RFQS at the end of the day at the supermarket.

Audit your cupboards/fridge/freezer and see what you already have in and work around that.

Meal plan and stick to your list when shopping

No expensive snacks like crisps, chocolate, etc

To reduce our shopping bill i've changed where i shop. I spent £90 in Lidl and Iceland last week on food shopping and it will probably last for about 2 and a half/3 weeks. I've bought lentils and use them to bulk our chillis and bolognaise so i don't need as much mince. I still buy nice lean steak mince though. I make everything from scratch rather than ready meals or jars of sauce. I get through tons of tins of chopped tomatos and use them for the base of loads of meals i make.

If you don't what to go to places like Lidl or Aldi or Netto then try going to the other supermarkets towards the end of the day and get bread/meat etc when it's been reduced. It'll freeze and be fine.

I use own brands of most things, Lidl and Aldi also do really nice chocolate and biscuits so i can still have the odd treat.

Try this stie www.mysupermarket.co.uk it gives you the cheepest place to buy from after entering the items and aslo gives you a cheeper alternative that you might not notice instore.

buying things from market if you can. cheeper cuts of meat (google is your friend here to find out what they are)

stews are cheep and easy to make lots a veg a little bit of beef skirt (or what ever is cheepest) v tasty.

meal plan , i just do somany meals for week/2 wees but have whichever when as i dont have the "i dont want that tonight so lets get a takeaway"

if you cant do without treats, try baking things, this week we are having brownies and i will do some baking with my son next week is prob flapjacks as we have the oats in for poradge already.

hm soups

there are many more things that im sure you will find on moneysavingexpert. hunt for meal planning i think its in the old stylemonysaving section

hth

Use the whole of the chicken when you roast one. I did a 4lb chicken last night, dismembered the whole thing and had roast dinner last night, i have enough meat for probably 3 meals for 2 and the carcass can go with another for stock which can be used for soup.

I raid the reduced section for things I can freeze too, I have some carrot and coriander soup in the freezer that I have to use this week. Batch cook and freeze things. I have home-made broth in the freezer.

Pick up some cheap vegetables if you can and make a batch of soup and bulk it out with lentils. I love soup at this time of year and the lentils mean it is quite filling.

Make a large batch of bolognaise or chilli and again bulk out with vegetables and lentils.

Get a large bag of pasta and serve some with homemade tomato sauce (using a tin of chopped toms, some garlic and onion)

I dont know if I shop on a tight budget or not but I try my best to have decent but affordable food. Some weeks we only need to spend £15-£20 on extra fresh items.

We bought 10lb of mince from our butcher for £11.99, works out at just under £1.20 per 1lb, which is much better than supermarket prices. The mince is superb. I also buy the whole chickens/breasts when they are on offer 3 for £10. This way I can stock up, enabling me to then do £15 shops the following week. I buy really anything on offer.

I think the worst thing is when you nip in for 1 or 2 items and and up spending £10 or more, thats what I try to avoid.

My H is a fish eating Veggie so 90% of our food is veggie which really helps keep the cost down. I tend to buy better quality items and make cheaper meals. So things like:

Pasta with tinned Cherry tomatoes (splash of garlic olive oil and balsamic) with parmesan.

Rice with soya and green beans and Thai 5 spice (cashews if they are not hideously expensive)

Beanie - Mixed beans (dried are the cheapest but tinned more convenient) with tinned toms and smoked paprika, served with rice (we buy rice in 25kg bags from here http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-local/frameset/script/home.html) - They also do a great range in wheat free pasta etc

Soup - Well quite often have veggie soup with Kneidl or dumplings

These tend to be our staples and then I mix them in with things that are on offer like fish etc

<tangent> If he eats fish, then he's not a vegetarian. He's a pescitarian. </tangent>

The only other thing I can suggest are going shopping late at night, when there's likely to be more stuff reduced. (Although, in our local supermarket that's usually the bread at the front of the shop, which is no use to you.)