$$ spend on food etc each week

I don't really know how much we spend on food each week. I think our last lot of grocerys had been over a month since the previous shop!! We generally just go when everything is getting low! I think it cost just on $300 last time. We had topped up a couple of times with bread and milk and fresh fruit, but wouldn't do that more than once a week.

Although I'm looking at buying milk to freeze, and UHT milk. Combined we should never run out of milk. And we now bulk buy bread when its on special (we got given a little chest freezer). Whenever stuffs on special, I buy heaps. EG cheese was 1kg for $8 so I went and got 4 blocks. That should keep us going for a couple of months at least! We don't eat a lot of cheese anymore.

I always try to buy stuff like pasta/rice/ pasta sauce/ canned veges/ tomato paste/ juice sachets/ canned tomatoes/ frozen veges if we need it or not, (if its on special) keeps the pantry stocked with enough for us to make up a basic meal if need be!

I also make a meal list of about 20 meals, and then can choose off that what to buy, so we have enough for quite a few meals. This doesn't always work. but I try!!

ok, so I want to know what you guys eat... We dont eat mince or sausages much but we dont each eye fillet much these days either, I thought we were doing quite well, but since this thread started I have been watching a bit closer..
Im still spending 300 a week, but that includes nappies and a maybe a box of beer or a couple of bottles of wine, but that is still over $200 a week for 2 adults and a midget

How do I get this food bill down!!

we've just been talking about this at our place because we are getting closer to bubs arriving and my income DROPPING! And cause our food bill last month was very high! i think there being five weeks in the month I ended up doing 3 (fortnight) shops which bumped it up...........but also it was all those extra trips to the supermarket to grab something we didnt have and ending up with a few more things! We at the mo are on a budget of $250 a fortnight for 2 adults and i'm a frugal girl from way back so happy to not spend that!

The last few months we hadn't really tracked it because i had nausea till about 24 weeks and couldn't stand alot of food - and yet looking back at it (kia ora to microsoft money) we didn't spend as much cause we were living off meat and veg!

The best way i've found to save money on shopping is to get in touch with my pioneering woman side! make our own bread, add lentils to mince dishes to stretch them, soak and cook my own kidney beans etc and pretty much pretend that food like chippies, fizzy and 'instant' food doesnt exsist. Also knowing the true price of pre made foods can encourage you to spend a little more time and make it yourself - did you know you can make 6-8 yummy tortillas with a couple cups of flour, water, oil and salt! And in shops they charge you 6-8 PLUS dollars for ready made ones.

I meal plan for a fortnight then write a list, then go shopping in my own pantry first before i go to pac n save/fruit and vege shop/ Mad butcher etc. And sometimes the meal plan might change depending on meat specials etc.
I am also one of those weird people that carry a note book with me while shopping that has foods listed and prices so that i can really see if its a special or not. man supermarkets can fib about things! pac n save had $5 deals going on not long ago and the eggs that i usually buy went up in price even tho they were selling the idea that they were cheaper!

we eat really well by being creative - its actually hard to eat out cause we are not quite satisfied after eating take outs or paying ridiculous price for something we know we could make at home a whole lot cheaper! its one of those things - it will take effort but you'll benefit from it.........

Edited by nannyabbey

chicken and rice in the crockpot sounds yum bobbie............is there a recipe for that or do you just chuck it all in???
mmmmmmmmm comfort winter food..............my fav!

susyl - that sounds like a wonderful feature. I was saying to dh that i wish we could 'label' our money within our account. Wonder if westpac will copy.

ok i did the shop today thinking i was being super tight - without nappies it was $200 an i forgot about 10 things so probably add $30 to that!!

I think if you are working full time then fair enough as the last thing I wanted to do when I got home from work was cook a whole meal.

When you're a SAHM you do (usually) have a bit of time in the day to prep the meal.

I have no idea how people do it for $100 either. There are cuts of meat for example that are hard to come by in Auckland without going to specialty butchers. But my mum, who is a southerner, assures me that it is easier to get these down south.

nannyabbey it was a bit of trial and error. I just threw in 2 cans of tomatoes, some herbs, a chopped onion and garlic, 1.5 cups of rice, 1 cup chicken stock (with the water just boiled) and some chicken pieces that I had browned first. Cooked for about 5.5 hours on low. If I didn't have a toddler I would have done it with spicy tomatoes or added some chilli or similar.

ETA: I took a leaf out of babe's book and did crockpot porridge last night. It was wonderful this morning. I think it will be a common breakfast from now on.

Edited by Bobbie

*shock* We are short of cash at the moment so we did a bare minimum this week and spent $100. Granted we didn't need animal food or cleaning products or bread I think that is pretty bl00dy amzing!


ETA:
OHH! Crock pot porridge intrigue's me! going to read back and find the recipe. Can anyone tell me where to find it?

Edited by Emiloly

Emiloly - porridge is just made the same as on the stove. I use 2 cups of porridge and 4 cups of water with a pinch of salt (optional), switch to low on crockpot and leave. Best done last thing at night and also remember if you only make a small amount (less than 2 cups of porridge really) then do it in a bowl and put that into the crockpot coz if you put it directly into crockpot bowl then it gets hard and crusty and bleuck!!