food shopping on a budget.

ilovesleep

Any ideas on how I can do a grocery shop on a very limited budget?

Ghandee

How limited is limited?

Biggins

Lidi are Aldi are a blessing most of the time when things are tight.
Lived off them when living in Manchester.

livinsane

Spuds and more spuds.

Always check the price "per kg" and you'd be surprised what is actually cheaper.

And everybody should be growing their own veg. We should be more self sufficient.

thee glitz

Pasta's always a good bet.

LaVail

If you live in a city or built up area and have most of the big name shops (dunnes, tesco, supervalue,lidl,aldi etc) then you could get leaflets and see what items are on offer in the different shops. If you have a day to spare you could pop into all the shops and just get whats on offer, you'd probably save a few quid? I have never done it because I dont live in a city but I assume you could save a few quid by doing it?

Sonics2k

Aldi and Lidl.

Cheaper than most places, and largely of good quality.

I've done a full weeks shopping there for 60euro and less a few times.

Saila

beans!

zero19

Check the reduced section in supermarkets for meats, just use it on the day if you get something.

ArtyC

Eggs are really versatile and good for you. Round steak is cheap and still lovely. You can get a decent sized piece in dunnes for 2 or 3 quid

rockmongrel

If you're near a city, head to an asian supermarket or shop and get yourself a massive bag of rice, they can be hilariously cheap.

Asphyxia

Online shopping has saved me loads!!

whatdoicare

Tesco does three family packs of meat for 9 euro all the time.

Aldi does a veg for 69c every week (got a bag of salad potatoes, peppers, mushrooms, onions and carrotts all 69c each aswell as pears and small apples)

aldi also does good bread and it's far cheaper than in stores and a 4 pizza in a box for 4 euros or close to it.

Fizzy drinks are all 89c.
A 12 pack of eggs are a little over 1.40 and milk is around the same for a 2 litre carton.

My weeks shopping for 3 people this week was 25 euro and I bought a huge steak and sausages!:P Love Aldi!

Also, just read about chinese stores - buy the huge boxes of noodles - cheap and a hell of a lot better quality than in supermarkets! Bags of frozen seafood are a steal too!

Bipolar Joe

Tesco have a thing going where you can get three packs of meat for nine Euro. You get mince, chicken breast, steak burgers, all that crap. I usually get that, a bag of potatoes and some vegetables, which brings me to around fifteen Euro and can last nearly the whole week. It's handy because you can just grill the meat, or you can buy sauces and do something with that. Rice, pasta and potatoes will fill you right up.

I've found a lot of butchers will do great deals and are cheaper than buying meat packaged from a store. Lidl and Aldi, like everyone said, can be great for living on the cheap, a packets of crumbed chicken breast with ten or so in it is only something like five bucks. A few years ago I practically lived on them, wedges, croquettes and beans. Not the most wholesome of meals, but cheap and easy.

qz

-Aldi and Lidl
-Round steak
-Pasta

Sorted.

whydoibother?

I agree that online shopping is hugely helpful because it allows you to plan your shopping basket in a more organized way without being distracted by the amazing smelling bakery section etc. in the supermarket. You can compare prices more easily without searching the shelves. You can plan meals and you can also "save" your basket meaning that you only have to make a couple of alterations in two seconds the next time you go shopping if, like me, you buy mostly the same stuff each week. Even with delivery costs, I find I do better this way.

Sunnyisland

Potatoes,pasta,rice,tinned sardines,mackerel,chickens,beans,peas, fruit, all these can be bought at reasonable prices at lidel.

inkwell

Think about what you are going to eat every day few days ahead and cook yourself (everything whats ready made is less healthy and more expensive)- make a list of ingrendient's and dont buy anything whats not on it.

EverEvolving

Dunnes Stores do 2 packets of meat for €6 and I've found it's better quality and you tend to get more than the Tesco one. (yes I'm one of those loons who lifts every packet checking for the heaviest!)

Broads.ie

Aldi do bags of frozen chicken breasts, really cheap, and tastes like chicken.

I also make stirfrys with cans of tuna! Just a tin of tuna, a few veggies, soy sauce, garlic and ginger powdher, egg fried rice. Probably costs a euro in total per dinner.

bonzodog2

LAst time I looked LIDL had 500g pasta for 49c. Do you like porridge or weetabix? IF your poverty isnt for a long time, you can get by with feck all !

- bo -

inkwell wrote: »

Think about what you are going to eat every day few days ahead and cook yourself

Don't do this, no matter how desperate you get..

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

learn to love stew
make a big batch, freeze it and just desfrost/microwave the day you want to eat it

For Forks Sake

try this

Witchie

Become a veggie.

Buy own brand stuff in Tesco etc, rarely any real difference in quality but can be massive difference in price.

pragmatic1

Lidl and aldi. Cheap as fook.
or
Just go out and start robbing people.

Cantona's Collars

Try this thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056283932

Becoming ever more popular these days and if you're clever you can save a fair whack.

Mrs Garth Brooks

Weed killer

xzanti

Five finger discount.

Solnskaya

gather a group of like minded bargain hunters and rush your local high street. Grab whatever you can-probably best to stick to groceries so's not to pollute your cause- set fire to a few shops and cars to distract the cops. Bound to save yourself a small fortune. may work better in the uk.

1966

best thing to do is follow the bargains !!
all supermarkets have big adds in the sunday papers - so you could follow the bargains that way but definitely plan ahead -

had to defrost my freezer last week and tbh was astonished by the amount of food i had there - most of which i had forgotten about but definitely i have been buying staff over the last few weeks that i had in the freezer and i'm sure i'm not alone there!!

Chuck Stone

Koka noodles and soy sauce. Cheap and tasty.

123balltv

dont shop in Superquinn still a rip off

go to Lidl

Chuck Stone

Tesco own brands are shite compared to LIDL and ALDI.

adocholiday

If on a budget be careful that you don't fall into the trap of low quality food. It's one of the reasons people are so unhealthy these days. Raw fresh ingredients are generally cheap if you look for offers. That's just my opinion

Ally Dick

Tic tacs are good value for money and last for ages

stovelid

ilovesleep wrote: »

Any ideas on how I can do a grocery shop on a very limited budget?

Try and spend a small amount of money.

imitation

rockmongrel wrote: »

If you're near a city, head to an asian supermarket or shop and get yourself a massive bag of rice, they can be hilariously cheap.

Agreed, a 10kg bag of rice is like 20 euros or something ? Keeps forever, and the very best bit is that it will taste way better than any of the ****e budget cerals (like noodles) your gonna get in tescos etc. I'm fairly sure the sushi rice I get on regular basis is tastes more or less the same as wagamammas.

I think the cheapest meat might be frozen fish fingers, thats just based on some article, I wouldn't be 100% on it. Make sure you mix it up a bit though so its healthy, you don't want to end up as one of those nutritional horror stories.

xzanti

Boiled rice, tuna, cherry tomatoes and chopped cucumber, well seasoned is a feast fit for a broke ass king imho. very filling.

Koka noodles on buttery bread, cheapo pasta and Dolmeo stir in Sauces, scrambled eggs on toast, baked potato and beans/tuna/sweet corn etc..

Go to Aldi/Lidl for your basic stuff (bread, milk, butter, all toiletries etc) and then make a visit to a 'Tesco Extra, they have specials on all the big brands every week... just grab whatever good stuff you can on the cheap..

Witchie

xzanti wrote: »

Boiled rice, tuna, cherry tomatoes and chopped cucumber, well seasoned is a feast fit for a broke ass king imhoo. very filling.

Koka noodles on buttery bread, cheapo pasta and Dolmeo stir in Sauces, scrambled eggs on toast, baked potato and beans/tuna/sweet corn etc..

Go to Aldi/Lidl for your basic stuff (bread, milk, butter, all toiletries etc) and then make a visit to a 'Tesco Extra, they have specials on all the big brands every week... just grab whatever good stuff you can on the cheap..

don't waste money on pasta sauces. Buy cheap tinned tomatoes, sauteed an onion add some cheap mixed herbs and chili, mix in tomatoes and if you want some peppers, frozen corn and kidney beans. Either mix some cheese through just before u serve or make a cheese sauce and mix all together. Gorgeous and even my meat eating sons love it.

Amhran Nua

I'm going to go against the grain here and say Aldi/Lidl are muck, I wouldn't feed that to my dog. You'll have a hard enough time keeping body and soul together on a budget these days without those two trying to pry them apart. Spuds are great, you can live on them along with some source of Vitamin A indefinetely. I know a guy that has only eaten eggs and potatoes for the last twenty years, and I wish I was as healthy as him.

Dunnes hasn't gotten a mention here yet, but I generally find it cheaper than Tescos, especially for meats. And veg. And fruit. It's probably seasonal but Dunnes is doing ridiculously cheap fruit these days. Myself and the missus had a full roast chicken, gravy, mash and peas between us, all from Dunnes, for less than two euros apiece the last day. Don't overlook your small local shops either, I've picked up 30 eggs for €2 in some places.

My recipe for pea soup: Take a can of peas, 58 cents from Dunnes, half a chicken stock cube, a couple of slices of butter, and half a chopped onion, fry that lot until mushy but not completely paste like, and serve with a few slices of brown bread. Don't add salt, it's salty enough. Very filling for under a euro.

Morag

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=610

boards.ie > Rec > Food & Drink > Cooking & Recipes

crazypanda

I spent like €30 between a deal in a butchers and some stuff in tesco during the week and it should do until the start of a new month. Just keep your eyes open. Cheap, bad quality doesn't necessarily mean better as it won't go as far.

StonedRaider

Don't know if people realise that KoKa/instant noodles that come with that small satchet of flavouring is full of msg:D

Not everything in Lidl/Aldi is cheap.
We plan ahead and get the best out of tescos/dunnes/aldi/lidl..
eg;aldi has best value for fresh veg most of the time,dunnes has best value free range whole chickens,tescos for dairy deals etc

dxhound2005

Make sure you eat all the food you buy, you will be wasting money if you throw food away. On average every household in the country thows away 30% of the food they buy worth up to €1000 per year.

http://www.ireland4kids.ie/news/article.aspx?listing_id=9d9c1de4-dfd6-4ad3-81ca-7c9dae6f9424

Lapin

Do your shopping in Tottenham.

Lots of free stuff to be had there.


According to the little scumbags interviewed on Sky News yesterday.

psycho-hope

i find our local butcher and veg shop are great, especially the butcher always get fantastic advice off him when i ask. at least i can ask for exaclty the amount of meat/veg i want with no waste

DoneDL

Library, cook books, plan a weekly menu based on what ingredients you can afford. Frozen foods and tinned foods are a fair supplement to fresh produce. Baking fresh bread is a great way of bulking up meals and is a lot healthier than what passes for bread in shops.

RhubarbCrumble

Amhran Nua wrote: »

I'm going to go against the grain here and say Aldi/Lidl are muck, I wouldn't feed that to my dog.

What, EVERYTHING in the whole shop is 'muck'? I've been feeding both myself and my dog from Aldi/Lidl for a few years now and it hasn't killed either of us yet.

looksee

Some good ideas here. How many people are you buying for? The suggestion of not buying cheap food like bargain fish fingers, processed cheese, pizzas etc is good. There is very little actual food in most of those products.

Likewise the sauces - make them yourself based on a tin of chopped tomatoes or a little tin of concentrated tomato paste (69p in Tesco). Add a half teaspoon of sugar and a shake of dried basil to any tomato dish and it will taste great.

Don't buy things like ready grated cheese, ready whipped cream, frozen chips etc, you are paying way over the odds. If you are on your own, bags of frozen peas and frozen spinach make an economical veg as you just use what you need and the rest isn't wasted.

You can live without fizzy drinks, crisps and similar snacks, chocolate bars and biscuits - snack on fruit or toast and jam.

Buy 'basic' cereals - cornflakes, weetabix, porridge oats. Otherwise you are paying for a load of sugar and processing. Have a banana with your cornflakes, nice and better for you.

Look on the reduced shelf, meat, other than offal or mince is fine on its sell-by date. I have just made a casserole with a large (1 lb) piece of sirloin that was reduced to £6. With a load of veggies it will feed 4 no problem. (yes I know sirloin is a bit fancy for casserole!)

The basic rule is, you are paying for processing. Keep it simple and do your own cooking and you can eat well for a reasonable cost.

BBDBB

some great advice given above

Id just add that learning to cook meals, use leftovers and experiment a little with flavours is a great way to save money