Are you cutting back on your spending now ?

[Frederick]

Being on a fixed income like so many on this forum .I have found myself trying to keep to my budget by changing our shopping habits ....We have taken both in the UK and in France to doing a Lidl shop every other month instead of sticking with Super U and Sainsbury's all the time ....it saves ..and we tend to favour one restaurant when we eat out now where we know we get a great meal at  good value.rather than look at menus in others ..and we eat in more .....I am not going to cut back on the amount of visits I make to France each year....but I wonder if others are ?  My son has SORN'd one of his cars and now goes to work on a Kawasaki  motor bike  so he enjoys having to save on fuel costs ....I have the licence still but my wife will not permit me to  have one of them to save on fuel ...pity .... .

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

Started a diet a month or two back and just by cutting out all the junk food in our diet, our weekly food bill has gone down €20 a week anyway. Haven't really noticed an increase in food prices either. The nearest Lidl's to us is about an hour away, so there wouldn't be much saving by going all that way. Apart from that, life as usual. Petrol has only gone up an extra €5 or €6 a week for us, so no big deal there. Our friends own a restaurant, so free meals out there (we do many things for them in exchange (like spending days repairing their computers), so it's not all one way traffic.)

[Gastines]

Did SORN my old but reliable Renault estate as I only used to use it to go to the tip,[taking not collecting ] and on trips to UK when taking quantities of anything back for family. As my wife doesn't trust me out on my own,in case I get lost, we now have only one car and have obviously made a saving on that alone. As this month is all visits from daughters/granddaughters I think buggeting might go out of the window at the moment.It will probably be a money saving idea  to get a yearly ticket to Cobac Park/Bourbansais/Goat Farm etc. I save on food for the monkeys,not ours ,the ones at Bourbansais, by taking a carrier bag of walnuts.I break the shells and we throw them over the moats.Good fun but last year cost me a watch as one granddaughter managed to throw that as well.So if you see a monkey looking at a nice watch on his wrist ,you know where it came from.

Frederick. When in UK we save by parking in Sturtons,Winton,do all our shopping and have a nice lunch in their cafe.

Regards.

[Frederick]

Gastines .........I will check out  Sturtons ..never been there  ..thanks ....I note tonights news item the big UK  supermarkets are dropping prices in an effort to win back us "deserters " who have taken our cash to the cheaper ones like Lidl  ...Money talks !..... I  now await Super U doing the same .........

[Polremy]

20 euros a week saving is a lot!

how many are there of you?

i think we only spend around 50euros for the two of us and that includes quite a bit of wine.

maybe another 5 euros or so for some of our fruit and veg at the market.

[Nicos]

I understand that in the UK 1/3 of food bought is throw in the bin.

( no smilie frustrated enough!!)

Maybe if peeps actually stop and think about what they really need before buying.....

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

[quote user="Polremy"]20 euros a week saving is a lot!

how many are there of you?

i think we only spend around 50euros for the two of us and that includes quite a bit of wine.

maybe another 5 euros or so for some of our fruit and veg at the market.[/quote]

Two of us. We spend about 80 euros a week on food which includes other necessities. How the hell can you do it for 50 euros?

[Frenchie]

I'd be glad to hear the answer  as well ...

I don't buy any wine, and my weekly supermarket bill is minimum 65 ...  ( for two)

Sometimes 75 +..

Maybe people who can shop for 50 euros have their own chicken / eggs ?? Make their bread? ( I don't )

 

[Clair]

I'd like to know too please [:)]

[Polremy]

Ah.

Hope I haven't got this wrong.

Am going shopping on Monday (Leaderprice and then Carrefour).

Will let you know the damage.

Mind you, I am running out of a few things like coffee so it might be a bit more.

[valB]

I find leaderprice a good store as well but a bit of a drive from us though. I am now baking more things myself and have had a good year in the veggie plot so we will not starve...loads of French onion and carrot soup in the freezer now to keep my runner beans company.

[Patf]

We have our own hens and ducks so don't buy any meat or eggs. We don't have red meat. But I don't think we save anything by doing this. We have to buy the birds in the first place, and then buy their food regularly.

We give them kitchen remains too - I heard that this is now illegal in the UK.

We also have veg. from the garden, but again I don't think we save anything financially. But everything tastes better [:)]I bake bread too.

I've found one way of saving money is to only go shopping twice a week instead of three times. Just make do with what's available on other days.

[valB]

Yes, I bake bread and make pies, pasties, fishcakes, fish in beer batter and so on. I thought retirement was going to be relaxing but between weeding and cooking it is all go, go , go. I drean of walking around Asda and just filling up my trolley as no matter what they are saying I still find the prices there amazing compared with here when I go back and do my " asda run "   Also Iceland are very good as well but cannot bring frozen food back with me.

[dave21478]

I only go to a supermarket once a week now, and apart from the odd bit of fresh veg locally, thats it for food shopping. I have cut right down on crisps and snacks, and am exerimenting with some own-brand proucts rather than the big name brands. I occasionally pop round Lidls before going to the main shop, but find you have to be carefull as they arent always cheaper for many things.

I have cut down on car use, which has made a big difference to the fuel bills, and rather than use the good car all the time, I hack about in an old diesel van, which although not very comfy, gives excellent MPG.

It annoys me though. I always used to just buy whatever I wanted in the supermarket and never worried about the prices, but as things increase, I find my choice being limited, which I dont like.

 

[Frederick]

 Cant bring back frozen food ?  ...... We have done it .....but it takes a little more preperation.....My wife wrapps the frozen items well in layers of newspaper and uses lots of the cool keep blocks in the  "chilly bin " we also use the  padded cool  bags  like the tesco ones and the day  before we leave she puts the whole  loaded bag in the chest freezer in the garage.... It normally takes from 5am to about 4pm French time to do the  crossing and drive down to the South Vendee....we find the meat  is still frozen solid on arrival to go straight into our freezer there ...I dont have one but I should imagine the cool boxes that plug in the car cigar sockets must help as well  .

[woolybananasbrother]

Yes, they are excellent, especially if you give them a helping hand by using freezer blocks.

[woolybananasbrother]

Cutting back? Yes, definitely being very careful. Even the Amazon order has almost reached zero. Lidl, Leader Price, Netto but always check prices at Super U too. Buy in bulk too for the freezer and for other household stuff. Fuel use is way down as I have cut the trips and have measured all the standard routes so I can take the shortest.

[Richard T]

[quote user="Frederick"] I dont have one but I should imagine the cool boxes that plug in the car cigar sockets must help as well  .

[/quote]It's a good time to buy them too as the summer is drawing to a close and shops are selling off stock. Just picked up one in Woolies for 10 quid - originally priced at 49 pounds.

Richard T

[valB]

We do have a plug in cool box but I have always been concerned about it all starting to defrost. Probably could not wang it all in a freezer before we travelled back here as we always stay with family and usually their freezers are full, so that would be a problem. The only things I miss are frozen Yorkshire puds and frozen roast potatoes for when I am being lazy, which does not hurt now and again. I can never get my roasties that crispy over here and I have tried everything. My Yorkies are ok as I always have English flour in my cupboards. There is a frozen food shop in Niort called Picards, good selection but not that cheap and obviously do not do the things I would buy in UK.  I stock up with Corn on the Cob there as it is difficult to get over here and we love it. Last time we went I bought twelve packs of three but visitors soon demolished them all, twelve of us for a week. I may have a go at brining some frozen bits back when we go again and see what happens...watch this space.

[Suze01]

[quote user="Nicos"]I understand that in the UK 1/3 of food bought is throw in the bin.

( no smilie frustrated enough!!)

Maybe if peeps actually stop and think about what they really need before buying.....

[/quote]

I shop once a week (+ occasionally an emergency run to the corner shop if I run out of something needed urgently).

I make a shopping list throughout the week as and when I run out of things.  (Generally) I also make a menu of what we're going to eat in the week ahead and add to the shopping list accordingly.  I don't know how people shop without a list - just putting anything they fancy into the trolley.  No wonder so much gets thrown away without planning what you actually need to buy. And before anyone says anything, yes, my menu sometimes goes awry due to changes of plans but nothing is wasted, just re-planned.

[valB]

Likewise, I have only ever shopped for groceries once a week as I hate it and I always have a list otherwise I would forget half of what I went for. OH is not supposed to eat too many crisps and biscuits so that is not a problem and I can live without them. I always bring loads of cheese back from UK as OH does not like soft French cheeses but once Cheddar is frozen it does not cut very well, crumbly. We have our big car and a cheapo French one so we use that most of the time unless we have visitors then we have to use both but they put the fuel into which ever one they are using. They look at us in total surprise when we do not offer to pay for both cars but what the heck, they are all still earning a salary and I feed them for nothing. I also watched the programme about the waste of food in UK and the presenter worked with one family and managed to save them over £3,000 per year on their food bill. I do not waste anything, left over veggies...bubble and squeak, left over bread...bread pudding and so on. Tight as a ducks a..e thats me.

[Russethouse]

 I go shopping every day - as I work from home I like to get out of the house - I buy what we need for the day and possibly a couple of spares but it evens out - we keep an ongoing list so if you use the last or nearly the last of something it goes on the list and is replaced the next day......shop is only half a mile away so not a big deal....

[Judith]

Being a working girl until quite recently I always shopped only once a week, with a small foray for such as milk if needed during the week.  I always check prices  against value, but don't always buy the cheapest as over the years I've got to know which brand is best.  I don't buy much prepared food, and I'm very good at making my stews last forever - add a few more veg's etc, and left overs are frozen or re-used.  Even now the pattern on shopping is roughly the same, though, like Russethouse, I do go out each day, for fresh air, and I sometimes combine it with a food shop.  Just been to the local farmers market in Marylebone (not necessarily cheap but fresh) and brought back two bags of veg and fruit for under a tenner.  15 items of such as orange juice, toilet rolls etc, no fresh stuff, in the supermarket yesterday (admitttedly not the cheapest as it's Waitrose) cost £24.  When I am in France I will tend to shop in a similar way, and these days find prices much more similar than in the old days. 

I think once you have been accustomed to habits of economy (as I have had to be for most of my life even when working) you tend to shop in the same economical pattern, and I do hate waste.  I was horrified to learn the statistic quoted above of the amount of food thrown away.  Obviously most people have had it far too easy for far too long .....  Moan over.

[Keni]

Having lived in a village a few miles away from the town in uk and in France we will be in a small village a few miles away from a town, we have got used to just getting what we need at the time we are in the shop, so should not be too bad the ATac at Cussac seems to have good prices as does Leader at St.Julien.

One thing I am toying with buying to bring over to France is one of the Tho***son electric pushbikes, although I have my own bike, there are a lot of hills between us and Piegut Pluviers and that Wednesday market means I should be able to stock up the freezer, so rather than use the car all the time I was thinking about getting  one of them, however, I can see me spashing our and getting another motorbike, now I do not have to worry about taking the junior member of the household anywhere these days. That alone is saving me a fortune here in Uk, thank god for boyfriends with cars!

Our local independent petrol station in Evesham is selling petrol today at £109.90 and is undercutting all the supermarkets. He says he has just paid off the mortgage on the business and it is his way of saying thank you to all the customers who have supported him. He also adds that he has never taken so much money in all his time trading! There is often a queue for his petrol and he often runs out during the week.