In February 2017 I decided to tackle our ever increasing grocery spend by setting myself a £50 Grocery Budget Challenge. A monthly budget of £200 for my family of four.

Before the challenge we were spending around £400 a month on groceries, we were throwing away so much food and wasting so much money! With some big financial goals in 2017 I decided that groceries were going to be the first thing to tackle. £200 each month may not be the most radical challenge but for us it was realistic.

So how did it go?

In February I am ecstatic to say we spent just £180 on groceries! That’s a saving of roughly £220 for the month.

Did we notice?

The one thing that worried me was my family thinking I was starving them (they’re a hungry bunch). But seriously I didn’t want to be saving money and in turn have nothing real to eat. So did we notice? Well, no we didn’t. In fact we probably had more choice than usual!

So how do you spend just £50 a week on groceries?

Set a budget

Firstly start with a realistic budget. Think about how much you want to save? How many are you feeding? Everyone will have a different budget just make yours right for you. If you struggle to make a budget check out my free monthly budget planner .

Do a stock check

Go through your cupboards, freezer and fridge and take note of everything you have already. I know I can come up with entire meals sometimes without having to buy anything extra.

Meal Plan

So you know how much you want to spend, and you know what you already have, now you can start to meal plan. I personally plan my week out using this magnetised meal planner and shopping list as I find it very handy to use. I just stick it on my fridge and can add to it whenever we run out of things.

Write a list

Next its time to write your list, and stick to it! A bargain isn’t a bargain at all if you didn’t need it in the first place. Remember the stores want you to spend more money.

Check for coupons

There are some great grocery coupons out there. Just pop ‘grocery coupons’ into Google or try moneysavingexperts coupon page.

Use a cashback app

Cashback apps such as shopmium, checkout smart, click snap and topcashback all have plenty of free or money off groceries.

Compare Prices

I occasionally use mySupermarket to compare the cost of my regular items.

Shop online

Shopping online has several benefits. You are more likely to stick to your list and most have first time shop offers as well as on going offers and freebies.

Musclefood

My personal experiences with muscle food have been great and bulk buying meat means it works out cheaper.

Yellow Stickers

If you hit the supermarket at the right time you might get lucky with some yellow sticker items. I always look out for reduced bread to go in the freezer and any fresh veg I’m likely to use in the next day or so. Check out my guide for going yellow sticker shopping.