monthly shopping bill

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Carmk2008
Carmk2008 Posts: 157 Forumite
in Budgeting & bank accounts
What's everyone's monthly shopping bill ours is £400 at the moment for a family of 4. I want to reduce this to £300 by bulk buying and freezing meals, is anyone else getting by on that amount?
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  • grumbler
    grumbler Posts: 58,629 Forumite
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    Well, if by 'shopping' you mean groceries, then IMHO, £300 for a family of 4 is achievable, even £250.
    That said, where will you get a discount on bulk purchases? I think shopping around, taking advantage of deals and various cashbacks are the best ways.
  • jamesperrett
    jamesperrett Posts: 1,009 Forumite
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    I've just gone through the figures for our family of 3 which comes to just under £300 for last month. We don't go in for many luxuries although we try to stick to healthy wholemeal options if possible. I shop mainly in Aldi but also go to Waitrose for certain branded items or more healthy alternatives.
  • whatmichaelsays
    whatmichaelsays Posts: 2,927 Forumite
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    Currently on about £180-190 a month for family of three.
    Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam
  • Pink_Giraffe
    Pink_Giraffe Posts: 195 Forumite
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    Ours is £200 for two of us. If you want tips on how to cut back, I've found a lot of useful info on the Old-Style MoneySaving forum. There is a lot about making food last, using leftovers/reducing waste and batch cooking etc so might be worth a look.
  • Carmk2008
    Carmk2008 Posts: 157 Forumite
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    We buy our meat from muscle food which is good quality and price, was also thinking buying big bags of rice, pasta and potatoes. My biggest problem I think will getting my two wee ones from the usual chicken nuggets, although they should homemade ones. @whatmichaelsays what kind of food are you making on that budget that would do me nicely if I could get to that.
  • whatmichaelsays
    whatmichaelsays Posts: 2,927 Forumite
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    Carmk2008 wrote: »
    @whatmichaelsays what kind of food are you making on that budget that would do me nicely if I could get to that.

    There's a lot of lean meat meals in there - we certainly don't eat like paupers. We're careful about food waste - we plan our meals for the week.

    We don't buy supermarket meat as it's stupidly expensive and full of water, and we avoid things like pre-washed, pre-prepared and packaged veg - unprepared loose veg for stuff we'll use, frozen for stuff that we know we'll take longer to eat. There's very little convenience or packaged food either.
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  • zippygeorgeandben
    zippygeorgeandben Posts: 1,273 Forumite
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    We always bulk buy when on offer. We do a big food shop online once a month at the beginning and only visit other shops throughout for things which need replenishing, i.e. milk/bread/fruit. We try not to go into any supermarkets as it's those little 'nips' which somehow end up costing more than they should.
    We both use sweeter in tea and canderel is quite pricey but it was on offer for £1 per jar couple of months back so we bought half a dozen of them. It's not been on offer since, so we know that saves money. Same on other things which you know you need (bin bags) and will eventually run out.
    It's actually the cat food/litter which seems to take it out of our budget!
    Savings as of April 2023 Savings account - £26460.50(14474.88)Current account - £2140.24(4576.79)Total - £28600.74(19051.67) £1010 (£65pm CS/BS) £250 CS/BS/JS
  • jobbingmusician
    jobbingmusician Posts: 20,343 Forumite
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    Carmk2008 wrote: »
    What's everyone's monthly shopping bill ours is £400 at the moment for a family of 4. I want to reduce this to £300 by bulk buying and freezing meals, is anyone else getting by on that amount?

    If you're serious, get yourself over to the Old Style board, where they will chuckle and help you get it down to £200 :D

    (grumbler! Long time no see! How are you?)
    I was a board guide here for many years, but have now resigned. Amicably, but I think it reflects very poorly on MSE that I have not even received an acknowledgement of my resignation! Poor show, MSE.

    This signature was changed on 6.4.22. This is an experiment to see if anyone from MSE picks up on this comment.
  • grumbler
    grumbler Posts: 58,629 Forumite
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    jobbingmusician wrote: »
    (grumbler! Long time no see! How are you?)
    Hi. I'm fine, just do MB only occasionally now.
  • PeacefulWaters
    PeacefulWaters Posts: 8,495 Forumite
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    Aldi / Lidl. Focus on special offers. Utilising incentives for online shops at mainstream supermarkets (e.g. £25 off £75 at Waitrose) for big ticket items such as half price washing powder etc.

    I'd say £60 per person per month is doable.

    Use of Mysupermarket to compare prices too.
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