How do you do food budget?

kimplus8 · 18 May 2017 at 4:36PM

Hi there,
I'm just wondering how people budget their weekly or monthly food shops. Do you think £20 per adult and £10 per child is enough for the week?
There is me and 8 kids so I was hoping to have a £100 per week food budget, or is that no way near going to be enough??

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kimplus8 · 18 May 2017 at 4:37PM

Similarly you may think it's too much and I'm overestimating. In which case I welcome your opinion and ideas as I'm desperate to keep it as low as possible for the next 12 months so I can extend my mat leave for my son.

AndyBSG · 18 May 2017 at 4:46PM

Are any of the children in nappies or on formula milk? that will soak up a huge chunk of your budget if so.

My house is 2 adults a 2 year old still in nappies and a newborn on formula and nappies.

My weekly shop for that is between £60-£100 a week and includes stuff for my work lunches 5 days a week with pretty much everything cooked from fresh ingredients(very rare we have ready made meals and avoid processed as much as possible)

The big variance pretty much boils down to if nappies and formula are needed(If I need formula and both need nappies in the same week it adds about£30-£40 to the bill)and once both LO's grow out of those i'm confident I can keep it down to the £60 mark.

arbrighton · 18 May 2017 at 5:16PM

Try going over to the old style board, they'll be able to help

kimplus8 · 18 May 2017 at 5:48PM

Thanks,
I use reusable nappies so no need to buy those and I breastfeed so no formula.
I recon if I'm very careful and plan wisely then it should be do- able

kimplus8 · 18 May 2017 at 5:49PM

I'll pop on the old style boards now

unholyangel · 19 May 2017 at 2:19AM

kimplus8 wrote: »

Hi there,
I'm just wondering how people budget their weekly or monthly food shops. Do you think £20 per adult and £10 per child is enough for the week?
There is me and 8 kids so I was hoping to have a £100 per week food budget, or is that no way near going to be enough??

Check with local farms too if there are any nearby - a lot around here sell goods cheaper than you'll find even in budget supermarkets. Theres one that delivers fresh veg to us weekly (enough for a family of 4) for £8. They also do 25kg of potatoes for £5-8 (for maris piper/king edward etc) which would cost around £15-20 in asda or tesco.

£20 per adult is doable - I spend around £25-30 per adult presently and I don't scrimp, if I want something food wise, I get it - I don't buy much more than we need for the week though (a little extra in case we have visitors). £10 per kid....I suppose that depends what age the kids are.

Things like pasta, rice, flour can be purchased in bulk or wholesale for cheaper. Same with beans (good source of protein btw) and most dried foods tbh. And imo you should always keep milk, eggs & flour as staples of your pantry. Its amazing the number of things you can make either with those ingredients alone or with a few additional items.

I believe recipes like stovies came about from families trying to make the more expensive ingredients like meat go further on tight budgets so war era meals might be something to look into for ideas.

If you were looking to do it more permanently and have use of a good garden, you could also perhaps grow your own veg or keep a couple of chickens. Obviously the former takes time and preparation, the latter requires some initial outlay (ie for the housing) but it would give some learning potential for the kids & chickens also make good pets - kids usually love them.

hazyjo · 19 May 2017 at 9:20AM

You've got 8 kids already so surely must have some idea of what you've been spending? It's not like you're saying 'I'd love to have 8 kids one day, how much would they cost me...'.

Do you have a big freezer where you can batch cook and freeze into portions?

Definitely stick with the cheaper supermarkets but don't get carried away, buy what you need. Stick to a shopping list.

Jx

PasturesNew · 19 May 2017 at 11:51AM

Your budget is "loads".

Just be aware of everything you are buying, the price, your options - and be prepared to walk away from food that is "too pricey".

Your budget is "loads" .... but you need to be price aware. Want beans on toast? You could spend £1 on a tin of beans and buy a nice organic loaf for £1.50 ... or you can get a 4-pack of own brand beans for £1 and buy the supermarket own brand loaf for 40p.

Don't buy things because the packet looks pretty, or because you saw it online or in a magazine... question what you're actually buying, how much they want - and if that's cost effective for you and if you really need THAT version, THAT brand, THAT price.

I LOVE Pukka pies .... but I will never buy one at the chippy (£2.50), nor at full price in the supermarket (£2). I will go without until they're for sale at £1 at the supermarket and reheat it myself.

No point throwing it away if all you need is a bit of price awareness and active decision making over what you're prepared to pay for and buy.

Even simple things like frozen carrot/swede mash can make a difference. Buy a bag of that in one supermarket it's 25p/100g. Buy the veggies separate and mash them yourself and it's 10p/100g.
You're paying for presentation, when it's not always needed.

loey93 · 19 May 2017 at 12:27PM

I'm single and I budget £30.00 PW on groceries and £20.00 PM on general household cleaning and toiletries.

I mainly shop at Aldi for my food shop and Wilkos or Poundland for cleaning and toiletries :-)

When I was with my ex we used to spend about £500.00 a month on food etc. between the 2 of us !! :O I used to think this was normal! It's only since I've been single that I've realised this was ridiculous !

Fireflyaway · 19 May 2017 at 1:01PM

If you keep the meals simple and don't buy lots of expensive brands I think you could do it. Pasta, tinned tomatoes, beans and loads of veggies / rice are all cheap and go a long way. I think its meat that's costly but the other day I went to the butcher and got loads of stuff much cheaper than the supermarket. Got freezer bags and divided it all into batches.
My calculations seem to say your budget would work out about £1.50 per person per day. That seems quite tight. What do you spend now? Could you cut down on something else and increase the food budget a bit? Nothing worse than not having enough food / food you like.

How do you do food budget?

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