How Much Do You Budget For Groceries?

PasturesNew · 29 September 2016 at 7:24PM

Muttipops wrote: »

.... hopefully not inedible!

No, not inedible

It's pretty repetitive and "on a whim" stuff; not a "healthy" diet as that stuff's 'boring'

"Nice" and "nicer" food does cost more. I think where people "go wrong" is when they walk into a supermarket and see all these marvellous things and believe that [1] that's normal [2] that's food [3] they have to buy the best.

You never used to get pre-prepared foods in the shops.... now it's very hard to find raw ingredients. It's harder to find, say, plain custard powder than it is to choose from one of 20 varieties and forms of custard.

Real custard powder Xp, flavours and jollities wrapped in nice packaging 10x Xp.

I was just looking to buy shampoo... I'd spotted my "starting point" where one cost 50p/100ml ... and was going along the shelf and I saw one at £10/100ml. I thought "Blimey, that must be a misprint", but it wasn't! It was in a nice/branded bottle .... I bet many people think that's the shampoo to buy because it sounds like the dogs' b0ll0x .... and there goes their £10 (100ml) as I scuttle out with a perfectly adequate £1 bottle (200ml)

I ended up choosing one at 33.3p/100ml - which wasn't the cheapest, but was the one I most fancied from the 3 cheapest offerings.

MrsTinks · 29 September 2016 at 8:36PM

Mine is probably near the £10 pr 100ml :eek: but again mine is hypo sensitive:o

I can't use most perfumed shampoos as firstly I'll get a sore and itchy scalp, then it'll get horrid and really not nice... it takes about a month to go back to normal if it happens so to me the expensive hypo stuff is worth every penny! But for purely brand reasons? Nope!!!

louby40 · 30 September 2016 at 8:14AM

Aldi shampoo is 35p a bottle and it's not too bad. I NEVER buy expensive hair/face products.

We're a family of 4 with 2 tall and very hungry teenage boys. We budget £60 a week, sometimes it's slightly under and I spend another £5 in Morrisons too. We cook from scratch (well my OH does) and eat really well. I take salad or soup to work.

I used to spend close to £100 a week but since shopping in Aldi it's really made a difference

Poppy3008 · 30 September 2016 at 9:27AM

I drove 15 miles to Lid! this week but could not get everything I wanted though I admit some items were cheaper and they did have some other nice looking things (not on the list though). So I still ended up at Mr T to top up and then spent a bit more than I should by seeing things and assuming I needed them.
The distance to Lid! is not worth the savings for me but I will try Ald! as I can pop in there after running. And there is !celand too.

MERFE · 30 September 2016 at 9:57AM

nextyeartina wrote: »

This is the area I know I need to cut down on. I spend around £500 per month on shopping (hangs head in shame). That does include all toiletries, cleaning stuff and pet food. We are a family of 5 plus 2 dogs, 2 cats and a lizard.

Tina x

I dont think that sounds horrendous. We are a family of 5 and budget £350-£400 a month but doesn't include pets, we probably spend another £20 a month on 4 chickens but not every month as we bulk buy their bits. I managed a couple of months tough budgeting out of necessity at £260-300 but it was hard work and some displeased kids with the meals they were presented. Meal planning really does make the biggest difference, I tried aldi and lidl but always found I spent more and still had to go to another supermarket for bits they didn't have. But a meal plan and a shopping list of what you need and don't deviate from is the best way to budget.

suki1964 · 30 September 2016 at 10:32AM

MrsTinks wrote: »

It is - and for some money saving is getting someone at the best price - for example the best price might need to calculate in petrol to make the extra drive to an Aldi... so not as good a saving.

I always try to get the best value when I buy something, but there are some things I don't scrimp on for my own reasons. In my case some are health over wealth or even sanity over home cooking

Just because it's possible to squeeze a budget (assuming that there isn't other costs like travel) doesn't always mean it's right for that person. Like I can't use any of the fabric conditioners in Lidl... mainly for public safety because if I have to itch all night in bed from the washing liquid and softener then there WILL be a high probability of murders the next day

I could reduce my budget further personally by cooking more from scratch, but the savings at the moment would not make up for the lost time with my daughter. If I had to, then I would. Everyone is different

Totally agree with health over wealth

I can only use Persil, Fairy and head and shoulders , all bloomin expensive unless you wait for the offers, which I do. I've never paid more then half RRP for any of those

Whilst I do shop in lidl, I buy very little of their fruit and veg - it's rubbish. Carrots will be rotted within 2 days, fruit never ripens, onions always have at least one squidgy one per net, it just becomes a false ecconomy

And yes even though I scratch cook, I too have my cheats, stock pots for example, I use them daily near enough and I like the branded ones, so I stock up when half price

We spend on average £35 a week for 3 adults. Some weeks it's as little as £20, other weeks it will be £40. I don't keep exact records, I just spend what needs to be bought each week (last week £28, week before £18) then once every 4 to 6 weeks either hit the chicken factory and spend £20 filling the freezer or restock on herbs, spices, dry goods

Everyone has a different idea on meals and how much to spend, one size doesn't fit every family. I think that as long as you can afford what you spend and aren't throwing food away on a weekly basis then you are doing ok.

Obviously if you are living on the overdraft or CC, then looking to reduce the food bill makes sense. Yet once again you need to decide what cuts you can make yourself. It's all very well me saying here's my food plan for the week and it cost this much, but if it's the type of food your family don't like or you don't have the time to spend in the kitchen it's not any good to you

Beautiful-Moose · 30 September 2016 at 12:54PM

There is only me and the BF and last night we went to Lidl and did a monthly shop for £55. We will then top up at our local sainsburys by our train station for things like bread, ham/chicken for sandwiches and the odd dinner item so in a month we will spend £70-80 at most. We get most of our bits in Lidl, we use their own cleaning products and laundry bits and don't have any complaints. I think we are doing good food shopping wise considering the first few months when we moved in we shopped in Asda or Sainsburys and we were spending about £130-£140 a month for the two of us. So by changing supermarket we have pretty much halved our shopping bill. Also there are only a few things we have ever got from Lidl that we haven't liked but most of their food has either been as good or better that the branded stuff we were getting in Asda and Sainsburys.

Now Winter is Coming I plan to cook indoors a lot more. I am going to attempt a Lasagne and a Chicken Tikka Massala this month.

determined_new_ms · 30 September 2016 at 2:38PM

We spend between. £150-180 pm. I found a few months ago our go spending was increasing so I have been keeping a tight reign on it now and have done a number of things to reduce it. I have started shopping fortnightly rather than weekly and found this to have the biggest impact on keeping our costs down. The first fortnight I worked out how much bread and milk I need and now get enough & freeze. I have seen as long as we have milk bread, decent coffee, fruit and veg (tinned and frozen get wheeled out 1/2 way through the 2nd week) I'm happy to replace an item or just go without if I find it's missing. The less time I go into a sm the less money I spend and now I probably only go into shops 3 or 4 times in a fortnight. We have 1 or 2 simple/meat free evening meals a week, have started using dried beans, make my own yogurt and pulses and I make a cake once a week for packed lunches/desert. I've also grow veg as well this year.

This month I think the gc spends will be around £150 so will put £30 aside for extra food for Christmas week.

It has been hard work to get it low again, my other half would prefer a diet of meat with meat and a side helping of meat so it is hard to get him to accept he only needs a small amount of meat (or even pulses and beans) to get the protein he needs. Some battles just aren't worth having! We are also very lucky as our toddler is a real foodie and will eat anything and it definitely helps if your kids aren't fussy -I have 2 adult children and it was much harder with them!

amateur_house · 1 October 2016 at 9:54AM

nextyeartina wrote: »

This is the area I know I need to cut down on. I spend around £500 per month on shopping (hangs head in shame). That does include all toiletries, cleaning stuff and pet food. We are a family of 5 plus 2 dogs, 2 cats and a lizard.

Tina x

We spend around £500 for a family of 5 - 2 adults and 3 'children' (in their 20s so could be classed as 5 adults). Shop mostly at Aldi and Sainsbury, and struggle to stay within budget most months.

MrsTinks · 1 October 2016 at 10:42AM

amateur_house wrote: »

We spend around £500 for a family of 5 - 2 adults and 3 'children' (in their 20s so could be classed as 5 adults). Shop mostly at Aldi and Sainsbury, and struggle to stay within budget most months.

£100 per adult (and lets be fair those 20 year olds eat like animals!!!) doesn't seem unreasonable! Have you tried the OS board here for ideas on bulk cooking when it's for that many people? Does it include cleaning and toiletries?

How Much Do You Budget For Groceries?

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