Grocery Shopping budget thread

pauleyc

Thanks so much for the replies and cutestkids youre right, I am glad that it seems within the "norm" (iykwim) My husband thinks i spend alot but its more the price of food:( rather than the amount i get.
I shop online and have found this saves me at least £40 from walking round a real supermarket. I get as much that i can on offer but dont buy stuff that i dont really use, I use own brand where possible and as mentioned I bake and just got into pastry, make own sauces etc, buy frozen veg to save waste and use dried fruits awell as fresh. Youngest has just this week got out of nappies(hurray) so that a small saving.
I also try and make bread when I have time (and arms are willing) but i might say that was a false economy as as soon as its made it gone :eek:

I definately agree that I am shocked when I hear others spend twice as much and there is just 3 of them but hey ho

Thanks again folks

CFC

Hey all

I'd like to know what people are spending on food on average per week/per month these days, with the prices having gone up so much.

Husband and I average £50 - £55 per week, this includes freezer stuff so I always have at least two week's worth of food put by. It does include a lot of junk like energy drinks, husbands are like kids if you ask me.

Your spend?

Smoosh

On big shops (where we need freezer/cupboard stock or household bits or toiletries) we spend around £50 per week - usually one of these shops per month. The other weeks we aim to spend £15-20.

This is for 2 adults.

glitterkitty

Our big shop is usually about £110 - £130 but we only do that every 2-3 months. We have mini big shops once a month that are about £50-70 and then small weekly shops of about £10-15 if we need things, but don't spend that every week.
We are 2 adults.

tori.k

I bulk cook most our meals once a month and have a monthly budget of £100 ( spent£85.19 this month ) but we also spend £50 a month for bakery items/milk and a fruit/veg box.
cleaning and toiletries are bulked bought in Jan for the year I kept a list of how much we used years ago, im one of the odd bods people see buying 18 9 rolls packs of toilet roll at a time, I've found for us this has been the easiest way of me keeping on top of my household budget which is £500PP a year for the 4 of us.

hgotsparkle

Just the two of us adults, £35-£40 a week, and that includes all our frozen meat. We don't tend to run out of things in the freezer either so we've always got plenty stocked up.

Billie-jo

So far this year we have spent -
JAN - £ 197.06
FEB - £ 175.70
MARCH - £ 172.33
APRIL - £ 187.28
MAY - £ 260.12
JUNE - £ 206.01
TOTAL £1198.50

Jan 1st - July 31st is 31 weeks so averages out at £38.66 per week so far this year this is for all food except meals out (which are rare) cleaning and toiletries. There is myself and hubby 3 meals a day and my mum every Sunday for lunch plus often take her a meal down. In school holidays it also includes 2 grandchildren at least once a week and another one at least twice a week (they have breakfast and lunch)

I do have large stock though and mostly cook from scratch. We are meat eaters and although don’t have huge portions of meat we do eat it most days.

I set myself a budget between £200 - £250 depending on how many weeks there are in the month and what we have in and all but one month as you can see have managed it.

This has only happened in the last year or so as I used to have £500 per month and spent every penny of it. Cooking from scratch and freezing left over’s or incorporating them into meals next day plus meal planning has helped so much and we are very happy with the savings we have made.

piecemeal

£180 every 4 weeks, for 2 adults and 1 cat. While this is mostly bought from the supermarket where DH works, so we get 10% off, we do need to buy some gluten free stuff for me, so no cheap pasta dishes, something on toast or quick sarnies! We buy some things from Approved Food about 8 times a year and visit the local wholesalers once a month to bulk buy things like vinegar, bicarb, nuts, dried fruit, rice, spices and herbs, pumpkin/sesame/sunflower seeds etc. Also includes toiletries, loo rolls, cleaning stuff, binbags etc.

bride2be2012

Is someone able to post up an example shopping list? We are two adults and can easily spend £90 a week! I'm on maternity leave at the moment and have just had my first lot of maternity pay, so shopping bills is one area I'd love to be able to spend less on!

I've got the time (at least til bump arrives!) to cook from scratch, have a slow cooker, but also have a DH who will only eat branded foods with some things - like cereal, bread, yoghurts. Ive tried only buying the supermarket brands, and he will just go and buy the branded stuff anyway and the first lot goes out of date :mad:

I've access to the main supermarkets,plus Lidle and Aldi but usually have to rely on public transport, so not easy to take loads of heavy bags home on the bus when 8 months pregnant!

joedenise

There isn't an "average" shopping list. It really depends on what you eat.

In order to cut your shopping bills you need to do an inventory of your cupboards and freezer and then do a meal plan using as much food as possible that you already have in stock. It is then easy to do your shopping list.

I don't buy any ready meals at all, everything is cooked from scratch and when cooking something I always make enough so that some can go into the freezer as a "ready meal".

You can also make biscuits, cakes, flapjacks etc, although I don't very often as I don't eat them. I usually buy a packet of biscuits and a pack of 6 crisps for DH - he likes to take the crisps to work as part of his lunch.

Hope that helps a bit.

Denise