Grocery Shopping budget thread

Wkdwill

Hi everyone

I have started doing a list of incomings and outgoings and when it came to shopping I just had no idea how much we spend, I mean it is different every week, I do try to get the cheapest of everything, there is only 1 item which I insist on buying the not so cheap and that is nappies due to bad leaky nappy experiences, but on a good note I do (say once a month) find coupons to use for money off them so I do cut it down a bit.

Anyway my question, we are a family of 2 adults, a toddler, a small dog and 2 budgies. What would you say would be a reasonable amount to spend on a weekly shop, would this include everything (nappies, toiletries, cleaning products) or just food.

Thanks in advance.

Penelope_Penguin

Wkdwill wrote: »

Anyway my question, we are a family of 2 adults, a toddler, a small dog and 2 budgies. What would you say would be a reasonable amount to spend on a weekly shop, would this include everything (nappies, toiletries, cleaning products) or just food.

Hi there :beer: Is this thread any help I'll merge them later, to keep similar threads together

Penny. x

onetomany

i would say £30 should be enough hun (not including nappies check out boots or tesco own brand i used to use them along time ago tho) maybe your dog can have dry complete food (he might be aready), try to get as many reduced food that out you can throw in the freezer, also do you have a slow cooker? they are great for buying cheeper version of meat but it tastes great, do you cook from scratch? ive started and im really enjoy it and im saving loads, this week i spent about 20 for a family of 4 and dog, and fish, its whoopsie week as i call it last week i frooze the leftovers now i got enough to feed kids 3 nights running, also i write a shopping list and stick to it and do a meal plan , hope this helps you save money hun, this is a great site ive saved loads of money from here

Wkdwill

onetomany wrote: »

i would say £30 should be enough hun (not including nappies check out boots or tesco own brand i used to use them along time ago tho) maybe your dog can have dry complete food (he might be aready), try to get as many reduced food that out you can throw in the freezer, also do you have a slow cooker? they are great for buying cheeper version of meat but it tastes great, do you cook from scratch? ive started and im really enjoy it and im saving loads, this week i spent about 20 for a family of 4 and dog, and fish, its whoopsie week as i call it last week i frooze the leftovers now i got enough to feed kids 3 nights running, also i write a shopping list and stick to it and do a meal plan , hope this helps you save money hun, this is a great site ive saved loads of money from here

Im not far off then I tend to manage £40 to £50 a week at the moment and thats without trying.
The dog does have dry complete food and I do have a slow cooker (bargain at £9.98, I think), I am actually looking into making everything from scratch and freezing for during the week, I currently make stew every weekend which I plan to split and eat some on the day and freeze the rest but I have no idea about freezing things and reheating them. Im also looking to plan meals in advance and try out new recipes.

If you have any advice about freezing and reheating I would love to hear it or a link to another thread would be great too.

Oh and I have just remembered my husbands family have a farm so I can get my veggies at discount price by the sack load, so ill have to start having trips down to the farm.

Thanks

01001011

I am spending nearly £20 per week for myself only. This thread makes me wonder why I am spending so much.

Any

I spend around £200 a month for the two of us.
That includes a bit of wine or beer, but most of that is bough by OH from his money as he is wine lover.
I go shopping about once a week and if I can stretch it so far then I go after 10 days - I find that I always spend the same amount of money no matter how often I go...
The food I buy is for my lunches as well as in my new job I cannot go out and buy a sandwich as I used to - though I have to say, that the monthly joint food spend hasn't got up too much, while my personal spend went down dramaticaly. It makes huge difference.
I go and shop at Cosco quite often - I usually buy big packs of meat and separate them and freeze them. And also king prawns. I am big lover of prawns and it is very quick to defrost and prepare if we forget to take something out of the freezer.
I also quite often feed my OH's or mine friends as I enjoy my friend's company, but it is cheaper to eat and drink at home than to go out and also I love cooking for more people. (I get bored by cooking just for the two of us, as I run out of imagination and also he doesn't appreciate it as much as guests..:-))

newlywed

My budget is about £330 for food, loo rolls, cleaning stuff, household stuff etc but I find it really hard to stick to.

That's 2 adults, and two boys for half the week (including all weekend) - age 10 and 13 - with adult appetites.

OH's various protein filled "lunches" and breakfasts cost me about £130 a month :rolleyes: At least he has a fitness regime

So the other £200 is to feed me (all meals), the boys (all meals but only half the week) and OH's evening meals.

No wonder I find it a bit tricky to stick to though - my brekky and lunches are way less than £10 a week -v- OH's £130 a month :rolleyes:

notenoughcash

Sounds like you are doing a grand job already! I spend (on food only) up to £30 per week. I also have a £15 per month budget for cleaning/toiletries/washing powder and I allow myself £10 per month for alcohol.

I am lucky enough to be able to grow a lot of my own veg and I always check out 'whoopsies' every time I pass a supermarket so most of our meat comes from there. Using the slow cooker is great for bulk cooking. I make bolognaise one day and use half for the red sauce in lasagne a couple fo days later, or a chicken casserole and use half as a pie filling later in the week. They can even be frozen if you don't fancy it twice in the same week. Whenever I cook a fish pie or shepherds pie I double up so I can freeze one for another day. I have also started using less meat and bulking up with lentils which tastes sooo good I don't know why I never did it before!

OrkneyStar

01001011 wrote: »

I am spending nearly £20 per week for myself only. This thread makes me wonder why I am spending so much.

It can be harder to buy in bulk/cook in bulk/take advantage of bigger packs and BOGOF's etc, when cooking for one. You are not doing too badly there I don't think!

onetomany

theres to great posts here one called in mt slow cooker and another called freezing sure someone will come along with a link soon, basiclly i batch cook and freeze some for the following week, just make sure the product is cold before you freeze defrost and make sure it hot you should be fine hun, sounds like you are doing well already