Grocery Shopping budget thread

kochi1

First of all apologies - new to the site so not sure if this has been posted elsewhere.

Have had my light-bulb moment and know that I need to reduce big time.

Gym membership scrapped so that's saving £60 a month. Need to reduce by £150 a month so that's a goods start to me. Worked out cheapest internet/phone so that's ok. Changed that so on target.

Food budget - do you think its realist for 1 person to live on £60 a month? I tend to only buy meat/fish when on offer. Got plenty of spices/lentils etc. so the only thing would need to cover is fresh fruit/veg.
Worked out when full fat milk on offer can make paneer easy - so easy to make too. Lunches also will be covered.

Toiletteries/lundrywashing gear - got about 6 months worth!!

Thanks in advance
this site has been great!

fairtrade

Don't know if this will help, but milk will freeze, so if you have a freezer, buy more when on offer and freeze it.
£60 a month should be enough, it is always more expensive to feed one though. It may be worthwhile spending slightly more in the first couple of months to build up a supply of canned goods.

redlady_1

I spend £15 per week and I eat very well. You just need to plan your meals carefully. After reading about it on here I bought the Paupers Cookbook from amazon. There really are some truely amazing meals in there. I also always overcook and then freeze part of it. Last night I did Cottage pie complete with lentils, and have another 5 meals in the freezer. It can be done but its tough and you need to be disciplined. Fresh food I tend to buy in Lidl now as I dont have a market near me. Its the price of fruit that pushes the costs up.

lazer

When i originally started budgeting for food (saving for a house a deposit), I started on £70 a month

I intended to shop 2 big shops a month @ £28 a month

And weekly costs in weeks 2 and 4 of £7 to buy fresh bread, milk, fruit and veg.

Although i do think it is possible - i rarely manged it and if i keep the shopping costs below £100 a month now i'm happy (This includes toiliteries, washing gear etc and maybe a few bottles of wine thrown in), and my bf stays with me quite often, which i suppose increase the costs too!

SailorSam

I make all my own meals from scratch, i have lots of fish and chicken and pan out meals with lentils and veg, i get mostly frozen veg, it's easier and more cost effective when cooking for one, i buy lots of carrots and onions fresh, the onions go in everything, the carrots i eat raw and use in soup, most breakfasts are cereal and a sandwich at lunch with HM bread, i've stopped having as many sweets 'cos my jeans seemed to be shrinking. i think i spend about £10 per wk on food.

zippychick

Hi Kotchi

I confess, i stole this list from Pink!

There are more tips and ideas on these threads that may help:

Single moneysaver living on my own!

What can a single person use on this board?

living on your own/cooking for one....

Saving Money On Food For a SINGLE person

Help a Single Saver

I'll merge this with the first link later to keep the suggestions together.

Zip

flipperOSN

If you have a freezer then batch cooking is your friend. I lived on a very small budget as a student (although that was a few years back so the cash amounts may not mean much). Basically I made a big vat of something from scratch on a sunday (e.g. curry, bolognese, stew), and lived on it three or four days during the week with different cheap meals for variety in between e.g. beans and toast. If you want more variety than that then maybe make a few vats at a time and spread over the month?

Some great tips from zippychick there.

viczs123

hi
i know similar threads have been started but i think my circumstances are slightly different.how much do you think is a realistic budget for one person and one cat for a month to include cleaning materials and pet food.i only have a microwave and a health grill and toaster to use.i would be prepared to buy a slow cooker if you think it would help.i have most major supermarkets within a short bus journey.
thanks in advance for advice and suggestions

BitterAndTwisted

I think any money being spent on an appliance could be better spent on buying one of those BabyBelling radiant ring thingys. This would give you a whole lot more cooking options than what you have now. With only a m/w and a toaster I'd be living on soup and toast!

I'm a singleton with a pusscat and I think I spend about £40-£60 a month but that's not through choice

freakyogre

I live on my own (no cat, although I want one) and spend about the same as BitterAndTwisted, but it does vary each month. I tend to stock up on things when they're on offer so some months I spend less/more. I make use of my freezer and it's usually pretty full.

I do find my slow cooker useful, especially when I initially moved out of home as I only had a microwave, toaster and sandwich toaster, so at least I could cook a proper meal. I did buy a cheap single hob, but it died after two uses!

My dad and stepmum have recently bought a halogen cooker and it looks brilliant. I'm not sure exactly what they can do, but I think I would have bought one of them had they been more popular when I first moved out as you can do roasting/baking in them.