Grocery Shopping budget thread

Penelope_Penguin

declutterqueen wrote: »

how much do you spend?

Hello :beer: It depends on lots of factors, so I'll add this to the existing thread so that you can see what others spend.

moomoomama27

jcr16 wrote: »

when we just had 1 child, i used to budget £100 for he 3 of us, but prices have gone up a bit lately.

i on average spend between £40 and £50 for 2 adults and 3 children. i cook everything from scratch and we eat very well, plus hubby and 2 children have packed lunches.

OMG - do you buy alot of basics food, because I spend about £110-£120 per week on 2 adults, 3 children! I would love to know how you manage to keep your bill so low!

slscarborough

Hi everyone - I am currently doing the grocery challenge and aiming for £350 per month for 2 Adults 2 Young Children & 2 Cats. However I am curious what other peoples budgets are? I am struggling to keep at this budget and really I could do with dropping it!!

Justamum

slscarborough wrote: »

Hi everyone - I am currently doing the grocery challenge and aiming for £350 per month for 2 Adults 2 Young Children & 2 Cats. However I am curious what other peoples budgets are? I am struggling to keep at this budget and really I could do with dropping it!!

I think with all the price rises it's going to be tough dropping it from that. I'd love to get ours down, but it's about £350 a month for 2 adults 3 children (one is 14 so eats like an adult) and a cat. I've had to stop buying stuff as it gets tougher, so for instance I haven't bought cereal for well over a year, I used to buy 7 litres of fruit juice a week so that we could each have 200ml as day as one of our 'five-a-day' (and I measured it out too!) but I stopped buying that a couple of weeks ago. I buy enough fruit so that we can each have one piece a day. Unfortunately it all runs out well before the end of the week because we have some greedy people in the family - and I never get to eat any fruit. I used to buy the cat pouches, but I tried him on a couple of tins, so he's on those now and it works out at a fraction of the price and he's quite happy I'm going to have to see what else I can remove from our food budget. Oh yes, I've stopped baking - except birthday cakes. Luckily the children all get free school dinners.

RachelS

Hello! My current budget is £260 per month, started that this Jan, and it is for 2 adults, 14 month old twin boys and 2 cats.

It includes all food, cosmetics and toiletries and cleaning products but does not include nappies.

We were actually spending closer to £600 on food before...large takeaways every couple of days, organic Waitrose everything and large health food shopping sprees for the babies. I am hoping to cut below £260 but this first month has felt HARD...one of those things that gets easier with time.

The worst things have been giving the boys less healthy food (no more Wild Salmon etc) and putting our cats completely on dried food as a temporary measure. I know it is healthier for them, but seeing their sad little faces as they look into their bowls makes me feel mean.

RachelS

And Justamum, I am with you on the fruit. I buy 3 child-sized portions a day for each of the babies and 1 portion a day for me and OH...I haven't eaten a piece of fruit all January except the dried apricots, which OH doesn't like.

natc

RachelS wrote: »

putting our cats completely on dried food as a temporary measure. I know it is healthier for them, but seeing their sad little faces as they look into their bowls makes me feel mean.

Made me smile because I feel same about our cat. Bless him!

I really dont know how people manage to have "5 a day" these days, its got soooo expensive for everything.

Ive said before that Im trying ot avoid supermarkets and use local produce, but its hard to find the time to get to these places when working full time, and the quality of the fruit and veg at markets and grocers in my area, arent very good at all. My friend introduced me to online shopping recently. And i quite like it, just for the fact that it keeps the cost down. Ive saved loads doing my shopping this way, even with the delivery charge. And if i do venture out, I meal plan first then take a list of what i need out with me. Its only when OH comes shopping with me that the bills sky high!

Justamum

natc wrote: »

I really dont know how people manage to have "5 a day" these days, its got soooo expensive for everything.

I read the other day that we really should be eating 8 a day:eek:

natc

Yes, I agree :eek:!!!

Justamum

This makes interesting reading. It won't stop me from being vegan though!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-1349960/This-cynical-day-myth-Nutrition-expert-claims-weve-duped.html