How much do you spend on groceries each month?

chalkysoil

I'm not sure how much a month I spend for 2 adults & 5 cats but it's probably £80 a week all in and that would include some stuff from supermarket shelves like batteries, sun lounger, new iron ... I shop at Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, and rarely at Lidl and Sainsburys. We go late for the reduced to clears, stock up on special offers (Have 17 jars of Douwe Egberts coffee under the bed!). Invested in a big new chest freezer this year and keep it full of bargains and big packs split into smaller portions. I bulk buy laundry powder and fabric softener when it's on offer. I decant them into smaller packs for everyday use. It's more work but I enjoy the consumer revenge element of buying the cheapest but the same item from the different supermarkets.

notlongnow_2

chalkysoil wrote: »

Have 17 jars of Douwe Egberts coffee under the bed

PMSL...that made me LOL. Thats the kind of thing id do, but then id get sick of seeing them and probably sell them at the car boot...lol

Well done...thats fab! Do you drink much coffee? I only buy a jar every few months.

notlongnow_2

clutterydrawer wrote: »

Wow :eek: That's fantastic....if you have a minute could you tell us some of the other kinds of meals you eat....I would love to cut my spend down that far. Also where do you find your bargains? I never seem to have any luck *woe is me*

People swear by mealplanning but im not organised to do this..lol.

Asda always have pasta on offer and when they have the MASSIVE I think, 3kg bags at 2for £3 ill buy a couple of those. the toddler LOVES pasta, plus its quick and I can throw anything I have in the fridge into it...half a courgette here..a tin of tuna there.

Tuna is on offer at the mo in Asda, I think its £3 for 4tins which I dont think is too bad as it seems to be really expensive now.

Also in Asda when fishfingers are £1 a box of 10, usually the bags of birds eye 40 fishfingers are £3...works out cheaper. And they are fillet fish...not eyeball and lip fishfingers!

Ill sometimes get a lump of meat ive bought cheap out of the freezer and make a stew, again I can throw most kinds of veg etc into it. put this in the slow cooker as then I dont have to watch it. I do like my slow cooker. Ill then make some cr @ppy yorkshire puds (sadly my mums huge yorkshire pudding making gene wasnt passed to me!) Or Ill buy a smart price bag for 40-odd pence.

I tend to find if you go early to asda then they have a large reduced section so you have a better choice but its not as cheap at 8pm ish when they reduce it down to 10p. I tend to buy a lot of the single fresh pies on the bread aisle. They are always 10p after 7ish. They freeze really well and I only have to chuck them in the oven.

Im lucky in that I have most supermarkets nearby and a Co-op up the road where they always have things reduced as its used more for a 'driving-past-ill-nip-in-for-a-paper' shop rather than a supermarket. There I can get chickens for a pound which I can joint and alsorts of lunchbox items plus fruit and veg for 25p a bag. I can get 2 main meals from one chicken.

Buy milk when its reduced and freeze it, but it does take AGES to defrost.

Every time i reply to a similar post, I read back and think I must look really picky and tight and have 3 sick looking kids who dont eat well enough..lol. But I dont, they have masses of energy and play sports and are both sh!* hot county chess players so they must be getting their brain foods too..lol.

My kitchen cupboards are always full but I do think I must stop buying and use whats there, which I get some strange sense of completeness when I do..lol, I hate waste. But sometimes are full of strange things that I find rediculously cheap..lol.

I have also found at the car boot I go too a friend of my partner from years ago who now has a stall selling packets and tins of various things. Some is out of date and depending on what it is or how out of date, ill buy but most is well in date. eg/ bags of couscous 5for a pound. jars of cooking sauces 5for a pound, and because we know him he always puts extras in, So I may spend £10 and under the pram is full, I carry a bag, OH carries 2 bags and sometimes have to go back for another one we cant carry. I have seem more and more of these kind of stalls on markets and car boots.

Gosh I should write a book on how to be tight...er...I mean thrifty!

Well having just seen how much I have written I think I should shut up now..lol We are doing a car boot this lunchtime so I really should stop watching CBeebies with the toddler and get sorted..lol.

smartie12

I would say we spend around £200 ish a month - 2 adults, 1 teenager and 2 posh cats!!

We find Tesco really expensive. We had a £50 gift card for there a few months ago, went to pay for our shopping thinking it would come to around £30.... used the whole £50!! And that was only for a few days worth of food:eek:

We only buy whatever is on offer (plus basics) and normally go Morrisons. We HATE Asda and will only go if they have a really super amazing offer... even then it never seems to be in stock:mad:

SailorSam

clutterydrawer wrote: »

£60 ish per month for one adult human and a rabbit, food only. Non food groceries might add an extra £10 or so.

Could you not save a little if you made a rabbit pie one night ?

I'm on my own and think i'm on about £80 a month, but i must cut that down, I went out last night the first time for ages and nothing would fit me, I'm getting my bike out and giving up food.

wheretheresawill

£140 for me & the mog, includes cleaning stuff, meds, papers, mags, household stuff like loo roll, cat litter and toiletries. i'm happy with spending this, although I like saving money I think lifes about living and enjoying things. Its 10% of my take home salary. I don't drink at home so doesnt include alcohol which I drink about twice a year!

calleyw

SailorSam wrote: »

Could you not save a little if you made a rabbit pie one night ?

Flipping heck. My rabbit costs me £2.99ish a month in food. I could buy bigger bags but not with my back and storing it is a problem.

Most people over feed there animals. Yes I am guilty of that in the past until I read the packet and saw how much I was suppose to feed and it started lasting longer.

Yours


Calley

MrsE_2

jd1000 wrote: »

Can anyone else publish their "strategy", do you buy value stuff, own brand or just shop smart? I have to admit we buy lots of organic and premium stuff.

I'm spending just shy of £500 pm:o

But I buy a lot of premium stuff & happy chicken/eggs & good meat.

I buy hardly any own brand & no value stuff.

I know its a lot, but we don't smoke, don't drink & enjoy good grub:D

ETA, this includes cleaning stuff & some toiletries.

clutterydrawer

calleyw wrote: »

Flipping heck. My rabbit costs me £2.99ish a month in food. I could buy bigger bags but not with my back and storing it is a problem.

Most people over feed there animals. Yes I am guilty of that in the past until I read the packet and saw how much I was suppose to feed and it started lasting longer.

Yours


Calley

I used to do that too - I would always give them a full bowl of pellet food without really thinking, then I found out it waas better for them to have minimal pellet food and tons of hay....he only gets an eggcup of pellet food per day now and is much healthier for it

Happy_Camper_5

2 adults and 1 child we roughly spend £40 a week. Not counting alcohol*!

We shop at times that we know the reduced sections are down to their lowest, we plan our meals and shop from a list (but go off-list if an absolute bargain or essential like chocolate )

Most of our food is Asda (usually) Smart Price apart from stuff that we've tried the SP/store brand and its nothing like! Example being yoghurts - I've gone back to muller corners as I find nothing compares. It might, but not in my opinion! I like money saving but don't want to compromise the quality too much!

Last night we got 2.5kg potatoes 5p, 2kg apples 5p, 5 satsumas 5p, ready made mashed potato 5p, 500g broad beans, 5p. All from the reduced section

*even the wine we get is Smart Price Until we can get back to Calais and Carrefour's wine cartons!