'How much is your weekly shop?' poll results discussion

earthmother

I was quite surprised to sit in the lower brackets - especially considering I always seem to fail the grocery challenge and see so many of the the other OSers spending far less each month

My weekly average over the last four months that I have been 'challenging' works out at £88.74 - a little under £18 each for the five of us, and I know I have space to trim that.

Bonia77

we spend well over £100 for 2 adults and 1 cat.

We cook our meals every day and I think it is much more expensive than buying ready meals.
We are keen foodies and love cooking and won't eat anything not for our liking ;-)

Also, all the buy 1 get 1 offers and similiar are quite useless, as it's usually biscuits and ready meals.

On the other hand we hardly spend any money on goiing out, so it balance out :rolleyes:

kerri_gt

MrsBartolozzi wrote: »

Are the two necessarily mutually exclusive?

You clearly haven't been watching Economy Gastronomy on BBC2 then (which is actually quite interesting, though generally employs the use of shopping plus common sense and a tiny bit of ability in the kitchen...seems a lot of families lack this and need two professional chefs to show them what they are doing wrong). Its amazing though how much money and food people waste. I can't beleive people seem suprised at the suggestion of using up left overs for lunch/dinner the next day.

Me and hubby spend about £15 - £20 a week (each) I reckon, but that does depend on whether I also need to get things like washing liquid, cat food etc.

I have been trying harder not to go to the shops unless I really have used up virtually everything in the fridge - or if I need to go for one or two items, just to buy those items and nothing else. Its tough but I find turning it into a competition of willpower (me vs the supermarket) 'I will not buy what you want me to buy on impulse' actually works quite well

DKLS

Voted haven't a clue, I do know that If I go to Morrisons or Asda, I always end up throwing a load of food away, unlike M&S food which never gets wasted. So for me M&S is mse.

I suppose I could meal plan but would find that very depressing knowing what I am going to eat in advance,

ScarletBea

nzseries1 wrote: »

What an eye-opener this poll is... I had no idea that spending over £75 per week on groceries was bad (that's an average week for me - £50 per week if I'm really scrimping and saving). I'm very into money saving but I don't see how on earth do people live on £20-29 per person per weekly shop???

I live alone, so I can't share the cost of some things across multiple people... but still? £20-29? How is that possible? I mean, that has to cover toilet rolls, cleaning products, pet food, hygiene, food and drink... it can't be done I tell you! It CAN'T! 48% of people who took this poll LIED!!

I voted that!
It's a household of 2 adults and I spend £40 on average per week (actually in the last couple of weeks it has been around £36).
I do it in Sainsbury's and always take advantage of multibuy (if I need it, not to throw away), bogofs, price reductions.
Oh, and do you check on the 'reduced to clear' shelves? Sometimes it's just a tin with a little scratch and it's half price! Or the galaxy chocolate bars that were at half price because the galaxy bookclub was ending in 2 weeks, hehe, yummy!

ceridwen

I dont know for sure which "slot" I go in - I'm hazarding a guess that I spend on average £20-£25 per week on groceries. Included in that is my VERY expensive coffee (as I really dont like cheap coffee or ANY tea) - so I think thats probably about half my grocery bill. Also - I'll take anything going pretty much in the way of homegrown/foraged/"found" (ie skipped) food and I try to make my own bread when I can/water down full-fat milk (rather than buying skimmed milk)/try not to waste food/etc.

I think the things that drive my food bill up are:
- that expensive coffee
- buying everything possible organic
- not having time to fit in everything moneysaving possible regarding food (as I have a full-time job).

I'm thinking longingly of when I will have the time to:
- grow a lot more of my own food (not just token bits)
- always make my own bread
- make my own yogurt/pasta/soft cheese/bread spread
- meal plan

and I think my food bill should reduce significantly then. At the moment I just have to resign myself to the fact that those extra costs on my food bill are the "hidden" costs of working in effect.

I guess I could reduce my food bill noticeably right now by avoiding my organic foods - and just always getting the cheapest I could - but I place a high priority on health/decent-tasting food - so I would rather get "stung" for the organic price premium (I'll rephrase that as "pay the REAL cost of food in the first place") than face some health problem later on because I'd placed my emphasis on buying as cheaply as possible instead. Have you seen the cost of private health care these days?:eek: - hence I regard it as moneysaving to do everything possible to avoid getting ill in the first place. I've done all the battling I'm prepared to do with the NHS to get a decent standard of healthcare whenever I get a health problem - and would rather "throw money at the problem" and pay whatever-it-takes and worry about where the money will come from later these days....but I appreciate that many people would choose to worry less about money and instead take on "battles" with the NHS for reasonable standard health care - each to their own. Different people have different financial priorities - and, to me personally, food comes high priority - and cars/smoking/spending for the sake of it come nowhere at all on my list of what to spend on.

rag31

Bonia77 wrote: »

Also, all the buy 1 get 1 offers and similiar are quite useless, as it's usually biscuits and ready meals.

No, that's really not true. I always get baby wipes, toilet rolls, shampoo, washing up liquid, toothpaste and brushes and dishwasher tablets and other expensive items on BOGOF. When they come up I stock up for a couple of months or so.

Becky

savingholmes

We spend £60 on a good week and maybe a £100 on a bad week - 2 adults, 2 kids... I make use of all the bogofs and multibuy deals I can. We have downshifted loads of brands which helps a lot and swap between pepsi and diet coke depending on which is on offer! We do cooks with a lot more frozen food eg mince beef, quorn, frozen mixed peppers, frozen mushrooms etc which significantly reduces waste....

Typical meals

chicken fried rice
mince beef and quorn bhuna
spag bol
beef / chicken stir frys
roast chicken
pasta and meatballs

RockOnZombies

We get by on between 45 and 60 per week for the two of us through meal planning, downshifting and being clever with leftovers etc

nearlyrich

I usually spend between £20 and £50 in the supermarket and between £10 and £60 on fresh meat and fish for three of us (all adults). I would say our average is £20 per week each total is around £225 per month. We eat well and I wonder what people eat who spend over £150 per person per week?