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

Rachel021967

I wonder how many of those who said they spend £150 per person misread the question like me.:o

honeybear_2

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!!

Amen to that! I live in a nearby area to you (going on your profile) & I live alone - it's a bloody expensive world out there!

ceridwen

Whew - steps back in amazement/astonishment at cw18's very precise costings....:beer:

I think that makes it quite plain that those who are managing to buy food on less than £20 per week are probably doing so courtesy of getting a LOT of food on BIG price reductions from the shops. This is precisely why most of us fall into the £20-£39 per week bracket for what our food costs - as Cheryl has told us it would cost her a lot more for food and she would also fall into that price bracket if it werent for the large number of hugely-reduced items she is able to buy.

So - I reckon realistically most of us DO need up to £40 per week - as most of us dont have access to many/if any vastly reduced food items. It seems to depend partly on what part of the country one is in - in my dear area it is VERY rare to even spot food reduced to half price - and I've never ever spotted it reduced to pennies. I dont think that level of price reduction happens in dearer parts of the country - or, if it does, it would mean going out specially to "trawl the supermarkets" at closing time - which is something that most of us just dont have the time to do.

I think that the lesson from posts so far is that the only way one can spend less than £20pp per week is if:
- one lives literally on the doorstep of a supermarket in a cheaper part of the country and can dive in just before closing time
or
- one has the ability to grow loads of food oneself (allotment or large garden) and lots of freezer space to store the surplus to spread it out over the rest of the year

So - for the vast majority of us - with our:
- living too far from supermarkets to go out specially to them
and/or
- we live in too expensive a part of the country for supermarkets to reduce their food much anyway

AND;
- We dont have the room for much freezer space and/or foodgrowing

then we have no option but to spend within that £20-£40 pp per week bracket (quite apart from the expensive coffee tastes here chez ceridwen). Literally the only way anyone who has the abovementioned problems in obtaining their food more cheaply can fill their stomach with food as far as I can see would be to fill said stomach with "Value" range pizzas/readymade curry sauces/cheapie noodles/baked beans etc - and just wait to see how much weight they put on right now and what health problems they had stored up for themselves later in life....:eek:

....goes toddling off thinking "I wonder just how many members of the Government are likely to read this debate - for the purposes of informing themselves as to how everyone is likely to manage to feed themselves as Britain's "food security" becomes more and more precarious.....

....comes back, having had further thoughts - wonder if Thriftlady is "listening in" to this debate....sure she'd have summat useful to add here....

rosalie-lavender

I fall into the £10 to £19 per person price bracket although my spend is the top end of that bracket.

I shop mostly online so rarely pick up reduced bargains, that is offset by saving on all the extras my OH used to buy in the supermarket. It also means that I can take advantage of bogofs in larger quantities than I could if I had to actually pick it out in the shop myself. I try and buy as much fruit and veg as I can at a local stall in our shopping centre and have a fruit or veg box delivered from time to time. There are five of us including three teenagers and when I added together all my Tesco's shops, veg shops and the meat I had delivered I still finished up with less than £20 a head spend per week for the last month. I also have a well stocked cupboard and freezer because I have been picking some extras to put away for Christmas.

I think for me the biggest savings are that we eat less meat than a lot of other families I know and we drink very little alcohol. We also buy own brands in most things, it is not a hardship because we actually prefer the own brands in a lot of cases to the branded alternative. Where I am lucky is that we have the space to have two freezers including one quite sizeable chest freezer and I have space to store extra bogoffs like cereals. I would like to cut down to one freezer really but living in a rural area, a large amount of space in one is taken up with all the milk my kids drink in a week.

I cook from scratch most days and we certainly don't live off value pizzas and chips all the time and none of us has a weight problem.

nbbradshaw

ceridwen wrote: »

I think that makes it quite plain that those who are managing to buy food on less than £20 per week are probably doing so courtesy of getting a LOT of food on BIG price reductions from the shops. This is precisely why most of us fall into the £20-£39 per week bracket for what our food costs - as Cheryl has told us it would cost her a lot more for food and she would also fall into that price bracket if it werent for the large number of hugely-reduced items she is able to buy....

I agree that Cheryl is being really proactive but I just can't agree with the above. Anyone who regularly shops in Lidl\Aldi\Netto realises 3 things IMHO:-

1. Just how expensive the 'regular' supermarkets are such as ASDA and MORRISONS for even their 'budget' brands:rolleyes:
2. How you can buy quality at a low cost, also beating the 'quality' of regular supermarkets brands across the range:j
3. How much you waste on having 'too much choice'. What I mean, is that just how many choices of different peas, rices, tinned tomatoes do you really need? If you had 10 choices of each, would you really always buy the cheapest? At Lidl\Aldi\Netto you dont have the choice!

We used to regularly spend £90-£125 a week for 2 Adults and 1 toddler, now its £30-£60 and the majority of the time below £45!.:T

The only warning about Lidl\Aldi\Netto is to avoid the temptation to buy the 'weekly non-food specials', as a guy its tempting to buy just one more screwdriver set, just in case!:rotfl:

ThinkingOfLinking

nzseries1 wrote: »

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 live in a flatshare but we all buy our own things.

I have no problems using Tesco Value toilet paper, and I also stockpile shower gel/shampoo etc when it's on special offer, as well as entering competitions to win these things; I've got more than a year's supply remaining plus I save all the free sample sachets from magazines. Apart from deodorant, I haven't had to buy ANY skincare, bodycare or haircare for over a year already.

I stockpile washing powder/washing up liquid when on special offer and use money off coupons, eg Tesco just sent me £1 off Persil so I'll find a scent I like on special offer, use the discount and stockpile it.;)

cw18

ceridwen wrote: »

Whew - steps back in amazement/astonishment at cw18's very precise costings....:beer:

Unfortunately a necessary evil - both to cope with a major drop in income since last November, and in readiness for yet another huge one (down to just below benefits level) next September unless I find a paying job between now and then I need to make sure I'm

a) not wasting money now
and
b) in a position that I know exactly how I have to allocate the income from Sept 2010

nbbradshaw wrote: »

Anyone who regularly shops in Lidl\Aldi\Netto realises 3 things IMHO:-

1. Just how expensive the 'regular' supermarkets are such as ASDA and MORRISONS for even their 'budget' brands:rolleyes:
2. How you can buy quality at a low cost, also beating the 'quality' of regular supermarkets brands across the range:j
3. How much you waste on having 'too much choice'. What I mean, is that just how many choices of different peas, rices, tinned tomatoes do you really need? If you had 10 choices of each, would you really always buy the cheapest? At Lidl\Aldi\Netto you dont have the choice!

I very, very rarely wander as far up as L!dl (though they are in walking distance), and have only ever used Nett0 a couple of times (that needs the car). I do go to A!di a few times a week, but this is primarily for the Super 6, the bread (the 47p loaf beats the 49p Mr T Value hands down - DS thought I'd "up-shifted" which he didn't understand due to me watching the pennies :rolleyes2 ), the milk which I always buy as the 1 litre semi-skimmed (works out the cheapest anywhere - apart from the 2 litre at L!dl which comes in at the same price per litre, but is heavier to carry and has to be carried further), and the kitchen rolls. I've checked out other bits and bobs in A!di, but have to say I don't actually find them cheaper than anywhere else

As to buying the cheapest in the other supermarkets when faced with a choice - yes, always! Unless it's one we just can't cope with, or the saving from the next brand up just isn't worth making for the drop in taste/texture/quality..

Flickering_Ember wrote: »

I have no problems using Tesco Value toilet paper

And that's one where I don't and won't buy the cheapest. Yes we can 'cope' with it, but we end up using at least twice as much - so it doesn't really work out any cheaper. I stock up when their own brand 12 packs have a third extra free instead, and should already have enough in until the end of the year

ThinkingOfLinking

I do buy decent stuff when it is on offer, but even with suffering from IBS, I don't find I get through any more than usual.

kaj70

HI, I have only just come across this thread, and it makes interesting reading. I ive in a house with 1 adult..(me) and 3 teenagers!!! yes...3 of them i seem to be shopping constantly, i go and do my main shop, and then seem to have to go beck nearly everyday as everyone wants something different to what i have got. I am vegetarian, my eldest only seems to like processed foods, my middle child has very expensive tatses and like the best of everything, and my youngest would live off suoer needles and tuna bagette if he could.
i do buy the cheap brands of everything, but i dont add up what i spend as i think it would upset me, i know the money could be better spent.
but im going to stop being so soft, and buget better, write a list and stick to it!!! easier said than done in my house. any money saving ideas very welcome

cw18

kaj70 wrote: »

i do buy the cheap brands of everything, but i dont add up what i spend as i think it would upset me, i know the money could be better spent.
but im going to stop being so soft, and buget better, write a list and stick to it!!! easier said than done in my house. any money saving ideas very welcome

The Grocery Challenge could be a good one for you to come and join in on - even if only to read, make suggestions or ask for help at first. There are also loads of recipe ideas at the start of thread.

There are absolutely no set rules you have to conform to - and no set budget either. We all set our own budgets, and decide what we're personally including - I don't include cleaning products, toiletries, pet foods, newspapers/magazines nor medications - all of which other people may include in various combinations. (Mine is strictly 'human food' only) I've even spotted a couple of people saying they include the fuel for their cars......