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

ScarletBea

I always buy at Sainsbury's (the one right next to home and work), but every once in a while I like to go to mysupermarket.co.uk with my weekly bill, choose the same things and check which supermarket's cheaper.
This week at Sainsbury's it was £41, £48 at Asda, £49 at Tesco and £60 at Waitrose!
I guess it's because most of the things I bought were with a special price

mahoney

I voted 40-49£ which includes midweek bread and milk shops too. We eat well and rarely eat out, so considering this I don't think it's too bad. I usually take lunch to work too.

kaj70

thankyou for the link, im going to join and see how i get on, i need to be more careful as i would love to take the kids on a great holiday next year.

Paulgonnabedebtfree

I'm in the £10 - £19 bracket. I may sometimes exceed that when there is a special offer on of freezeable or non-perishable items. e.g. a few days ago I spent £5.78 on milk alone and put it in the freezer (1% milk from Tesco at 73p per 2 litres).

ceridwen

cw18 wrote: »

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......

That confuses me as well Cheryl. I wish everyone would mean just food/drink when they talk about their food budget - I guess some people include detergents/cosmetics/etc - as they chuck them in their basket at the same point (ie in the supermarket). But people really ought to mean "food/drink only" when they refer to said "food budget" - otherwise we're not comparing like with like.

I knew the reason for your very precise costings is down to living at benefit/not much more than benefit level - and I think its a salutary point for those who think its easy to live on benefit to see your posts on this - as you are clearly very organised and dont waste any money, etc, and its clear JUST how precise/organised one has to be to manage on that level of income. One thing the "powers-that-be" dont take into account when fixing the levels is that the vast majority of people dont have your high level of organisational ability/willpower...

Hope things work out for you Cheryl - fingers crossed.

*Louise*

That poll wasn't to well put, I'm sure some people were thinking that was their weekly shop rather than per person shop

Ours is around £100 a week for 5 of us. Sometimes more, sometimes less, so it averages around £20 or so per person

Anja

If people read the question right in the first place then the answers might be right! How much per person per week?

If you shop in bulk and freeze the food you find on offer you can keep it down. It also means you don't have to go so often. :beer:

I do think that everything is going up every time I go shopping despite what they say about the "average shopping basket"! What does anyone else feel?

cw18

*Louise* wrote: »

That poll wasn't to well put, I'm sure some people were thinking that was their weekly shop rather than per person shop

Anja wrote: »

If people read the question right in the first place then the answers might be right! How much per person per week?

I actually have a foot in both camps here.....


Whilst the ANSWERS state "per person"
the QUESTION says "How much do you spend on your weekly grocery shop?"


I can't help feeling the questions would have been better if it included the 'per person' statement - eg. "How much do you spend on your weekly grocery shop per person?"

sarymclary

kaj70 wrote: »

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

Kaj - I've got 2 teenagers and 2 aged 9 and 11. I used to be just like you. I bought for everyone's tastes, and was cooking 5 different meals at a time. This is seriously wasteful in both money, and your time. I made a decision about 4 years ago to stop doing it. I now buy items that I know I can usually get all/majority to eat. I have 1 of my boys who doesn't like pasta, so I will keep a portion of say the chicken from a pasta bake to one side, and do him some with a baked potato. On the whole I try to tailor the meals to suit them all in one meal. Sausages (including meat and quorn, but cooked at the same time), with mash and yorkshires, for example. A roast dinner with a selection of veg.

Have you ever watched Big Brother? They have to work together to organise their weekly shop, and have to do it on a fixed budget. Why not set the per person budget you want to spend, and then sit down together to work out meal plans for the week ahead. If they've been part of the planning process that may mean less conflict.

As they're teenagers they can be spoken to in a very straightforward adult way. You are spending too much on the food bill, and it has to be reduced. Everyone is going to have to make adjustments to what they think they want. Your teen with expensive tastes needs to get a p/t job to support that lifestyle aim too!

You have a goal to aim for as a family, say if you want to have a holiday. As a parent you have a goal of ensuring they are all eating healthily, and enjoying a variety of foods. I have a couple of very faddy, fussy eaters, but they soon learnt that the meal I prepared each night was the only option. There's no snacking, apart from fruit, and I don't buy sweet snacks any more. If it's not in the house they can't eat it, and they will end up eating what is there. They may be a bit difficult to begin with, but stick with it and it will work.

I am already trying to cut what I was spending to put some money to one side to save for Christmas, and hopefully towards a holiday next year.

My top tip as a mum shopping is never take your children to the supermarket with you, unless you are very comfortable with saying 'no' consistently, and never giving in. Mine don't even bother asking anymore.:p

cw18

sarymclary wrote: »

My top tip as a mum shopping is never take your children to the supermarket with you, unless you are very comfortable with saying 'no' consistently, and never giving in. Mine don't even bother asking anymore.:p

Sooo true!! If I thought it was bad shopping with my 3 when they were small (5.25 years between DD and elder DS, and 2.3 years between him and younger DS), it's only 'cos I didn't know what it would be like with GDs who've had years of their Mum (my daughter) apparently finding it easier to give in than face the tantrums/battles!

My daughter is now having the tantrums as she starts to refuse to give in - mainly 'cos she can't afford to any more. (GDs are 6 and 4, so it's not as easy as explaining to them).