Singles - How much do you really spend on groceries?

SueC_2

There are lots of threads on here about how to reduce our grocery shopping bill, and I've stripped back and back, but have now reached a point where I really can't seem to get any further. Not without living off bread and water anyway!

The thing is, it still seems like I'm spending a lot every week. So, I thought I'd do a bit of a poll to see what people living alone typically spend each week. I'm aiming it just at Singles, as I really don't think it's the same to divide down the expense of a family or couple.

I'm including all household expenses (toilet rolls, washing powder etc) and toiletries (shampoo, shower gel, hair products etc) as well as food. Basically anything you buy in the supermarket (excl. clothes, cookware, electrical goods etc).

I hope people won't mind taking a second to vote, but I'm really interested to find out where my figure sits. I'm deliberately not quoting my figure, as I don't want to lead anyone!

Thanks for your help.

JillS_2

I presume by grocery shopping you mean all food bills?

I've voted for £10-£15 which is true for the first 5 weeks of this year but a bit misleading since that doesn't include much meat or chicken since I've been using up freezer contents.

PasturesNew

I put £10-15 because I am not trying to cut back, so that includes all manner of goodies, treats and even takeaway food.

Many people are in denial of how much they spend, counting only the big shop. They forget: a hot pie, can of drink, bar of chocolate, couple of takeaways, lunch at work ....

I used to know somebody who said they spent £10 on a big shop each week and that was how much they spent on food. She forgot entirely to factor in that she also did a weekly "treats" shop at Waitrose, had 2 takeaways per week and her and her other half both ate at work in the canteen.

SueC_2

JillS wrote: »

I presume by grocery shopping you mean all food bills?

I've voted for £10-£15 which is true for the first 5 weeks of this year but a bit misleading since that doesn't include much meat or chicken since I've been using up freezer contents.

Food + household + toiletries.

So, anything from baked beans, to air freshener to tampons!

Thanks.

SueC_2

PasturesNew wrote: »

I put £10-15 because I am not trying to cut back, so that includes all manner of goodies, treats and even takeaway food.

.

Does that really include all of your household stuff and toiletries etc? On a regular basis, not just every now and then and the rest of the time the bill is £30?

I'm SO impressed... I can't get mine down anywhere near that. And I don't include takeaways, sandwiches at work, or any sweetshop treats! What on earth do I spend it all on?????

Oh, and I don't include booze either, that comes out of a separate 'pot'.

flutterbyuk25

I budget £80 per month, but can spend just £60/month. I like food and adore cooking so I don't mind spending a bit more on top if needed. I'm veggie though so don't spend on meat/fish.

x

SueC_2

flutterbyuk25 wrote: »

I budget £80 per month, but can spend just £60/month. I like food and adore cooking so I don't mind spending a bit more on top if needed. I'm veggie though so don't spend on meat/fish.

x

How do you do it? How do you do it? How do you do it????? :T

PasturesNew

SueC wrote: »

Does that really include all of your household stuff and toiletries etc? On a regular basis, not just every now and then and the rest of the time the bill is £30?

Yes, I don't drink, don't buy alcohol, don't buy "beauty stuff" etc etc.

SueC wrote: »

I'm SO impressed... I can't get mine down anywhere near that. And I don't include takeaways, sandwiches at work, or any sweetshop treats! What on earth do I spend it all on?????

Oh, and I don't include booze either, that comes out of a separate 'pot'.

Most of my food starts with the basics of: lots of spuds, cheese, root vegetables (when in season), long-life bread, rice, eggs, onions. I buy other stuff based on £/100g and a lot of things I'll only buy when they're on special.

Coffee is supermarket own brand granules, costing under £0.90/100g. No milk, no sugar. £1 will usually last more than a month for coffees.

Did you know for toothpaste you only need a pea-sized piece? And I've experimented with the least shampoo you need - in fact, I last bought shampoo/conditioner in December 2008 when I picked up two small bottles of each reduced to 50p. So a total spend of £2 and I still have most of the shampoo and 10% of the conditioner.

If I buy a shop sandwich, it will have to be the cheapest one they do - and if the cheapest were £2 I'd go without.

I don't buy magazines or newspapers either. Nor books, DVDs, CDs. No films or music at all.

BitterAndTwisted

I'm the same as flutterbyuk but I did used to spend a fair bit more when I was working and buying lunch in the staff restaurant. I might be being very slightly dishonest as I currently have massive stock-piles in my store-cupboard put by when I was working and expecting to be laid-off at any time. I'm pretty glad that I did that now as all I really buy is fresh fruit,veg, milk, bread and eggs for the most part. Not a single toiletry item bought since about August

PasturesNew

I am a big fan of packs of noodles. One great meal is a pack of (9p) curry noodles, nuked, with half a tin of peas added. So that's 9p + 6p = 15p for a main meal.

Another one I like is to buy red kidney beans in chilli sauce and use half a tin of those mixed with noodles. I wait for those to be a low price in Tesco usually, but last time I bought those they were 37p/can, so using half that makes the meal 19p+9p.

Sometimes I'll do a cheese omelette. Two eggs (30p) and some slices of cheese (£5/Kg, so about 10p worth at a guess).

If I want a takeaway, I'll try to produce one part myself. e.g.
- chips and mushy peas: instead of buying the mushy peas I'll already have a can of Harry Ramsdens Mushy Peas in the cupboard (37p instead of 75p) and often I'd only use half of those, so 19p instead of 75p.
- make my own plain rice to go with a sweet/sour chicken
- just buy a plain vegetable curry at an indian and make my own "quick bread" by mixing a couple of spoons of flour with water, teaspoon of sugar (for colouring), pinch of salt and some random herbs/garlic I have, then mix that into a dough, shape it into a blob and flatten it to about half an inch and fry it in a dry pan for 10 minutes.

Lots of little wins here and there.

Notice: no mention of bulk buying, bulk cooking and freezers ... which would make it all easier as you can really benefit from the few times you see an overload of cheap/reduced items.

BitterAndTwisted

Exactamundo PN which is pretty much what is in my store-cupboard. Those packs of noodles without that nasty seasoning sachet are very good with some mixed veg and if I had a jar of sweet and sour sauce I'd probably lob some of that in as well.