Food Shopping, how much?

heynonnynonny

£120 sounds really good, £15 each a week sounds very reasonable, ours is probably the same.

ironman1

We always buy Hovis etc when it comes to bread. Our food bill would be £100 a month id it wasn't for bread and milk which never lasts long... Now I've read we are doing well I might even spend a bit more on even nicer/more food!

ceridwen

To me personally - there is some correlation between what stage of my life I have been in and the amount of money I have spent/spend on food.

There have been times when I have spent as little as I can manage to because I was at a younger (ie poorer) stage in my life - and I would imagine that (by today's standards) that would probably have equated to about £20 a week (by 2010 price levels). That is what I think is the lowest one can possibly have a remotely healthy diet on personally - working on the basis of pretty much cooking from scratch (apart from breadmaking)/having instant coffee/not buying anything organic.

At my current stage in life (ie now middle-aged) - then I have a bit more space/freezer space in my home than I had when younger (so am a bit better able to preserve food/can now make my own bread) - so I can save money in those respects. However - I am much more aware of how very necessary it is to eat healthily (as otherwise one will - without doubt - have worse health). When one gets older one can no longer delude oneself that it is possible to eat in an unhealthy way and expect to have the same energy/looks/health level of someone who has eaten more healthily - you have watched the effect of eating a cheaper diet on too many people over the years.:eek: I personally am much better-informed about food than I used to be - so make different choices in some respects than when I was younger. I've now read about battery eggs - so eggs have to be free-range. I've read about all the chemicals used in growing non-organic food - so everything possible is now organic.

So - I do what I reasonably can to be economical with food costs and, in all truth, my verdict of what it costs to eat now - for one person living on their own, with some access to freezer space (but not as much as they would like) and virtually no access to growing their own food is:
- around £25- £30 per person per week

Beyond that - I personally have periods of spending more than that because I have reached an age where I have some "spare" money:D:T at last - so I sometimes choose to buy some more luxury type food just because I want to and I can (so there are some weeks now where I have spent more like £40 on food).

But - there is no way that an average person with an average level of knowledge about nutrition and an average amount of time/energy to devote to the question of "what am I going to eat tonight?" can eat in a way that is healthy/ethical for less than £25-£30 per week for more than literally a month or two.

Obviously there are two reasons why some people try to spend less than this on food. Either:
- they've got their priorities all wrong and are trying to spend food money on buying extra consumer goodies and/or having more children than they can afford

OR

- they honestly arent spending on any consumer goodies or trying to have children they cant afford - but the money simply isnt there due to no fault of their own (ie because they cant manage to get an at least passably-paid job - try as they might).

and a very different reaction would be appropriate - according to which of those two reasons applied.

serenawell

We have 4 adults and 4 kids in our house and we spend about £1100 a month on grocerys.

hails84

I spend about £150 a month for me and my 2 children (1 and 2yrs) and that includes a lot of fruit and veg and I cook everything from scratch, freeze, use everything up so nothing is wasted. That also includes nappies, wipes etc, although I tend yo buy these in bulk whenever baby events are on!!

I think you're doing pretty well-as long as nothing is wasted and you're getting a full and varied diet

ceridwen

lilac_lady wrote: »

Asda's smart range isn't as good as Sainsbury's basic one. I think you're doing well as you're already on a tight food budget. If you cut back further you may not like the taste of the food you buy,

...or the long list of chemicals that you will probably see after the food itself in the list of ingredients....:cool:

To see what I mean - next time you go shopping try a little test =
compare the list of ingredients on packets of "buttery" spread (stuff like "It Cant be butter" and "Butterlicious").

Check out the dearest brand - only food ingredients.

Check out the cheapest brand - that list of added chemicals after the food ingredients:eek:

itsallinthemind

ceridwen wrote: »

...or the long list of chemicals that you will probably see after the food itself in the list of ingredients....:cool:

Some of the basics items are healthier though :T

aloise

My god, i will have to have a rethink about my food bill. I thought i was quite good but apparently i am overspending BIG TIME

blutone

yeh me too,we spend about 60 quid a week for two of us,an we are quite cost aware......or so we thought:eek:

LindseyandMatthew

we spend £150 per month for 2 adults, an 8 year old and a 19 month old