Food Shopping, how much?

p-pincher

I spend 160 pcm for 2 adults and kids aged 6 and 3. i batch cook, bake and never ever throw anything away. I dont but fizzy pop and never buy crisps as whenever i have done they last about 2 seconds so ive stopped buying them altogether now.

I but a mix of branded, own label and value products. A few years ago i would never have bought any value stuff but i took the advice of alot of people here and tried one thing every week, whether it be food, drink or cleaning stuff. If i didnt like it i would go straight back to the previous one. Do you have a pound shop near you? We've got a couple near us and theres always some good bargains in there, Ours always has 100 tetly or brooke bond t bags for a quid.

It might help if you shop around in different shops rather than sticking to one but of course thats dependent on time/whether you can really be bothered and there might be added cost like petrol to think about.

But to be honest £120 for 2 adults is quite good, if i wasnt buying shopping for kids id estimate thats how much i would approximatley spend.

chesky369

Did I read right that you don't buy fresh vegetables?

ixia

I think you are doing well. you were saying you only like hovis bread, get two loaves for £1 at farmfoods if you've got one nearby.

They do white, brown and best of both.

sexki11en

I think you're doing well.

We allow £100 a month at the moment for 2 adults and 3 cats. That's toiletries, cleaning products & food, although to be fair, we have enough toiletries from last years bargains (before money got so tight) and cleaning products last ages (ahem!)

I used to look at the grocery challenge and wonder how on earth people did it - we were spending over £250 a month.

What I found helped massively was meal planning (I do this almost religiously now) and only buying what is needed for the week. Before, as soon as I ran out of something, it would be replaced - whether we needed it that week or not. We also go to the shop every week now whereas before, we'd have done one big online shop. This way, we find we only buy what we need for the week (as long as I stick to the list and ignore the multibuys!)

I get a good amount of reduced items from the co op near work - DH thinks it's christmas now if I serve something up that wasn't yellow stickered! And the sausage casserole I served up a month ago will be legendary for ever! (4 sausages served the 2 of us for 4 meals!!!)

If i'm really honest, we are probably eating the healthiest we ever have. EVERYTHING is cooked from scratch, leftovers are frozen and recycled (we're lucky enough to have a chest freezer as well as an upright one)

Unfortunately, none of this was through choice. My job is commission based and due to the downturn I have gone from being a higher rate taxpayer to scraping just (and I mean just) above minimum wage. I hope that when things get better tho we will continue in a similar way.

Sorry for the essay!

SK x

ceridwen

Well - I will continue to watch this thread with interest.

Right at this moment - it is striking me very strongly - that many people have never read any of the nutritional information that started to come out quite strongly back in the 1970s (showing my age here:o) and don't seem to be aware of all the reasons why sugar is bad/white flour is bad/growing food with chemicals (rather than organically) is bad...

....and I am having to revisit this information to remember just why these things do have such a bad effect on our health...and its probably very good for me to have to revisit and remember all this information that has been forgotten by people more recently to such a large extent.

I am personally feeling horrified by JUST how much a grip food manufacturers/supermarkets have acquired over shoppers in recent years and just how unaware many people are that they dont give a **** about us (the consumer).

But - its certainly becoming very very obvious to me that a large number of people arent aware of how little these food manufacturers/supermarkets care about us and its as a result of that that many people seem to be vying with each other to see "How low can you go?" as to how much/little they pay for food.

So - rather than just sitting there realizing that many people dont seem to be that aware that if said food manufacturers/supermarkets could get away with literally selling us sawdust to eat - then they would do precisely that to suit themselves - and then try to convince us that it was healthy:eek: - I'm off to refresh my memory as to exactly why I realized just how little they care about us...

Please - peeps - remember that the motto "you get what you pay for" applies to food as well.

angelicmary85

ironman1 wrote: »

At the moment me and the missus spend around £120 a month, whether that's alot I don't know. That includes online shopping at Asda (works out alot cheaper for us than going to pick it in the store) and bread and milk during the month. We do an online shop every two weeks to cut down on the delivery costs and the dates always seem to be good so more often than not we get a full two weeks worth of lunch for work.

We don't buy much of the 'Smart price' stuff to be honest. Especially when it comes to food. Fizzy and fruit juice are always on offer anyway.

I thought i'd ask on here as no doubt a family of six somewhere here spends half of what us two do. Any tips welcome!

Hiya!

This is my 1st post on this board but I was passing by so I thought I'd pop in!

I spend about £130-£150.00 to feed 2 adults, our really fussy 2year old DD and our 10month old DS so I think you're doing fine! I tend to buy some smartprice stuff (like dried spaghetti) but we end up only spending about £40.00 on ourselves (I can get 56meals, 28 dinners x 2, out of that £40.00 for us as we do our shopping every 4 weeks) and the rest goes on our kids

That amount includes the stuff we need for packed lunches and things like squash, toilet cleaner, bin bags etc but we do buy bread and milk throughout the month as well! (65p for 2lts of milk in Tesco and whichever brown bread is on offer! )

BOGOF_Queen

I spend between £140 & £180 a month for 3 adults - cook everything from scratch, grow most of my own vegetables, make my own bread, also make my own wine and beer. I don't ever buy cakes or biscuits - cheap to make your own and you know what's in them. Make loads of soup in the Winter from the vegies that I have grown - take into work for a really cheap lunch. I don't eat meat so saves a bit - you can be quite inventive with lentils and the various types of beans that are available. Loads of recipes to be found on various websites for vegetarian meals. Also, keep any eye out for things that you normally buy when they are on offer and stockpile them. Shop every lunchtime in the week for only the things on my list - as I have to carry my shopping, is an incentive not to buy too much stuff that I don't need.

Lisaberry

I daren't even think what I spend but money is getting really tight now what with a lack of ot at work and having to pay childcare so I really need to get a grip.
My problem is I still have a fair bit of babyweight to lose and find I can only do it if I cut carbs. Not eating pasta, rice, spuds or bread (or even things like baked beans) really pushes up the cost of my shopping. It also means I end up at the shops quite often.
I've dusted off my slow cooker and have started cooking from scratch more but I find even a casserole made with value meat is really expensive when you add it up. I must be doing something wrong??

eggy-hawkeye

I come in at £120 a month for two as well per month.Cook pretty much everything from scratch, cook bulk loads and freeze what I don't use for quick meals during the week. That includes fruit, veg, meat and my lunch for work (home made soup you can't go better or cheaper). I don't buy any alcohol though apart from maybe a bottle of wine if I'm cooking with it, not a drinker at home other than tea and coffee.I find it easy to do. I just plan my meals, try and not waste anything I'm buying and stick to the list I've made.

donnaessex

I honestly dont know how you all do it!

2 adults and a 2.5 year old and a 16 month old = £500 a month for us. I cook (almost) everything from scratch, we take packed lunches, kids have 3 x fresh fruit every day (the bulk of our spend I find) and we buy budget squash etc.

Every week I spend £100 at Asda (including toiletries and cleaning products) and then about £20 in the butchers.