how much is weekly shop??

gingin_2

mrs_baggins wrote:

I guess that laziness is the stem of my problem!! I own up to it. But its a hard thing to break.

I am just trying to get some recipies together that are a) really easy, b)very quickly prepared C) cheap d) have ingredients in we both like!!! Its going to be a battle as hubby doesnt like tomatoes, I cant cope with garlic, I would rather have veg, he would rather have meat!! Am going to start off I think with some slow cooker soup type things at least we can both take to work. I get home much earlier than he does and as he goes to gym 4 times a week its awkward as he doesnt want anything b4 he goes and i'm not going to make anything at 9.30 when he gets back! Will even try a list this week and see how it goes. I have sneaked in tesco t bags instead of teley and he hasnt said anything yet!

Chicken pieces (legs, thighs, drumsticks) are good an economical and can be slow cooked and divided up, a whole chicken is even more economical. I do a lot of pasta dishes and serve meat (usually turkey breasts) for him with it to keep him happy and I just have the pasta and sauce.

recovering_spendaholic

patchwork_cat wrote:

How much do we spend - too much! Despite being an avid MSE'r for 2 years+ we still spend £70 + extras on 4 I would be happy if it was £65/£70 inc. extras, but we are not perfect and every week i throw away a lettuce, tub of coleslaw and then some. I fully intend not to , but the path to hell is paved with good intentions. I think that meall planning and sticking to it is the way forward. I am just too impulsive!

That sounds just like me!! I got an online shop deliver and nearly filled the pedal bin in the kitchen with stuff I had to throw out.

patchwork_cat

Recovering spendaholic maybe it is a liverpudlian thing - that is where I come from originally -my dad used to live on Moor Lane

Miss_Cinnabon

I really need to cut back on shopping too! went to tesco on mon and spent 80 pound, there is 5 of us, went again today and spent 95! we didnt get everything though as we plan to go to costco on wed!

Need to start planning in advance i think!:rolleyes:

kiwichick

I spend around £75pw in tesco/asda for 5 of us, one child in nappies daytime, 2 during night so this is in the weekly shop too. I do find that DH is ALWAYS bringing home milk and bread during the week though as we only have a tiny freezer so I cant bulk buy these items. I also have an organic veg box delivered each tuesday which is another £9 so I reckon with the main shop, the veg and the extras DH gets it'd be around £100 . Oddly enough, working this out earlier has made me do a list of all that we have and all that we need. I have written down what I normally pay at tesco/asda and am taking it into town tomorrow to price up aldi/iceland/farmers market etc.

emg

I'm quite lazy too, what I find helped me get out of my ready-meal rut was to spend an hour over the weekend making some of my own. I cook up a big pack of either mince or chicken, make half into one thing and half into something else (e.g. bolognese and chilli, or curry and chicken casserole). I freeze portions in my old takeout boxes. In the morning before work I take one out and it's defrosted and ready to cook by the time I get home, just have to stick on the pasta/rice/veg.

I do try and do some quick fresh meals during the week too, I tend to know which days I come home knackered and which days I can manage to rustle something up. Real Fast Food by Nigel Slater is a great book for this as all the meals take less than 30 mins and most have very few ingredients.

patchwork_cat

Hi
When I read threads about how other people manage on £80 per month I feel like a complete failure and feel sod it. It is nice to know that I am not the only one who struggles.

tinkerbelluk

patchwork cat - you're not alone, I feel like a failure to. I can get everything else to hit the budget but when it comes to food I don't know what happens.

Looking over our food budget for the last six months including all toiletries, cleaning stuff etc…) we spend on average £300 - £350 a month - I wouldn't mind so much but there is only 2 of us :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

I think the main problem for me is we cook everything from scratch and hence all our friends tend to eat at ours at least once a week so it's more like cooking for a family of 4!

Next month we're going to try meal planning and telling everyone to eat at their own house to see if we can get this under control :rolleyes:

nabowla

At one stage I was managing on £20 per week for one person, including all cleaning products etc. However, I've increased the budget to £30 per week as I'm eating a lot more soft fresh fruit now. I know I could stick to apples and oranges to keep the bill down but it's just impossible to resist the lure of raspberries, strawberries, peaches, apricots etc at this time of year. I also choose to buy good quality meat rather than the 'Basics' range, which can add a couple of pounds to the bill (although I did manage to pick up two Gressingham duck breasts for £2 instead of £6.50 last week!).

I think the key to shopping successfully is to think carefully about your priorities. I prefer to spend a bit more on buying luxury ingredients and then cut back in other areas (e.g I don't have Sky or broadband). You might prefer to get the food bill as low as possible and then spend the money on going out with the OH once a week. There isn't a 'right' or 'wrong' way of doing things, you just have to work out what you can afford overall and then fit your priorities into the overall budget.

Wickedkitten

Our menu for this week is


Sunday - Roast Chicken with Thyme and Rosemary served with boiled new potatoes and roasted veg

Monday - Chicken Wraps made with the leftover chicken and veg from Sunday's meal with some tomatoes, natural yoghurt, and salad

Tuesday - Courgette and Pesto Pasta

Wednesday - Turkey Stir Fry

Thursday - Homemade Pizza

Friday - Spicy Prawns with Pak Choi


We went to Sainsburys and Aldi to get most of the stuff even with various other bits and bobs (Like Sainsburys has 6 fruit corners - natural fruit, chocolate, or normal fruit ones 12 for 4 quid at the moment) and taking into account that each recipe makes 4 portions so we can have the meal and then there is enough leftover so each of us can have some for lunch the next day, our shop for this week was bang on 30 quid.