realistic budget for food shopping?/average food shopping bill?

taplady

Hi we allow ourselves £70 a week for 2 adults and 2 large(6ft) teenage boys.Some weeks we come under budget so use that to stock up the freezer/storecupboard for leaner times!
As been said already - take baby steps and don't set yourself an unreachable target!
Good luck and let us know how you get on!:D

EagerLearner

We aim to spend £30 a week, for 2 people. However right now average is £35-£40... am tryign to cut back though with food planning!

Joined grocery challenge for September and not doing tooooo bad, plus have been able to put £12 into savings, so it's got to be going well somehow!

Last week I bought lots of spices in a local Turkish shop, plus some in a Thai shop, which will last me ages.

I then bought:

1 sweet potato
4 medium potatoes
1 bag spinach
1 chicken
1 Courgette
1 tin chick peas
2 tins cheap tomatoes
1 tin coconut milk

This was enough to make us both 6 dinners (ie 12 single portions) of chicken curry. As it was around £6 spend, that works out around £1 per dinner plus cost of rice, for 2 people. We then froze lots of it and will be having some tonight.

I also plan to make spag bol in batch tonight (enough for 4 dinners for both of us = 8 single portions) - total cost: 1 kg mince = £4 at butchers, 4 tins cheap tomatoes = £0.13 each = £0.52, 2 large carrots £0.25, 8 mushrooms £0.50 = £5.27 (ish). That's £1.31 per meal for both of us (4 meals) or £0.65 per single portion. I will use spices and stock cubes that we have at homer plus use up some cheap spaghetti we have...

We were amazed and thanks to everyone on here and on the food planning threads for the inspiration!

pinkparrott

Hi after reading this it seems that a lot of you do batch cooking, and put stuff in the freezer.
Does this mean that most of you have microwaves?

I am on the last week of my maternity leave and i go back to work next week, so i need to be realy good by making my lunches instead of buying them, also I am thinking of buying a slow cooker, - to save time and money. Do you think this is a good idea?
I donr currently have a microwave as hubby refuses to have one, but do you think it would help me save money in the long run?

Many thanks , like i said i am new to this and have been a spender all my life, but sinc having my baby boy i have had my light bulb moment and want to save money for a better future for him!

EagerLearner

Hi PP - we don't have a microwave. I defrost things overnight in the fridge, ready for next day's lunch (if I'm taking lunch to work, or it's lunch for the weekend).

Or I defrost things by leaving them out in the morning, so they are ready when I get back at 6pm.

We have managed 6 years together with no microwave - just defrost as above, then pop whatever food has been defrosted either in the oven, or if it's spag bol for example, heat it quickly in a pan on the hob.

Dead_Eye_Jones

currently about £50-70 a week for 2 peeps. But we have got into some bad habits, used to be about £40. Including all household products too.

The upper end is prob from when I go with the misses and start putting rubbish in - hey im a bloke, i cant help it ! I know we can def get that down and will have to when the family starts growing !

Rachie_B

pinkparrott wrote:

Hi after reading this it seems that a lot of you do batch cooking, and put stuff in the freezer.
Does this mean that most of you have microwaves?

I am on the last week of my maternity leave and i go back to work next week, so i need to be realy good by making my lunches instead of buying them, also I am thinking of buying a slow cooker, - to save time and money. Do you think this is a good idea?
I donr currently have a microwave as hubby refuses to have one, but do you think it would help me save money in the long run?

Many thanks , like i said i am new to this and have been a spender all my life, but sinc having my baby boy i have had my light bulb moment and want to save money for a better future for him!

personally i couldnt be without my microwave ! lol

yes i could easily use the hob / oven but for convenience and less washing up usually i tend to re heat and sometimes defrost in the micro

also you can make puddings / cakes in it,poach fish,cook rice,eggs,heat tinned goods eg beans ,cook jacket potatoes etc

i use my micro more than my cooker most days :rotfl:

also wouldnt be without my slow cooker,esp in the winter for soups,stews,casseroles etc ,lovely to come home to a yummy smelling hot cooked meal on a wet miserable day :beer:

Cazzdevil

Microwaves are cheaper to run than ovens anyway - I'm contemplating getting a combi micro/grill/oven actually.

Linda32

After reading on here I did a spreadsheet of items I bought *whispers £380.00 for a month (2 adults, cleaning stuff, smellies, around £75.00 for wine, not including petrol)

Now its down to £200.00 with the same for wine :beer:

I don't include petrol as its not applicable.

Meal planning and shopping lists are the key, look in your cupboards for what you have an what you need to make a meal.

Unfortunately I love food shopping

EagerLearner

Linda32 wrote:

After reading on here I did a spreadsheet of items I bought *whispers £380.00 for a month (2 adults, cleaning stuff, smellies, around £75.00 for wine, not including petrol)

Now its down to £200.00 with the same for wine :beer:

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

I need to change our £120 budget to include £75 wine too - cheap pasta here I come!

Linda32

EagerLearner wrote:

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

I need to change our £120 budget to include £75 wine too - cheap pasta here I come!

Nether myself or OH could beleive it worked either, but it did. :T