monthly food budget

loneranger

Loneranger opens door slowly and peeps inside, new here and not even taken first step of listing debts & income:eek: OK so you all look quite friendly now have made myself a promise to get started tonight:embarasse .When I get paid I do a big shop in Teco's and often buy 'luxuries' like hair dye and best brands instead of cheapies just because I have money,then at the end of the month when the money runs out have to live on beans,beans and beans.When sorting out my monthly budget so that I know how much I have left to pay non priority bills how much do I allow for monthly 'groceries' for two adults? We can't afford takeaways and almost always eat healthily and home cooked as opposed to prepacked etc. So any Ideas folks? Oh and thanks for beeing approachable, I am terrified!

lynzpower

Welcome LONE RANGER!!! :wave:

Me & OH do 100pcm between us, sometimes up to about 120

Try it, you might be pleasantly surprised

lynz

Icemaiden

Hello & welcome,

May I suggest you pop alone to the Old syle board where you'll find loads of help with your shopping budget.

Ice

Mrs_Sparkle

Hello loneranger- no need to be scared, we're a friendly bunch. I used to spend £400-500 every month before I came to my senses. I managed £250 in September and £215 in October (I have full cupboards + freezer so I reckon that's it for Oct now). I know I could push it down even further but I'm proud of what I've achieved.

For me it's an easy decision when I'm looking at luxury branded goods or Tesco's own brand as I'm paying off debts so can see where the extra £s go.

loneranger

wow, that was fast, think i'm gonna like it here, thanks for your help.

Headintheclouds_3

Welcome loneranger! I'd second the OS board - it's ace for recipes which use odds and ends you probably already have in your store cupboard, and which you can stick in a container and take to work.

[I usually spend less than £30, but I had a break from OS cooking this week (too many crumbles!) and spent nearly £40 :eek: Back to OS next week ]

lynzpower

loneranger

make yourself comfy, we are all in for the long haul, and we are a really lovely bunch! Its always nice to have new members in the gang :wave:

chilli_dog

Mrs Sparkle, if you dont mind me asking, how many people are in your household.

We have three kids & obviously mrs chilli dog and i think we could cut back a little more, christmas is coming...

were do people shop generally? the big names Tesco, Adsa etc or a mixture of different shops?

Thanks

Martin

Bagpuss1973

First of all...welcomex

There are two adults in our house and we spend £150 pcm on everything ie food and things like toilet rolls etc. We found it helps to put the money into another separate account with a debit card and then we know exactly how much we have rather than taking it from the main "bills" account, it shows you as you get to the end of the month that maybe you need to cut back a bit, but we are quite used to shopping with this much now so never seem to cut back really. Plus now I buy one thing that is a bit special to put away for Christmas. We never seem to go short. We shop at Aldi and Asda.


Bagpussx

Mrs_Sparkle

chilli_dog wrote:

Mrs Sparkle, if you dont mind me asking, how many people are in your household.

We have three kids & obviously mrs chilli dog and i think we could cut back a little more, christmas is coming...

were do people shop generally? the big names Tesco, Adsa etc or a mixture of different shops?

Thanks

Martin

I'm ashamed to admit this but only 2 greedy adults and 2 cats with a baby due in February. I know I'm still overspending by other people's standards on here but I'm getting a little better every month.

Tesco for me with topping up from local grocer's and farmers' markets when I get the chance to go.

skintchick

Is it just you loneranger? I can live on £60 a month for food and other stuff, but £80 gives me more wiggle-room to have more meat. If I reach £100 then I've been extravagent!