Realistic budget and sticking to it?

katskorner

Right. I have had a bit of a wake up call. For the past month and a half I have kept a log of all grocery spending to the penny just to see how much we are actually spending. I haven't done this for ages but I am pretty savvy with what I buy and root out the bargains. We can afford it but I think we could be spending less and saving more for things we can all enjoy as a family.

I am trying now to decide whether what I am spending is realistic for our circumstances or whether I need to reign it in and if so by how much. I think you can always cut down but just wanted to see how others feel we are doing.

Family is 2 adults and 3 children aged 8, 6 and 3. Also two adult cats. The records I have kept include everything eat and drink wise for us all as well as cleaning and laundry products. There are a few house type items but nothing major.

Feb spend was approx £360 before coupons and £430 including coupons.

March so far is £280 before coupons and £340 including coupons.

I shop around and stock up when I find good bargains and store till I need them (like loo rolls, washing powder, cat pouches etc). Main shopping is at Asda, Lidl and Aldi.

What does everyone else with my family stats spend or budget for per month? Am I way over the top, average or even below (which I doubt!).

Over to you.....

rachbc

I spend £240 for 2 adults, 1 teen 1 5 yo, 3 hens and 3 cats! The hens more than pay from themselves with the eggs they produce, the cats are on dry food and occassional offerings of fresh meat

Thtas some impressive couon savings you are managing - well done!

katskorner

Thanks rachbc . Where is everyone else?

Edwardia

I budget £100-£150 pw in my head but sometimes don't shop for a fortnight if I've done a big shop. I can get a trolleyful at Lidl for £50. 2 adults (1 low carber) and a labrador and includes toiletries and household cleaners, loo rolls but not makeup or contact lens solutions. Excludes alcohol, don't buy it now.

sweetdaisy

My shopping budget is £80 a week (£340 a month), this includes all groceries and cleaning/household products. In our household there is: Me, DH, DS1 (almost 4) and 7 month old DS2.

I usually shop at Tesco but for the past fortnight I have been shopping at Aldi and have been spending £60 a week, so under budget, however I have just done an online food shop with Tesco and it has come to £77 (had to buy baby related stuff and laundry products). Will be heading back to Aldi next week though .

santer_2

You can check most supermarkets here, though the list of products is not exhaustive

See what is on offer for half price or better and buy one get one free

http://www.madaboutbargains.co.uk/offers/Off-Your-Trolley.htm

You can check for own brands here, some of which are as good as the branded items. Set the search score to 9+ then tick any dietary requirements, tick to include tasting notes, select the shops convenient for you and enter a search item

http://www.supermarketownbrandguide.co.uk/search.php?table=all

cazj80

I budget £35 a week for 2 adults and 2 children (2 and 10mo) so £140 a month. This includes nappies, cleaning products, toiletries and food.

I get fresh fruit and veg from the fruit and veg stall near me, I take advantage of the half price weekend offers at Lidl, when they are things that I like, I think i currently have about 8 packs of mince from weekends when it was on offer. I use coupons too, and try and only use them when things are already on offer, so maximising the savings. I use Tesco and Sainsburys when they have good offers on, and try not to use them too much.

I also buy lots of one item when it is on offer. For example, I have 4 1.2 litre bottles of Fairy washing up liquid that I got last summer in Asda for £1 each. I haven't even opened one yet as the 2 smaller bottles I got on offer, using coupons too, haven't all been used. I don't think I'll need to buy any for a couple of years...

sorry for the ramble ...

quintwins

i budget £200 a month for us, there me, hubby, 5 year old twins and a 2.5 year old, this included everything from nappies to cleaning stuff, we don't really drink but it does include takeaways which we love. i tend to buy alot of yellow sticker items, and cook alot from scratch, i get a big sack of spuds for £5/£6 which lasts 3+ weeks.

rachbc

Wow - i thought I was doing ok but we can't stretch to takeaways out of our £240 - would love to see meal plans from people who are managing to

quintwins

rachbc wrote: »

Wow - i thought I was doing ok but we can't stretch to takeaways out of our £240 - would love to see meal plans from people who are managing to

i posted a meal plan here a week or 2 ago, this is my strict month one altho we do always tend to eat the same foods, we just have fancier yogurts and coke normally:p

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=51479949&postcount=23


our kids rarely have takeaway, what usually happens is i make them pasta or pizza and we have chinese, chinese used to be alot cheaper but we found the nicest chinese ever but it's dearer given that we have very few vices £16 for a treat for 2 of us doesn't seem to steep.

my budget included £4 a week snack money for the kids school (this isn't optional) in summer we are then £4 up but then i need an extra bottle of milk, a few packets of pancakes, some icecreams ect so it doesn't make a difference.

rachbc

Ta - Do your kids take a packed lunch or have school dinners? I think a lot of the extra stuff I buy is for these - lots of rolls/ wraps tuna, ham, salad stuff, loads of yoghurt