Food / shopping budget per month

redcats100

Hi everyone,
I have been looking at these forums for ages but have only just registered.
I was wondering who else has a family of 4 (2 children and 2 adults) and how much you send per month on food.... And also where you shop, I am trying to get my food bill down and just wonder what is realistic.

Ah advice welcome :-)

Thanks

santer_2

Couple of sites worth looking at

This is for own brands, most have a comparison to named brands

Set the score to 9+ then tick any diestary requirements, tick all the shops you can get to, enter the search item

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

This one is for offers at most of the major supermarkets, though does not cover all offers. You can choose between half price to save money or buy one get one free to stock up on items you use every week

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

blackandwhitebunny

Have a look at the oldstyle forum, there're loads of threads about budgets etc especially the grocery challenge which should give you some ideas. Its a very friendly bunch on there too.

cazj80

We're a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 children - 2 and 1) and I spend £140 a month, including toiletries/cleaning etc.

I would say that when you find something on special, if it's something that can keep, stock up. I look out for yellow stickered items and freeze them if needs be. I make my own bread (by hand and by bread machine). I try and cook everything from scratch.

Meal planning is a big key to budgetting I think. I do try and be flexible so that I can fit any yellow stickered items into my weekly menu, if they can't be frozen.

I do occasional shops from Approved Foods/Rosspa to stock up on items there when they are cheap, but you have to factor in delivery.

I use a market for fruit and veg, unless cheaper on offer at supermarket. I use Lidl for their half price weekend offers and will stock up on these. I don't spend much at Tesco/Sainsburys etc, and when I do I buy mostly Value/Basics, unless an offer on branded works out cheaper.

I mostly use bleach for cleaning etc, and buy the value one, it was 30-odd pence for 2 litres when I last bought some.

Sorry for the long response!

jen_79

cazj80 wrote: »

We're a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 children - 2 and 1) and I spend £140 a month, including toiletries/cleaning etc.

I have no idea how you do this, I buy for myself and struggle to keep within my budget of £120 for food alone!!

My chosen diet does mean I eat quite a lot of fresh fruit, vegetables and not cheaper fillers like rice, bread, noodles, pasta etc so I guess I'm missing out there.

I must be doing something very wrong!

lovingtescoforever

jen_79 wrote: »

I have no idea how you do this, I buy for myself and struggle to keep within my budget of £120 for food alone!!

My chosen diet does mean I eat quite a lot of fresh fruit, vegetables and not cheaper fillers like rice, bread, noodles, pasta etc so I guess I'm missing out there.

I must be doing something very wrong!

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:
I probably spend a 10% of that most weeks for me being on my own. But then I don't eat a lot of fresh fruit/veg and eat lots of pasta, bread and pizzas. And most of the time I go for the value lines (some of which aren't too bad!)

sweetdaisy

We are a family of 4 (2 adults, 3 year old and 9 month old). My food budget is £80 a week, this also includes toiletries, baby stuff, nappies and cleaning products.

I only tend to buy what we need for the week and write a 'meal plan' so that I reduce waste. Sometimes I spend around £65 a week.

I used to do all of my shopping online at Tesco, but mostly shop at Aldi and once a month do a Tesco shop to get the products/brands which aren't available at Aldi.

I don't buy ready meals. We do buy a lot of fruit, veg and meat and tend to do quite a lot of cooking from stratch i.e. make my own sauces, sunday dinners, curries, soups, stews etc and tend to buy value ranges for things such as tin tomatoes, beans etc

cagsd

lovingtescoforever wrote: »

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:
I probably spend a 10% of that most weeks

I think the previous poster meant £120 a month, not a week.

We are a family of 5 (2 adults and 3 hungry kids aged 12, 8 and 5) and spend around £70 to £80 a week on everything: food, cleaning stuff, alcohol etc. I could probably cut around £10 a week at least by not putting impulse buys in my trolley but then I end up with a house full of boys moaning that there is nothing "nice" to eat :mad:

carla_to

Interesting to know how "solo" budgets are for food, as so far I've only seen it for families. I am a student and I'm also trying to reduce food expenses as I've been spending almost £100 per month (way too much I know). Still I have a lot of food in the freezer and tinned food I buy a lot of veggies/fruit but recently have been buying only reduced!

LindseyandMatthew

I spend £150 a month for 2 adults and 2 kids

rachbc

£250 for us 2 adults 1 teen boy and 1 5 yo. Always keen to see meal plans and shopping lists from those managing for less for inspiration if folk want to share