How much on grocery shopping?

missybay

I'm not happy with the amount of money we are spending on food every week. I feel sick at the checkout and cross before the week is over and there are complaints about cupboards being low.
I cook from scratch most days too!
So I was wondering what the average weekly shop is for most people.
Currently I'd say 120-140 for everything, that includes toiletries and stuff for a family of 5/6

I'm determined to bring it down, but don't know how possible that'll be.
I have 2 boys with food allergies, which can make it tricky, a teenage girl, and a teenage boy on the weekends, and boy can they eat.

I'm planning to spend this month watching what I spend to see if I can trim back.
Then I might try a grocery challenge.

Pink.

Hi missybay,

The way prices are rising at the moment that it's difficult for everyone, so you aren't alone. This thread will give you an idea of what other Old Styler's budgets are:

Grocery Shopping budget thread

I'll add your thread to that one later. However it's not what others spend that's important, it's more important to get your your own spending to a level that you feel comfortable with.


For lots of tips and ideas on cutting back your grocery bill have a look at Martin's article on Supermarket Shopping and we also have a board where grocery offers are posted regularly: Food Shopping & Groceries . The Discount Codes 'n Vouchers board also has vouchers and codes that should help if you shop online.

Meal planning is a good way of managing your grocery spending. It takes a bit of getting used to but once you do it's a great way to save money by making sure you don't buy unnecessary things. Perhaps try it for one week to see how you get on by making a list of what you have at home and trying to build your meals around that. To get some help with mealplanning have a look in The Complete Menu Plans Collection.

For cheaper meal ideas have a look here: Cheap recipe threads

It might be worth your while joining in with the May 2012 Grocery Challenge thread. You can set a reduced amount that you feel comfortable with and if you manage that then try to reduce it a little the following month. In that thread, everyone sets themselves a personal grocery budget and try to encourage and support each other throughout the month to stick to their own budget. What you include in your budget is entirely up to you.

I'm sorry to have overloaded you with so many links but if you take the time to read through them it should help you to cut back. Good luck with reducing your bill.

Pink

mummyyof5

Do join the grocery thread ..my shopping bill has come down since I joined...was spending well over £600 a month...now more like £450ish...this is for 5 adults 1 Teen and 2 littlies ..3 of these have severe food allergies and we are certainly eating better.

Also think about changing where you shop..I used to shop at MrMs all the time now its mostly Al**is or Li**l...with an occasional foray to HB.

Dropping a brand can also help..I ate Ja**bs cream crackers all the time but Al88is are 39p a large pack and even I cant tell the difference...wont swap my Pe**i M*x though lol xx

missybay

Thanks both.
I'll have a good read of the threads listed.

I'm off shopping tonight (minus kiddies, that always helps) so i'll look harder at what I buy to see what I can do.
I always use a list, and always stick to it with occasional cheap stuff from the up to date stuff.
I'll be taking a calculator tonight too, yeah takes a few more minutes, but i want to get to check out below £100 LOL

maman

I'd say keep a diary of everything you spend this week and then analyse it carefully to see if you could have done anything more cheaply. Some people post their 'receipts' on here to get ideas of how to cut back.

PipneyJane

Our grocery budget is £120/month for general groceries and £40/month for the butcher who we visit quarterly. We also put £20/month into a bulk fund for bulk buying (i.e. Costco visits or Wing-Yip). This is for pretty much all meals for two adults who rarely eat out. We entertain regularly.

dollypeeps

your not on your own missybay, i certainley feel the same both at the checkout and when i get moans or disappointment from them at home.

a good point there too pinkwinged about what is comfortable for you. i think too often we read about others spending incredibly low amounts and then feel disheartened when our bill rockets.

i shall be studying those links later when ds and dd are in bed!

BitterAndTwisted

If you've got young people in the house I suspect it could be the treats, snacks and soft drinks that are a large chunk of the shopping-bill. Any complaints about cupboards being low to me and the snacks would be cut, cut, cut. Let them eat toast and drink squash!

Often, for the non-veggies among us it's the meat and fish that can make bills soar, so I'd be having a look at portion sizes as well as the unit prices.

EvieSaver

Hi, our weekly shopping budget is £80. This is for everything for 2 adults and 2 small boys. Some weeks it can be as low as £40 but then this week it was £100 :eek:, but that has included 2 pairs of short trousers & 2 t-shirts for school uniform and a £15 b'day present. As long as I am on target or below an average of £80 per week each month I'm happy. Our budget includes food, cleaning stuff, toiletries, gifts (except xmas), cards, alcohol etc (basically anything from a supermarket).

Not sure how this compares to the shopping experts on these forums who I'm sure do much better but I know that my friends have much higher amounts.

I started by each week trying a cheaper brand of something. Just one or two items a week quickly mounts up. Some things you'll like, some you'll hate. We really like basic brand teabags (my husband insisted he wanted the expensive ones but after weeks of drinking the cheap ones without knowing he then complained when I gave in an expensive one saying it was horrible!). Our teabags are 27p for 80 which is a great price. I still buy posh bread, cornflakes and beans but I buy cheap pasta, tinned tomatoes, custard and weetabix (to mention a few).

Also cleaning stuff can be expensive. I really like the smell of lemon cilit bang so I buy the undiluted 'clean-anything' bottle for about £3 but then put a capfull in a spray bottle and fill with water. I use it for kitchen and bathroom, smells lovely and costs about 10p a bottle. I do the same with bleach - buy a concentrated bottle and put some in a spray bottle and fill with water - I use this to clean the toilet seat and any mildew on the bathroom tiles. Works out really cheap and is as good as the old products I use to pay out loads for. To clean inside the toilet I found that the basic brand at my supermarket smells the same as the expensive pine ones so I use that now.

Sorry this is long. Hope to have helped you a bit. Good luck with your target.

Penny-Pincher!!

Theres only 3 of us (adults) and we have a £320 budget every 4 weeks, but that does included diesel. Included is approx £25 every 4 weeks in Pound-land for things like sugar, crisps, rice pudding pots, bin bags, corned beef, pledge, mr sheen, kitchen spray etc. So probably about £45-£50pw. I use voucher codes on all online deliveries, use Approved foods when they have good items in and try and get basics like milk, bread and butter reduced and freeze.

I only like Heinz beans (cheap ones are fine in Shepherds Pie and stews etc), Yorkshire tea, Branston pickle, HP, Heinz Ketchup, Heinz Tom Soup, Anchor butter, FR eggs, Warburtons WM loaf and a few other bits.

Also, Amazon sometimes do excellent prices on their DW tablets and washing detergent. I bought 6 months supply of Astonish 5 in 1 DW tablets for £11.50 inc delivery. Its still on special here and they are excellent.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Astonish-Lemon-Fresh-Dishwasher-Tablets/dp/B004YC3O62/ref=sr_1_1?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1336507609&sr=1-1

HTH

PP
xx

missybay

Thanks so much all, you've given me loads to work on. I'll read through it all in the morning when little one is in school.

Shop came to 102, and thats with the fortnights toilet roll. So I'm fairly pleased.
Couldn't get the bread I buy so i do have to spend some more this week. I buy bread that is calcium rich for the little ones diet as he is dairy free, so thats not something I'd compromise on. :-/

I did get some treats but also some "smart price" things to try. Some items are fine, but others aren't very nice. But I'm willing to give anything a try.

I can cook quite well, so i need to get back into baking cakes/biccies and making breads again as that is certainly cheaper. Plus start doing more staple meals that are filling and cheap.

Feeling confident I can get it to less than 100 a week with transport costs thrown in too.

Thanks again.