Normal Food Shopping

Kantankrus_Mare

I read that article in the mail and couldnt believe what I was seeing :eek:

Who in their right mind would spend £250 on their weekly shop but plead poverty in every other area of their life?

I understand mortgages being high in London but her fuel bill as well?

She is paying double what I pay for the year. :eek:

peachyprice

Greenqueen wrote: »

. Read down and you will see that they spend £12,000 on groceries---an incredible £1,000 per month!!!!!!

I don't £1000 a month is that incredible, I could quite easily spend that much if I bought everything that I fancied. As it is I meal plan and only buy what I need and never buy alcohol, I still manage to spend £600 being careful.

Gloomendoom

mammyof7 wrote: »

We also have a large dog, cat, rabbit, guinea pig (and 2 giant snails ) whose food, bedding etc is included.

I'm curious. What sort of bedding do you give a giant snail?

peachyprice wrote: »

I don't £1000 a month is that incredible, I could quite easily spend that much if I bought everything that I fancied. As it is I meal plan and only buy what I need and never buy alcohol, I still manage to spend £600 being careful.

But how big is your family?

peachyprice

Gloomendoom wrote: »

But how big is your family?

5 - 2 adults, 2 17yo and an 11yo

mammyof7

Gloomendoom wrote: »

I'm curious. What sort of bedding do you give a giant snail?



LOL, It's actually nothing exciting. Their "bedding" is actually nothing more than soil! A bag that costs around a fiver can last a good couple of months, so their actually at the cheaper end of the pet care scale .

Grumpygit

Greenqueen wrote: »

Have a look at todays Daily mail (sorry cant do links). On page 53 is an article by Helen Carroll bemoaning she and her family feel "as poor as churchmice" despite an income of around £82,000. Read down and you will see that they spend £12,000 on groceries---an incredible £1,000 per month!!!!!!

But it maybe a case of where she is shopping - that is easily done (as another poster said) if you just buy what you want and from where you want.

I do spend quite a lot each week - it does include any take outs, but our shop choices are limited - no Tesco, Adsa, Aldi, Lidl etc we have the choice of M&S, Waitrose & Co-op and an independent local name. (I did a comparison once - bought stuff from Waitrose here for a lasagne and then looked on line for home delivery in the UK - my stuff was over £7 dearer than online and it was the same)

Our prices are generally more expensive for food as we get charged "freight" for bringing it over but milk is £1.09 per litre and bread 1.90 per loaf

I don't need to watch every penny but I do look at my bills and think what the heck have I bought as I had spent a lot, I know that I need to be a bit more careful but we don't throw a lot out at all

BookLover_4

We're a couple and we budget £50pw. Most weeks it comes in at £40-£45 but sometimes it's a bit more if we buy soap powder etc. I tend to buy most toiletries and cosmetics with the weekly shop so I don't think we're doing too badly. We cook mostly from scratch and take lunch to work everyday to keep the costs down. Now we've paid off all our debts we allow ourselves a free treats (such as nice coffee and branded soap powder) so I'm sure we could easily reduce this if we really wanted or had to

embob74

I'm pretty disgusted at the amount we spend on shopping tbh. It is usually over £100 a week, we are 2 adults, 2 babies and 1 tweenager.
I can cook and do but still rely heavily on ready made stuff - mainly because dinner time is the time when the babies want feeding and changing, DD needs help with homework and the cat wants feeding and the dog needs a walk and to be fed.
We do tend to stick with brands, I would be happy to downscale but OH is quite fussy about what he will eat.
I find a big expense is lunches. I prefer to spend a bit more on bread as cheap bread doesn't tend to be as soft or last as long. We also buy proper chocolate bars (Mars, Snickers etc) and while I only get them on offer it is still 25p each. Add fruit, yogurts and crisps and it starts to add up.
OH loves Cathedral City cheese and eats copious amounts of it. I only buy when on offer but as we use approx 2 packs a week it's £4 on cheese alone!
Our main meals are mince or chicken dishes so I do keep a lid on costs there but then splurge on the "treats".
I did look at the MSE board but there's just no way any of the family would eat lentils....and certainly not 3 times a week!!

ani_26

embob74 wrote: »

I did look at the MSE board but there's just no way any of the family would eat lentils....and certainly not 3 times a week!!

What's wrong with lentils?


I made a lovely green lentil stew last night.

The recipe is as follows:-

1 large onion
3 garlic cloves
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
2tsp soy sauce
2tbsp lemon juice
1-2tsp sage
200g of Green Lentils
400-500ml of Veg or chicken stock.

Firstly you finely chop the onion and fry in a bit of oil until golden brown. Then you add the freshly rinsed green lentils, followed by the chopped tomatoes, the stock, the crushed garlic cloves, soy sauce, sage and lemon juice.

Then you simmer for 40 minutes and then serve with a mixed salad, or some nice bread.



For the record, with regard to " Normal food shopping," i survive, ( yes, it is survival,) on approx £5 a week? £10 maximum. This is, of course, for one person. I did a bulk food shop this week, for a " store cupboard," which cost me a huge, ( in my eyes,) £20. The last time money was spent on a big shop, was £40, probably 5 months ago, and the time before that was probably £50, 7 months prior to that. But i didn't pay for these " shops." It never ceases to amaze me the astronomical amounts of money people " waste" on their food shops? Do you really need it? I buy things only as i need them, these days, apart from my now, bad weather, store cupboard.

Mara69

Sally_A wrote: »

I reckon £2.50 per day per person is do-able for food. Clever use of yellow stickers and deals.

Eg. fish and chips 4 fish fillets in Tesco Express £2.08, bag of chips £1.04, even cheaper if you have your own deep fat frier. Peas extra, but still under £1 per person.

I'd say aim at say £1.50 per person for evening meal, the rest being breakfast and packed lunch.

Obviously toiletries, cleaning products etc on top of that.

Christ, why would you want to? My body is important to me and I don't want to fill it with cheap crap. Food is a joy, something to be planned, savoured and enjoyed. Tesco cheapie fish fillets are beyond disgusting.