Normal Food Shopping

Mara69

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Unfortunately, "Want to" doesn't come into it for many people. It's "have to".

Rubbish. Being on a budget does not mean you have to eat crap frozen food from Tesco

Grumpygit

I am ashamed to admit today that I spent £170 at the supermarket today.....I was waiting for the offers that I got to come off the amount but that was the net total!

My receipt is long but I will still have to buy a few things in the week ie fruit/veg

I did buy two cases of beer £20 and 3 packs of dishwasher tablets (buy 1 get 2 free) at £10, but apart from that £30 the rest of the stuff was meat, store cupboard ingredients, sandwich stuff and black/white sacks!

Can't believe the amount spent today - sat in my car and read the receipt and there's nothing that stands out as being wrong!

Boy - need to get a handle on this now - we can afford it don't get me wrong, but I don't want to spend this much.

We don't have online shopping here nor any of the low price places so that isn't an option unfortunately

To the old style boards for me I think

marisco_2

I allow a monthly shopping budget of £400, this covers all food, toiletries and household necessities. I am a lone parent with two kids under 10. I rarely spend all of that and any money left over goes into a savings pot. If I see something that I use all the time, on special offer, I bulk buy it. I am lucky that in my local area we have all of the major supermarkets, a family bargain store, Iceland and a huge poundland. I really shop around and get good deals on things. I have signed up to Tesco clubcard and Sainsburys nectar card. Little by little the rewards build up and I have a nice little bit to put towards xmas presents now.

What saves me most money is that I meal plan and work out a list of all I need and stick to it. I also never do the weekly shop with the kids in tow. That would easily add £20 to my bill.

My sons have a packed lunch each day, which works out cheaper than paying for their school dinners. Their school is really hot on only allowing healthy eating, they actually inspect lunch boxes Suits me as it saves the expense of buying sweets, cakes etc.

I bulk cook on a Sunday and freeze meals for the week. We have a really good local market nearby on a Tuesday and Saturday so I get fresh fruit and veg from there.

Sally_A

Mara69 wrote: »

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.

I quite like their frozen fish - seems good wholesome chunks of fish - and this is my once a week "no cook" lazy night. Just had a look at the nutrition table on the pack - it's not brilliant, but it is by no means crap.

Some families have 2 - 3 takeaways a week, ours is once every 2 months or even longer.

Maybe you could inspire me by posting, say 10 recipes that can be made for under £1.50 per person, prepared and cooked in under 40 minutes, and are totally balanced nutritionally.

I look forward to your response.

embob74

ani_26 wrote: »

What's wrong with lentils?

Absolutely nothing. I would eat them quite happily. Unfortunately not every body in the household will and so I am stuck with catering for others tastes....unless I cook separate meals which I refuse to do.
I'm impressed but amazed at being able to shop for £5 a week. I don't know how you do it - kudos to you.
I do look at the reduced items whenever I go shopping but never see anything worthwhile. Usually ready made meals which aren't any cheaper than what I could make it for from scratch.
I think that is what the OP was getting at - you are an extreme money saver and while we will be in awe of you we will probably never shop like you do. (I am embarrassed by how much we spend on food but we have always eaten extremely well and although I would like to save on shopping it has never yet been a necessity)

embob74

Grumpygit wrote: »

I am ashamed to admit today that I spent £170 at the supermarket today.....I was waiting for the offers that I got to come off the amount but that was the net total!
Can't believe the amount spent today - sat in my car and read the receipt and there's nothing that stands out as being wrong!

Ha ha - I have done this many times recently. Looked at my receipt trying to find the stores error of adding £30 somewhere but darned if I can find it lol.

abailey54

I really like how this thread highlights how different people are in their shopping - really interesting

I have no idea how much I spend on food and pretty sure it's vastly different each month - I think I sail between eating very healthily to eating very cheaply. I used to be able to do both and when I was a student (6 years ago) my food budget was £12 a week. Now, however, I have a husband with different tastes and now that I earn money in a job that I don't always like, I like to treat myself

That being said, I don't very often pay full price for food - I had a really stressful year of not being able to pay bills and stuff and now it's just ingrained in my brain to not waste money (apart from fags - but that's for a different thread)

There's no right or wrong - it's your money, you earned it, you spend it how you like

Those of you who said about cooking based on what other people in the house want really reminded me of my mother, who had 4 step children and me, all with different 'I don't like this', 'I won't eat that', poor woman had to cook several versions of everything. In the earlier days it was 'you don't have to eat it, we can put it in the fridge and you can have it for breakfast' - consequently I'll eat anything

xoxo_2

2.5 adults in our house (i say .5 because the third only eats at home once a day at most)

We spend around £100 at the supermarket, and go out for dinner 2/3 times a week too.

Then about £15-20 a week on fresh meat and veg from local shops.

So £115-120 a week plus dinner out twice a week. For 2.5 people. None of us eat 3 meals a day at home.

We could cut down by doing one main shop I think, but we tend to go daily so only use 1/4 of a loaf of bread, 1/8 of a bottle of milk, 1/4 of a lettuce etc before we chuck them and replace the next day which soon adds up.

ani_26

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

I knew before I even started reading this thread that it would descend into criticism and competitiveness. Most unpleasant.

Has it?

The "right" answer to the question is "whatever you can afford and whatever you think is appropriate to your own household's circumstances".

This, of course, is perfectly true.

I sort of envy those who can take advantage of economies of scale or hunt out the sort of truly fantastic bargains ani 26 has managed to secure. Lucky! I hope some of that cooked chicken has found its way into your freezer.

I'm sure you wouldn't envy being me, if you were me. Actually, i don't have to search at all, for my bargains, other than dragging myself to the shop, so in that respect, i'm extremely fortunate.

No, the cooked chicken hasn't found its way into my freezer. Guess why? I haven't been able to afford a freezer, and no, i haven't found one via freegle etc, although my energy supplier has just invited me to apply for a" free" appliance, and a freezer is now top of my "wish" list. I still don't have a cooker, as yet, either. I cook everything in a slow cooker.

embob74 wrote: »

Absolutely nothing. I would eat them quite happily. Unfortunately not every body in the household will and so I am stuck with catering for others tastes....unless I cook separate meals which I refuse to do.
I'm impressed but amazed at being able to shop for £5 a week. I don't know how you do it - kudos to you.

I do it because i have to, but also a certain amount of paranoia factored, in that i may not be able to afford food, again. Yep, not having money leaves you feeling very paranoid, anxious?

I think that is what the OP was getting at - you are an extreme money saver and while we will be in awe of you we will probably never shop like you do.

Unless you are unfortunate to have to, at some point in the future? You never know what the future holds.

abailey54 wrote: »

I really like how this thread highlights how different people are in their shopping - really interesting

It IS, interesting. Seeing how the other half live?

There's no right or wrong - it's your money, you earned it, you spend it how you like

Exactly. I'm not deliberatley trying to criticise how much people spend on food. Just, is it absolutely necessary?

Those of you who said about cooking based on what other people in the house want really reminded me of my mother, who had 4 step children and me, all with different 'I don't like this', 'I won't eat that', poor woman had to cook several versions of everything. In the earlier days it was 'you don't have to eat it, we can put it in the fridge and you can have it for breakfast' - consequently I'll eat anything

That's a mindset indicative of this day and age? I don't like it so i'm not going to?

In the "olden days," you sat down at the table and ate what was put in front of you, whether you liked it or not, else you starved. Is that too draconian? Maybe that's why there are things I don't like, for instance, tinned fruit, milk...................:rotfl:



Of course, a "normal shop" is what an individual can afford. I think there is much untold poverty, in the uk, today. It's hard to comprehend there are actually people who, right now, this minute, cannot afford to buy food, and will what? Starve? Feed their children before themselves? Oh, there's always food vouchers. But, these people do exist, and i'm sure they are an unheard voice.

lilymay1

I probably spend £250 a month at the supermarket. That's for 2 adults, a 1 year old and a dog.

We eat well, but I'm just sensible about what I buy. I don't have a certain brand of yoghurts that I eat for example - I will buy what ever is on offer whether thats BOGOF or half price or what ever.

I bulk buy nappies/wipes when there is a glitch or an offer somewhere and my bill has gone down since DS stopped drinking formula milk. The dog eats posh food though (ill and fussy) and that probably accounts for £40 a month

We arn't short of cash by any means, I would just rather my money be in the bank than in Tesco's hands!