How much realistically for 2 adults

mrsvanderkamp_2

Thriftygifty wrote: »

Totally agree! I would rather spend money on "things" or holidays or savings account than food!

I find food such a waste of money, however I dont compromise either, just because I aim not to spend a fortune on food doesnt mean I eat unhealthy either. Mostly we stick with some fresh meat and veggies. I dont buy crisps etc so save money that way.

I always read these threads with interest and I agree with this post.

Food is a necessary evil imo and whilst I also like to eat good food, I'm always trying to reduce my grocery budget, so that I can save my money for other things. I rarely buy meat full price its always a reduction and just goes straight in the freezer - I can see no difference between buying it at full price at 9am or waiting for it to be reduced by at least 50% at 5pm on the same day. And it isn't just the cheap cuts that get reduced you know - if it's going out of date it will be reduced, even if its free range and organic! sausages are a prime example - "finest" range or other top brands can be bought for a £1.00 or less a pack at the right time so just because I'm only spending a pound on them doesn't mean they are dog food!

Meat and bread are generally the only things I do buy reduced though, I don't buy ready meals and rarely have a takeaway - if we really CBA to cook, then its beans on (granary) toast or homemade soup and granary/wholemeal bread but 80% of the time its a homemade meal cooked from scratch. We do try to limit the bread but if we have the soup or beans on toast its still a hell of a lot healthier than a pizza or a processed nucrowaved pasta meal!

I used to be able to shop for 3 adults, 2 cats and 2 dogs for £50 per week, but during the last few months of last year, I was finding it increasingly difficult to keep it under £70. This does include pet food, cleaning products and most toiletries (if they are an offer they are invariably a better quality product for a £1 or less which is better than the pound shop for whatever they happen to have at the time). Same goes for cleaning/laundry products.

As others have said, the point of how much you spend depends on a) what you can (or cannot) afford to spend AND
b) how much you are HAPPY to spend

I could AFFORD to spend £100+ in the supermarket every week but I don't WANT to and really I don't NEED to. If I was spending that every week, I know that I would throw a lot away and would get home having thrown everything that just "looked nice" in trolley and then thought "right what have I actually got for dinner tonight??" Meal planning, stock taking cupboards/fridges/freezers before shopping and on line lists, are imo, the way to buy well but keep costs low.

Cheap (er) doesn't have to mean cr*p or processed.

For some people buying the best available produce gives them pleasure as does the end result of cooking it, but if you can't afford it, it will end in debt in the same way as spending money on anything else you can't afford will do.

But if you CAN afford it and WANT to buy it, then why not? Just don't make others feel as though they must be eating out of the dustbin because they shop much more cheaply - it's not necessarily the case. Maybe they are just a "money saving expert!"

madhatter_1

I am just like mrsvanderkamp and also purchase my meat and veg when reduced and stick meat in the freezer. I also bulk buy, so will get the 5kg of rice when on a good offer, large sack of potatoes etc... I do the same with Loo Rolls, Washing Powder and Cleaning Materials.

I will also check the Lidl's weekly newsletter and if there is a good half price offer on their meats, etc. again I bulk buy and stick them in the freezer.

I wil never pay full price for bread (unless bakery fresh), and I am getting to the stage where I just don't want to pay full price full stop.

I am quite lucky as I live between Tesco and Lidl with Aldi's just about to also open near by.

We cook from scratch and also freeze leftovers, that I then take to work for my lunch. I will make homemade soups with any leftover vegetables, which I also bring to work for lunches.

Now that I am so used to home cooked food a ready meal does not taste good at all and is full of salt and not so filling.

We do however, always treat ourselves to a meal out at Indian/ Thai etc. at the weekend.

I am lucky as my husband gets home from work before me and loves cooking, so I just tell him what to make for the dinner and he does it LOL.

I don't know exactly what our weekly spend is, but I doubt it is more than £50.00 a week. I haven't actually bought anything this week (Monday) apart from milk.

There are 2 of us and my cat, (I also stock up on cat food when on offer or with the good old Tesco Glitches from time to time (currently have 30+ tins LOL).

zekepes

I know I spend too much but, just for comparison, here is what I spend (approx):

Butchers £100/month
Supermarket £800/month (includes toiletries/cleaning stuff/occasional household item such as new tea towels/dog food/quite a lot of wine).

This is for two adults, 1 primary school aged child and two small dogs.

I don't know exactly what we spend on food but clearly it is a lot. If I was happy with our shopping habits, our food organisation and the way we eat then we would both be fine with it but I'm not. I can see it is ridiculous. I plan to make fairly small changes regularly over the course of the next few months and attempt to get this down and spend less time shopping/wondering what to eat...

Upsidedown_Bear

PlutoinCapricorn wrote: »

It depends on many variables.

Where do you shop for food? How much do you waste? Does this include cleaning products, toiletries etc.? How much is spent on biscuits, sweets etc?

You can eat quite well on very little: plain porridge oats for breakfast do not cost very much for example. Baked potatoes with baked beans or cheese are good.

I am sure that you could cut down a lot. It is best to see this as a challenge not a lowering of living standards. Good habits take time to establish.

Perhaps you could refer her to the Mean Queen website.

http://www.meanqueen-lifeaftermoney.blogspot.co.uk/

spbankie

ITGuy1 wrote: »

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the input.


I do realise food isn't cheap but im sure we could modify it down a little bit. I think £50 - 60 a week should be doable. That includes washing tablets etc.

washing tabs used to be my biggest mistake. always waited on the special offers on fairy etc. then found this wonderful new shop called Aldi. £2.99 for 50 tabs which are perfectly good. The easiest sell to your wife because you don't notice the difference in taste because they ain't going in your mouth

Edwardia

zekepes wrote: »

I know I spend too much but, just for comparison, here is what I spend (approx):

Butchers £100/month
Supermarket £800/month (includes toiletries/cleaning stuff/occasional household item such as new tea towels/dog food/quite a lot of wine).

This is for two adults, 1 primary school aged child and two small dogs.

I don't know exactly what we spend on food but clearly it is a lot. If I was happy with our shopping habits, our food organisation and the way we eat then we would both be fine with it but I'm not. I can see it is ridiculous. I plan to make fairly small changes regularly over the course of the next few months and attempt to get this down and spend less time shopping/wondering what to eat...

I'm in shock. Two adults eating organic and a labrador here and your total spend is double what it costs OH per month to commute to London and at leats £400 more pcm than I spend. In fact Lynsey on the Cupboards and Freezer thread can feed two adults on £1600 a year.

Meal planning would definitely help you.

Celia

Why have a blazing row? Surely more sensible to say -" goodness, that seems a higher amount than I would have thought. Could we sit down at the weekend and look through exactly what we do buy?"

Cant see the point in having a row - doesn't change anything and just causes bad feeling and makes it harder to change anything with the spending if that is what you jointly decide to do....

sweetilemon

Treevo wrote: »

If you think Sheba is a premium food you're deluded. I've got a cat and feed her Bozita. It's cheaper than Whiskas and has 93% meat compared to Whiskas 4%.

Well I know it's more expensive than whiskers lol. Not saying its better just pricier. Our cat likes the prawn sheba but only gets them as a treat as they are about 79p a tin compared to 12 pouches for £3.

shegirl

zekepes wrote: »

I know I spend too much but, just for comparison, here is what I spend (approx):

Butchers £100/month
Supermarket £800/month (includes toiletries/cleaning stuff/occasional household item such as new tea towels/dog food/quite a lot of wine).

This is for two adults, 1 primary school aged child and two small dogs.

I don't know exactly what we spend on food but clearly it is a lot. If I was happy with our shopping habits, our food organisation and the way we eat then we would both be fine with it but I'm not. I can see it is ridiculous. I plan to make fairly small changes regularly over the course of the next few months and attempt to get this down and spend less time shopping/wondering what to eat...

Youch!That's a big spend.How do you manage £800 on top of the meet?

MavisTheMaven

zekepes wrote: »

I know I spend too much but, just for comparison, here is what I spend (approx):

Butchers £100/month
Supermarket £800/month (includes toiletries/cleaning stuff/occasional household item such as new tea towels/dog food/quite a lot of wine).

This is for two adults, 1 primary school aged child and two small dogs.

I don't know exactly what we spend on food but clearly it is a lot. If I was happy with our shopping habits, our food organisation and the way we eat then we would both be fine with it but I'm not. I can see it is ridiculous. I plan to make fairly small changes regularly over the course of the next few months and attempt to get this down and spend less time shopping/wondering what to eat...

Well I think my first task (if I were you) would be to figure out if you can get a Costco card and buy your wine in there. We like nice wine (no plonk!) and drink maybe 2 bottles a week. I buy it by the case on discount vouchers at Costco (one of our favoured brands is £5 off a case every other month). This wine is usually at least £9.99 a bottle in the supermarkets but we pay just over a fiver a bottle for it in Costco. A big saving over a year.