Food Shopping Cost?

babes21

Hello everyone,

Me and my fiance are in the process of buying a house as we're getting married in September. I'm doing a little research into our budget at the moment and I just wondered how much I should budget for the food shop for just the two of us each month?

We both work full time, my fiance works shifts. We're out all day so would need to take lunches to work, then our main evening meals, snacks, a little extra for when people are invited for dinner etc.

How much approximately do you spend?

Thanks in advance.

FrugalMummy

Im not great financially at the moment, so would be interested in finding out what people will say. I think £30 per week is pretty tight to live on but doable?

365days

Me and DS (Near Teen) do it on about £48 a week. It's tight but doable. We are doing that because we need to. If money wasn't so tight I would say £65/70 would be comfortable and £100 gourmet!!

Cooking from scratch and meal planning have saved me loads. How's your cooking skills? Also what do you like? If you like lamb chops, fillet steak and king prawns obviously it's going to be more.

19lottie82

it's different for everyone.

I know a couple that spend £100 a week between them but they eat well and that covers all other supermarket based househould items and toiletries too.

On the other side of the coin, you could prob live on £30 a week, as frugalmummy has suggested, but I don't think it would be very enjoyable / fun.

I'd say it would be difficult to set a budget in mind without knowing what you like to eat, what your incomings and other outgoings are, how important eating well is to you, are you saving for something, or paying off debt?...... the list is endless really.

An important thing to do is meal plan. Sit down at the start of the week and decide what you are going to eat for all three meals for the next 7 days. Stick to this list and only buy what you need.

Once you have done this a few times you should have good idea of what is a realistic amount for you to spend a week, and where you can make any cutbacks or have a little treat now and again.

valk_scot

£200 per month plus a seperate entertaining budget? That would cover basic toiletries and laundry materials but not alcohol.

fashionlover10

Me and OH live on about £20 a week but that isn't through choice and is really hard going sometimes.

babes21

Thank you for your replies everyone.

No set budget as such, as we will be moving into our first home I just want to be sensible and make everything accountable for. I was thinking around the £60-70 mark per week.

I'm not a big meat eater but my fiance does likes his meat. We'll cook from scratch the majority of the time. We don't want to scrimp on our food but we don't want to put lots to waste either.

Neither of us are big fans of drinking alcohol at home so that won't be a problem apart from a bottle of something here and there occasionally.

Gloomendoom

There was a thread a while back on this, Not specifically a couple though...

Normal Food Shopping

We are an omnivore couple and our food and household shopping averages £150 a month. That includes some booze too. Pretty well all our meals are cooked from scratch.

Joons

If you cook from scratch and shop around, I would say two adults could eat quite well on about £50 a week, that's not including booze, it's the takeways that eat into our budget!

SueC_2

I live alone, and over the course of a year (yes, I'm anal and analyse this stuff) I average £50 per week.

That includes all food, toiletries, washing powder, cleaning materials etc. It also includes periods like Christmas, and weekends when family/friends come to stay so I am spending a lot more than usual.

It excludes alcohol entirely though.

I'd say your £60-£70 per week is a reasonable estimate, but be prepared to pay more on 'special occasion' shops.

SuzieSue

It really depends on what you like to eat. We hardly eat any red meat and rarely eat chicken. We eat at lot of fish and beans and pulses. I like to make a large pot of lentil soup and eat that with vegetables which is very cheap and will last for 2 meals.

I have no idea what we spend as we buy lentils, porridge and other food items in bulk when they are on special offer and they can last us for months and sometimes years.