How much should groceries cost?

Spendless

Are you buying a load of 'new' items every week, instead of looking at what you already have in and meal planning around what you need to 'top up'?

In just over a month we are having a new kitchen, so I am on a mission to get through as much food we already have in as possible as I will be up to 10 days without a kitchen and cupboard space. Straight away my grocery spend has gone down £35 and I don't go down to the bare bone on what we buy (eg i do buy some ready made sauces etc)

Allegra

I feel for you, Jane - being unwell, for whatever reason, will always have a knock-on effect on all areas of life. Still, you are finally in a position where you are able to start taking control back, and being in control will help keep the stress levels down, I promise you

Do have a look at the whole blog - and attached small forum - in that final link I posted. The lady that writes it paid off £10k of debt in 2 years, on an income of 800pcm - if you need a financially taking control type of miracle, she's your bunny. And the ladies on the forum will be more than happy to help you work out how to keep the budget down.

As for this forum - the usual advice is to go to the Debt Free Wannabe part and post your SOA to see where you can make savings and how to start tackling your debt, and then definitely to join, or at least start reading, the Grocery Challenge thread. For ideas on cheap nutritious meals, the last two links I've posted, plus the various "feed x people for x amount of pounds" on this thread.

But the very best thing, wherever you choose to get your advice and support from, is to seek that advice and support - because you are not alone, and because more heads do come up with more solutions. And plan, plan, and plan again - lists, being awarw of what's on offer when and planning your shopping accordingly, meal planning (in a flexible manner to take advantage of offers) and sticking to it.... For instance, I went to Lidl last weekend and bought 6 packets of turkey steaks (over 300g each) on their weekend half-price offer. When I got them home, I separated them out into two steak portions (DD is veggie and for her I stock up on Quorn products she'll eat whenever on offer), meaning that I had meat for 9 meals now - portioned up and bagged up, they went into the freezer, and will do for curries/stews/stir-fry/pie filling/whatever. Cucumbers are only 50p in Asda atm, so we're eating a lot of cucumber salads with our main meals, and so on and so forth....

secretif

We are two people with two dogs. Our weekly shopping bill, including cleaning materials and dog food is about £35 to £45 per week. We make meals for all of us from scratch. We do our shopping in the Chinese and Asian supermarkets because spices and vegetables are very much cheaper than supermarkets and street markets. We eat meat twice a week, fish twice a week, the other 4 days are vegetarian. Our basic cleaning materials are vinegar, soda crystals, bicarb, Stardrops and beeswax. We learned our cost cutting from reading every word of MSE. Before then we spent £100 a week.
When we came here the house was too big so we have sold it and move into a ground floor apartment with a small garden and paid for much of our debt. Good Luck.

Rainbow82

We spend £50 a month on food for two adults, about ten pound a week plus an extra ten over the month on store cupboard staples or things on offer that we will use.

I find that meal planning and setting a day aside every couple of weeks to batch cook helps keep costs down and means there is always something in the freezer to ping in the microwave when we are too tired or late getting in to cook. We also plan what we batch cook and other meals around which veg is on offer. We usually eat veggie as well which is cheaper and occasionally OH will have steak or meat stew if diced beef or steak is yellow stickered.

MadelinesMum

Hi, glad you are feeling better.
You could try doing a stock count of all the food you have and see if you could make this week a cheaper week by using what you already have in. I do this about once a month or so.

You are definitely in the right place for lots of ideas and helpful advice x

Li0nhead

Also remember to do things with leftovers.

Perfect example Lunch for me today was Sats leftover home made curry. Dinner tonight is a meal based around yesterdays leftover pork.

lushlifesaver

we average £30 per week which includes breakfast bars/biscuits for bf (I have value oats or cereal), lunches for both of us, chocolates and crisps for bf, and everything we need for dinners. It also buys the stuff we need for our 2yr old shih tzu (food@ £8, treats @£3, anti-flea stuff when needed at £5-10[depends where you shop]) we do quite well but because bf is fussy we regualrly eat the same sort of stuff.
we also get 1 chip shop dinner for bf and 1 take away for us both out of that

glitterkitty

We are just the two of us, no pets and our monthly budget is £180. We usually do a 'big shop' every other month, and smaller shops in the alternate months, with top up shops on a weekly basis for bread, milk etc.
We get treats out of this, but we will also buy treats out of our own money too.
We don't buy a lot of ready meals, except pizzas, but we do have 2 full freezers of meat, frozen veg, potato waffles, turkey burgers, birds eye chargrills etc.
That £180 also covers the odd takeaway (prob 3 a month or so) and cleaning products etc. We also regularly buy the big pillar candles for our fireplace, and this also comes out of that money.
Neither of us are drinkers, but my BF buys in a case of Tuborg lager probably once every 4 months, because when his band come round to practice once a week, he will have one then, and they usually have one each too. Again, this is covered in the £180.
Neither of us eat fresh veg (BF doesnt like veg, and I prefer the frozen steamer bags) and I eat a lot of pasta, rice etc.

We do all our shopping at Asda because its round the corner to us, and occasionally Morrisons for other bits

However, at least 3-4 times a month we get fed by parents too.... we go to BF's dad's for tea after work at least once a month, to his mum's for sunday dinner a couple of times a month and then occasionally to my mum's for a takeaway. so that makes our food stretch a bit longer!

westcoastscot

Hi,
Sorry to hear you're struggling so much.
It does make a difference where you live? We spend at least £400 a month for three adults, and I work hard at shopping/cooking to keep that as low as I can. We hardly ever have shop-bought treats as we have food allergies to milk and eggs, and I make everything at home. We have very infrequent access to the major supermarkets as its a long journey from here, so only use them if I'm in the city for some reason.
It's a really good idea to try and keep a note of your spending, and also your eating pattern/menu - once you have accurate information you will be able to look for positive changes.

Good luck! WCS

dawn_rose

hiya we currently spend £65 a week for food, all cleaning,nappies and wipes for a family of 2 adults, 3 kids and one cat. I was spending £130 a week at one point and managed to really cut it back. I firstly swapped supermarket and then i go through freezer cupboards and make a list of meals we have in and make a list from there. if it isnt on the list it doesnt get bought. dh is the worst he shops with his stomach.