Monthly Shop Costs

slscarborough

We now spend £250.00 a month for 2 adults 1 12year old and 1 eight month old. Also includes nappies toiletries cleaning products etc. However am new to money saving and am trying to get that down to £200.00.

Time2Go_25

ThankYouAndEnjoy! wrote: »

OMG :eek:

We spend about £80 /month on monthly shopping

What are you spending it on?? Have you started a spending diary??

No, but I think now might be the time to start.

Time2Go_25

KellsBells wrote: »

Hi, we're a house of 4 (6 if you count the pets!!) - 2 adults, 2 under 5's, a big fat hairy dog and a cat. At the moment we're spending about 180.00 a month on shopping, and I'm really trying to bring this amount down.

On the up-side though, I get loads of clubcard points!!!

Does your £600.00 a month include clothes and sundries (birthday pressies, computer games, treats?) if so, people may not have included this into the figures they have given above.xx

No it's just supermarket costs. Too much shopping at Waitrose and M&S I suspect.

okra

pdel61 wrote: »

No it's just supermarket costs. Too much shopping at Waitrose and M&S I suspect.

Bingo! But yum. I miss M&S

oops_a_daisy

Hi paul :hello: as others have said have a look at the old style threads, start a spending diary ( or just keep all receipts and total them up ) and another thing to keep a check on is how much you throw away un used and out of date. Packed lunches can make a big saving too if you or your OH are spending daily on food on top of this amount then the monthly spend on food is actually higher. Meal plan by doing a menu for the week. Start by looking in your cupboards and freezer and plan the evening meals using up things you already have. Then make out your shopping list just for the things you need for the week. Only buy what is on your shopping list. Only top up on fruit, veg and milk during the week. There are loads more tips over on old style.

Its not about the amount of debt but the ability to pay it off - my debt was about £8500 and I managed to pay it off by putting it onto 0% like you and then concentrated on paying it off as soon as possible.

Well done on finding somewhere you can make a big saving. Have you posted your SOA on here for more tips on areas you may be able to make savings ??

I spent about £230 last month plus 2 take aways for 1 adult, 1 13yo, 1 dog and 1 rabbit ( sorry just added that is plus school lunches for my DD ). This was quite high though and I am aiming for £175 this month which should be quite achieveable even though I buy mainly organic and this is for cleaning products and personal stuff too.

All the best and good luck - OOPS

debtfreewannabee_3

We Spend About £275 A Month Thats For 2 Adults, 1 Teenager And I Child Aged 10. That Includes All The Toiletories And Shopping

Queenie

pdel61 wrote: »

Hi
Looking at some of the other postings I feel a bit of a fraud with my small £8000 debt, which is currently on a 0% cc until January. Don't really save anything so all that comes in gets spent, so I need to find a way of saving £8k by January.

Looking at my outgoings the one thing that comes to mind is the monthly shopping bill. For the 3 of us, OH, me and 8 year old we've so far spent £3412.71, which is around £150 per week, since January:huh:

It seams a lot to me but I'd be interested in what other people spend.

Thanks

Paul

Hiya Paul

In truth, it doesn't *really* matter what others spend per month, what *does* matter, it how you can reduce *your* spending

For example, in my location, I have access to most of the major supermarkets, plus Lidl's, Aldi and Netto, plus local farm shops where I can buy 4 cabbages/cauliflowers for £1. Now, not everyone is that fortunate, so it wouldn't matter how much/little *I* said I could feed my family on because I have access to such good food at a low cost.

What *does* matter far more is your attitude to food and food shopping. Even if you shop at Waitrose and M&S, they do still have deals and reduced sticker items which you could take advantage of and reduce your weekly food shop accordingly.

You could, if you were determined, put yourself on a self imposed challenge until January and for a time see if you could live at the same level as someone on Income Support Benefits (for an overview of how much/little that really is, check out the details:- http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:w2hC_rPGkEsJ:www.dsdni.gov.uk/fs_isr.pdf+Income+support+rates&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=uk )
Surely, if people on benefits have to live on those amounts, it is so do-able to do so on a temporary basis?

Are you spending on ready prepared foods? You'd need to weigh up the pro's and con's of cooking from scratch or batch cooking/baking if you are going to go the Old Style route. They do take a bit of extra time in planning ahead/preparation and you'd need to balance that against the time you have available - especially if you are both working and time-poor. In the main though, many Old Styler's work and still manage to find time to cook healthy foods from scratch at a fraction of the cost of ready prepared foods. The same is true of cleaning products; there are a number of OS (Old Style) ways and means which cost much less than commercially promoted products - if you have the time to be organised and don't mind a smidgen of "elbow grease" :laugh:

Some people swear by the veg/fruit box delivery scheme's - which seems to focus their minds on cooking via whats available rather than whatever takes their fancy that night. I have no need of those so I can't speak from experience on those

Savings are vital! Even though you haven't adopted the habit of doing it yet, you do need to find a way to get into the habit!!! Especially once your have successfully paid off your debts. The way I trained my dh (who was a terror of spend to the limit and max on CC's) was to make our savings all part of our monthly outgoings and therefore "paying yourself first!" philosophy!! A monthly DD was set up first for out annual bills (ie car tax/insurances, house insurances/birthday's/Christmas etc) next a DD was set up for "Savings". Initially, it seemed really hard for him, but, it soon paid dividends and the wisdom of doing it wasn't lost

Wishing you the best of British :T :T :beer:

misfire

My shopping bill (food) is astronomical - hence most of my debt i have a very fussy brand sensative husband. I used to only buy nescafe/kenko rapid, diet coke but i have changed to own brand - DH still has the brand stuff. I am trying to wean him of them (have weaned my son of co-co pops buy putting tesco own brand in a big tupperware container).

I have just bought scale & hand mixer (present from my mum) and have started baking and am going to start making from scratch again which will hopefully be healthier and cheaper.

I am starting a spending diary and look at the suggested bits of the forum.

SarahNeedle1872

misfire wrote: »

My shopping bill (food) is astronomical - hence most of my debt i have a very fussy brand sensative husband. I used to only buy nescafe/kenko rapid, diet coke but i have changed to own brand - DH still has the brand stuff. I am trying to wean him of them (have weaned my son of co-co pops buy putting tesco own brand in a big tupperware container).

I have just bought scale & hand mixer (present from my mum) and have started baking and am going to start making from scratch again which will hopefully be healthier and cheaper.

I am starting a spending diary and look at the suggested bits of the forum.

My OH used to be a brand 'snob' until I quoted bits from The Money Diet, and he's pretty much converted now. He can't quite face some of the JS basics stuff yet, altho he does like reading the little slogans they put on the packets! But saying that, if he doesn't see the packaging, he never knows!

Sarah x

joeblack066

We spend £154 per month for me DS3 and DD1, including all cleaning products, shampoos etc, and e eatig low carb because of a health condition that improves if I eat this way. If you start a spending diary, meal plan, shop to a list and don't be tempted when you are in the supermarket you will be able to slash your bill. Why not try shopping online as then you cannot be tempted into things you don't need? I know that you will pay delivery but it might pay you in the end?