How much do you spend on food per month?

suaveybloke

Hi guys

I reckon one of the main reasons for my debt is my inability to budget properly for spending on food & drink. I keep a very tight, disciplined budget for everything else, but for some reason I seem to always go over my £180/month food budget.

I'm a single guy, aged 35, and have a funny feeling I shouldn't be spending anywhere near £180. So my question is how much should I be spending on food?

I don't have any dietary requirements and eat most things. I have a sweet tooth though...

Thanks in advance.

MrsE_2

I'm also single, I would say I spend £200 to £250 a month:o

But I eat healthy & well.

ETA mine includes cleaning stuff, general supermarket stuff.

Dazedandconfused

Does that include cleaning stuff etc?

mum2one

3 adults, 1 child (who eats adult portions), dog - we spend roughly £500 per month that inc food, cleaning and pet food x

suaveybloke

Thanks for all the replies so far. To clarify, the £180 is strictly food & drink - cleaning, toiletries etc are separate.

tiger_eyes

I try to stick to £100 a month for general supermarket shopping for my one-person household, so your £180 a month just for food does sound like a lot. Do you find yourself throwing food out? Are you buying expensive brands? Too many takeaways?

geordie_joe

suaveybloke wrote: »

have a funny feeling I shouldn't be spending anywhere near £180.

There are no rules on how much you should be spending, it is up to you. However, if you do want, or need to reduce the amount then you do it by doing one or more of the following.

Reduce the amount you buy
Buy cheaper alternatives
Shop at a cheaper shop.

If you post what you buy, where you buy it and what other shops are available to you, then I'm sure people will suggest ways to reduce your spending.

~Chameleon~

What people spend on food/shopping is all relative to the type of things they buy. Someone who buys supermarket value range processed foods isn't going to spend the same as someone who buys fresh meat, fish and vegetables from proper shops and markets and cooks everything from scratch.

Perhaps if you gave us an idea of the type of products you buy and whether you have an extensive store cupboard etc then posters will be able to come up with ideas of how you can tweak to get more value for money.

Just saying "we spend £xx er weel/month to feed xx amount of people is completely pointless.

Also, I couldn't give you a figure for what I spend as it varies wildly and to be honest I don't have a clue. I buy what I need when I need it. Sometimes that might mean spending £200+ in a week when I do my meat order and at other times I might only spend say £100 in a month on fresh vegetables as I've already got the basics in the freezer and store cupboard.

meg72

As already stated there are no rules on what you should be spending but if you just want t get a general idea of what other people spend
have a look at the grocery challenge thread.

AnnieO1234

As others have essentially said there are a lot of variables. Before I had children (DH works away in week) I'd eat out, get take out or, not so much a ready meal, but prepped ingredients, usually from Waitrose as it was convenient to work. I easily was spending 25 or 30 pounds a day between lunch and evening meal (average) and that didn't include breakfast or weekends. I worked hard, often clocking up 19 hour days day after day, and even though I look back and think wow how did I justify that spend sometimes, it's just what it was.

Now, DH still works away in week, but I am so much more conscious of the provenance of food, not to mention I don't want all the nasties especially for children. I tend to cook from scratch 5/6 days a week but we still do eat out and get take out just not every week. I will have one day where it might just be pizza or something, which may or may not be home made. Anyway, I digress. I spend about £75 a month on fresh meat from the butcher and Waitrose. About £20 a week on fruit and fresh bread, potatoes etc. I'll fill store-cupboard up once every month or so with things like herbs, gravy, passata etc. I do still buy some things for convenience, like pre-made mash for speed (I bake the potatoes first when making mash so it's a longer process than just boiling). Every couple of months or so I also try and have a week where I use up whatever's lying around to use up anything that's lurking around.

Hope this helps!

X

Sequeena

I have a £280 monthly budget for 2 adults, 1 toddler, 3 dogs, 2 cats and also includes all toiletries and cleaning supplies. I usually spend around the £200-240 mark. I cook from scratch as much as possible. I browse the reduced shelves a lot and freeze what I buy. I try to never pay full price for meat. I look out for reduced meat, meat on good offers and the LIDLs half price weekends usually have something good for half price too.`