What's a reasonable amount for shopping?

dannahaz

Elle

If your son is only eating half an apple etc, then you might find it worthwhile investing in a vacuum sealer. You could then vacuum seal the other half and, give it to him the next day. Vacuum sealed it woul dactually keep in tiptop condition for days.

I bought one of these to reduce the space taken up in my freezer, and it has been fan bluddy tastic. I now vac seal stuff in my fridge too. Most of the bags are long enough so that you can cut the top of to get out some of the contents, then reseal.

Just a thought..

Ms_Piggy_2

csarina wrote: »

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I spend less than £25 a week and thats for 2 adults!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You see, I really can't see how you can feed two people three meals a day on £25 a week, I really can't. (Unless it's value pasta + value tinned toms every day!).

I mean - a bottle of wine is a fiver . Actually, it's been known for us to have an alcohol budget of £25 per week :rotfl:

Queenie

Ms_Piggy wrote: »

You see, I really can't see how you can feed two people three meals a day on £25 a week, I really can't. (Unless it's value pasta + value tinned toms every day!).

I mean - a bottle of wine is a fiver . Actually, it's been known for us to have an alcohol budget of £25 per week :rotfl:

LOL @ the alcohol budget

It *is* possible, but obviously much depends on the area you live in, the resources available to you and any specific dietry considerations.

I have a cookery book called "How to feed your family on £4 a Day" (aka The Benefit Book) by Bernadine Lawrence. A later edition it was retitled to £5 per day It was first published in 1989 and the prices haven't altered drastically since then - certainly not when you would be spending on 2 people - the book was written for a family which comprised of 2 parents plus 4 children (aged 15mths - 13yo). I do know it's possible to pick up a copy in the library. Unfortunately for some, that doesn't include an alcohol budget It does have a 4 week menu plan catering for breakfast, lunch, dinner

It's not value pasta and tinned tomatoes every day either

It's still a worthy read and, like any cookery book/menu suggestion you take from it what works for you and leave the rest.
Another good book is "The Paupers Cook Book" by Jocasta Innes. Hearty meal ideas that stick to your ribs

Portion sizes/expectations have increased in latter years and if you are doubling the portion sizes, it stands to reason that you increasing your shopping budget.

thriftlady_2

Queenie wrote: »

I have a cookery book called "How to feed your family on £4 a Day" (aka The Benefit Book) by Bernadine Lawrence. A later edition it was retitled to £5 per day It was first published in 1989 and the prices haven't altered drastically since then - certainly not when you would be spending on 2 people - the book was written for a family which comprised of 2 parents plus 4 children (aged 15mths - 13yo). I do know it's possible to pick up a copy in the library. Unfortunately for some, that doesn't include an alcohol budget It does have a 4 week menu plan catering for breakfast, lunch, dinner

.

I second that Queenie, it's an excellent book. I've just done a check on this handy site that someone found on the wartime thread
http://www.measuringworth.com/ppoweruk/ and it reckons that £5 in 1989 is about £8 today -which comes to £56 a week (which isn't far off £25 a week for a couple )

Gingham_Ribbon

I spend £35 per week on food. I don't include any other household items in that, nor cat food. We eat organic dairy, fruit, veg and eggs and are also vegetarian. I also have a seperate budget for the occasional meal out or take-away so strictly speaking our budget is higher. We will all calculate this differently and we all have different priorities with our spending.

I cut back by:

careful menu planning and precise shopping lists.
not buying a thing that I don't know exactly what I'm going to do with.
cooking from scratch.
getting a fruit and veg bag in each week and having a set time to do the rest of the shopping (rather than bobbing in whenever I'm low on something.
making lots of soup
making home made bread and snacks
buying in bulk where possible (this is new and very exciting for me as I'm saving quite a bit.)

I've worked it out very slowly. I've reduced my outgoings by an astonishing amount since finding this site. Slow and steady wins the race. Someone who spends £100 per week on shopping isn't suddenly going to manage to do it on £20. But a slow reduction over the weeks encourages more savings as we gain confidence.

Please don't be scared to post on here. There's no such thing as a silly question and this is not a competition.

halia

Ah I think gingham and queenie's posts have helped me understand the £25 a week bit. I sitll find it hard to see how we could eat reasonably well on £5 a day but at least that £25 is only for food. There is NO way we could do a 'grocery' shop on that.
I have the paupers cookbook and one thing I have noticed is that portion sizes are small because they have 'puddings'. In the interests of health (fewer sweet things), time (less cooking) and DS diet restrictions we dont' do puddings. I can see how you could cut down your meal cost by having a small main course and then filling up on a (relativly cheap) homemade jam roly poly or something similar.
There's certian choices we make nowadays which are different too, organic/freerange/low fat, fresh fruit every day. I dont; want to cost cut to the extent that DS doesn't get to help himself to fresh fruit of different types and I won't buy battery farmed eggs.

Queenie

halia - I don't have to budget around lactose issues so that obviously keeps certain costs down. Likewise, I didn't use disposable nappies, which again, kept costs down. Like you, I didn't buy baby wipes and the only barrier cream I needed was Vaseline (much cheaper than many of the products competing for Mothers Money on the baby shelves).

Good savings can be made on cleaning products - they are sooooo expensive!

grahamliza4

2 adults/1 toddler/1 baby - close to £80/week :eek: but that's on mostly organic plus mostly degradeable baby disposables. Plus Babys milk is £5/box. Toddler used to be milk-allergic but grew out of it thank god! Now just egg-allergic. Lots of fruit, veg, fresh everything and lots of variety. Try to stay out of supermarkets as much as poss.

Huge waste I know and prob the reason for a lot of our £ probs but can't bear idea of my kids growing up made of rubbish.

Churchmouse

The problem with this type of question (and the answers!!) is that we are all very different with different family circumstances. This is very much an area where one size most certainly does not fit all.

Lots of things will affect each budget. Some people have access to excellent markets selling very cheap fruit and veg. Others have large gardens and can grow huge amounts of veg and some fruit. Some with tiny gardens like mine, are lucky enough to have allotments and can grow enough to supply all the family needs. (In my area the waiting list for an allotment is 10 years:eek: ) Now obviously the ability to grow a large proportion of your fruit and veg requirements is going to have an enormous impact on your grocery bill.:D

Meat-eaters will find the cost of meat varies enormously, depending on supplier. Things like whether or not you want organic, free-range etc etc will also impact on cost.

Each of us can only do our best for our families in our own way. Consider suggestions on how some costs might be cut, cheaper recipe ideas, cheaper cleaning methods etc but they won't all suit your family and your individual circumstances. It really is a case of taking what suits and leaving what doesn't. Good luck!;)

catznine

I have given this a lot of thought as I don't shop weekly in the normal way, it is more a mix of techniques really.

I spend about £40 a week for 2 of us and visiting offspring. I have a small org fruit and veg box delivered with 1/2 doz organic eggs a week (£11.40). Once i get this I menu plan accordingly.

£50 a month (£12.50 a week) is saved towards a 4 monthly Costco shop where I stock up on meat, fish, cleaning materials, coffee, olive oil, baking supplies, washing machine tablets, loo rolls etc., to last till the next big shop.

I buy flour for baking and breadmaking in bulk from our local mill. A small weekly shop (£16 at most) for milk, butter,cheese and cat food on top of that keep me going.

I try to give myself leeway to be able to grab any bargains as they come up like late in the day reductions, bogofs etc., I use money off coupons and shop around (read the leaflets that come in the door for price comparisons or visit the online sites - if there is a good deal then I will stock up and cut back allowance for the next week) and I grow a small amount of fruit and veg in the garden.

Cooking from scratch helps, making double and freezing some, making best use of the leftovers e.g., 1/2 an apple around here would make a mini dessert like an apple crisp (see tightwad gazette) or go into a fruit salad, left over veg - a soup, sprouting spuds - hm aunt bessies. My freezers are always full as if I can't use something up in time I pop it into a ziploc and into the freezer.

To make these savings I use a wide range of skills and it has taken a long time and lots of practice to get to here iyswim!
I could do it for cheaper but having cfs means I want to eat the best quality food I can. If I stuck to value range of food (some of it is actually quite good) and forgo the organic I am sure I could manage on £25 - £30 a week.