Food/grocery budget

evenasus

CreditCrunchie wrote: »

Not sure it's possible! We tried both Alsi & Liddl yesterday and found that
A) they do not take credit cards

They will take a debit card - you could use that.

You could try ASDA. They do the 10% less or they will give you a voucher for the difference.
It's not very often I get a voucher.

HappyMJ

boglehead wrote: »

Out of curiosity how much do you allow for you monthly grocery budget?

I budget £25 per person per week for food only. Plus whatever it costs for anything else required in the grocery shop. Probably adds about £20 per week. Monthly for 2 people maybe about £300-£400 to include a bottle of wine (or in my case a carton of beer) each week...

£540 a month is £17.75 per day or £8.90 per person per day. Are you sure it's only one bottle of wine per week. Get your receipts together and look at exactly what you are buying. You'll soon find what it is.

Frogletina

I have a budget of £250 a month just for myself, but included in this are daily newspapers and any eating out that I do, and that often includes the younger members of my extended family.

It does worry me how much I spend on eating out - usually it works out at around £50 - £70 a month which is possibly lower than for some people. I wonder if people with low budgets have more meals out or takeaways which come under separate budgets.

Also within this budget are the household items needed for cleaning and laundry etc

ColdIron

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

No, their food isn't the same quality as other supermarkets. It's actually far superior

I see they do a beef lasagne for 71p, anyone that thinks you can produce a high quality meal for half the price of a cheap coffee is deluding themselves. Remember the horsemeat scandal?

ViolaLass

PasturesNew wrote: »

Spending £540/month of food is clearly "OTT" and if you're not wasting anything you buy (I have a zero waste policy - if I buy it I have to eat it all) then you must be choosing expensive items for your own reasons.

Last week I bought a reduced loaf of Tesco long-life bread for £0.45, usual price £0.90. This is "cheap" as it lasts me 10 days. If I'd bought nice, crusty, organic, loaves at £1.50 each, one every 3 days because "they go stale", then the cost would have been £4.50.

That's the difference - I don't buy reduced bread and longlife bread because I prefer it - buying £4.50 of bread is a preference.

For everything you pick up there are alternatives: Buy it elsewhere, look on the shelves for a cheaper brand, don't buy it at all as it's expensive. And that's how you cut down.

There is need (food) and want (expensive food).

Or make it. I wouldn't like to eat Tesco's cheapest bread but we make our own for not much more and it's MUCH nicer and lasts a while too.

PasturesNew

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

It also comes down to a health option. No way would I buy plastic bread from Tesco no matter how cheap it is. I buy Artisan sourdough type breads and freeze what I don't immediately use. I also have a no waste policy for food in my household. It's extremely rare I throw anything away but I do ensure I buy the healthiest options available to me, even if it does mean spending a little more.

I've no freezer, what I buy I have to eat before it goes green. I don't have the money to buy pricey stuff, so I buy everything cheapest; it's buy cheap or go without.

PasturesNew

ViolaLass wrote: »

Or make it. I wouldn't like to eat Tesco's cheapest bread but we make our own for not much more and it's MUCH nicer and lasts a while too.

Bread is usually more expensive to make your own - people make their own so they "know what's gone into it" rather than being a price-based decision.

choccyface2006

We spend under £300 per month for a family of three adults, one teen and we have 2 children that stay for 4 days a fortnight. That includes all toiletries and household cleaners, etc..also includes sandwiches/soups/snacks for school and work.

We shop and Aldi and ASDA and always have plenty of fresh meat, veg and fruit.


Sarah

PasturesNew

Frogletina wrote: »

It does worry me how much I spend on eating out - usually it works out at around £50 - £70 a month which is possibly lower than for some people. I wonder if people with low budgets have more meals out or takeaways which come under separate budgets.

Also within this budget are the household items needed for cleaning and laundry etc

I don't eat out. I probably get one takeaway 3-4x a year (cheapest possible/smallest). Probably £40/year tops if I count everything that could be called eating out. To me, a bag of chips is eating out One veggie biryani (£1 cheaper than a chicken one) is about £7 from the cheapest indian.

In the past, I've spent years having £50 in total/month after mortgage/basic bills were paid, to pay for everything (food, treats, clothes, everything).

~Chameleon~

ColdIron wrote: »

I see they do a beef lasagne for 71p, anyone that thinks you can produce a high quality meal for half the price of a cheap coffee is deluding themselves. Remember the horsemeat scandal?

I've already stated I don't buy ready meals so it wouldn't even feature on my radar either from Aldi or any other supermarket. I can't imagine there'd be a great deal of difference between any of them to be honest. I do however buy fish, poultry, meat, vegetables, fruit, dairy and delicatessen food items from Aldi and have yet to find anything I'm unhappy with.