Average monthly spend?

rockm87

switching to Lidl was brilliant for us. makes me hate tesco now.

tesco is a rip off, and has so many tricks to get you to purchase.

Lidl is just simple, straight forward quality stuff. its exciting that we can get even more for our wonga!

we spend about £160 a month, 2 adults and 2 indoor cats, including cleaners, toiletries etc.

TheRed

Family of 6, spend around £280 a month on average I think.

Peggybabcot

rockm87 wrote: »

switching to Lidl was brilliant for us. makes me hate tesco now.

tesco is a rip off, and has so many tricks to get you to purchase.

Lidl is just simple, straight forward quality stuff. its exciting that we can get even more for our wonga!

we spend about £160 a month, 2 adults and 2 indoor cats, including cleaners, toiletries etc.

I agree about Tesco (all of the big 4 are the same tbh) We hadn't done an online shop with them for a long time as OH worked for Sainsburys and we received a money off voucher for £15 off £50 which equated to potentially 30% off (Sainsburys staff discount being 10%) so I decided to use it to buy non perishables as we didn't really need any fresh nor had room for freezing anything. I started in the offers section and found most offers that were BOGOF still were dearer than buying the same product singularly from the likes of poundland or homebargains et al. Do the big 4 really think we're that daft?! Anyway after much searching I found some genuine bargains and this along with my chosen £1 delivery slot made me feel like I'd used and abused them for my own ends! I think the consumer is becoming more and more savvy and I think the big 4 are realising this and suffering from the mass exodus to "discounter" stores like Aldi & Lidl hence the desperate bids to attract old customers back like me by offering 30% discount. It goes to show how inflated their prices are if they can offer such discounts!

seasideme

Well we try to stick to a budget then just give up. we tend to do a big shop (not well organised) then little shops when we need to.

Next month I'm putting £150 in a different account and ONLY using that for food shopping.

We have a large Morrisons, a Morrisons local, Tesco express, an Iceland and lidl in walking distance plus a weekly market and a farmers market every other Saturday. Then a Sainsburys, 2 Asdas and a Tesco by bus.

Our aim is to use the markets more. Is it cheaper to get meat & fish from butchers/fishmongers etc rather than supermarkets?

[Deleted User]

Agreed with all that have said plan ahead.

We are 2 adults + a rabbit. We spend on average £200-250 a month, including all pet supplies like hay and feed, alcohol, etc (but not eating out/takeaways)
We use Tesco's for our local shop and I have got myself into the habit of using coupons and also the reduced sections. You can get some good meat and fish deals on the chiller aisle and on the reduced this way ie: £10 for 3, £7 for 2 etc.

If you plan carefully enough you can find the odd bargain here and there with meat that can be frozen. I work evening shifts in Central London so I end up getting home about 11pm each night. I either buy ready meals on offer/reduced and freeze when I can, or I make a large pasta bake/lasagna bake or some kind of pasta dish that can be portioned into four and frozen, takes 2 minutes to heat in the microwave when I get in.

I recommend you get some of those little chinese style tubs - easy to clean, take up very little room in the freezer, and if they go manky just pop them in the plastic recycling.

I sympathise with the OP on his Mrs eating different - I live with my DM and she is not a follower of the pasta/rice brigade - she is old school meat and 2 veg born and raised, so we cook and eat differently to each other in that respect. But there are ways around it

jenfa

We budget £450 per month and looking at 2013 we were £28 under for the year. We are 2 adults and a 12 year old. Our food budget includes dining out, takeaways, coffees and cakes out etc, plus supermarket food, bathroom stuff, cleaning and laundry powders, toilet rolls, clingfilm etc plus at this time of year hayfever medication. Also includes son's packed lunches prob 3-4 times a week and I am at home drinking coffee and eating lunch. Occasional bottles of prosecco when on offer but we don't drink that frequently.

We live in a rural location so I tend to only shop once a week at the supermarket which varies depending on what I'm buying or what we need. We do larger shops at Costco and Wing Yip (my husband is Chinese) every few months as it is a long way from us. This also includes husband's 'addiction' to going to the supermarket on his way home to tell me that all the sweets, crisps and biscuits he has bought are on offer :rotfl:

We tend not to buy branded goods that much and not too many basic ranges I make cakes and we also buy them. I do agree that it is prob the throwing away of food where people waste money the most. Every now and then I do try to stop buying certain items even if they are on offer as I am sure we have lots of money tied up in store cupboard overflows;)