Listing my outgoings - what should my food bill be

sillyspendy

Me and My OH earn £3070 after tax a month. We have a ten month old child. Our current debt total is following 15k approx

Barclaycard (his) 11000
Capital one 600
very 1200
aqua 600
vanquis 1500

Very will be paid off July 2015 as on payment plan of 100 a month. Interest and charges frozen

Our current outgoings are listed below. I am trying to cut down some food shopping.

utility gas and electric 220
ctax 100
mortgage 470
childminder 280
barclaycard 250
vodafone 46
tv licence 12
internet 20
nut 18
aa 12
landline 20
water rates 22
Food 172
loan 290
capital 1 26
aqua 25
vanquis 90
very 96
bcard (me) 20
orange 70
next 6

Grand Total 2272

not including petrol because this changes weekly.

My main query is what do you all spend on food per month?

Divingmad

Hi there Silly,
Welcome to MSE


There is a lot of variation in what people spend, and what they include in that spend, as some include things for their baby (nappies/wipes, etc) and some class that as a different budget.
There are two of us in this household, no kids, but 6 dogs, so our spend per month is approx. £250 (including dog food).
Looking at your outgoings, your utilities are high at £220, is this per month? Or per quarter? At a month that seems really high, you could try changing providers and getting a better deal than that. If it's a quarter, then that would be quite good.


I am no expert on saving money, as I am a recent convert to this site, many of the more knowledgeable people would advise doing a SOA (Statement of Affairs), link below
http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php


Using this one will allow you to post this information onto this site in a format which everyone finds useful, so they will be able to guide you better. Make sure you have bills, receipts, CC interest rates, etc and a large cup of tea to hand whilst you do it.


Regards
DM

moohound

I used to waste loads of food (and money) now I plan meals better, not brilliant but better I cut down from £125 + a week to £70 to £90 - some weeks are more when I bulk buy loo roll, and washing powder and dog food from the wholesalers.

I switched to a lot of own labels from branded foods and cleaning products.

Also spend £10 on bread, milk and fruit during the week.

That is for two adults, one small kid and one small dog.

Some people have whiteboards with squares on with the meals for the week written in.

I think the debt management charities tend to allow £100 a week for average families. Some people seem to manage to spend very little.

Tixy

Assuming the £172 includes cleaning products/baby products etc as well as food then I think £172 a month for 3 adults and a baby looks pretty good already.
It is less than the debt charities would allow on a DMP, but is definitely manageable.

~Beanie~

I also think that £172 a month is very good for 2 adults and a baby, I manage to spend £160 just for me!!

d70cw6

i budget £400 a month for Sainsbury's shopping which is more then plenty.
2 adults 2 younglings

also your utility bill looks really high - our's is £100 a month for 3 bed semi

your landline, internet and mobile phone also looks quite high - switch to better package deal?

Siamese

I agree you need to do a SOA as you have nothing in for car tax, insurance, maintenance, presents, entertainment, clothes. Guess that's where the spare money is going?
I don't think you can cut too much on the food but you could look at
- AA (ouch!)
- Orange and Vodafone (a deluxe PAYG package is £20 p/m tops)
- utility usage
- phone and internet
all of which offer greater potential savings than a few quid on the food bill. Also check you are getting the best deal on insurances and use Quidco or Topcashback for cashback deals.

sillyspendy

That is great as it is something my sister said was way too high but thats not including grooming stuff and cleaning products as I dont spend much anyway on these

Pennydropped

you say "not including petrol" so you have a car then, correct?

you've got nothing listed for:
car insurance
maintenance/upkeep of car
road tax (or whatever it's currently called)
petrol

also...
life insurance
contents insurance
christmas/birthdays
prescriptions/dental/glasses
haircuts
savings (for emergencies)

your budget shows almost £700 left after what you have listed, but it doesn't seem a complete list, and so I'm thinking you don't actually have that free and clear every month? Where is that money going?

If you actually have that 700 per month left, it would pay these debts all of within 6 months...
Capital one 600
very 1200
aqua 600
vanquis 1500
which would leave you more cash to sink into the big debt.

Are you querying your budget over all? Or sticking strictly to the grocery question?