Weekly shopping Budget how much??

mrsspendalot

We are a family of 5, 2 adults and 3 children aged between 7 and 18 months. Pre-lightbulb I used to spend about £80 a week on shopping, but now never spend more than £50 a week and most weeks it is around £36. This includes meat and fruit and vegetables.

We don't buy biscuits and cakes (well, the occasional pack of value custard creams for 26p), we don't buy loads of toiletries and cleaning products (tesco washing tablets, tesco fabric softener, stardrops, value cloths, tesco bubble bath which we also use as shower gel, tesco toothpaste, value loo roll, tesco apple shampoo and conditioner, tesco deodrants and shaving gel). We rarely buy alcohol and we never buy ready meals.

A typical week's meals for us would be:
sunday dinner (chicken, mash, veg, value stuffing, value gravy)
spag bol (value chopped toms, value spaghetti, onion, garlic, mince)
sausage casserole (casserole mix, tesco thick sausages, mash, veg)
beans/spaghetti on toast (value tins and value bread)
tuna pasta (value tuna)
pizza and chips (value pizza and value chips)
mince and mash & veg
chicken, chips and salad (value chips, basic salad)

chickens are on 2 for £5 at the moment in tesco so we tend to have chicken twice a week.

Only other things we buy are basics like milk, marg, ham, cheese, yoghurts for packed lunches etc.

mrsspendalot

HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »

speaky wrote: »

I find it interesting that shopping is "top of your list" of things to cut back on. I guess non-essentials should be, but groceries? They'd be the last thing I'd cut back on - you have to eat, don't you./quote]

I have already cut back on everything else! :rotfl:

I am now saving approximately £160 per month on food (that is £1,921.00 per year :eek: ) and we eat better than before because I do more cooking with basic ingredients and we eat less ready meals.

I have found the same hairyhand - we used to eat loads of rubbish before, mainly frozen things which cost loads. We have a better diet now because we cook with fresh ingredients. I don't have anything in my freezer other than chips, bread and meat.

Rare_Plant

I'm desperately trying to cut down my expenses, but live in rather a well-off area (Richmond upon Thames). Does anyone know any cheaper supermarkets not too far away? I have a car but would rather not go too far. I'm a senior citizen. Thank you.

Liney_2

terill wrote: »

Dear Newbie,

We have two adults and a hearty two year old. Changed last year from shopping at Tesco to LIDL for the main shop and have saved at least £125 a month. To be honest we eat better now as LIDL's smoked salmon, large prawns and fruit are so cheap that we buy so much more than we did at Tesco. Plus there is always a parking space free near the entrance whereas at previous supermarket we always had to park miles away; the shop took two hours; and there was always a massive queue at till. Also, buy toiletries from Wilkinsons and Savers for bigger bargains on named brands. Plus- changed to a water metre and saved extra £15 a month. Equals saving of around £2000 a year:j :j

I did exactly the same as you I used to spend near on £100 every time I went to Tesco - then recently changed to Lidl's I now find it really hard to spend over £50 a week. This is for 2 adults and an 18 mth old baby. I am at home all day so I cook 3 meals a day too.

Liney_2

Rare_Plant wrote: »

I'm desperately trying to cut down my expenses, but live in rather a well-off area (Richmond upon Thames). Does anyone know any cheaper supermarkets not too far away? I have a car but would rather not go too far. I'm a senior citizen. Thank you.

Hello, there is a Lidl in Kingston on Wheatfield Way about 4 miles away from you. Happy Cheaper Shopping x

millionaire_in_training

I have a budget of £250 for me and 2 kids , 9 and 13, this includes eating out and any school lunches etc. I struggle come the end of the month but we always manage to eat and tbh I could probably cut down a bit more as I still buy some biccies and things like that but usually only in my big shop and normally always value.
I'm quite happy with this for the moment and might try after Christmas to cut down a bit more but have cut it from about £450-£500 per month. I used to waste loads of food as well but I get really mad now if I throw anything out. xx

chr1s_2

smousie wrote: »

OMG I can't believe everyone is able to manage on that amount! We probably spend £80-100 per week on two of us! However we do get organic veg and milk delivered, and buy free-range bacon and eggs, organic meat and cheese, and 100% fruit smoothies etc, all of which tends to cost a bit more. As well as that I have to buy the free-from food for my food allergies, and a pack of 9 wheat-free biscuits or 2 scones or 4 pitta breads all cost £2 each, which adds up the cost of the weekly shop. I also buy eco-friendly washing powder and shampoo, biodegradable binbags, non-animal-tested cosmetics etc, and that costs more too.

I've heard it said that the British spend a lower proportion of their salary on food than people in any other European country. I don't really mind spending a bit more on food and cosmetics, as I think what you fuel your body with and what you put on your skin directly affects your health, and I prefer to have good quality food and cosmetics and cut down in other areas of spending instead.

I agree 100% with the good quality statement you make. Sometimes you have to be careful that saving money is not a false economy. We eat lots of fresh fruit and veg, high quaility meats and fish from our local butcher/ fishmonger - to be honest, the market we go to is much cheaper than the supermarkets for fresh food. Having said that, we don't buy any branded foods, and have seriously cut back our food bill by doing this. We budget £30 per week for fresh food at the market, and £40 per week for other goods at the supermarket. We very often end up saving money from this though.

Chris.

eco123

I am constantly amazed at the sheer amount of money people spend in a supermarket. My other half & I spend roughly £40 per week in total, but when you look at the c*ap in other peoples trolleys i'm not surprised at their shopping bill.

katyk_2

JCD_Capulet wrote: »

Pretty much the same as me here. £10pw and currently planning and meal planning to cut this down to £5 per week. The first month or so are always the hardest, but it's second nature from there on in.

Totally off the beaten track here but just noticed your signature. Can I ask how you do daily clicks on lightspeed or ciao?

Thanks
Katyk

lynsey78

Having lost my job just before christmas i am now trying to cut down on expenses, my husband works but is away in Afgan at the moment so its just me.. how much do you think i should allow myself weekly for living? Trying to not spend much, all the bills are covered i just want to give myself a realistic budget weekly and find a way of saving money.. im 30 and still want a bit of a social life.