Grocery Budget for One

Ayeshalush

Are there any other single person households on this board that are willing to let me know what they budget each month for groceries?

My budget until the start of this year was £100 but at the start of the year I upped it to £130 as I found I was going over it every month.

I'm now having to think about upping it again! Surely £150 is too much for a 1 person household?!!

Any thoughts?

I am not cooking from scratch as much as I used to but due to medical conditions I struggle to do this much at the moment but do hope to do more over the next few months.

I also loosely follow a low carb diet, for medical reasons, which can be more expensive, so any cheap low carb meal ideas (is there such a thing?!!!) gratefully received.

I am just interested to know if my budget is excessive compared to other one person households and if so, how others keep it so low.

TIA

A
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bexster1975

Hello

I budget about £80-100 a month. It depends what this includes though. Mine doesn't tend to include toiletries beyond toilet roll and toothpaste. I shop mostly at Aldi, but I do prep lots from scratch. I am a fan of Joe Wicks recipes and many of them are low carb so I'd check out his website for meal ideas. I'm not low carb specifically, but agree they can make more expensive meals as protein levels tend to be higher in these meals. I use the freezer, batch cook and try not to waste anything. I make my own soup for lunches, and bake my own bread ( bread maker) for breakfasts and sandwiches. I also meal plan which means I only buy what need. I appreciate our situations are quite different, but I would hope £130 should cover the additional convenience you need to buy.

What do you think is causing you to spend over £130? Where do you normally shop? Do you meal plan/buy special offers?

Bexster

Ayeshalush

Thanks for your reply bexster.

Ooh, I'll check out Joe Wicks, thank you.

My budget includes all toiletries and all cleaning products.

I shop at Tesco or Morrisons but plan to try using Aldi more regularly. I also use the freezer and batch cook, though not as often as I used to. If there are any 'old' veggies in the fridge I make a batch of soup rather than throw them out. I do try to minimise waste and rarely throw anything out. I do think I have been buying a lot more pre-prepared veg, chicken etc as I have been struggling to cook from scratch due to medical conditions and these convenience foods help me stick to the low carb diet as when I 'm feeling rough it is all too easy to go for the carby comfort food.

I think I just need to try and put some more effort in and get back to meal planning, batch cooking and cooking from scratch. I also used to eat a lot of pulses, which is cheaper than other protein sources, but the low carb diet put a stop to that.

It will be good to see what other people's budget's are to see what I should be aiming for.

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Farway

Come and join us on the Cooking for One thread, plenty of ideas and suggestions, includes all diet styles from Vegans to full on omnivores

thriftwizard

I usually budget £100 per person per month, but running a household that varies between 4-7 inhabitants means that I can make big economies of scale. Yes, we'll use more of any given thing, but not usually 4 times as much. Given that you have a medically-restricted diet, you're not doing too badly at £130 per month, IMHO! Yes, it's certainly possible to get by on less, even a lot less if you have time/energy/fuel to hit the supermarkets when they're making their last reductions & to cook everything from scratch, but not necessarily totally realistic if you need to cater carefully to look after your health.

Ayeshalush

Farway wrote: »

Come and join us on the Cooking for One thread, plenty of ideas and suggestions, includes all diet styles from Vegans to full on omnivores

Thanks Farway, I'll check that out.

Ayeshalush

Thanks for your reply thriftwizard.

I know I can do better though, if I can keep it at £130 I would be happy but at the moment I can't.

Will try and make more effort when possible and hopefully that will mean I don't need to increase the budget again.

I never seem to hit the supermarkets at the right time for yellow stickered stuff, or if I do there is only pennies off it.

Mr_Singleton

Ayeshalush wrote: »

Surely £150 is too much for a 1 person household?!!

Any thoughts?

I am just interested to know if my budget is excessive compared to other one person households and if so, how others keep it so low

Theses sorts of questions seem to come up with surprisingly regularity. How long is a piece of string?

I currently spend between £60/£80ish per week.

I would suggest if your concerned about cost you cook/prepare all your meals from scratch from ingredients...... nope a jar of past sauce doesn’t count as from scratch!

[Deleted User]

I have a food budget of £60.00 per month but I don't cook at least twice a week as I go to my DDs for Sunday dinner, and the pub once a week for quiz night (costs £2.00) and I get a meal thrown in. My breakfast is usually cereal or porridge ,lunches usually HM soup and cheese and crackers. I use up every scrap if I can, and I meal plan every week in advance. Cleaning materials are not too much of a problem as vinegar and bicarb are excellent cleaners along with Stardrops which is 69p a bottle in Poundstretchers. I draw the same amount of cash out each month and whatever is left over goes into my holiday account. its doable to reduce the amount you spend simply pay by cash and keep a firm grip of it, and actually go less near the shops unless you really need something ,don't get into a shopping trip when hungry or without a shopping list.Practice makes perfect and baby steps will get you there Make a list of what's needed and stick to it.So many things are unnecessary I more or less shop as I did when I first got married in 1962.Streetching cash out is almost second nature to me

doingitanyway

£150 a month doesn't seem that bad to me. It depends. Are you in debt? If not it depends on your income. I also eat low carb and high quality protein with tons of fresh veggies, sometimes organic so it costs more. I think its worth it as eating properly and avoiding junk is important for my health.

That said this month I am aiming for £100 but there is already quite a bit in the freezer.

caronc

I work on £30 per week but look at this as monthly/annual cost for me rather than a fixed weekly/monthly spend. I eat very well but do enjoy cooking from scratch. I'm not able to shop in Lidl/Aldi or make use of YS reductions. This includes all food, non-alcoholic drinks and household supplies

£150 per month doesn't seem excessive to me but it depends on a) can you afford this and b) if you can would you rather be spending the money on other things? If the answer is yes and no then I'd say go with it and make savings as when you can or want to. However, if it puts pressure on your finances or you have another use for this cash then yes you could get it down a bit. I know I could reduce mine without compromising what I want to eat.
You mention low carb which can be more costly but cheese & eggs can make the basis of cheap but healthy meals. Are you restricting all carbs or just refined/High GI ones? If your diet allows pulses and beans are cheap and nutrious and many freeze well if you want to cook a big batch from scratch rather than buying tinned. Meat wise the cheaper cuts are tasty but do need longer cooking so a slow cooker can be good for these. Soups and stews can be a good way of making a smaller amount of meat go quite far. Chicken thighs are cheaper than breasts and if you don't mind portioning a whole chicken can be good value especially if you use the carcass for stock/soup. I buy bags of frozen pollock fillets which are cheap and very versatile. Low carb veg like cauliflower can work well as "rice" or mash to bulk out meals and cauli cheese is a cheap and easy meal. Leftover cauli cheese can be thinned with stock or milk to make a tasty soup. Leeks or courgettes work well instead of pasta in lasagne.

If health issues are restricting you from cooking from scratch are there times when you can get more done? If so and you have the freezer space perhaps use the good spells to do some batch preparing/cooking. There are lots of sites online where folk prepare lots of meals to the ready to cook point then just defrost and cook when required.
As Farway has said pop over to CFO and I'm sure we can give lots of ideas.