How much do you spend on groceries?

JGB1955

Our basic shop from Sainsbury's (for 2 pensioners) is around £50 per week.  £66 today, but we only needed one meat item (pork chops) and topped it up with 8 bottle of Shiraz at less than £32 because of the 25% off.  The freezer is full, so no need to buy anything much else until September.

Van_Girl

I budget £100 a month for a single person, and that includes loo roll, washing up liquid etc. No alcohol, I still have bottles left from Christmas 

For the fur baby I save £6.50 a month and buy in bulk once a year as he'll only eat kibble anyway. 

I shop at Aldi, batch cook, and tend to be happy eating the same thing for 3-4 days

I don't live with my OH, but he would starve to death on my rations. He spends about £100 a week!

Novice_investor101

Single adult, I budget £100 a month & that’s what I’ll spend on groceries, including cleaning products, toiletries etc.  once it’s spent, that’s it. Really focuses my mind on not wasting money or food. I now tend to do one big shop online with Tesco for around £50 from a list I write throughout the previous month, then do top up shops for fresh items like salads. The tesco I get my delivery from is a 10 min walk away so I can pop in for bits easily.  

I much prefer the online shop now as I can see exactly what I’m spending, don’t get tempted by items I don’t need & can easily search for offers on items I do need. Not going to the store also helps when my autism is not feeling it. I shop at tesco as I can’t face the carnage of doing a trolley shop in Aldi. But I do visit Aldi when I need to stock up on things like foil which is cheaper there. 

I always manage to stay within my budget but I’m noticing recently that there’s no spare room for luxury items like treats. I don’t drink, eat little meat & cook mostly from scratch. I find that to get to the £45 min spend each month I stock up on different items like toilet rolls, chicken breasts (to freeze) & cleaning products which seems to work well. I know I have enough in the house to skip a shop one month & not struggle. 

Rob5342

We spend about £75 a week for two adults and a teenager. We plan our meals each week and only buy the minimum we actually need for them, and choose meals for our weekly menu that will use up what we have.

rhcp

As a single person, I spend £80 a month, that includes alcohol and cleaning products.

givememoney

I applaud you single people only spending £80 - £100 per month.
Do you work though and if you do you buy lunch out. Being retired with hubs we eat lunch at home mostly which is a sandwich accompanied by salad. I admit if I want it, I buy it, but cook our dinners from scratch, so I spend in a week, what others spend in a month.

Makingabobor2

Just the 2 of us and I have to try & keep it under £40 a week really. Fruit & Veg all comes from markets and meat from local butcher if I can afford it, if not then it is Aldi. Most meals are cooked from scratch. Don't buy luxuries anymore

Van_Girl

givememoney said:

I applaud you single people only spending £80 - £100 per month.
Do you work though and if you do you buy lunch out. Being retired with hubs we eat lunch at home mostly which is a sandwich accompanied by salad. I admit if I want it, I buy it, but cook our dinners from scratch, so I spend in a week, what others spend in a month.

I WFH unless I have site visits. I tend to have soup for lunch, either HM or canned, and if I'm out and about I have a food thermos that I can take with me, and a little lunch sized cool bag if I fancy salad or sarnies etc.

IF I buy something out, food wise, I will take it from my weekly spends budget, which is basically my play money. So occasionally, I'll grab a sausage roll from the bakers or something, which I count as my entertainment/treats, not my food budget. Same if I decide to have a takeaway at OH's. 

I've always been happy with budget foods, but I don't feel like I deprive myself, for example I'm cooking a Thai curry with king prawns this week, and it's fitted into my budget. But equally, I know current OH and ex DH both think I'm really stingy and deprive myself of nice things. I think they're just addicted to brand names 

Novice_investor101

givememoney said:

I applaud you single people only spending £80 - £100 per month.
Do you work though and if you do you buy lunch out. Being retired with hubs we eat lunch at home mostly which is a sandwich accompanied by salad. I admit if I want it, I buy it, but cook our dinners from scratch, so I spend in a week, what others spend in a month.

I work full time in an office next to a busy pedestrian, university & shopping area. The office is huge with a restaurant (canteen) & a Starbucks on the ground floor. I take salads for my lunch every day, with fruit & a snack bar. The last time I went to the restaurant to buy lunch was before Covid! I’ve never bought anything from the dozens of takeaways or deli’s etc on the main street. 

Once a month or so I’ll decide I don’t want to make my own lunch so I’ll stop at the Sainsbobs local for a meal deal on my way to work. This cash comes out of the £100 food budget. I don’t know if it’s just habit but I’ve never been a fan of buying coffees at Starbucks or Costa etc, or food while out & about. I just prefer eating at home. Although if I’m away on holiday I do buy food out, which falls into my holiday spending budget. 

When I go hiking I always take my own lunch & a flask but in winter I do like going to a pub or cafe afterwards for a coffee & cake. That’s out of my hobbies/spending money tho.  

givememoney

Novice_investor101 said:

givememoney said:

I applaud you single people only spending £80 - £100 per month.
Do you work though and if you do you buy lunch out. Being retired with hubs we eat lunch at home mostly which is a sandwich accompanied by salad. I admit if I want it, I buy it, but cook our dinners from scratch, so I spend in a week, what others spend in a month.

I work full time in an office next to a busy pedestrian, university & shopping area. The office is huge with a restaurant (canteen) & a Starbucks on the ground floor. I take salads for my lunch every day, with fruit & a snack bar. The last time I went to the restaurant to buy lunch was before Covid! I’ve never bought anything from the dozens of takeaways or deli’s etc on the main street. 

Once a month or so I’ll decide I don’t want to make my own lunch so I’ll stop at the Sainsbobs local for a meal deal on my way to work. This cash comes out of the £100 food budget. I don’t know if it’s just habit but I’ve never been a fan of buying coffees at Starbucks or Costa etc, or food while out & about. I just prefer eating at home. Although if I’m away on holiday I do buy food out, which falls into my holiday spending budget. 

When I go hiking I always take my own lunch & a flask but in winter I do like going to a pub or cafe afterwards for a coffee & cake. That’s out of my hobbies/spending money tho.  

Like you when I was working I always took lunch from home. 

As far as coffee goes, we recently came home from a 5 day coach trip. They stop at services for you to take a break and not having any alternative, I bought a decaf coffee with oat milk at Costas and was flabbergasted to be charged £3.50.