Weekly Shop - how low ?

MadMonkey

I know this is a bit like "how long is a piece of string" but how much should i aim for for weekly shopping bills ?

I cannot look at current spend as TBH it is so erratic that it is not a reflection of shopping needs more a reflection of how i graze the isles at supermarkets buying !!!!!! i do not need:o

We are a family of 5 - 2 adults, 3 kids aged 5/4 and 1.

We also have 2 cats.

We need to buy nappies but they are not in the weekly shop as i get them from Boots in order to get Advantage points.

The kids have sandwiches for dinner with fruit and we have a cooked meal at night. I cook from scratch most of the time.

So can anyone give me a rough idea on what I should be aiming for with a weekly shop ? I am going to be shopping weekly with Tesco online as if I stay away from "real" shops I will remove the temptation:p

Also any ideas for meals that can be cooked and frozen ?

Thanks a lot - 2008 is my "stop spending money on !!!!!!" year:rotfl:

angchris

i would try £50 a week, once you get into the swing of it it should be easily done. also if you check out the codes/vouchers section you can normally get codes for £5 off a £50 spend etc that cover the tescos delivery charge and also a few bits of free shopping.

Queenie

This website gives a two week menu plan and shopping list plus a number of recipes under their "cook once, eat twice" heading:-

http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/

Also, I've just posted a link to a free program where you can input items that you buy, add the price and it will print out your shopping list plus total which can, if you use it to your advantage, save money by keeping you focused. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=665445

It's difficult to give a figure when people ask these questions because everyone has such differing ideas on how low they can go, the wisdom of the choices some people make and it's even resulted in people viewing it as a kind of competition - which of course it isn't, nor should it be.

Take your "grazing" figure, it's a useful starting point, and then aim to reduce it by say 10% then work from there.

MoneyGypsy

Hi,

there is a thread on here somewhere called something like 'feeding a family of five' which might be helpful.

Someone else might help me out by posting the link.

Lol.