Trying to draw up a reasonable budget

Munki_2

We live off approx £35 a week (2 adults and a 1 1/2 year old). We harldy ever buy processed food. Buy fruit/veg from the market and occationally treat ourselves to chocolate etc. The only thing that this doesn't include is my lunches for work... which I hope to make packed lunches for every day... I just can't seem to get the routine sussed out yet! ;-)

The main thing that I see costs everyone money is the processed convenience foods, and buying on impulse.

Here's my checklist for a weekly shop :

1. Every week have a look at what food you have remaining in the cupboards & fridge/freezer.
2. Then work out meals for the week ahead.
3. Write a shopping list for all those required items. Nothing more (oh ok, maybe a little treat ;-)
4. Shop - AND STICK TO THE SHOPPING LIST.

Simple. You may have to plan more than one shop a week for different items. E.g we use the market on Sundays for fruit and veg, however I know our Tescos is EXTREMELY busy on Sundays, so you may want to stagger your shopping. But remember to stick to the list.

Don't stick to the same supermarkets though. Look for bargains. Always read the leaflets that come in through your doors from the supermarkets. We get Somerfield, Tesco, Adsa, Sainsburys and Lidls leaflets through the door practically every month. Then we pick all the deals from there and plan a supermarket route when it's time to shop.

One thing everyone should do is spend time and learn how to cook. Cooking can be rewarding and enjoyable. Plus cooking your own food is where you save money and live healthier. Sure it takes longer, but your body and pocket will thank you for it.

Many people think we are tight for spending so little on food each month. The fact is we eat healthily and well - We just don't fall for the covenience trap! ;-)

There are plenty of threads on this site about saving money on meals and consumables. Quite frankly if the average person can't look at this site and not save money on their shopping bills, they'd have to be bonkers! (not meant personally to anybody in particular though!)

Good luck everyone! :-)

Munki.

JAMIEDODGER

i spend £50 per week (household budget) for 1 adult and 4 children. that includes all food, toiletries, cleaning products, nappies and wipes. i wouldnt be without the old style board and do their Pin Money Savings challenge and Grocery Challenge. i cook from scratch and doing the Pin Money Savings Challenge has enabled me to buy bigger purchases that will in the long run save me more money on my "Household Budget".my latest purchase was a yoghurt maker so "fromage frais" have now dissapeared from my shopping list too LOL!!!!!

Dammam

Thanks for all the replies. Yes, the Old Style forum has been interesting & enlightening - I'm looking at getting a slow cooker now :-)

At the moment, with judicious use of offers and Lidls, I'm running at about £80 per week - I'm sure I can get that down somewhat - still not in Jamiedodgers class yet though :-)

Conrad

klare wrote:

I have been reading these 'budgeting' threads both here and in the other sections for months now and im absolutely gobsmacked. How on earth do you people do it for so little.
We dont have any processed food in our house as the children wont eat it and I dont like them having it so all our veg is fresh, so is our meat etc. But I still just can not work out how you doit for so little.
my OH is a big bloke and is a meat and two veggie type of meal guy and when I mean he eats meat i mean he eats meat and lots of it. I have tried to introduce veggie stuff to him ( both sneakily and up front and honest) but he really isnt having any of it. I was a veggie myself for a long time so I know all the tricks of the trade. I would love to kknow what some of you actually serve for your meals just so I can get an idea of where I can alter what we do. I know it would help a lot if i stopped shopping in tescos but theres nothing else near me. I do how ever buy all my veg and fruit on the market each wednesday.
Any ideas would be gratefully received!! :T

I agree with you Klare. Im sure some of the people on here really do spend as little as they say, however, I've met people who have made such claims but then Ive discovered they convieniently forget all kinds of items, many of which they only buy now and then (eg shoe polish, harispray, new pegs, lightbulbs, knife sharpener, baking tray, batteries, pencils, wrapping paper, vitamins, medicine, watering can, houseplant food, icing sugar, spices, SUN CREAM to name a few). The point is, the 'now & thens' add up to a very significant cost.

Peolpe often make the claim that they spend wisely and have plenty left over, so I then ask "right so that means you save £200 into long term investments", to which they invariably repy "oh no, I see what you mean, we dont save anything". In other words, thier true spending (annual spend divided by 365) is almost always higher than they claim.

Our fruit and veg alone comes to well over £20.00 per week. We each (2 adults, 2 young children) eat at least 5 portions per day, especially fruit (including blue berries, rasberries, apricots etc) and salads as of course the absence of cooking means its far healthier than say a cooked veg. We also grow some of our own.

Our weekly shop ALLOWING FOR TOTAL ANNUAL COSTS DIVIDED BY 52 is around £140 EXCLUDING items such as birthday cards which really add up. We have no processed food, and never buy ready meals like our freinds, so Im sure they spend more than us. Some freinds for example also buy fresh flowers for every room, all manner of grooming stuff which we buy little of.

Dammam

If you find you're spending a lot on birthday cards - get hold of something like the Hallmark Card Studio (assuming you have a PC with a reasonable printer). Nice results can be had and you can personalise them with pictures, text etc.

I agree, we all "forget" some of the things we buy in addition to our main shop, but the basic information here HAS been helpful in getting my costs down.

My Wife and I still disagree on how much we should be spending though - I still want to aim for £60 to £80, she reckons £100 per week is more realistic (expensive caviar habit I reckon).

Munki_2

Conrad wrote:

Peolpe often make the claim that they spend wisely and have plenty left over, so I then ask "right so that means you save £200 into long term investments", to which they invariably repy "oh no, I see what you mean, we dont save anything". In other words, thier true spending (annual spend divided by 365) is almost always higher than they claim.

I'd have disagree somewhat what what you are saying, Conrad. Many people come on this site in order to get their costs down and enable them to afford to live. In other words, not over-spend. We don't spend a great deal on our 'groceries', and any gifts, cards, less frequent items are allowed for in a seperate monthly/yearly budget. The money we 'save' from having a cheaper shopping bills does not mean we are up at the end of the month... it simply means we aren't in the red at the end of the month. It's a somewhat sad state of affairs, but if we stick to our budget (including saving a little money each month), we just about scrape evens each month.

Just my view, and I'm sure many other people will see it this way - most of us here are (or were) overspending each month. Implementing tight budgets only has the effect of keeping our accounts breaking even each month, rather than coming away with any extra cash.

Anyway... just thought I'd mention this... not having a dig... just saying :-)

Munki.

Xbigman

There appear to be different levels of various expences all being lumped together.

Existence expences - minimum to live on, mortgage, utilities, basic shop, basic transport...

Living expences - xmas pressies, new smart cloths, holiday money...

Savings for things - new cars, home improvements...

Savings for the future, but not planned away...

If someone asked me how much I needed to live I'd give the existence figure. If I wanted to look at it longer term, say in evaluating a new job, I'd want to earn the savings for things level or better.
Regards



X

Kantankrus_Mare

You dont really need to buy smart new cloths for cleaning!!!! Old one will do.........(sorry couldnt resist) lololol

nursekaz

Not actually about food, but:
Can anyone tell me how much is a reasonable amount to spend on clothes per month. I have a 15 year old son, who is not too greedy about new clothes. He has some reasonable priced items and other Primark stuff. However, I have always made sure both my kids wear good quality shoes. My 18 year old daughter has gone to uni, and does very well to clothe herself, with her loan and part time job, but I obviously give her £ 20 here and there. I don't want her to run up loads of debt, and as far as i know, she has avoided using her overdraft, so I am really pleased. I very rarely buy myself anything because I wont buy larger clothes till I have lost weight, sigh.

But I am trying to fill in a form for my solicitor and I have to state a reasonable amount that i require to spend on clothes so that a judge can decide what percentage of the assets of the marriage I am entitled to.

Obviously, I don't want to be too frugal so that he thinks i dont need much, but i want it to show a realistic amount. The fact that I am careful about it should not benefit my ex should it.
Please help

SkippyB

I spend around £75 per month for 2 of us on food shopping. The trick to it is not to buy small. Always look at the prices on the shelves and shop for the BOGOFs and for the b2g3f. Surplus of one item can always be used. Always buy stores own brand, there's no difference between that and the branded. Also a big money saver is not to buy chocolate and crisps or any snack type stuff, make your own (cheaper and healthier!).

Cleaning products are bad for the environment and you dont need the latest 'in' product for a safe and clean home!! All you need is lemon juice, vinegar and bicarb of soda....watch the pennies stack up when you stop using all those products that just sit at the back of the cupboard anyway!!

Clothes....Go to George, TKMaxx and other shops of similar style. You can buy almost anything at very cheap prices. Also plan when you buy your clothes...try and aim to get a new outfit around the sales times which seem to be every couple of weeks these days. Also do you buy clothes just for the sake of fashion? Buy clothes that arent 'here today...gone tomorrow' Buy basic......Update clothes using cheap accessories...plenty of websites that will show you how to update your outfits....

Hope these help!!