How much for food??

Benthosboy

If anyone has read my latest posts on the DFW section, they'll know that my wife is leaving me and that I shall have to move out of the bungalow that we get with our job at the caravan park where we work. Now call me "Billy-no-mates" if you will but I'll be taking up residence in "our" motorhome fairly soon, just me and my two gorgeous dogs. Sad as it may seem, I have very little idea how much normal, everyday food costs so I'm wondering what a sensible ammount is for a week's food shopping for one person. One of my major regrets after almost 16 years of married life is that I never got really involved with cooking or shopping. My BIGGEST regret, without a doubt, is not getting involved with the finances. If I had, I probably wouldn't be in the dire state that I'm in now :mad:

I don't have lavish tastes, although I appreciate that you only get what you pay for. There's only a small fridge in the 'van with a tiny freezer compartment but I may be able to keep the extra chest freezer that we have in the shed to use in the awning. There are plenty of cupboards in the 'van for store foods and there is a full gas oven/grill with a 3 ring hob. All in all, it's quite civilised and one of the great joys of being in the 'van is that everything is instantly to hand. If you stand in front of the sink, all the cupboards are within arms' reach :j .

Thanks in advance and if anyone has any tips for cooking in a small kitchen, I'm all ears.

Martyn.

moo2moo

£2-£3 per day would be realistic for 1 person. Thats £14- £21 per week or £60- £85 per month.

Obviously it depends what you like to eat, if you like alcohol then you'll double that figure. Initially it'll work out a bit more expensive as you'll need to buy things like Oxo cubes for flavourings but will find they last you for months.

There are lots of families of 4 and more partaking in the "Live on £400 for a month" challenge.

As for cooking in a small space thats easy don't buy things you don't need. Find a knife you like and use it for everything.

otterspasm

Hi there,
I'm sorry to hear your news (although being a caravanner myself I can understand the pleasures of living in a small space :-).

I am not sure about your shopping bill and what would be reasonable. I shop for 4 but 2 are pre-schoolers so don't eat adult sized portions, and can manage on £35 a week if I have to for groceries. If I cook from scratch and plan my meals for the week. It helps me to go to the supermarket with a list and stick to it! :-)

To be more comfortable though (but still not extravagant) I would prefer to spend £60 a week. Wouldn't we all?:p

I would have thought that you could easily spend £35 a week but could expect the food to last you longer. I suppose it will also depend on how much you would hope to spend on 'treats' eg. a bottle of wine or cakes/biscuits. My £35 is just for the basic 3 meals a day with no 'extras' such as squash, biscuits, crisps, ready meals, etc


I hope that this is helpful in some way and good luck with all of the changes.
Tess

Bongedone

If your new to cooking then have a look at the slow cooker thread. This will be especially handy if you should get the chest freezer. Most recipe's require the minimum of skills to reward ratio.

squeaky

See this link for basic ideas:-

Getting Started

And for a comprehensive shopping list, budget and a host of other ideas and inspiration see here:-

sammy_kaye's £100 a month food budgetting


Searches on budget come up with lots more when you've finished reading that lot, and there's also threads such as these:-

Single moneysaver living on my own!
Saving Money On Food For a SINGLE person
What can a single person use on this board?

Bring a pencil and paper on line with you tomorrow - I'll be asking questions later

HTH

Benthosboy

I forgot to say that there'll be no treats or fancy stuff and I've managed to collect almost a gallon of Whisky and quite a few crates of Tetleys so I'll be able to :beer: when living such a frugal existence gets me down :rolleyes:. I've got a serious amount of debt to clear :eek: so it's the simple life for me!

Once the nights start to draw out a bit, I'm hoping to get down to the coast,(it's only about 10 miles away), and do some foraging for wild food. As one of my passions is scuba diving, I'll see if I can budget for the ocassional tank of air and maybe pick some shellfish as well.

Martyn.

MrsTinks

Tell you what Martyn I'll go halves with you on air and throw in some beers if you can get me shellfish too!
I hate non-dived scallops and mussels that have been dredged grrr
Bet you other OS'ers closer to you might be willing to barter too!

Superheavy

Good luck to you Martyn, I myself am also getting in the mindset for dealing with big debt, and I'm just bringing up a budget and planning things out for either a one-week or two-week food planner for each meal. And I'm hoping to be able to get food etc for at most £15 per week, just hoping I won't get too bored of the batch cooking and my own dreadful culinary attempts!

Remember to log back with any failures....and especially any big successes.

Rowan9

Good luck! Remember to find the best times for reductions at your local supermarket. You *should* be able to get bread and some other stuff reduced which you could eat over the next couple of days. Sometimes ours have the smaller half loaves which I think would keep a few days.
w

vanoonoo

yes I think one of the best tips is to get used to when your local shop does its final reductions and you can really trim your spending that way if you are not a fussy eater.

You might want to beg borrow steal or buy a slow cooker if you like stews and things like that as they are a great help with food prep and low cost to use. Join your local freecycle group and place a wanted ad.

I am budgeting £200 a month at the moment for me and my fussy husband and two fussy cats. Dont forget to budget for the food for the dogs in all this - it can be quite an expense as are things like vet appointments, scheduled or otherwise.

Good luck with your new life and keep us informed!