Grocery Shopping budget thread

dlb · 23 January 2009 at 10:46PM

My Budget is £70 a week for 2 adults, 4 kids (6,11,11,13) and the cat.
This includes toiletries, washing powder, cleaning and food.

5 x pack lunches 5 days a week, and cook for extra one on saturdays as step son is here.

Im quite happy with this amount but finding it hard past few months to not go over budget, so hoping to maybe cut down slightly with more bulk buying ect.

redmel1621 · 24 January 2009 at 12:43AM

My budget at the moment is £340pm, this is for 2 adults 2 children aged 6 & 8, 2 cats and a big dog (Labrador x Newfoundland). This amount includes all groceries, cleaning products, toiletries and pet food....

I am in the process of changing over so that I will bulk buy the pet food and flea treatments, so I will have a separate pet budget for this. Although with a baby due in less than 7wks any money saved will probably go on nappies/formula!!

We have also just started a separate 'pocket money' budget which I will set aside monthly, for lunches out or take-aways, so none of these come out of the main grocery budget. I am hoping to reduce my Grocery budget to somewhere between £250-£300pm

Mel x

notenoughcash · 24 January 2009 at 4:51AM

Hello everyone, my budget for myself, DS1 5 and DS2 10 (who eats from the minute he gets out of bed until the minute he gets back in it and looks like a stick!!) is £120 per month for groceries and £15 per month for cleaning stuff, washing powder and toiletries. I grow a good amount of my own veg but I am going to increase that dramatically this year and even more once I finally get an allotment which will reduce my grocery budget significantly I hope. Over time I have managed to train myself so that if we have enough food in I can go into a supermarket purely to look at whoopsies if I am passing without spending £20 I really don't need to! I also allow myself £10 per month for alcohol as my treat but I do make homemade wine so sometimes use this allowance for a take-away instead.

SunnyGirl · 24 January 2009 at 8:39AM

Hi Everyone,

What a great idea as I always get lost in the grocery challenge thread LOL! I buy for myself, dh, dd 16, ds 14, ds 10, 2 dogs (Big Labrador & a Beagle) and 4 cats. My budget is £200 to £250 a month and this includes all food, cleaning stuff (well Stardrops, vinegar, bleach & washing up liquid is all that I use) toiletries etc. I generally shop at Netto, the local market, Home Bargains, Wilkinsons, Poundland & Tesco for whoopsied stuff I see when going there for the concentrated juice (It really does last longer, my 3 are juice monsters & drink loads but at least they don't get dehydrated!)

Like others I cook all meals from scratch although I buy bread. I make some of our treats & buy some also. One of the biggest OS things I do is to nearly always have a pan of soup made up for lunches. It's healthy, filling & uses up lots of veg. All three kids have lunches at college/school although when dd is on her placement (every other week) I make her lunch to take.

We have the very occasional take away which somehow usually ends up being a disappointment & not as tasty as what I can cook even though we look forward to it. I have picked up so much help & advice from this board and that helps with the budget every single week. HTH

jcr16 · 24 January 2009 at 8:52AM

were a family of 5. me, hubby, dd 5,ds 3 and ds 9 months. we also have 3 cats.( 1 of them tho thinks he is a dog, as he won't eat his food but will sit by our side while eating are dinner waiting for little bits left over. he's even been known to eat crusts froma marmite sandwich

:rotfl: .)

Anyway i say my budget but it isn't anything set in stone it is something i use as a guildline. It is for £200 a month. Having said that i have found i can only keep to it when i meal plan and work things out because i am the type of person who loves food shopping and everytime i go in a shop thats £30-£50 gone on things i could do with out.lol.when i do meal planners and keep to my budget we do eat alot better and have very little waste so it somethign i need to keep up with .

My shopping money covers everything packed lunches, cleaning, pet things, baby formula etc. even things like if i'm in a supermarket and see a new saucepan or duvet cover etc i will use my shopping money. The one thing i don't use it for is if my daughter wants a school dinner i will pay for this seperately. having said that she has only had 3 since she started in sept.

Penny-Pincher!! · 24 January 2009 at 10:15AM

I just wanted to say that you are all fabulous with how little you are spending on food but eating well.

I have been a member here for nearly 4 years and have seen many of you progress including myself and you all do an amazing job. I feel proud to be a member of this community.

PP
xx

Snowy_Owl · 24 January 2009 at 12:55PM

Hi, just now, i am in my own flat. However, I do time at the fiancee's. Costs mainly for my flat. Most months, I will spend about £60-£70 pounds at the start of the month. This will include all cleaning materials needed, main food items for the month, stock-up the wine rack etc. Always go with a shopping list and look for deals on the things I need. Duruing the rest of the month, i'm just topping up on milk, rolls for lunches at work, school lunch once a week etc so probabaly realistically add on anohter £50ish pounds.

When cooking, always cook up a big batch and then freeze in individual portions. This came out of practical reasons rather then finanicial ones as saves time and can't be bothered cooking after a long day - but would rather eat healthy!!! As I read more of the posts on this site , am becoming more aware of what I do spend and am more conscientious when shopping / spending.

Snowy

lilac_lady · 24 January 2009 at 1:02PM

My budget is just for me. It varies according to how many times I enter a supermarket so I'm trying to stop going in too often. I pay cash for all shopping so it hurts a bit to part with the actual money.
My only spending weak spot is too much food shopping so I'm working on that. I'm inspired by how some of you feed families on less than I spend some months (although I have a very full freezer and cupboards).

Snowy_Owl · 24 January 2009 at 1:02PM

Oh and I never pay full price for a bottle of wine!!!! Always go the bottle that are nearly a tenner but reduced to half price. What Cleaning products / toiletries I need each month depend on what's left in the flat. Have not had to do a big shop this month as freezer was full from December and flat generally well stocked so am a very happy owl!!! For the first time I can rememebr I have actually have a nice wee bit of money to save at the end of January!!!!!

Snowy Owl

Hawthorn · 24 January 2009 at 3:35PM

Thanks PP.

My monthly food budget is £250 max, for two adults, two teenagers, two young uns, and a dog. This includes cleaning and lager (hubs treat for working so hard) and laundry.
We don't buy boxed cereals - we have either hot cakes, crumpets, porridge or fruit.
I make everything from scratch, including all of our bread. I don't have a breadmaker. I prefer to do it by hand.
No such thing as crisps here (sob) Popcorn only, that I pop myself.
I need to sort my laundry costs out, but I strongly suspect that someone will have to pry my fabric conditioner out from my cold, dead fingers LOL.
I shop on offers, and buy several if it's something that I use. We also shop at multiple different places in order to stick to this budget - Lidl, netto, Aldi, Asda, Tesco, continental foodstores, to name but a few. I stock up on what I need from each shop - we don't visit them all in one week!
I only ever buy boxed wine. More expensive to outlay, yes, but you get more for your moolah, and you don't feel that you have to finish the bottle, so it lasts longer.

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