How Much Do You Budget For Groceries?

plainandsimple · 3 October 2016 at 8:46AM

Thanks for your input, everyone. This has been an encouraging read. I feel we could get our monthly spend down a bit, but I do also agree on the principle of health over wealth. Luckily, our one year old is not a fussy eater and has the same meals we do. He's napping now, so I'm about to work on my meal plan, which will come in under budget. I'm determined!

tgroom57 · 10 October 2016 at 7:59AM

We budget £15 per person per week, that covers food , toiletries and (occasional) cleaning products. We certainly don't live on lentils and soup.

Our main meals include chilli (as much onions and kidney beans as meat) served with rice, and something with chicken. In winter beef stew with carrots & dumplings and more onions. Winter breakfasts are bacon & egg (Tesco has cooking bacon 80p for a weeks worth - the new bacon slicers started recently

) Lunches / light meals revolve around 20p noodles topped with broccoli & julienne carrots. Leftover chicken goes with a 25p pack of golden rice (Tesco, tucked away somewhere - ask )

Our main fruit /veg purchases are apples, carrots & onions.
Most-used recipes are for crumble topping and dumplings.
Biggest challenge is finding good cleaning products on offer. We shop WUL, detergent, & recently Parazone from Poundland.

I reckon your spend is about right (£200 pcm) because although your toddler eats less he /she will cost more in nappies / washing. I'd be looking to improve the nutritional value & variety of food - maybe include a portion of fish once a week, and less lentils. I'd feel impoverished eating lentils.

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EssexHebridean · 10 October 2016 at 10:02AM

suki1964 wrote: »

Totally agree with health over wealth

I can only use Persil, Fairy and head and shoulders , all bloomin expensive unless you wait for the offers, which I do. I've never paid more then half RRP for any of those

Whilst I do shop in lidl, I buy very little of their fruit and veg - it's rubbish. Carrots will be rotted within 2 days, fruit never ripens, onions always have at least one squidgy one per net, it just becomes a false ecconomy

And yes even though I scratch cook, I too have my cheats, stock pots for example, I use them daily near enough and I like the branded ones, so I stock up when half price

We spend on average £35 a week for 3 adults. Some weeks it's as little as £20, other weeks it will be £40. I don't keep exact records, I just spend what needs to be bought each week (last week £28, week before £18) then once every 4 to 6 weeks either hit the chicken factory and spend £20 filling the freezer or restock on herbs, spices, dry goods

Everyone has a different idea on meals and how much to spend, one size doesn't fit every family. I think that as long as you can afford what you spend and aren't throwing food away on a weekly basis then you are doing ok.

Obviously if you are living on the overdraft or CC, then looking to reduce the food bill makes sense. Yet once again you need to decide what cuts you can make yourself. It's all very well me saying here's my food plan for the week and it cost this much, but if it's the type of food your family don't like or you don't have the time to spend in the kitchen it's not any good to you

:T:T:T and a few more :T:T:T's. Common sense. I think so often the point that people miss is that it's about value for a lot of people, rather than feeling shamed into doing things as cheaply as humanly possible. We happily explore cheaper alternatives, but compare ingredients also so make sure that cheaper doesn't mean compromising nutritionally. This is the beauty of cooking from scratch of course - you know what goes in in a way you simply don't with the cheapest of pre-prepared or convenience foods.

Areas we will usually opt for "value" or budget brands:
- fresh fruit & veg, where possible.
- dried goods like rice, pasta
- Dried fruit

Areas where we definitely WON'T buy other than branded:
- Coffee
- washing up liquid

Areas where we don't buy value, but will shop around between own-brand and branded:
- Tea bags
- Washing powder
- Loo rolls
- Dishwasher tablets

there are others, those are examples. The common thing in the lower two categories is that we have tried the value options and dismissed them - MrEH doesn't like the taste of other coffee, he drinks Nescafe standard, and we only ever buy it when on offer. I find cheaper washing up liquid is a false economy so wait for the special offers on Fairy and then buy. Value loo rolls - umm, no!

Washing powder, I prefer Bold, but again only buy it on offer - no offer and I get T's own brand. Dishwasher tablets - if the deal is good enough on Finish I'll buy it, but otherwise I'm perfectly happy with the Aldi ones.

We buy less meat than a lot of people would be we only buy good quality. By that I don't mean steak or organic produce, but we do like to know where things have come from, and that they've been looked after to a good standard and not abused. Eggs and chicken are free range. Other meat is all UK reared - generally we try to buy direct from suppliers at Farmers markets or similar. I batch cook - tonight when I get in I have a huge pot of ragu sauce made with minced goat meat to be portioned out - it's packed with veggies and was a great way of stretching a not-that-cheap pack of very tasty mince.

I agree with the comment above about finding Aldi/Lidl to not always be that great. I don't get on with their fruit at all, and am very choosy about veg - I'll buy Aldi's super 6 offers but am careful to pick through things like nets of onions to double check they're OK, for example. I do find though that a wander round the "cheapie" supermarkets from time to time with my eyes peeled comparing products is time well spent - on Friday I bought sausages in Aldi rather than the Tesco Finest ones I'd usually buy - £1.39 -v- £2.50, and the quality and flavour were equally as good.

Buying stuff on offer and working meals round it can be a great way to save - as can doing a full fridge-audit before you shop - work out from the basis of that what you actually need to buy and that cuts waste. Remember too with offers on dried goods etc - these offers are not a once in a lifetime opportunity - they can, and will, come around again!

determined_new_ms · 10 October 2016 at 10:39AM

tgroom57 wrote: »

I reckon your spend is about right (£200 pcm) because although your toddler eats less he /she will cost more in nappies / washing. I'd be looking to improve the nutritional value & variety of food - maybe include a portion of fish once a week, and less lentils. I'd feel impoverished eating lentils.
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I love pulses! I put a handful or 2 of lentils in most wet foods along side meat to up protein levels, love lentil curries and soups. oh is Brazillian and their nutritional advice is to have a portion of beans a day mmmmmmmm

also sainsbury's economy value teabags (fairtrade - not sure how that's actually possible?!) are really good and I will often stock up on them when there. The only other teabags I like are t3tley pyramids or A1di red label. Agree it's often knowing what's good in the economy range

DrWatson1 · 10 October 2016 at 10:54AM

EssexHebridean wrote: »

We buy less meat than a lot of people would be we only buy good quality. By that I don't mean steak or organic produce, but we do like to know where things have come from, and that they've been looked after to a good standard and not abused. Eggs and chicken are free range. Other meat is all UK reared - generally we try to buy direct from suppliers at Farmers markets or similar. I batch cook - tonight when I get in I have a huge pot of ragu sauce made with minced goat meat to be portioned out - it's packed with veggies and was a great way of stretching a not-that-cheap pack of very tasty mince.

Some interesting posts itt, but I especially agree with this. Mince especially is often false economy - cheaper minces can be very high in fat/water content, so your 'saving' is much smaller than you might think, not to mention the lack of taste. I also managed to source free range organic eggs locally - 30 large eggs (classed as seconds) for £3.30. Aldi free range chickens are £3.30kg also, which i'm prepared to pay due to my ethical compass.

I also love Costco. The fresh meat is excellent quality and price, and branded bulk buys are as cheap as anywhere.

EssexHebridean · 10 October 2016 at 10:55AM

Determined, have you tried Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's Merguez Chickpeas? One of the most budget friend, taste-packed recipes I know!

suki1964 · 10 October 2016 at 11:24AM

Have to agree about the meat as well

I won't buy meat that is not uk reared, even if I have to go without

Once was in sainsburys shopping and I needed bacon. All the bacon for sale in this particular branch was Danish. So we went without and I was straight on the phone to complain lol

In NI the supermarkets have to source NI products wherever possible. Some are better then others. I do buy lidls meat quite a lot as it really is good quality. I buy their 20% mince because i personally find 20% mince takes the long slow cooking that chilli and bolognaise takes. I dry fry it first till browned and drain off so it's never greasy

Leg of lamb is a rare treat, but a shoulder is still reasonable ( delicious slow cooked ) Chicken is the meat of choice, thighs always used for curries and stews. Offal shows up on the menu quite often. Cheaper joints of beef that need low slow cooking. Chops and steaks are often stretched by slicing thin and using in a Chinese or similar

I'm also fortunate that we have hens and they give the most tastiest eggs ever in exchange for some pellets, kitchen scraps, weeds and grass trimmings

A few handful of lentils to any casserole/stew will increase the protein value as well as a good scource of iron, vit b6 and magnesium. Plus they stretch a meal to an extra portion or two for pennies and they are tasty

Towser · 10 October 2016 at 11:39AM

You should give mysupermarket.co.uk a try. It works out the cheapest basket for you. Mine is always Aldi.

DD265 · 10 October 2016 at 11:59AM

Our food/household shopping is usually comfortably under £200 a month for two adults so maybe not the best MSE example.

But I did want to say that we get all our meat from the local butcher, and it is definitely more economical than the supermarket. I usually buy the biggest joints I can fit in the oven, and then we have a lot of leftovers either that week or freeze them. I think it's even easier to batch cook/have leftovers when the weather is colder.

Our only issue is that the freezer is too small, whereas we waste a lot of fridge space.

quackers82 · 10 October 2016 at 1:05PM

I budget £250 a month for all food/drink and cleaning products, single, only my self to feed.

Mainly shop at Asda, a few things from Sainsbury's. I refuse to ever go Aldi again, tried it once and some of the most disgusting tasting things ever come from there, coupled with not stocking half the products i want. I binned most of what i bought and a few times was over the bin spitting the Aldi stuff out. The place is just not worth the hassle.

To name but a few things i remember, their Cheese String knock offs tasted vile, spat them out. Their Thai curry sauces has bit's in it :mad: Sainsburys, Asda, Tesco are all smooth and bit less, their Monster munch knock offs don't have the flavour evenly on the crisps, so 1 end will be bland and the other will be overpowering. Same with the knock off quavers.

How Much Do You Budget For Groceries?

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