How much on food shopping ?

[Blossum123]

There are 2 dc and 2 adults and 2.pets .we spend £100 a week on average- I meal plan etc .other people seem to do it very cheap- does ur shopping bill include cleaning products? X

[Rtfairy]

250 per month for 2 adults and 7 month old including formula milk, nappies and all toiletries/cleaning products.

[spleenyone]

2 adults and 2 dcs here. I'm trying to keep it to £50 a week by using lidl and Aldi, sometimes it's nearer £70 but still loads better than the £150 a week I was spending in tesco.

[Charlieboo30]

£80 - £90 a week for just two of us! Not sure how we manage it when I see what others spend. Do a mix of Lidl and Morrisons.

[Blossum123]

How do u manage snacks pack up stuff etc on that ? 50 a week is fab is it hard to stick to it domi have to cut luxarys out ? X

[Blossum123]

We do mainly asda is morrisons cheap ?

[poocatcherchampion]

approx £50 week . no brands no junk. 2 adults, 2 littlies and 2 g pigs.

[poocatcherchampion]

Morrison's online. I think its fab .
incs cleaning products and toiletries

[spleenyone]

It is definitely hard and sometimes quite depressing to have to exist on £50 but doable if you're really strict. For us it's just circumstances, you do what you need to do don't you? I'd like to have the luxury of spending more but that's out of the question for us.

[Supermum222]

I allocate £280 from the budget for 4 weeks worth of shopping. I usually do an online shop once a fortnight (Tesco) but sometimes I do it at Aldi/Lidl (next door to each other in our town).
The first fortnight the budget is £150. This shop will include cleaning products to last the full 4 weeks. I love Aldi's washing stuff. The second fortnight the budget is £130.
I meal plan. I usually do the same meal twice in the fortnight so that I can plan around offers etc.
Oh, we are 2 adults, 2 primary aged children, a small dog, 2 hamsters (that cost almost nothing to feed) and a tank of fish (again, very low cost).

[Blossum123]

Add message | Report | Message poster poocatcherchampion Fri 13-Jun-14 20:35:38
approx £50 week . no brands no junk. 2 adults, 2 littlies and 2 g pigs.

What do u do for snacks puddings and pack up? I find these are things that push the cost up x

[Blossum123]

Add message | Report | Message poster spleenyone Fri 13-Jun-14 21:07:03
It is definitely hard and sometimes quite depressing to have to exist on £50 but doable if you're really strict. For us it's just circumstances, you do what you need to do don't you? I'd like to have the luxury of spending more but that's out of the question for us.

I agree £50 is every tough u do fantastic to manage I would like to reduce ours a bit - would u share meal plans ? X

[Passthecake30]

2 adults, 2 dc (4&6), approx £80-£100 pw.includes a box of beer every fortnight for dp, posh treats for weekends and cleaning products/toiletries. I think we scrimp in some areas and splurge in others.
..for example I have a green and blacks chocolate habit but quite happy to eat smartprice cashews/garlic bread/oats etc

[Openup41]

We spend £320-330 a month. 2 adults and two young dc. This includes food, drink and toiletries. Dh and I bring lunch to work daily.

We rarely eat out so important to have a variety of nice food.

We do not smoke or drink.

A few years ago we tried to reduce budget to £50 a week which was literally impossible as we had to cover our lunches.

[poocatcherchampion]

don't really eat snacks - I make cakes and flapjacks. ditto pudding or fruit at lunchtimes.

packed lunches are generally sambo, yoghurt and fruit. or leftovers / pasta salad to be eaten warmed or cold.

[spleenyone]

I've always got lots of ideas for cheap meal planning from threads on here. We don't eat much meat to keep costs down and we will make a huge vat of bolognese sauce with just one pack of mince, bulking it out with loads of veg, then it can be frozen in portions. Also we will have beans/spaghetti/eggs on toast a couple of nights a week and I often give the kids tinned fruit to save on buying as much fresh. I don't know if this helps, good luck x

[Blossum123]

Thankyou for the ideas .xx

[hallamoo]

Get a bread maker. I've saved loads by making bread for sandwiches, dough for rolls, garlic baguettes, pizza bases etc.

Aldi do a 1.5kg bag of strong bread flour for about 80p I think, for that you can make a couple of loaves, a couple of baguettes, 12 rolls, and approx 4 pizza bases for the freezer. 8 sachets of dried yeast is also about 80p. Use up leftover bread to make croutons, and then freeze.

I've stopped buying bread, pizzas, garlic bread, cakes etc, have saved a fortune.

Another top tip I got from here was to never throw any food away, so even a spoonful of peas will go in the freezer to be used in stews etc. Serve big meals in serving dishes, so people serve themselves, that way the leftovers can be re-used. In the freezer I have the odd portion of shepherds pie, macaroni cheese, stock from stews, leftover roast potatoes.

I always make a yummy vegetable soup with Sunday roast leftovers, which is my lunch all week.

Bulk out meals with lentils, pearl barley, or Yorkshire puddings.

Shop around, sometimes Iceland have better bargains than Aldi.

[careeristbitchnigel]

My food budget is 300 for 4 adults and one child. This does not include toileteries but does include cleaning products, bin bags etc. Food comes into one of the following categories:

1. Free leftovers from work (work in a hotel). Typically bacon, sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms (think breakfast buffet) and any dinner/buffet leftovers (cheese, ham, cake, sausage rolls etc which get used for packed lunches)
   
2. Heavily reduced in supermarket (must be at least 60% off for me to buy it). I go to our local Tesco 2-3 times a week at 7pm where I get lots of nearly free fruit and veg.
   
3. On Lidl half price weekend
   
4. On a really good special offer somewhere. Or on a coupon/free sample. Stuff like flour is usually basics range/lidl. I buy most of our food from Lidl because it's quick, there isn't much choice and therefore I spend much less.
   
   We have an allotment, as does my Dad. He is the family "potato farmer", I grow anything and everything.
   
   We make pretty much everything from scratch, don't have prepackaged snacks. breakfasts would be porridge, sweetcorn fritters, poached eggs, reduced bacon/sausages. Snacks would be something like toast, crumpets, fruit, cheese, homemade cake/ice lollies etc. I have trained myself to be creative in the use of ingredients and will pretty much buy anything that is very cheap. I bulk out meat with veggies - eg. on a roast dinner we would only have half a chicken breast each but plenty of sides like cheapy veggies, yorkshire puds etc. We would have a pudding for most meals - tinned fruit, pancakes, rice pudding, that sort of thing.
   
   I don't believe in spending money unnecessarily and if i buy "treat" foods, when they're got they're gone, they don't get replaced until next month. Nobody goes hungry and we could easily spend more on food. I just don't choose to.

[careeristbitchnigel]

Cleaning products are bulk purchased when on offer, I also like using vinegar/lemon juice, ecloths and hot water. I don't buy many chemicals but our house is clean.

Toileteries are also bulk purchased when on special offer but I'm not big on makeup/hair poncing so don't use much other than shampoo, shower gel, bath foam and deodorant.

[RabbitSaysWoof]

£130 a month. 1 adult and 1 toddler.
Aldi. There are treats but not individually packaged stuff more biscuits/ big bag popcorn.

[serin]

I think I am doing really well at the moment.

I spend £100 a week on 5 people (2 adults and 3 strapping, v. sporty teenagers,) 1 dog, 1 cat.

I was spending £170 in Sainsbo's but now I go to Aldi, Lidl or surprisingly Waitrose! each Fri and Monday and aim to spend no more than £50 each time.

One big weekly shop just didn't cut it! the boys ate everything within a couple of days.

The above includes packed lunches for us all 5 days a week.

I stopped buying fruit juice a long time ago, we all have refillable water bottles and I tend to bake scones and biscuits for lunchbox treats as they are very filling. I flatly refuse to buy expensive breakfast cereals, we now have toast with egg, cheese or jam, or Weetabix and a piece of fruit.

Somehow the total includes 4 pints of milk a day

[WhatAHooHa]

Approx £60 a week for 2 adults, 2 teens, a toddler (still in nappies), a dog and cat.

We have a breadmaker as we go through a loaf a day or more, saves loads! Lunches are sandwiches, slice of homemade cake/cookie, piece of fruit, sometimes an extra treat but not often.

I meal plan - once a week we have jacket spuds with beans, and also pasta and sauce (tin of tomatoes, few bits of veg) at least once as well. Sat night is pizza night - bases made in bread maker, passata, handful of cheese, half a pack of pepperoni and a pineapple, v cheap but feels like a real treat! Meat only twice a week usually, and that tends to be mince, sausages etc - the cheap stuff that can be bulked out easily. I do buy the big pack of Lidl cooking bacon every week - sometimes you're lucky and get 4 big gammon steaks, sometimes its just small chunks that I throw into pasta sauce, but for less than £2 it's worth the pot luck!

Kids snacks (plus dh is a runner and surfer so always hungry!) are ceareal, toast, crumpets etc, or whatever cakes/cookies I've made. Cheap but filling.

We don't really eat much processed food, most is cooked from scratch as this seems cheaper and we don't get any branded goods.

TBH, I find it dull and wish we could have treats more often but needs must...

[Oly4]

£130 pw for two adults and a toddler. Includes nappies and odd bottle of wine. I choose to splurge on food and enjoy it. Could rein it in if needs be