£800 pm on groceries for a family

Tinned mackerel is lovely on toast. If you like a bit of spice, I first stir fry with tomatoes and any kind of chilli sauce.

i do buy smoked mackerel, but i could try tinned mackerel

We are the same. Two adults and 9 and 12 yo boys.

in the middle - growing teens need feeding and older people do need less

but your attitude to cheap dinners - jackets and omelettes means you know you could reduce a little. It’s only in the last 30 or so years that the majority have had the option of exciting food every day

and there is a strong protein myth at the moment probably financed somewhere by the meat industry - no one needs more than 80g ( yes 80g) ( even the men ) of meat a day. You will get extra protein from all sorts of food - including bread. Protein is not the element lacking in most diets

if you had complained about the need for more fruit and veg to get the minerals and fibre up - that’s what the medical professions see as missing - yes it is harder to do that cheaply - I was fortunate to grow up a while back when fruit and veg meant apples oranges carrots and cabbage and onion so I find the current variety good and I can retreat to those basics to keep costs down

Mince based dishes aren't 'brown mush', if you cook them properly and season well.

1lb of mince is absolutely enough for a family chili or bolognese etc. And i am not in mumsnet massive salad camp, i eat loads (bmi 24) and have a DS who eats everything not pinned down.

Thanks, I had some sausages yesterday which were off. Whole house stank, think Ill go pescatarian.

That is my point, I don't want brown mush. I want texture, taste, fish and glorious market fresh veg.

Btw im not going to upload my Cheap Week list on here. Because ive done it before and immediately got the usual responses "oh my DC won't eat porridge", "its not enough protein we need 1lb a day each of meat because DH is weightlifting", "my DC only eat berries and won't touch apples, bananas etc" or "there aren't enough snacks my 14 year old needs to eat 3 peoples worth of food every single day"

Its not an exciting shopping list. But its cheap.

6 sausages in about 400g so 1 sausage = 65g ish. I do 2 each = 130g.

500g of mince does 6 portions of spag or chilli for us. I throw in a handful of lentils or grated leftover veg (half a squash, the last courgette, etc). DH doesn't like very meaty mince dishes so it's not a problem. He'd rather have an extra tin of beans.

Focus on tinned sardines, mackerel and tuna for half/two-thirds of your fish. It'll cut your bills!

Right in which case I apologise but your post made it sound like you were buying for only 3 people hence my confusion and asking for clarity.

If you're really shopping for what are effectively 4 adults including household bits for only £30 per person a week then I'm sure many on here would be very appreciative of you sharing some of how you achieve this.

@Chickenbone123
Your planning is impressive! To the extent it makes me feel exhausted but I know that is a bit pathetic and indicates I have the privilege of not needing to to do this. Well done!

i read that 70g of meat is ample
so i have been going with that measurement for 20 years
currently gone back to pescatarianism, well for the last 3 weeks ha, fish is expensive!

Produce is susceptible to extreme weather

Floods
Fires
Extremes of heat/ cold

The citrus crop earlier in the year was heavily affected by the floods in and around Valencia for example
Ditto Olives/oil -we are still seeing high prices
I don't think people realise just how much of a knife edge we live on in the UK
We are so used to buying what we like when we like .
It pays to be flexible about your diet ( ND aside) and try to eat seasonally/ locally.

Oh and i literally do not ever do a "top up" shop because i don't have time around work/kids. We get 1 shop delivered per week and it covers everything (loo rolls & toiletries, toothpaste, cleaning products etc). Its normally £150 (family of four) because we buy extra treats etc but if i had to do it for £100 a week i could. It would be a bit dull/repetitive yes, and DH and I'd have to work harder on the cooking. The main thing that would go would be snacks and any junk food at all.

Two adults, a teen and a 21 year old

@doodleschnoodle
i have a spread sheet, so everything is accounted for

Ah yes, good old value mince.

I make a spaghetti bolognese with 1kg of meat. I don't bulk it out with lentils but i do add tinned tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion and one of the small containers of pancetta.

It makes 10-12 portions. We are big eaters - DH and DS do a lot of sport. 100g of meat per person is enough, people forget there is protein in lots of other things.

It doesn't mean eating loads of white carbs to bulk out, veg is better. We try and do lots of filling root veg.

Buying seasonal stuff is usually cheaper and not buying pre cut tropical fruit saves too.

Erm, none of these crops appreciated a warmer dryer summer than usual.

potatoes, onions, carrots, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, peas, broad beans, and maize

Its not looking good either for anyone who relies on hay to feed their animals in winter time.

My maths isn't off unless yours is also for 4 people. You mentioned 3 people in your post? Spending £40 per person? If you're spending that on 4 people then that is indeed cheap but your post implies your only spending for 3?

Hence me wondering how comparatively the OP spending just £10 per person more was considered steep?

No one ever shares receipts on these threads.

I don’t think they are being purposefully misleading but I do think some people round down and exaggerate what they get for the money without realising, then they don’t have the receipts (in every sense of the word) to actually back it up so just disappear, So ‘I got a week’s shopping for £60 for four, all fresh, lots of decent meat and cooked from scratch’ is sometimes more like ‘here is a cherry-picked week we used a bunch of freezer and cupboard stuff we already had, we were out/somewhere else for dinner two nights and did beans on toast another night, didn’t include lunches and we topped up twice at the local shop during the week’.

I don’t think a lot of people actually realise how much they spend really until you sit down and log it week to week. Popping into the local shop for ‘milk and bread’ top-ups can often end up in £20-30.

when she does it’s really simple and generally quite boring stuff eg omelette, jacket potato etc. My DH and DCs needs more protein than that as are all very active.

The vast majority of people in the west eat more protein than they need.

I do think older people forget how much younger people eat and lose touch with costs. But i think you could do it for less if you had to. I have a "basket" saved that is my Cheap Week shop. I can do it from sainsburys for under £100. It includes fresh veg and fruit, and meat several days a week. Lunches are pretty boring - sandwiches with things like cheese, ham, egg. The only "treats" are things you bake, there's no crisps/junk food, sweets, or fizzy drinks. You have to treat it like a challenge.

USA has a far better coupon/offers sustem and their petrol and housing prices are much lower. I lived there for 6 years. My money deffo went further over there than ig ever has in the uk