Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

What is your uni DC's weekly grocery budget?

42 replies

Champagneforeveryone · 12/04/2021 17:01

DS is almost 17 and has always been fiercely independent. He's also a keen cook and a raging food snob.

He plans to go to uni and as 6th form have started to push applications this has become a bit of a topic. He's adamant that he will be cooking properly and has no intention of living on packet noodles - very admirable IMO but we shall see!

During a recent conversation it transpired that while he can cook really well, the day to day "stuff" is a mystery to him- he has no idea how much milk we use in a week, how much butter is, how many slices of bread he uses etc. We thought it would be an interesting experiment for him to live independently for a week, so he really gets a shock idea how much food costs and how he will need to budget.

So would anyone mind advising roughly how much their DC have a week / month for groceries in order to give us a figure to play with? Smile

OP posts:
ChubbyLittleManInACampervan · 12/04/2021 17:03

We spend £7.50 per person per day on groceries (this includes all meals, shampoo, tooth paste, washing up liquid etc) for family of 2 adults and a 16 and 18yr old

ShaunaTheSheep · 12/04/2021 17:06

DS spends about £25/week but he's an avid Aldi shopper and pescatarian. Not sure if that includes alcohol though.

titchy · 12/04/2021 17:08

Mine spend £20-£25 in Lidl each week. Plus money for eating out/takeaways/alcohol.

Does he need to know how much milk or slices of bread you get through though? Surely he'll just buy a loaf/pint and find out how long it lasts! Or agree a communal budget for milk and bread with those he's sharing with.

moochingtothepub · 12/04/2021 17:08

I give mine £30 a week (well £120 a month)

Original poster
Champagneforeveryone · 12/04/2021 17:09

That's the sort of figure I had in my head shauna.

DS will have to drop his Waitrose habits Grin

OP posts:
UCOinanOCG · 12/04/2021 17:10

To be honest they learn very quickly once they are away. I can remember my DD phoning me absolutely outraged at the cost of loo paper!

sipsmith1 · 12/04/2021 17:10

Me and a friend used to cook together so would write a menu and then contribute half each, usually around £25. Our only supermarket was Waitrose, the nearest Asda was a 20 minute drive away. We used to manage fine and the money went a lot further than it did for just one.

Original poster
Champagneforeveryone · 12/04/2021 17:12

Not exactly titchy, but for example we use between 16 and 20 points of milk a week, DS thinks we use 6. He's used to choosing to cook something and knowing there will be a ready supply of eggs, cheese, salad etc which will obviously not be the case at uni.

OP posts:
BaseDrops · 12/04/2021 17:16

Why don’t you get him to draw up a meal plan for him then create a shopping list working from there is zero in the kitchen?

merryhouse · 12/04/2021 17:22

Just asked S1, who ummed and aahed but eventually came up with a figure of around £20 a week.

He reckons his evening meals cost about a pound Shock but I think it's all lentils.

motherstongue · 12/04/2021 17:27

My DS is also a bit of a foodie and is a good cook. He spends around £30 a week which often includes alcohol BUT I send him off to Uni with all of his basics so he only needs to buy fresh produce and meat/fish. His care package has a wide selection of herbs and spices, loads of pasta, rice, noodles, tinned tomatoes, loo rolls, deodorant, cleaning products, tea, hot chocolate, sugar etc. I normally spend about £120 on it all at the start of each term so that I know he always has something to fall back on to make if he’s pretty skint.

titchy · 12/04/2021 17:28

To be fair his estimate of 6 pints for a family is pretty good - 20 pints a week is way more than most households!

He'll figure out what he needs and how to budget for it.

Dd managed the odd Waitrose item as a student. And her diet included those student staples of fresh coffee, smoked salmon and avocado Hmm

Janaih · 12/04/2021 17:32

Dd probably spends about 50-60 a week (London). Half of that probably goes on uber eats though!

Tallybo · 12/04/2021 17:35

Someone will probably drink his milk anyway if he is in halls!

But seriously, it depends. We used to cook together a fair bit as a flat- fajita nights and food like that, it would have been fairly pricey to buy the stuff for one person, but wasn't too bad shared out as you could buy the bigger packs if that makes sense and share the cost. I used to spend about £20 a week, including a bottle of spirits for pre drinks, and although wasn't haute cuisine, was things like stir fry, curries etc.

The things we all forgot to consider was loo roll and laundry tabs/powder.

IHaveBrilloHair · 12/04/2021 17:35

Dd is/was a foodie until she moved out and had to pay for it.
She and her BF live off noodles but they choose to spend their money in other ways.
They have a bigger flat than they need, never mind their own flat, they have pets and Dd at least gets tattoos and piercings and a limited edition pokemon coat
Your son will manage, he'll make his choices and cut his cloth as they all do.

IHaveBrilloHair · 12/04/2021 17:36

That said, I do take her up treats from time to time...

Sunbelievable · 12/04/2021 17:41

I don't know why more students don't do catered and shared bathrooms. DD's first choice accommodation is only £25 a week than self catering. She will have to buy very little for lunches and no loo paper 😁

But she really doesn't want to cook! I am pleased as it seems a lot of faff and effort.

Cowbells · 12/04/2021 17:53

I give mine £50pw but that is supposed to include enough for them to have a takeaway one night a week. They are both at uni in expensive major cities.

SwimBaby · 12/04/2021 17:57

I give my DS £87.50 per week and he spends about £25 per week on a food shop and gets a couple of takeaways a week. His shopping bill is a bit higher if he buys himself a few ciders. He tends to cook a big meal that lasts a couple of days.

ShanghaiDiva · 12/04/2021 18:08

Ds spends about £60 per week as he has expensive tastes: yellow fin tuna, salmon, sour dough bread etc. He shops at Lidl and Waitrose.
He is also lactose intolerant.
He makes all his meals from scratch and finds cooking relaxing. Xmas meal for his house mates was rack of lamb, veg, fondant potatoes, home made chocolate mousse, home made bread, selection of bruschetta with Parma ham, avocado, smoked salmon etc.

Original poster
Champagneforeveryone · 12/04/2021 18:15

shanghai, that sounds more like what DS is envisioning Grin

motherstongue that's what I had imagined we would do as well.

OP posts:
littlewhitestar · 12/04/2021 18:18

The average weekly spend on food at my DS's uni is £62.52!

That's based on a student survey and published on the university website as their suggested budget. There are no catered halls with food included and a main course in the on campus cafes/restaurants is £4-5, sandwiches and coffees are high street prices. I guess that will push the average up if some students are only using on campus catering.

SwimBaby · 12/04/2021 18:22

The food unis are hardly used at my DS’s uni, he said it’s mainly the lecturers who use them.
Few people do the catering package as all the youngsters seem to like to cater for themselves. I’ve offered it to my son a number of times but he’s not interested. He seems to enjoy making his fajitas and other meals. My other son was the same. Uni has given them great life skills.

bruffin · 12/04/2021 18:22

They soon learn to haunt the end of day discounts. Dd is very proud of her joint of beef reduced from £20 to £2😂
We give dd £50 a week for food.
They get very savvy with discount codes on takeaways etc

SwimBaby · 12/04/2021 18:22

Sorry that should say food venues.