Do you set a budget for your food shopping or do you just buy what you want/need?

[Springisintheair01]

I used to be good at budgeting but I don’t particularly do it where food is concerned any more as it’s only me and a teenager at home now.

I am definitely shopping a lot, spending too much and wasting more than I would like. I can eat pretty simply myself but dc is very fussy and on and off certain foods. They also don’t like eating the same thing two days in a row whereas I could easily eat the same meal two or three times. I am always aware of costs when I’m shopping and buy cheaper brands where I can but I know I need to plan better and use up what we have.

I’m sure if you have a big family you have to meal plan and budget whereas I have got used to shopping every couple of days for a few things because I’m not feeding lots of people. I am wondering what everybody else does.

I did when I was a part time single mum. Now I do spend what I want.

I meal plan and do a weekly online shop which I always keep under £100.
On top of that, there's the occasional top up shop (once per month-ish) and a bulk item order from Amazon for loo roll, shampoo, toothpaste etc.
I average £500 per month, including holiday and Christmas shops.
2 adults, 1 teen.

I buy what I want but then, if it’s too much (above £220) I review and take some extras off. We’re 2 adults and 3 teens.

I am beginning to budget because a while back I suddenly realised £100 didnt buy a lot for us.

I now have swopped to Aldi for a good half of my shopping because I’m local to there a fair bit of the month. I’m not menu planning as such but I am aiming to do a lot of batch cooking because we have a manic ten days every month which is now ongoing and I can’t cope with cooking from scratch during that period.

batch cooking has meant I need to be a bit more organised on what I buy and I find I am wasting a lot less. once a week I take a look at what’s in my veg drawer in the fridge and if I don’t think I can use it I think about freezing it.
I have bags of stuff chopped for stir fry’s and I generally have a bubble and squeak bag on the go to which I love to have for breakfast.

im slowly working my way through so many cleaning products that clog up my utility room cupboards and intending on only having two or three bottles/sprays in the future.

I have been experimenting with frozen and tinned fruits as we like a bowl of fruit after meals and we’d get bored and I’d chuck stuff so now I have a couple of tubs in the fridge and dip into them and add frozen stuff too which defrost nicely by the time we like to eat it at 8pm ish.

im on the look out for a BIG upright freezer with drawers to make better use of offers and be able to find my batch foods far easier.

We do a loose plan of what we'll eat and make a list. It does often depend on the price of meat.

I'll write a list and try to stick to it but if I see an offer on , say a joint or a four pack of tinned tomatoes then I'll buy it.

I'm finding meal planning for a whole week is getting trickier as some fresh ingredients seem to go off more quickly these days.

We do gousto. 4 meals, then do a weekly(ish) online shop for other stuff. Food, toiletries and household goods probably comes to around £900 a month (including gousto). 2 adults, teen and pre teen.

I remember when I had my first house with an ex and I used to spend around £100 a month!! It was 20 odd years ago, but it does feel as though food has increased a lot.

We budget but only to stop unnecessary overspending. If we needed more, we would up the budget. Currently I do an online deliver every 4 days and it works well.

I meal plan so I can roughly guess at what the bill will be, depending on what we are going to eat. However, if I get half way round the shop and decide I fancy smoked salmon and king prawns as a snack, I will just pick it up and buy it.

We did set a budget until things started going back up again recently. Found that we were missing out on things we really needed and questioning everything!

We buy what we want/ need. I guess we now spend around £800 pm on a family of five from a combo of Tesco/Ocado/Morrisons/Waitrose. That includes all drinks and toiletries as a rule.

I cook from scratch (including bread/ice cream etc) and use up leftovers, so there virtually nothing wasted.

I have had to budget in the past, but would happily forgo new shoes to buy good food - it's always my priority.

We don't have a budget but we meal plan and always look for the best value product by price comparing across brands.

£120 a week gor family of three and I plan ever evening meal and buy exactly what we need

We don't have a budget but always meal plan first and have a list we try to stick to. I use scan and shop (wouldn't shop any other way now) and the weekly shop comes in at roughly the same - £120 per week for 2 adults and 1 teen.

I just buy what I want/need and that usually works out cheaper in the long run, even if some weeks it might be a bit more. If I set a budget I tend to spend up to the budget limit.

I don't budget.

I just but what I need, when I need it.

I dont have a set amount but I do keep it as tight as I can because Im only PT NMW and I get the groceries. Less I spend there, the more "me" money I have

3 adults. I cook for mum and get her cereals, bits for sandwiches etc, she buys the fancy pickles and biscuits she likes ,the chocolates etc that are for her own use and her own personal toletries etc

I semi meal plan, ie I see whats on offer, whats on the supersavers, whats yellow stickered, and plan from there

I cook from scratch for the 3 of us 6 days a week and also ensure everyone has what they need for breakfast and lunches - DH usually takes left overs or HM soup and sandwiches, mum has a sandwich. On the 7th day ( saturday) I just cook for me and DH as he likes to go to the pub and this way Im not having to chivvy him along so I get dinner at a reasonable time for mum, and its the night we have a cheap as chips dinner - omlette, toastie, jacket spud or pasta meal

Some weeks I can get away with around £20 as its just fruit and veg needed, other weeks I will be passing the chicken processing plant so might spend £20 in there getting chicken to last a month. I try to keep it to around £60 a week on average over a year

We eat well, the salad drawer is always full as are the fruit bowls. A bit samey with veggies and I rely a lot on frozen veg. Meat, we eat a lot more chicken and Turkey then we used to, mainly because the processing plant sells it so cheap.

Im kind of fortunate that whilst we dont have the huge range of shops you have in England, our wee town does have lidl, Tesco, Homebargains and Savers all side by side so I can shop in all at no extra transport costs

In the olden days, a budget. I went to the supermarket with cash and a list. I couldn't afford to do it any other way.

Now, I buy what I want because I can afford to do that. I still look at price per 100g or whatever, and am selective over what I splurge on (coffee, fish, oils, etc) and what I skimp on ( flour, dried pasta) and try to make most of what we eat from scratch (pastry, sauces, bread etc).

Most weeks, i spend about £20 on fruit and veg for three adults. Another £10 for wine. £20 for ingredients for dinners. So, £30-£50 a week. But, I buy toiletries and cleaning stuff in bulk. I buy wholefoods such as nuts, seeds and spices in bulk. I have (three pints a week) milk delivered.

When on a budget, I didn't eat so well - but I didn't eat badly. I don't think that would have been true if I hadn't been able to cook.

I buy whatever I want within reason, and very rarely throw anything away - so I don't feel guilty as nothing I buy gets wasted.

similar to op I buy what I want and fortunate I don’t have a strict budget but I need to start meal planning better as I am wasting money and food by not being organised

Super strict budget. If it runs out before pay day we have to make do with what we've got in.

I just shop, our bills aren't high

I don't budget the food shop as I write the list and DH does the shopping (he drives and I dont) but I do meal plan which I guess works out cheaper. We spend about £100-£120 per week for a family of 4 which includes toiletries and cleaning products. I think we do OK.

I have a budget of €150 a week for all shopping (3 people all meals).
Its been the same price since 2021 and over that time I’ve switched further and further into basic ingredients, own brands and meat-free meals. We don’t drink alcohol any more and we’ve moved heavily into bread-based meals like wraps and toasted sandwiches.
Of course if there’s a riveting bargain or inspired recipe I’ll extend the budget. I may be accused of pretending to be poor when the money is available but it’s made me more resourceful. I also have the time to peel potatoes or wait for bread to rise.
Today’s dinner cost €10 in ingredients, a 3 course meal for four €20. No compromises on quality, either. It’s made me hyper critical of mediocre restaurants when I can do far better at home. Other people in the family cook on a regular basis, too.

I budget, but also buy what I want within reason. I can usually feed us (one child and me) for £150/m as I cook from scratch mostly, but I allow £250 as our budget to give leeway. Usually the extra £100 goes on household too up (toilet rolls, cleaning stuff etc) once quarter and I manage to save it the rest of the year.

I've never set a budget, but when we were short of money, I'd always be conscious about every choice I made - knowing that saving £1 or £2 here and there means that money could be used towards something else.
I'd consciously buy foods that were cheaper, yes, and not put random things in the basket / trolley.
I shop at the cheapest supermarket and that also helps with just being fewer choices of everything. I've always gone round with the list and bought what we needed.
I've never meal planned in advance as, until I get to the shop, I don't know what is on offer, or which has the longest BBE date or whatever, and, until I've bought the protein, I wouldn't know what veg or other stuff to go with it.
So, where as I've never said "I can only spend £X this week" I've always thought "Ooh, what savings can I make" as I am going round, IYSWIM.