to think that £500 is far too much to spend on groceries in a month?

[fartlek]

I just totted up what I spent at supermarkets this month and realised that this is why I am £20 away from the end of my overdraft the day before payday. DH has also bought groceries this month so this isn't even our entire bill! We don't share accounts so it gets a bit murky as to who spends how much on what (this is a whole other thread to be started in relationships, we won't go there just now) but I'm pretty sure this is extortionate.
I have never been much of a budgetter when it comes to food shopping, I just buy what we need and try not to go for the most expensive item. What do others spend if I may ask?

so that's what you've spent, not including packed lunches etc? It does sound really high.

I know when I shop for my folks I am stunned by the cost of branded things - in their case it's the washing powder, dishwasher powder and loo roll that are extortionate compared to Aldi. It will all cross over.

Re not using a loaf of bread before it goes stale, have you tried keeping it in the fridge or freezing half immediately you get it?

You need to have a look at the receipts and see where the bulk of the money is going.

Sandy, yes I do. But we have scope to buy other stuff when needed because the grocery bill is under control.

Lol Drawing!
Good idea about the cup portion thing Want2b. My portions are ridiculous because I see what DH eats (6ft, athletic, metabolism like a gazelle on meth) and think I can eat the same (5'8", sedentary, metabolism like molasses in january). I could eat half what I do. And I do like a bit of organic almond butter with fresh raspberries...
I think me and DH need to sit down and make a bit of a plan. Some really great ideas here.

TBF, it sounds like the OP is spending £500 on groceries, so assuming that doesn't include magazines, socks, gifts or whetever else gets bought each week, it seems high as a like-for-like comparison.

Two adults, one kitten. Around £200 a month - including all cleaning products, shampoo etc.

ScarletSahara - so add £10 for our free range chicken, and another £10 for the mince/tuna/fish fingers, and £10 for a bottle of wine, and you're up to £100 from your £70. We then buy all toiletries/cleaning products/household stuff/cosmetics (not that I wear much) as well on top - so add another £20-25 for those. So you don't actually spend that much off our £120 a week, no?

A vegan diet is actually very expensive, if you eat enough variety and range to make it palatable and healthy. And not everyone can get to the local greengrocer (DH does childcare for our DD so stays at home whilst also finishing his PhD, I work, and we don't have a car, for example, so no petrol costs -- winning on the carbon footprint there! - so we end up alternating between Sainsbury's and Tesco's deliveries, depending on what special offers are on each week.

I'm sure we could shave off a few quid if we went fully vegan, and had the time and a car to pop to the greengrocer (not local, as there aren't any greengrocers local to us!), but we'd still probably be spending £70-80 quid on basics, fruit and veg.

The other thing to look at OP is whether there are particular things you're buying that are just wildly expensive. I remember watching Eat Well For Less and looking at the fools on there buying individual ready meals and microwaveable rice, and then realising in horror that every week without fail I bought DH his favourite (I'm not even joking) Organic San Francisan Sourdough at, like, £3.20 a loaf, which would inevitably go stale as soon as you looked at it, and tasted like a camel's arsehole.

Anyway, we get something else now.

Scarlet- I wouldn't have thought where you lived made a difference unless you're going to independent stores? I thought asda and the like had the same prices across the uk?
anyhow. DH and I spend a maximum of 150pm on groceries, booze and cleaning materials. around 115 is average though. I cannot imagine spending £500 on groceries if I tried, even though we could afford that!

5 of us, x2 adults, x2 teens (eat same amount as adults), x1 7 year old. I spend 'about' £250-300 a month. I meal plan, shop at aldi, we don't eat much/any ready prep food. I'll add, I was spending over £500 a month and made a big effort to get it down, pretty happy with it now. It includes basic family toiletries, cleaning stuff, loo roll etc. All breakfasts, packed lunches for everyone.

Just me and DP, and we tend to spend about £60 per week on an online shop, which includes stuff like loo roll, cleaning products and wine, but doesn't include bits and bobs picked up en route home from work like milk. We have at least one meat-free day each week, pick up bits that are in the "whoops reduced" section and freeze them, and meal plan to reduce food waste (eg, Sunday roast chicken, last night chicken and red pepper risotto, tonight the remaining peppers and veg from the roast will be used in spag bol), but we could definitely cut back if we had to. We tend to eat more "treaty" things at the weekends, and also more snacky type stuff, plus a takeaway about once each month, out to eat at least once.

Oh and our shop includes all lunches, including for DD. We don't eat sugar or cakes/biscuits etc. as a rule so pretty much all our shop is fruit/veg/dairy/basics/a few bits of decent quality meat - hardly anything processed.

People often forget that cooking from scratch, esp. veggie food, also normally requires a decently-stocked cupboard full of things like oil, pulses, spices, and so on, which do need replenishing quite often, and are not in themselves that cheap.

tasted like a camel's arsehole

My budget is £350-400 (£400 in months needing extra bits for a birthday etc). That's for 2 adults, 3 teens, 2 younger kids and a baby in nappies. And the cat.

I don't shop in the actual supermarket though, I get weekly deliveries. That way lies bankruptcy for me. I get everything delivered bar meat from the butcher, but I order online and just collect. I make sure I never have much cash on me so I can't spend randomly.

I meal plan, but by the week. So we're not totally restricted to x on Monday and y on Tuesday, but more we're having x, y and z between Monday and Thursday. Even though I'm paying a little more for a weekly delivery than one big monthly I find I save as I waste much, much less stuff.

It doesn't matter if you can afford it and you don't have other priorities you would rather spend the money on. We spend £250 for a family of four and a cat. I cook from scratch 6/7 and shop in Aldi. If I shop like this I can save the money for paying off the mortgage or for things I would rather have / do.

The £500 is for everything I buy at a supermarket so food, cleaning, cat litter, booze, magazines (not too many of these) and treats/gifts (not too many of these either). It's mostly food and household supplies.
I do an Asda delivery about once a month and find this to be good value because I'm not wandering around putting random impulse buys in my trolley but have found that after an online shop I go to make tea and there's nothing that can be made into a meal .
Our meat consumption has been creeping up, I think a few meatless nights a week would be beneficial on a lot of levels. Our freezer is miniscule and we usually batch cook on weekends and freeze portions so we don't really have the scope for freezing bread unfortunately. I tend to prefer the smaller 'naice' loaves from the in-store bakery but DH buys bog standard brand name sliced which I don't like and so it goes off.
From what everyone says it's the little things that seem to add up. I will pay more attention in October to see if I can't stretch things a bit further.

Sandy clothes, light bulbs and garden stuff aren't groceries, correct me if I'm wrong but I can't imagine eating a lightbulb would be very pleasant

Mummyshortlegz that is exactly what I would like. I personally don't have a pot to piss in and even though DH would never leave me short and doesn't make an issue about it I always feel like I have to go begging. I would like to take control of my own finances so that I can have the resources to do things for myself, like buy a new pair of shoes, without putting my hand in DH's piggy bank.
Also, I'm conscious that we are wealthier (as are most Britons) than the vast percentage of the world's population and I feel guilty for being so blase about my food spending.

We have a budget of £500pcm for groceries and petrol, for a family of 4.5 (DSS here EOW) and a dog. Car is a hybrid and only used for pleasure, no business or commuting. It is definitely doable, I spend probably £75 a week on an online shop (Ocado/Sainsburys), £25 on top ups for things that I've invariably forgotten (and wine) at Aldi, and around £60 on petrol.

I cook everything from scratch provided it doesn't require specialist equipment (ie I'm not making my own sausages but i don't used jarred sauces, for example) and we eat well. DH buys his own lunch but I eat at home most days and DD1 gets a packed lunch for preschool. I think it's reasonable. I could definitely do it for less but it would involve more cooking and meal planning and fewer treats.

OP, also try getting booze, cat litter (unless you have a fussy bugger) and cleaning stuff elsewhere (ideally Aldi/Lidl), in bulk.

I also pre-buy gifts, which sounds nuts, but if I anticipate that in the next 6 months I'll have x kids parties, y family visits and z posh supper invites, I'll look out for stuff when it's on sale, buy then and stash it away. It's usually cheaper than just picking it up at random in the supermarket. I seem to have dressed half the children of Russia (DH's family) in John Lewis baby stuff.

Oh dear, EssentialHummus. We buy a sainsbury's ready meal every Friday for DH. It's his 'thing' to have a chicken tikka masala, microwaveable rice and naan bread with a nice beer. Every. single. Friday.

Honestly op, £500 isn't that bad! We spend around £120 a week and there's me, dp and 2 dc (2.9 years and 15 months so no formula but two in nappies). I shop at Morissons, the butcher and the local shop (for eggs and bread as they're lovely)and that includes cleaning stuff, washing powder, shampoo, organic meat etc, but only a bit of booze. We have family over fairly regularly so might have an extra £40 shop thrown in there too. However, we eat most meals at home, except for maybe a lunch out at weekends so with four of us having 3 meals a day that's perhaps 75 meals a week. Put like that £120 doesn't seem too bad to me.

It sounds a bit high but not outrageously so.

I spend around £80 a week on two of us at Waitrose.
I buy free range chicken and meat, fresh fish, lots of veg and fruit and cook from scratch. . Don't buy cakes, biscuits, crisps, sweets. Might make a pudding once a week.

That figure includes cleaning products but all own brand WR Essentials and I don't buy many (washing up liquid, dishwasher tablets, loo rolls, laundry stuff.) It includes my lunch but DH buys his at work.

I try to stick to £400 but it has recently crept to £500, that's groceries, toiletries etc. Meals aren't that expensive, it's the lunch bits/snacks and random bits like dishwasher cleaner or 12 pack condoms that boost it up!

I have fussy bugger cats. They actually like the Aldi catfood (little foil trays, and the poshest sachets). They don't like Lidl and have currently gone off Whiskas .

They do like Felix As Good As it Looks, but they can only have that only special offer, not at full price .

I pre-buy too Essential, I have a stash cupboard with bargain books etc when they're on sale because I have loads of kids to buy for throughout the year.