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?

Thank you essential I do go to Tesco sometimes and will definitely be getting that next time.

Sandy the thread is about groceries though, not socks or birthday presents

it's about the weekly grocery shop, and whenever posters suggest ways to cut it down it's only ever about food and meal planning - IMO most people's weekly shop doesn't just contain family meals.. so not sure how my questions are OT

micro-rice: I buy it for work to have with left overs, costs less than a canteen/coffee shop lunch.
Otherwise I do rice "wrong" - put it in a full pan of water and boil for 10 mins then drain. I can't do the measuring water way. The family eat it, but that's just for home, as I was saying, we don't just eat at home so the "cook from scratch and meal plan" tips only go so far..

I have planned this week's meals for 2 adults and 2 children. I spent £110 (Lidl & Tesco) yesterday on the ingredients and didn't go off list. I will need to top up fruit and veg in the week. This doesn't include DH's and DD1's lunches and I am using mince from the freezer.
I do not know how anyone spends less than £100/week and has a varied diet that includes 5 a day.

Meal planning and online shopping is the only way I find I can keep things under control.

The only way to really save is to use less meat and fish, and make meals that are vegetarian using pulses, pasta and of course veg! Doing this twice a week could save quite a lot.

Or, if you have time, use tinned fish - eg tuna or sardine fish cakes.

Not sure why cooking rice is hard: half a mugful of dry rice per adult, put in the pan with enough water to cover then double the amount, bring to boil and simmer until done - around 10 mins for white rice. Drain and that's it.

Doesnt sound that high to me, theres me, DH and 3 DSs (ages 23, 14 and 8) and we are probably around £800 a month. Friday shop is around £150 and then another £50 for top ups. These threads go from one extreme to the other- people who cant comprehend how I could spend that, to me being amazed at 2 adults only spending £115 a month type thing.

We spend about £250pw and we're a family of 2 adults and 2 small children (2 & 5)

I meal plan every week and get a food delivery twice a month from Tesco. The other weeks I shop at Aldi and have to do the odd top up for fruit and milk.

I could easily spend more, but I have to stick within our food budget at the moment until the nursery fees go down when DD is 3!

On food shopping and household products/nappies.

I hope that's £250 a month tea?

£350-550 I reckon but I dare tot it up. 2 adults, 2 little ones. I could cut back and I did used to do lidl then Asda but I've more important things to do with my time and cannot be fucked.

This month I'm going to keep an eye on it though, I put everything in my money supermarket spreadsheet before and we made massive savings.

LagunaBubbles at least you're counting your top ups.

Lots of people who talk about low weekly shops don't really work out their top ups properly and just vaguely say they "buy ahead" or "buy in bulk when there's a deal" without averaging all that out per week. If they were you they'ld say they spent £600/week not £800

Our top ups were costing us a FORTUNE! an extra £50 on the weekly shop saves us about £100/week! It's easier to impulse buy with top-ups too.. if you pop in and buy a £1 gift card to go with a gift it's easy to pick up a £1.50 gift bag that you didn't really need with it. Doesn't seem like much when you're doing it in small bits rather than keeping it all within a larger weekly shop budget

I do not know how anyone spends less than £100/week and has a varied diet that includes 5 a day.

We all have porridge for breakfast with either frozen berries or grated apple & cinnamon (I make the porridge overnight in a small slo cooker)
Kids have tuna & sweetcorn sandwiches with salad, carrot sticks, piece of fruit and either a h/m cake or flapjack for packed lunches
Minimum of 2 veggies with dinner.

So at least 6 a day, rather than 5.

I think we spend about £85-90 a week. Four adults and four dogs. That includes toiletries, food, cleaning and food for 2 of the dogs. We buy our own booze out our fun money if we want it.

I do a big Tesco online shop about every three weeks and then buy bread, milk, pop and fresh produce from Lidl. We've got two freezers which helps a lot as I can stock up on bargains.

My husband takes leftovers for lunch which cuts costs. I make an extra portion of whatever we have for dinner, and then he heats it up at work. My son gets fed at work and I buy value cheese and onion pasties for my daughter's lunch.

Two of us are veggie so we buy very little meat which also helps I think, although quorn isn't exactly cheap either. I mostly buy frozen veg as there's less waste as it doesn't go off. I will buy a huge pork joint and roast it for one meal and then the rest will do say curry, sweet and sour, pulled pork, and carnitas. So for £7 I've got meat for 5 dinners for 2 people.

Meal planning makes a huge difference to spending. I don't do it rigidly, but I have a list of about 14 dinners which everyone likes, and I check when I'm shopping that I have all the components for those.

I've also spent much less since I started shopping online, as I have more or less the same list every time, and there's no temptation.

Wayfarer-the point is I don't buy those things, I buy alternatives so no our shop cost isn't similar. All the food and drink is included in that, along with pretty much everything else except cosmetics, fuel and clothes (make up is bought maybe once every 6 months if that frequently. Cleaning products and toiletries are included in our spend). I'm not sure why you're trying to bump up my spend. It is what it is and it's a true reflection. Fruit, water, veg, pulses, grains, soya products etc aren't as expensive as organic chicken and wine but we don't have chicken shaped gaps on our plates and put out wine glasses to sit empty. You don't need to add on those to what I spend-we have things instead that are cheaper!

It's not a competition, I don't think my way is better and I know being vegan is not an expensive thing food wise as I am one!

Cock-we use an independent for fruit and veg quite often so I included location in case it made a difference. It's walkable from us so it's a better option sometimes. Nothing more than that as I also assume supermarkets are the same!

Yes! It's £250 per month!!

I don't think I'd know how to spend £250 per week on food even if we had it!!

The national average is £20 per person per week.

I do not know how anyone spends less than £100/week and has a varied diet that includes 5 a day

It's easy if you cook from scratch instead of buying processed stuff or a lot of meat. i.e I use Passata (35p) which is one of your 5 a day instead of Dolmio. Fruit and veg is cheap and we always have a freezer full as well. Baked beans- cheap and one of your 5 a day.

What drives prices up is buying anything ready made and buying meat.

It's easy if you cook from scratch instead of buying processed stuff or a lot of meat.

^^this, yes that's why my shopping is low, also our breakfasts and packed lunches are quite regimented, as I described above, although at wkends we often have egg based breakfasts or pancakes. It isn't hard to reduce costs, but you do need to plan and have a list, if I don't I tend to get a bit chuck it in the trolley happy, and costs spiral.

We spend about 300-350 max here per month - me, DH, 2 DD and dog :) we cook most meals (dinners, get leftovers for lunch and of course week-ends - also kids get nursery/school food for lunch/snack/pre-dinner). We don't eat meat so maybe that helps? We eat fish but not often. Not going cheap tho, I order from Ocado and the rest is veggies (from lovely farm shop - quite cheap actually).

Oh - cooking rice in microwave is very easy! (Although longer than on pan)

Having just been through our spending and bank accounts in the last week I can say that we spend on average £108/week on groceries for 2 adults and one 5 year old. So similar to you. Trying to cut back a bit. Not all of that will be food though, is supermarket shopping in general so includes the odd socks/pants for DD, toaster, frying pans, new glasses, bits from the aisle of wonder in Lidl, and alcohol.

I think £125 a week isn't too extravagent - certainly not scrimping and saving, but as a ballpark I'd say 30-60 per week per adult isn't bad. If I had the money and space to store all the food I could easily spend £200 a week pictures the posh ham, cheese, wine, fresh bread, chocolate, cake/biscuits, fresh pasta, fresh sauces, etc I could buy in ideal circumstances as it is, as a household we currently spend 80-100 for 3 adults and 1 dog (but we bulk buy food, incluing dog food, when it's on offer so really it's just a top up of things we've run out of and fresh stuff - always have pasta, rice, curry and pasta sauces, tins of soup, spaghetti, beans etc in the house). Some weeks we spend less - when the cupboards and freezer are full and it's just fresh stuff we need - other times we might spend more

We spend about that much, 2 adults and 2 primary school aged DC. We cook most meals from scratch, but buy organic meat and dairy, so that pushes cost up.

Fruit and veg is cheap

Fresh fruit and veg is not cheap!

We aren't blessed with a cheap local farm shop or greengrocer, so we have to get our fruit and veg from Tesco or Sainsburys. It is most definitely not cheap.

Ready meals are pretty cheap. Carby stuff and frozen stuff is cheap. Fresh produce and cooking from scratch is not cheap (unless you're eating lentil soup all day every day).

It costs us far more to cook a decent lasagne or bolognese from scratch than just buying a bog standard supermarket version. Try it! You can't even get decent healthy mince for the price of a cheap ready meal lasagne (even in Waitrose. Take a look at the Waitrose bog standard ready meals some time - the meat is full of minced vessels and "meat product" and highly processed. But far cheaper than making your own from scratch).

Plus all the people saying a chicken or pork joint does for loads of meals - you have to put other ingredients with it too! A risotto made with chicken stock needs the rice, veg etc. - and risotto rice isn't that cheap either!

A lot more than that. Two adults, three kids, fish, two Guinea pigs, two cats and a puppy.

We spend £375 pcm for 2 adults a 4yo & a 2yo. No pets but it does include all household cleaning goods.

Socks, clothes & gifts would come under another budget category.

We get free eggs from our hens and have an orchard for pears and apples in the autumn.

We eat nearly every meal at home. (Farmers so we can't buy lunch out) Maybe once a week eat out.

I cook all meals from scratch, bulk buy, reduced item buy and we have 2 mahoosive freezers. I work hard to keep it this low and eat healthily. We don't really drink either.