Aibu to ask how much you spend on food per month?

[booklover164]

There's me, my husband and 16month old. I shop at Aldi every week and spend about £300 per month. We have the odd takeaway and I batch cook everything. I'm trying to find ways to cut costs but not sure if it's unreasonable to expect to do a shop any cheaper. We buy a lot of fresh fruit and veg and eat meat regularly. How much do you spend per month? I'm wondering whether it's worth bulk buying at the start of the month...

Forgot to mention that also includes feeding DS1’s friend probably 3/4 nights a week plus a breakfast and lunch after a sleepover most weekends plus weekday sleepovers too in the holidays and then DS2’s friend once a week or so for tea.
I rarely drink.
I might buy a crate of lagers once every few months and have an occasional lager with my dinner.
My Christmas budget for food however is huge in comparison.
I’ve probably spent around £100 so far on boxes of chocolates, nuts, crisps, biscuits, j20s ect.
I will also probably spend around £80 on alcohol which will be a couple of bottles of gin, some lagers, a couple of bottles of Prosecco and a bottle of baileys.
For fresh food for Christmas week so Christmas dinner, Christmas Day breakfast, Boxing Day buffet, meats and cheeses ect, a takeaway we always get on Christmas Eve and extra bits to make up meals combined with the leftovers for the week will probably total around £250. Might not spend all of it but that will be my budget.
We have my brother and his partner staying with us for 3 days over Christmas so I want to be able to spoil my children and them with Christmas goodies and luxuries!

I spend about £120 a week at the local supermarket. We also get a takeaway once a week, pop to the shop for top ups and and are members of Craft Gin Club and Laithwaites wine so that probably avergages at £80 per month too. I'd say £650-750 per month in total.

Probably like you, maybe bit more because of drinks. But that doesn't include cleaning products and toiletries.
2 adults.
I found getting meat from a butcher a good value tbh. And we enjoy lots of unusual veg and fruit from markets. The ones with foreign food. I am foreign and have no idea how to call them when explaining😳 You can find some great value stuff in them too. And tasty

Supermarket shopping comes in around £450-£500 per month. 2 adults & 1 toddler, no pets. Includes all meals/food, alcohol, cleaning products, toilet rolls, toiletries, nappies/wipes and clothes for toddler. We bulk buy, get offers, buy stuff in short date, use money off vouchers etc.

We eat out maybe once a month and have takeaways even less frequently.

I thought we were quite frugal until I saw this thread!

Oh and we don't do takeaway more than once a month now. If even that. We made our own for freezer😁

There’s two adults and a three year old in my house. DP generally works from home and I work outside of the house 2.5 days a week, taking lunch with me. DS goes to school for two hours a day, so all meals at home too.

My last weekly shops have been £30.46, £14, £26, £50 and £22. I hate having to spend that little and, although I think we eat healthily, there’s no wiggle room and I get really stressed if DP makes an impromptu cheese sandwich, for example.

Around £800 a month, 4 adults in the house.

500 per month for two adults, 9 yo and 1yo. That doesn't include any extras like an occasional takeaway

Average around £120 a week for 2 adults in Tesco or Waitrose. A bit higher if we are stocking up on wine or cleaning stuff. That includes all breakfasts and lunches. We cook everything from scratch but eat a low carb, low sugar, high protein diet and only buy higher welfare meat and sustainable fish so it gets expensive.

@tiamariachocolate

Spaghetti bolognese
Salmon baked with honey soy and ginger, served with rice and veggies
Sausage casserole
Chicken and veggie stir fry with noodles
Roast chicken and ratatouille
Pizza, roast wedges and salad
Fishfingers, boiled potatoes, beans and veggies

This weeks menu plan.

@tiamariachocolate

We spend £40 a week on groceries. Meal plan this week:
Mon: Roast chicken (plus all sides)
Tues: Leftover chicken with chips and salad
Weds: Chilli con carne (1/3)
Thurs: Frozen breaded chicken, jacket potato & veg
Fri: Chilli con carne (other 1/3)
Sat: Takeaway
Sun: Sauages, mash and gravy

Leaves 1/3 of chilli mixture to go the freezer, and half a pavk of sausagea in the freezer as well for following week

@tiamariachocolate

This weeks meal plan including what we had tonight is..

•Salt and pepper pork cooked with peppers and onions with egg fried rice.
•Lasagne, garlic bread and salad.
•Spaghetti Bolognese.
•Tuna and cheese melt paninis with chips and salad.

•Chicken fajitas with some mini garlic and paprika roast potatoes and avocado salad.
•Homemade chunky chicken and vegetable soup and dumplings.
•Baked potatoes with cheese, beans and chicken and sweet corn mayonnaise with salad.

Breakfasts we eat granolas, Greek yogurt with fruit and honey ect, toast, eggs, often we have croissants, bacon sandwiches ect.

Lunches for DC are sandwiches/wraps/quesadillas/pasta or rice salad, fruit, veg sticks and hummus, yogurt, cracker/crisps, cheese ect sometimes a homemade biscuit or slice of cake as a treat.

I sometimes eat something different to DC if we have things that are about to go off or if DS1’s regular friend comes for tea unexpectedly.

Snacks I allow 1 between breakfast and lunch (or something to take to school for break). And one after school or between lunch and dinner.

Snacks for DC are usually fruit or carrot/cucumber sticks, sometimes a homemade biscuit or slice of cake, sometimes a bit of pasta or rice salad if I made a particularly large box up, sometimes a few cheese spread or cheddar on crackers ect.

I honestly can’t recommend the yellow sticker discounts in the evenings enough! I buy allot of meat and fish in them and freeze and meal plan around them. Usually don’t pay more than £1 for a pack/joint of meat, pack of fish fillets. Almost all of our bread, wraps, pittas, pastries, treats like donuts and brownies I freeze for puddings with a scoop of ice cream come from yellow stickers for between 10-30p each.
Lots of fruit and veg for 10-30p.
I’m not greedy and will never take more than a fair share but I often go a few times a week to different shops to find the bargains.

I must sound so tight!
But it’s been a case of learning a new way to become debt free and start saving as a single parent.
I realise not everybody needs to be so strict!

tiamariachocolate

Can't say as I do meal planning but in the last week we've had

Fritatta with potato,, red pepper, onion, tomato, four eggs, cheese
Crispy beef, red pepper, tomato, spring onions stir fried with sweet chili sauce and fried rice
Ravioli stuffed with a basic home made ricotta style cheese, parmesan and perpetual spinach in tomato and basil sauce with leafy salad
Yellow split pea dahl
Lamb stew made from neck pieces on the bone and root veg with peas and green beans
Homemade pizza margarita
Sausages with cabbage and leek mashed potatoes and onion gravy

Dinners have included soup, lentil last week, minestrone today, eggs with watercress on toast, cheese toasties and coleslaw, homemade muesli with yoghurt and banana,, some other stuff I can't remember.

£300 - £400

Family of 5

£300 a month. Also Aldi.

@ €600 a month for 2 adults and 2 dc. We don’t eat meat but eat a lot of veg and fruit and have fresh fish two or three times a week. Also includes dc school lunches, packed lunch for me three days out of five and dh eats lunch at home usually two days per week.

Roughly £160 - just me and dd (8)
That includes a take away each week & packed lunches for school & cat food
I only shop in Aldi / Lidl but more so Aldi

About £1000 per month. 2 adults and 2 DC (aged 2 and 4). No alcohol. But all organic and either Waitrose or locally sourced.

About £500 a month. 2 adults and two teenage boys plus a dog.
Meal plan, shop at Aldi with top ups at Morrisons for branded bits.

£400 ish.
2 adults, a 4 year old and a baby. Oh and 5 cats.includes food, nappies, cat food / litter and cleaning supplies etc.

That looks expensive but we very rarely eat out so like to eat nice food at home, and £1000 includes pretty much everything including packed lunches for work and picnics on days out.
The DC obviously get fed at nursery so it doesn't include that.

I spend £150 every 4 weeks for two adults using tesco, plus a few bits from Lidl. I meal plan all of this and top up with just milk and bread each week.

When I shop at LIDL it's no more than £300 a month and we buy EVERYTHING there

Now money is a bit better it's closer to £500 but only if we have extra mouths to feed (ie guests).

We are a fam of 4, DD4 DD2 me and husband oh and the cat and guinea pigs

I don't think we are profligate, and I cook most things from scratch (pasta, breads, etc).

• about £800/month at the grocery
• popups during the week of £200 month
• eating out £600/month

For 2 adults, a sporty teen, a teenager, and a dog