What's the least you've spent on food shopping for the week?

[DramasticChanges]

I've managed to get ours down to £80 for two adults two kids. I need more inspiration! Help me get it lower.
We already yellow sticker but there always seem to be the same things reduced (Richmond sausages, carrot batons, doughnuts.) It's not always terribly healthy.
I get the £1.50 veg box from Lidl.
We eat meat free most nights.
Kids get free meals, I eat toast which is free at work and bring fruit, dp doesn't eat ( I think he does but doesn't tell me as I'll nag him to make sandwiches.)
Feeding others is pricey. Fed friend on Friday and in laws came over for dinner today so four extra adults.

I'm really good at budgeting if I need to but even I want to know how you can feed a family of four on just under £20 a week?

How old are your children?

£80 a month??? And you want to lower it??!!!

I'm struggling with a £250 food budget but we have entertained too. If you are managing £80 for the month please let us know why you are eating!!

I'm not sure how you get down to £80 a month for a family of four. I thought our shop was on the low side at £30-40 per week for two adults. Was more when the kids were still at home but not double due to economies of scale, more half as much again, so I'd say £60 a week for four is about as low as I'd expect, or £240 a month.

I'd be really interested in how you get down to £80.

£80 a month is Incredibly low for a family of 4. Like pp have stated, it is likely to lead to issues with malnutrition. If you exclude lunches at school and work (as you said these are free) it works out to be less than 40p per meal. That is also not taking into consideration that you take fruit to lunch and any snacks/tea/coffee/milk or any other drinks that aren't water.

It's not about good budgeting it sounds like a terrible financial position that you are in. Have you looked into any benefits you could be entitled to? Online calculators are great for that. Do you have debt problems? Maybe look for a charity that can help? Are you housing costs too high? Can you see if there is any social housing or mid market rent properties in your area if you privately rent. Are your fuel costs high? Have you looked at changing provider? Honestly your food budget is cut to the bone.

What are you actually eating for that? Are you and your children getting enough fruit and veg of a wide variety, enough protein and calcium? Our health is so important and not an area to compromise on financial. If you need to cut back have you looked at saving money in other areas or ways to make more money.

Oh great another competitive under-spending thread.

I suspect lots of tinned food and highly processed white carbs.

£80 a month sounds utterly utterly miserable and short of using a foodbank I don't know how you could go lower.

What on earth do you eat?

Do you want to cut through necessity or just want to?

Sorry I fell asleep early.
Our meals for the week are
Chickpea and spinach curry
Jacket potato's with beans and cheese
Roast Vegetable and tomato pasta
Toad in the hole with sausages
Homemade pizzas, tomato sauce and sweet corn, ham, pineapple, cheese, peppers topping
Roast chicken once a week and one meal out of the leftovers
Bones from chicken to make stock and then risotto or ramen
Chips, reduced meat (usually gammon as we live in a majority Muslim and vegan area so gammon is always reduced!) baked beans
Fishfinger sandwiches and salad

Breakfast is brown bread toast, porridge or reduced crumpets, pancakes or hot cross Buns. I make pancakes at weekends with leftover milk and flour, one egg, lemon juice and sugar.

I don't think it's lacking in nutrients, personally.

Those meals sound good but what about breakfast/lunch/fruit? There's no way all that can cost £20 per week.

Just how??

Sorry missed the breakfast bit but even so....,.

I've done weeks where I've mostly been emptying freezer, fridge and cupboards, so only spent about €15 on milk, bread and some fresh fruit/veg.

I do buy yellow stickers and freeze them. I batch cook and freeze. I buy store cupboard items when on special (that I use anyway). So I often have the capacity to buy almost nothing and still eat healthily, a range of food, including meat, fish, veggies, etc.

That doesn't sound like £20 a week

You could save more by not putting pineapple on your pizza

Do you use dried chick peas? I find dried pulses both cheaper and nicer than tinned but they do require more time and planning so wouldn't suit a lot of people.

To be honest a lot of your meals don't seem all that dissimilar to ours, curries, pastas, homemade pizzas, perhaps it is the spices, herbs, sauces and condiments you're saving on. Do you know of a good source of cheap spices?

I forgot to add that I also use loyalty cards for all the chains, so get the money off vouchers and sometimes the “get €10 if you spend €50”. And any coupons I find that I would buy that item anyway (whether loyalty programmes or other coupons) - they make a big difference.

I set myself the budget of £10 to go to the shop and buy some add on's to cull my cupboards and fridge but ended up failing miserably and spending £29.00. I also forgot my list so need to go back for a few things.

Family of 4 who can't get her food spending under control at all. We don't even have many treats. There is never any biscuits, crisps or fizzy drinks in there. We have the odd bar of Cadbury's and bottle of wine.

I despair.

OP you can really do meals like that for £80 a month? Where are your lunches and breakfasts? Kids snacks, etc?

Does £80 include all your supermarket shopping or just food (mines included things like shampoo, loo roll, etc)

How are you getting all that from £20!

My shop for Monday to Friday cost £87 and I still have some things to get from Lidl and M&S.

Can you cost that out for us? It's difficult to imagine that you can make enough of all that to feed 4 people on £20 a week.

Does £80 include all your supermarket shopping or just food (mines included things like shampoo, loo roll, etc)

Good question, I'm guessing not, but even so just can't see how I'd get down to £20 a week from £40. I doubt I ever spend more than a fiver a week on toiletries with the exception of the once a year I run out of washing powder.

Cheapest I can do is around £35-40 a week for 3 adults, 2 children (one in expensive nappies, one who is over free school meal age) and a cat.

Can you cost that out for us?

Yes could you because I'm struggling with the cost of those meals and the ingredients in them.
Eg what else is in your chickpea curry?
The pizza, you must have bought the flour etc and cheese even a cheap block is a couple of quid.
A gammon joint is surely at least £3
Your toast/crumpets, what about butter or whatever goes on it? Butter is £1.50 cheapest.
Also eggs even a box of 6 is around £1.

I'd love to get my shopping cost down.

I've already said that we don't eat lunch in the house Monday to Friday.
Weekends is usually a sandwich and go to someone's house for Sunday lunch.
Chickpeas 30p
Tinned Toms- I buy a case of 24 for £7
Potatoes- always reduced, usually 40p a bag
Lidl Veg box- £1.50
Cheese- always reduced in McColls type shops because it's so expensive and these shops are usually just for people to buy booze and fags, 70p for 500g is standard
Fishfingers- £1
Whole meal bread- always reduced 14p
Porridge oats- £1
Spices- I get the Indian ones in 250g bag but they last ages
Onions- £1 a bowl of 15 in my local Indian supermarket
Roast free range chicken- £5 (biggest expense)
Co op £5 meal deal lasts three meals (and ice cream!)
Ham is always reduced, 50p or 25p a pack and then freeze it when you get a good deal.

This way of life does mean I have to go out to the shops around 8pm most nights ao is expensive in other ways. Luckily we live close to a lot of shops which reduce quite heavily.

Toiletries obviously are extra but apart from loo roll I buy a shampoo bar that lasts ages and pack of bargain bars of soap which again last a long long time.

Your meals seem nutritious to me - if you're buying fruit too. Eggs are cheap and versatile - omelette with salad or beans or tinned tomatoes etc; add mushrooms or left over potatoes and veg if possible to the omelette. Nice cold, too.