To not be able to food shop for cheaper?

[cheesetriangles]

I’ve tried all the supermarkets possible but can’t manage to get our weekly food shop for less than £100.

(£100 is inclusive of all food, toiletries, cleaning products, detergent, vitamins, kitchen/loo roll, tin foil etc)

It’s only two adults eating but we do have to buy some free from products in that. We don’t buy alcohol. I’ve been to all the supermarkets and just can’t do it for cheaper at any. We eat very little meat, maybe the weekly shop includes two meat products that’s it. I wish I could save on this but maybe that’s just not practical with the cost of living? AIBU?

£100 is inclusive of all food, toiletries, cleaning products, detergent, vitamins, kitchen/loo roll, tin foil etc

Vitamins aren't essential. Just eat vegetables. "Expensive pee" as Sheldon would say.

Cleaning products and detergents - experiment with how much you actually need rather than how much they tell you you need. Particularly powder in the machine. I use 1/3 of what they say and it works. Also, vinegar, soda, bleach are cheaper than spray bottles.

Kitchen roll; use a sponge and reuse.

Tin foil? Surely you use very little. A roll lasts me years! What are you doing with it? And reuse.

Well a rough guide of what you buy then? It’s quite hard to say if you are BU or offer advice without it as on the face of it £100 is a lot for 2 people if you are already cutting corners.

Where do you shop? Can you shop at more than one shop to save money? For example your vitamins might be cheaper from Amazon or you might save more by shopping for household stuff from Aldi or B&M
Can you post a meal plan including snacks?
Which allergens are you avoiding ?

It can't be right op. We are 3 and a baby, shop only at M&S, and under 100.

@penjil

pedants corner ➡️➡️➡️

Ours is about £115 a week for 2 of us (Tesco) but that includes about £35 of wine / beer and high welfare meat most nights.

I’m quite surprised by this, as £100 for two is fine imo. I have two adults two teens / pre teens and two cats to shop for. It’s usually £120 a week for us but I have done £100 the last two weeks as I try to cut back on meat.

(In aldi)

I don't know how people shop for cheaper than that. My last shop was £180 for me and a teenager. I buy own brand everything. Some meat substitutes.

Where you shop is a big one, I could spend that a day if I shopped in co-op.

We definitely spend less than that for 2 adults and 2 kids.

What sort of things are you buying as free from? I have found it is often cheaper to invest up front in the ingredients and make from scratch rather than buy. Also removes a lot of the unnecessary UPF type ingredients so I generally feel better.

I know you may also be doing this, but batch cooking is the way forward. You can buy ingredients on offer in bulk and cook and freeze.

But the other household items etc are hard to replace.

Seems a lot, OP. We have a reasonable store cupboard but generally spend £50-60 on a veggie weekly shop for me DH and toddler DD. From Tesco!!

Vitamins aren't essential

Maybe not for you... but I would rather not have chronic diarrhoea, so they are fairly essential for me... (obviously I don't know the op's situation).

@cheesetriangles

I think if you NEEDED to, you could.
you have to shop smartly AND compromise.

you could buy different products at different shops.

you could bulk buy when it's on sale.

you can change the meals you eat.

you can buy less processed food & do more work (make not buy veggie burgers for example)

NEED tends to drive how much you can save on shopping.

I spend £200/250 a week for 5 of us. 4 adults and a child.

I spend £70-90 a week for me and 2 DC (one of whom is a teen so eats more than me). And the cats. So that's everything- cat food, toiletries, cleaning stuff, booze. But we're vegetarian, perhaps that makes a difference 🤔 And I make my own bread.

Where do you shop? Do you have to buy specialist items? I spend the same as you on a vegetarian family of 5 so wondering what the difference is.

This is fairly rare, right? Vitamin B?

I don't know how rare
B12 is one of the supplements I need, yes.

I shop around rather than do all my shopping in one supermarket, pricing things up everywhere.

So if some things are cheaper at Home and Bargain, i get them from there.
Things that are cheaper at the ASDA, i get them from there. Also Aldi and Lidl are great.

Other things I do is I only buy the food we need, and if its something with a long date, i stock up when on offer.

It takes some effort but should be doable even with gluten free:

• Stick to cheaper fruit such as bananas and apples not berries
• Cut down on the nice to haves (drinks, snacks etc)
• Double up the meals - use one pack of mince to make two dinners
• Go for two very cheap dinners a week - baked potatoes, omlette, eggs on toast, ham, egg and chips etc

Do yourself and the planet a favour by not using kitchen roll and foil, instead use rags from old clothes and tupperwear /take away cartons.
Reuse as a first principle.
Also olio app might work for you

Have you tried Asda's range for the free from stuff. It's the best prices I've found especially for some bizarre reason the breakfast cereals which seem to come in at under £2 a box.

I feel for you. I needed bread yesterday - the only gluten free the supermarket has was a smallish loaf of tiger bread - £3.99

I feed 4 adults for between £80 and £100 a week (including all household items), and we eat very well, so I'm pretty sure you can cut back. I would have though £60-70 for two adults would be more reasonable.

What do you typically have for breakfast, lunch and dinner?
Are you wasting a lot of food, or buying a lot of snacks, treats and non-essentials?
Do you meal plan, making sure you make good use of leftovers?
Do you shop from the cupboards and fridge/freezer before doing your meal planning and shop?
Are you sticking to recommended portion sizes, particularly for expensive things like meat?

Some are. Everyone should be taking vitamin d at this time of year. I have to take high dose all year round
I also take an iron/folate supplement as deficient
Definitely cheaper to buy elsewhere usually though