Weekly shop

[SavvySquid]

How much many do you currently spend on shopping £

Mines; £120 - 3 adults at home

Around £40 - family of 4
I am an olio food waste hero though - before doing that it was around £100 a week

Around 120 a week with 30 in top ups. We are 3 adults and one cat

About £250. 2 adults, 3 children.

@forgotmyusername1 Olio - I want to hear more about this. I have just looked at the website, but how good is it really ?

Around £200. Four adults and a spoiled cat. Includes alcohol and random non grocery stuff from Tesco and Costco though.

I have just download an app to help with Meal Planning and for a free app it is really good. It's called 'Meal' the tiles is white with fork and spoon characters.

Oh god, mines quite high. About £150-£180 a week. Two adults and a toddler who eats like a horse 😂 we don’t buy alcohol but it does include some toiletries and cleaning stuff plus I’m a sahm and DH takes packed lunch so it’s all meals. But still!

I find top up shops are the biggest issue for me - go in for bread, come out with 10 other things - so I'm doing my best to cut those to only absolutely necessary and only keep enough cash for the basics! I do one bigger shop a week, 3/4 times at Lidl and 1/4 times at Tesco (Tesco sell things Lidl don't) - we live rurally and don't have all the bigger supermarkets like many folk do. Lidl App does give some good deals (spending over 250 pounds within s calender month earns 10% off, plus other freebies). I have a loose meal plan too, though it's more of 'pasta night' or 'rice night' as opposed to a specific pasta dish or 'rice dish'. We do eat less meat too - I'm mostly veggie and DH and DS have less meat. I use slow cooker and air fryer. I use leftovers for lunches.

150 - 180 weekly. 2 adults and 2 kids.

According to my app I have saved over 2.5k since March

I have used the app for 9 months. The first 6 months just as a personal collector and the last 3 months as a volunteer so this 2.5k doesn't include the volunteer stuff I have (as a volunteer we can keep 10% of what we collect from shops plus anything we get left with that others don't request. Last week I had a Sainsbury pick up. I got 5 chickens. 1 I was keeping as part of my 10% allowance. The other 4 I listed. Only 1 went so I ended up with 4 chickens. I have put them in my mother in laws freezer and split with her. Use by items can't be donated after midnight so it is my freezer or the bin. I picked up 251 items one night last week and shared between 20 families.

Is this something I could do ?

I’d say on average £150 a week for 3 adults and a 17 and 10 year old. That doesn’t include pet food or alcohol.

Yes it is an anti food waste initiative and nothing to do with poverty. The charities get first choice and olio collectors get what the charities don't feel they can distribute in time (normally use by items and excess bread, fruit and veg)

You need freezer space as most of the items excluding bread and veg are use by so need to be frozen on collection day

The use by items usually appear around 8:45-9 (tesco collections are 8:30pm) or 10pm (Sainsbury is 9:45 collection) so if you want the use by items you need to be able to collect in the evenings. Best before (bread, veg etc) will usually stay up a couple of days.

As a fwh we upload items onto the app and then allocate. If we get a lot of requests we will try and split it out so you may not get everything you ask for. If requesting you say when you can pick it up and then if allocated you go and get it. That is about it.

Essentially if you aren't too fussy about best before dates and love a yellow sticker shop then this would work for you.

£250-£300.
Two adults two teens and a 10 and 11 year old boy who may as well be adults as they eat so much.

No alcohol and included lunches for three at home and packed lunches for two. Not a lot of convenience stuff except maybe a pizza.

£120 for 2 adults and 2 children. Can get it cheaper if I meal plan.

Wow, that's a great reduction.

i budget £600 per month for 3 adults, 1 teen & 3 children but its getting really tight so I think i am going to have to up it soon as prices are still going up constantly. That doesn't include takeaway, alcohol or dog food as they are not purchased during my normal weekly shop.

@iamnotalemon I am just reading up on the OLIO app. It does sound good

Unfortunately it's not a thing where I live but it's a great idea. Dread to think how much gets wasted here.

£120-£140 a week(including a top up shop) for 2 adults, a teen, tween and 8 year old. No booze, pet or cleaning stuff included.
I meal plan and try to avoid waste.

£150pw for 2 adults, 2 teens, 2 children a toddler in nappies, dog & cat

Approx £70 per week for myself and toddler. Includes toiletries and nappies, cleaning bits etc. covers all meals. I religiously meal plan.

I have been inspired by the money saving expert forum to reduce this, aiming for £60 per week. We had visitors over a week for Christmas and all in food and drink cost me £200 which was painful for me on a single income!

There are about 10 regular food waste heroes in my town with a population of around 100k. There are others who do it a bit more adhoc but in total there are about 3.5k people signed up to olio near me. It has taken off here but it takes a couple of people to start it off

Are people including alcohol, toiletries and cleaning products ?

I spend 45 pounds per week as a single person on just food. Ideally it would be that amount but all supermarket spending like toothpaste, wine and bin bags.

I don't drink, mine is £240pm including cleaning products/washing up liquid/loo rolls
Not including cat food, toiletries or washing powder (I buy in bulk separately)