Single people groceries cost

[Madammewington]

I see lots of threads about weekly food bills here but they all seem to be about families or couples.
Being single isn’t just half the cost of groceries for two people, it is more expensive than that.
I spend about £70 a week on shopping, which includes cleaning stuff etc. Not pet food as I buy that separately. Don’t have takeaways. Probably have lunch out twice a month.
How does that compare with other single people?
It seems a lot to me but everything is so expensive now.
I’m vegetarian so you might think that would be cheaper.

£60pw for me at aldi
doesn't include toilet rolls, washing powder or pet food

includes 3 meals a day as I take lunch to work

I don’t spend much at all on groceries.

About £40 a week. I have cereal for breakfast, yoghurt/toast/protein bar for lunch and then I cook something like chilli with rice and eat it two days running, or omelette with salad, chicken stir fry.

I rarely buy alcohol though.

My weekly shop is around £60 but includes some bits for a relative who probably would not eat properly if i did not get them yogert and fruit etc. I resent that there is a minimum spend of £50 a week on Tesco. That discriminates against single people and in particular older singles who may not have the budget or room to store frozen if they shopped less often. Just one of the ways in which singles get rinsed. Yet our taxes support every other group. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Single here and probably equals out about the same, am coeliac as well though so that always add on a bit as basics gluten free are so much more than food that is already expensive!

£60 a week from either Waitrose or Sainsbury’s, no meat and no alcohol.

I drink too much coke so spend way too much.

If I take out the cat food, which was half my recent Sainsbury's delivery and all extras I buy (I'm talking coke, cakes and breakfasts) I spend an average of £50-60 a week.

I do a big monthly shop on payday which includes toiletries, cleaning stuff and cat food/litter for the month, and enough meat to go a couple of weeks, then top up meat etc at Aldi mid-month. I found if I tried to meal plan for a month I got bored and stopped cooking.

This month, because last month I was shit at cooking dinner, I have enough in the freezer to last 2 weeks.

When I’m in my own, I’ve found that the shopping bill doesn’t half or become a thurd

i spend 3 - 6 months solo

so I’ve started batch cooking and freezing to reduce the spending and the cooking, washing up etc

I will pick 5/6 meals the first week and cook them all, one each night - then freeze 3 portions. Sometimes the recipes are over generous and I freeze 4/5 portions. If I make mash potatoes to go with the meal ( a beef casserole or pork casserole) I freeze the mash flat & same with the rice- it’s easy to defrost and reheat.

so I’ll spend £100 the first week approximately, often less. Then the following 3 weeks it’s just a top up shop of about £15

i also use a lot of frozen fruit rather than fresh, I use soya milk which doesn’t go off and I have an easy recipe for no knead bread. So I make a loaf and freeze half ready sliced.

so about £160/£180 for 4 week to a month

There are some great tips on TikTok of foods that are accidentally gluten free and therefore not in the “expensive gluten free” aisle

marks and Spencer’s have frozen luxury chocolate cookies, which are gluten free, they are just an example

Ive been cooking for someone gluten free

It a "how long is a piece of string" question, depends totally on what you eat, where you shop, cook from scratch or ready meals, do you plan your meals and minimise waste. FYI i spend (on average over a year) about £25/week, excluding booze, but I'm retired so time isn't a problem, I can cook and 50% of the time eat vegetarian, loads of lentils and beans, no fake meat or textured pea protein here. It is true that you're well off your food bill can be less because you are able to take advantage of special offers, eg 3 beef joints at half price and some yellow stickered salmon went into the freezer this week

A freezer is an essential for a single person. I make good use of my pressure cooker and make multiple portions in one go when eating meat as that's cheaper. I do have the good fortune of a proper traditional market near me plus a good cheap farm shop - today whole cauli for 69p, pound of mushrooms 50p and organic eggs £2, pork cheek £5 for 4 big ones. I spend about 40 quid all in a week but no alcohol in that.

I reckon on average £45 a month excluding cat food. Don't drink alcohol at all, eat meat maybe 1-2 per week. Have recently come out of a LTR so eating out has been cut down to once a month ish if I meet up with friends / the kids are home. Went for lunch yesterday with a friend £4.10 for a hot chocolate - makes me sick paying it!

Even as a family of 3 (one small
child) I use our freezer a lot, so it would work the same for single. For example if I buy 4 chicken breasts, I would only use 2 in a curry, and freeze the other 2 individually for another time ( then we can use one if only 1 of us at home, or 2 for family meal)

Also things like baked goods. I make a standard tray of 12 muffins or loaf of banana bread I will freeze half whilst fresh for another time

I’m not entirely sure about what’s being discussed here. Surely not every person maintaining a single person household is looking to cut their food spending to the bone?

What if you really like food and are happy to prioritise buying the ‘best’ and nicest food you can access? What if, even though far from wealthy, you buy very little food from supermarkets - just the odd delivery a couple times a month? Maybe a weekly veg box from one place, a bakery order from somewhere else, subscriptions for coffee beans and cheese, an expensive online tinned fish habit (especially if you don’t eat meat), wholefoods bought in bulk. Wine from specialist suppliers if you drink wine. Cook everything from scratch, waste nothing …

I do think there’s a slight danger of threads like this giving the impression that single people (single women) deserve less, and shouldn’t be experiencing any indulgence or luxury in their lives.

@ColdHenriettaIt’s just a discussion about what singles spend on food. You’re waaaaay overthinking it. Nobody has said you can’t have luxuries or spend whatever you want. Single people are of course free to have luxuries just as much as those in a couple. I can’t see that that has been mentioned though!

@MikeRafone please can you tell us about your no knead bread recipe? I’d like to try that out.
thank you!

And the very obvious point being that you pay for everything yourself, nothing is split with anyone else.

Yea, but much better living by yourself with child than some of the awful things you read on here, women daren't go it alone.

Best thing ever.

I live alone but often feed my DP. Though we eat out too.

I spend an average of £60pw. I skip the odd week, and spend £80 sometimes, but I reckon the average is £60. That's about what it is if I go two weeks in a row and buy a week's food each time.

DP picks up the occasional bit I might need, like a pint of milk, or a cauliflower.