Monthly shopping budget

[nalatabs]

Roughly how much do people spend per month or week on their shopping. DH and I have slightly different ideas how much we should budget each month which over a year leaves a £900 difference which to me is a lot (we could pay for Christmas twice or more with that). Obviously something?s you don't need to get every month especially if they've been on BOGOF (we have enough dishwasher tablets to last till well after Easter) but just how much do you think is a reasonable amount for 2 adults and 2 kids aged 4 and 18 months plus two cats? I tend to do the shopping most but if he takes the car to work he's gets anything on his way home if we need it.

Does planning ahead really work (I?m new to having to budget like this as DH has just taken a pay cut but at least he still has a job which we are thankful for)? Do people find it cheaper to shop on-line?

Was thinking of get out the amount DH suggested and any that?s left over put in my ISA account so we have a little put by for the summer holidays!!

Any suggestions are more than welcome

This has been done quite a lot recently, see here and here, although the second one is quite old

hth :)

Oh, and there's usually a meal-planning thread on the go, which are great for ideas. Here's the current one

1 adult, 1 11yo and one cat - budget for everything you can get from a supermarket including cleaning products etc averages about £70/week. We eat really well and always have a well-stocked fridge/freezer/cupboards which (and I've tested this) we could live on for about a fortnight if we had to. I do plan our main meals a week ahead and find that saves on waste as well as cash.

£80 a week for everything
including nappies but not cat food! 4 cans of lager and one bottle of wine.
2 adults and 2 kids age 4 and 20m

I dont spend exactly that a week, some weeks £40 some £100 if things are on offer, I bought 5 boxes of laundry tablets this week for example and bulk bought mince too on offer. But I know across a month as I jot it down so sometimes the last week in a month is a baked beans and potoatoes week.

I have shopping delivered (by Ocado so actually, I probably could spend £75 at tesco) and I always meal plan, two weeks at a time to stop me being so repetitive.

£35 for two adults at aldi and one cat.

We dont live on processed food either, DH is diabetic so it's all healthy and low in fat.

This includes breakfast, lunch and dinner btw.