Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Food/recipes

For related content, visit our food content hub.

Original poster

Is £40 a week for a single person for food, too much?

79 replies

Virinreiber · 06/02/2023 18:47

I started living alone as of December 2021, and have been on my own since, I wasn't taught much of anything about budgeting, but I always endeavoured to stay under £40 a week. I did previously do £20 a week but I found this to be limiting in terms of what I could manage to get given inflation at the moment, and I also gravitated towards takeout when I got hangry or rather depressed, which of course just ended up more expensive.

My orders vary, but what I tend to always buy is as follows:

Chicken/beef for curries and chilli stews in bulk, including the tomatoes/beans for those

Bread for sandwiches/toast

cheese

milk

oats, as and when I run out for breakfast

honey (see above)

spices as and when I need them

lentils (for soup or to make into daahl for curry)

rice for curry/chilli

carrots/potatoes

And then I'd probably say my biggest expense is sweets/snacks, spent about £11.10 on sweets because I have a terrible sweet tooth, and then a further £2 on scotch eggs as a small snack for lunches if I so want one or just feel like I can't cook etc.

I should probably explain, another reason why I like to get my order to £40 is I use ASDA (no car, so can't drive anywhere), is because any delivery under £40 adds £3 automatically, and I don't like wasting money needlessly.

Do I need a kick in the teeth, is this unreasonable? I'm relatively new to budgeting and kind of aloof, wasn't really taught well if at all growing up what to look for/how to plan meals ahead of time which I find very difficult.

Thanks for any advice all.

OP posts:
PinkyU · 07/02/2023 17:45

We spend £75-80 for a family of 5 so it seems a lot to me for just 1 person. We’re trying to reduce our budget.

gogohmm · 07/02/2023 17:45

£40 seems fine as a rule but £11 on snack's seems excessive. We all prioritise differently though

Rebel2023 · 07/02/2023 17:58

One other tip I would give is sign up to all the supermarkets delivery and do the odd shop when they have decent offers
Then don't shop with them for a while and watch your inbox
Morrisons and Ocado both send me "£x off when you spend £y online"

LucyFox · 07/02/2023 18:13

I think £40 a week is reasonable but I would try & do once every 10 days or even 2weeks and aim for a few less sweets. If you find you are a bit under the £40 one week use it to top up on a bulk item (eg this week an extra pack of toilet rolls, next week baking ingredients etc)

the suggestions of ALDI won’t work if you haven’t got transport!

I generally do a big click&collect shop every 5 weeks or so spending about £150 then top up bread, milk, maybe cheese or pack of sausages in between & that works for me.

ouch321 · 07/02/2023 18:15

Are you taking the mick? £40 is nothing for a whole week of food especially these days when a bottle of milk cost £2. Honestly...

TheFlis12345 · 07/02/2023 18:20

I’m confused as to what you’re actually asking OP. Can you afford £40 a week? If yes, why would you need to reduce it? We spend over £100 a week and that’s just DH and I so £40 for one person with current prices seems low to me.

DontdothisDothat · 07/02/2023 18:26

I spend a lot less than this, but if I get a delivery it’s easily £40+

I am vegetarian & I go to Asda at the end of the day on my shopping days & stock up on veg for 10p and bread for 20p. Eggs & cheese cost more and I get these in Aldi. I grow my own veg in the summer months. This isn’t a stealth boost 🤣 just a few ideas. I also use side hustles for Amazon vouchers which I spend on dried pulses. Cleaning stuff is expensive though…I probably spend £15-20 every 8 days.

Auldandknackered · 07/02/2023 18:29

This is about how much you can afford. To be honest we spend quite substantially more. If you can make it work on 40 and that’s your budget mt then that’s great, you’re winning.

MaverickGooseGoose · 07/02/2023 18:37

Depends what you can afford, £40 Pw is a tiny budget unless you are going to add you get catered meals twice a day at work.

toomanycoffees · 07/02/2023 18:49

I live alone and usually spend up to £60 a week on an online shop. This includes toiletries, shampoo, soap, bin liners, washing powder etc.

I budget for £70 a week and then if I have any left over I have the occasional take away.

Quitelikeit · 07/02/2023 18:54

How on earth a pp depends 75 a week for 5 people baffles me!!

what do you eat pinky U?

£40 is fine for one person

if that’s all you spend I’d say you deserve those sweeties and the odd takeaway!!!

Lollilil · 07/02/2023 19:29

We budget £100 a week for two of us. This is enough for HelloFresh x 5 meals, lots of fruit and veg, breakfasts, lunches and snacks.

Occasionally will go over (I.e. if we need lots of household bits that week) so £40 sounds about right to me

JennyDarlingRIP · 07/02/2023 19:33

That's about £1.38 per meal, when you subtract the sweets.
Fruit and veg seasonally is cheap in Asda. I don't think your overall budget is wrong although I'd struggle to stick to it including household things like laundry detergent, cleaning supplies etc, but now than 25% of your whole food budget on sweets seems skewed

Whatevergetsyouthroughthenight · 07/02/2023 19:43

I live alone and my food and grocery shop was averaging £35 a week although it’s heading towards £40 now with the price rises, so about right if you are buying non food groceries too. You can cut down if you want to as mine includes having alcohol for drinking and cooking (wine boxes are great if you live alone as you can have the odd glass and it keeps for weeks so I tend to buy one every month). I get a delivery from Asda but my freezer is big enough that I don’t have to buy every week and gets round the minimum order charge.

I bulk cook and freeze like you, I buy a whole chicken, roast it, enjoy some fresh out of the oven and then portion up the roast meat to freeze and add to curry, risotto etc. A lot cheaper than chicken pieces.

Re sweet treats it sounds like you are buying proper ‘sweets’, what about things like chocolate biscuits instead? - Penguins or individual twix bars, caramel wafers etc which are cheaper. Own brand versions are good when they are in stock.

PinkyU · 08/02/2023 08:15

Quitelikeit · 07/02/2023 18:54

How on earth a pp depends 75 a week for 5 people baffles me!!

what do you eat pinky U?

£40 is fine for one person

if that’s all you spend I’d say you deserve those sweeties and the odd takeaway!!!

I had actually started a thread on tips for reducing our budget and, I think, every post said that my budget was reasonable or good for 5 people so I’m really surprised so many are saying half of my budget for 1 person is tiny.

Maraki · 08/02/2023 21:39

I’m surprised that you don’t eat any vegetables (fresh or frozen) or fish. Maybe cook a vegetarian meal once a week to stretch your budget more or add vegetables to your stews. Frozen fish especially from Aldi works out pretty economical and it is a low fat protein. I assume that you are cooking for 3-4 portions and freezing the rest so that you build a nice variety in your freezer? Spending 1/4 of your budget on sweets and not fresh fruit is shocking.

Thatcatisdrivingmenuts · 09/02/2023 09:21

That said, frozen vegetables and canned are just as nutritious, apparently.

Original poster
Virinreiber · 09/02/2023 09:33

Did you miss the part where I said I buy carrots and potatoes xD?

OP posts:
Rebel2023 · 09/02/2023 12:10

Virinreiber · 09/02/2023 09:33

Did you miss the part where I said I buy carrots and potatoes xD?

Potatoes don't count sadly!
Do you not eat any other veg or fruit? The frozen steam bags are good to have in as they're quick and easy

JorisBonson · 09/02/2023 12:14

We spend £80ish a week on 2 of us, so seems fine to me OP.

I've just switched from Asda delivery to Tesco, found they're cheaper and produce tends to be nicer!

NewNovember · 09/02/2023 12:21

£40 for one person is a lot , batch cook so you can benefit from economies of scale. Do Morrisons deliver in your area their minimum spend is £25 which is a much more reasonable pp budget.

Rebel2023 · 09/02/2023 12:40

NewNovember · 09/02/2023 12:21

£40 for one person is a lot , batch cook so you can benefit from economies of scale. Do Morrisons deliver in your area their minimum spend is £25 which is a much more reasonable pp budget.

It's really not now
Butter £2
Bread £1
Milk is what, nearly £2
That's a fiver already and haven't bought any meat/fish/veg/fruit yet!
Cheese is expensive, if I make a cottage pie (rounded up) that's £3 ish on mince, £1.50 potatoes, carrots/onions £1 so call it another £5
Toilet roll, washing up liquid, laundry stuff...

I used to do £40 with Sainsburys and now I spend £40+ in Aldi!

Rebel2023 · 09/02/2023 12:43

For context, this was £40 from Morrisons
Yes there’s some branded stuff but it’s not a lot of food

Is £40 a week for a single person for food, too much?
Tirednest · 09/02/2023 12:47

That sounds like a teeny tiny amount to spend on food, but if its all you've got, it's all you've got.

Tirednest · 09/02/2023 12:48

People are saying 40 is a lot! Madness.

Swipe left for the next trending thread