Singletons' Food Budgets

[budgetbabey]

Hi. I keep seeing posts on various social media platforms about single people spending very low amounts on weekly food shops.

I am single, have limited freezer space am pescetarian. I can spend £90 a week on food including things I may need such as all toiletries, kitchen roll, toilet roll, tin foil, washing powder, washing up liquid etc.

I eat fish at least three times a week and freeze it, other meals will include one good quality convenience meal, stir frys, vegetarian pasta. I buy berries to put on cereal and buy budget packs of chocolate bars and crisps. I take advantage of supermarket offers.

If you are single how much do you spend a week on food and toiletries? Just wondering if I'm not the only one that is finding it hard to budget

That seems really high. No what you’re asking but I’ve spent £140 for a family of 4 this week including 4 packets of cherries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, 2 packets of frozen white fish, 4 salmon fillet, 1 kg of boneless chicken thighs, dish washer tablets and 10 cartoons of oatley among other things.

Thanks for the reply but does that include toiletries like shower gel, moisturiser, soap, toilet roll, kitchen roll, shampoo, deodorant etc etc? That's how my weekly shop adds up and I use cheap moisturiser

£240pm for me
Doesn't include toiletries or washing powder

Does include toilet roll, baking paper, kitchen roll, washing up liquid, sponges etc and the odd Aldi middle aisle purchase!

I’m about £80 or £90 a week, but that includes a couple of bottles of wine (about £15) and a few posh ready meals & desserts at the weekend.

I could spent a bit less if I had to but would be a bit miserable with no treats and it’s just about within my budget.

I do have a big freezer though so can stock up on offers and I like Farmfoods or Iceland for frozen foods.

£90 is a lot of money
fish is expensive though
and how much shampoo would one person go through.

i agree it is hard to budget, unless you look for meals you eat two days in a row, or change it slightly on the second day

I'm single and I spend around £30 a week on food, cleaning stuff and toiletries - but I have cheap tastes! Also a teetotal pescatarian and my fish tends to be tinned tuna.

That's almost enough for 2!

May need a more detailed breakdown - get those receipts out and check everything

Personally berries wouldn't be routine - quite often they are expensive

Yes, although this week I’ve only bought dishwasher tablets, shower gel, car wash sponge and hooks in that catergory.

Single here but work in a supermarket, so very prone to shopping at the end of every shift for whatever I fancy to eat. I was spending around £70 per week, but decided to start meal-planning and this has helped me cut back a bit. But then I don't really DO much else, apart from house costs food is my biggest expenditure and I like nice food!

Around 200 most months here. So far this month I've spent 103 pounds on all shopping I'd categorise as groceries. I cook everything from scratch, don't buy convenience meals. Do eat meat. (However, I should admit that I'm a picky eater and there are many things I don't eat, and therefore don't buy).

I don't think I buy toiletries that often! I buy a more specialist shampoo (SLS-free), but I have short hair and it lasts me forever.

Placemarking as I'm thinking about this too!

I don't want to go super frugal which I know I CAN do (enjoy food and have had health issues so would rather eat well) but also am keen on sub or around £200. I like variety too and am building up social life so don't want to be totally Spartan!

I'm keeping receipts to monitor.

Get the feeling that rather than monthly, it might be one pricier month (when I'm stocking up) and one super cheap month.

Things that have worked - just not going to the shops or leaving it a few days (internet shopping and make sure I have enough milk and tea in - UHT milk). Buying in bulk means it's in then I don't end up making little trips out which add up.

Keeping things like filled pasta and pizza as emergency junk food rather than takeaway. I know I don't have the emotional headspace to cook from scratch or think about it some nights.

Things that I'll probably work on - switching shop, I went to Co-op and will probably stick to Aldi and Iceland! Also I want to try more tinned foods - fruit and rice pudding.

Toiletries etc - can you make savings on these? Do you have a full-product shower every day? Can you use a sponge to reduce how much of a product you use?

Likewise with household goods - reuse foil, microfibre cloths for wiping not kitchen towel?

Love berries but agree they are pricey. Maybe start substituting them for something tinned?

Around 30-40 per week, single. I mainly shop in Aldi and I've found late afternoon before the rush hour a lot of their packs of chicken and salmon and prawns can be 30% off so now I try to only buy the discounted then shove in freezer. Veg wise I prob buy broccoli, peppers, onions each week and then I'll have chicken breast / salmon either with veg, usually one curry night, usually one pasta night and then leftover chicken to make chicken fillets for sandwiches / toasted bagel or wrap for lunches

For ancillaries again Aldi are just so cheap. 99p toothpaste, 1.50 big bottle laundry detergent, 9 loo rolls 2 quid and so on

My dd at uni spends 35-40 including loo roll etc She doesn’t eat fish 3 times a week and picks fruit like oranges and apples which are much cheaper than berries. When she eats seafood it tends to be prawns or tinned tuna - she eats salmon in the holidays though.

For bills I've got Iceland at £65 for an online delivery at start of month. Intentionally lots of freezer/long lifestuff. Currently liking frozen salmon so got some of this. Not as cheap as tinned fish though.

Then I went to Co-Op yesterday which was £35 (eep).

I'm cheating as I have bits leftover from previous month as well/cupboard things like Dahl and rice and tomato puree and oil and sardines. So could use those to put together something.

Went well over £200 last month, but I've just moved so needed everything replenishing.

Could probably make it to the end of this month with just small top ups eg an onion to make sardine pasta, which then lasts a few days. So will compensate that way.

I prefer having some feast days and some store cupboard/random days rather than a set plan (plus get bored with food).

For spending I think it's more "creep" and lack of routine which affects my bills.

Will probably try to start baking a big pile of protein in one go (chicken thighs and salmon) for the week to save time and electricity (not sure if this will screw up the taste of either though!).

Also got some of those frozen packs of mixed veg.

Some good suggestions, thanks. I will look into getting an Iceland delivery as well

That sounds insane! I shop for 6 of us and spend around d £95 in a shop, and then maybe another £20 in bread and milk top ups thought the week.

But surely you don't need to buy all of these every single week except maybe shower gel?

£90 quid a week is huge for one person. We're a family of 4 (although DC2 is not yet eating and is breastfed so doesn't really count, but still needs nappies and wipes) and we spend on average £50-60 a week (some weeks could be more but then the following week is a lot less). This includes everything in your list except moisturiser which I only need to buy maybe once every 6 weeks. We eat meat around 3 times a week and also buy lots of berries. Shop at Aldi 80% of the time, Tesco or Asda the rest. We don't buy alcohol though.

I'm single and spend between £140 and £160 a month. Includes all household supplies and all toiletries except moisturiser. No alcohol.

The most I ever spent on a week's shop was about £60, and that would have included a restock of toiletries, cleaning products and some booze.

I live in a tiny flat so cleaning stuff lasts me ages, as do a lot of herbs and spices.

Mostly week to week I'm just buying a combination of fresh food to cook/ready meals. That I keep to around £30.

Fish is expensive but not that expensive if there's only one of you. And how much tin foil can one person use? Are you buying takeaway coffees, sandwiches, lunches? Because those certainly add up.

Hi. To update (just in case you are interested) I realised I was buying a lot of expensive convenience food due to being tired and working long hours.

I get online deliveries so switched to a more reasonable supermarket and have considerably reduced my food bill. I've also cut down on takeaways and only eat fish twice a week now. I buy a pack of two frozen fish usually,

I'm enjoying the challenge of getting my weekly food bill down on the supermarket app and making more nutritious meals. I also try and get offers.

Thanks for the comments

If you eat fish x3 per week it sounds about right!👍

ca I ask which supermarket you changed to