How much a week are you spending on food?

[44christmaspuddingsinarow]

How much a week are you spending on food and how much more is this amount than last year?

I seems to be spending £50 per week around £10 more than this time last year.

Is it going to keep rising? Or will it stabilize now?

I would also like to know how people do it!

There are four of us plus two cats. Both DCs are in nappies and one has one carton of formula a day too. We were spending £120 a week on all groceries and all meals inc. lunches but have cut this down to £80 and I thought that was okay! We could probably cut down to about £70 but can't think how we could get lower than this - I already mealplan, buy cheap cuts of meat, we eat whatever fruit and veg is on offer etc.

Any tips gratefully received!

For 2 adults and one child... I try and keep it under £90 a week by meal planning but my diet includes a lot of meat, which is pricey. Although, its similar when I'm not dieting because then there will be a few bottles of wine included! I hardly go to the shops in the week, unless I fancy a magazine or a walk because I buy stay fresh bread (even though it's not as nice) and all my milk for the week. (I find the purified milk like Cravendale lasts a bit longer than normal milk)

I keep my shop below £50 (inc delivery) for 1 adult, 2 children and 3 cats

My best tips are:

Visiting this website (helps even if you are not getting stuff delivered): www.mysupermarket.co.uk

Buying tins of beans (eg kidney beans) to mix in with mince - doubles the amount so one pot makes two meals - three if being v frugal (adding two or three tins of value chopped toms accordingly - but use a good stock and tom puree)

No fancy cereals for breakfast - just porridge or egg (boiled and mashed in a cup with salt pepper and butter) and toast (or just toast if running late!)

Make my own bread and cakes/biscuits - use shop brand flour but not value

buy enough UHT milk to last until the next shop - that way I won't go into the corner shop for milk and come out having spent £20!

Fruit usually lasts for a week. When we are feeling really flush we get fresh veg - otherwise frozen. Buy frozen fruit for puddings.

Hmm can't think of anymore right now...

My children made a HUGE fuss over these changes at first (income took a huge nosedive a few months ago - gone from pampered organic to frozen rubbish - it was hard to adjust!) However, after persevering they nolonger notice the difference - except when it comes to frozen mince - DD2 vomited it over the table because she couldn't swallow the hard bits

I hope this helps!

I budget for 150 euros per week for 2 adults and a 4 yo. But most weeks I top that up. I am actually trying but plan on trying even harder. I don't buy any fancy stuff but there is wine/beer included in that. I seem to remember that when we left UK 2 years ago I spent about 100 quid a week on shopping - but that was eating really well and a lot more ready made stuff.

Just to add

I put a teaspoon of cocoa (not hot choco - it runs out to quickly!) and a dessertspoon of golden syrup into the porridge to make it more appealing and milkshake powder into the UHT milk to begin with whilst they got used to the new taste.

I am trying out smartprice washing powder this week - I'll let you know how it goes!

...Thats £50 per week!

I agree £25 a week is totally impossible. They must not be counting all the extras they buy in between.

Feel a bit profligate - we spend about £85 per week on all groceries (so including cleaning stuff, odd pack of nappies etc) for 2 adults, one toddler and one cat.

I do meal plan and we get basics version where poss, but there's some things I can't compromise on - particularly meat and dairy/eggs.

About £100 for everything. 5 of us and a dog.

We absolutely have to manage on £45-50 a week now - for food, toiletries, nappies, household stuff and cats. There are very few options to choose from in terms of supermarkets - we're pretty much at the mercy of Tesco. I am determined to still buy veg and meat from the farm shop if at all possible and not to buy low welfare cheap crap. For other stuff that doesn't matter as much I'm downsizing pretty much everything to own brand or value brands. We're managing OK thus far.

65 pounds a week. We do a monthly supermarket shop, get fruit & veg delivered weekly by local produce supplier, and we have a milkman (my luxury because I hate the plastic bottles).
Any extra purchases come out of our weekly cash 'allowance' not from the food budget.
I am buying bread at the moment becasue I can't cope with the baking smell whilst PG. It very expensive, isn't it? I had no idea bread had got so pricey.

Since Dh left his job we are having to survive on £50 a week for everything (2 adults, 1 toddler) nappies, extras in between etc. It's only been 2 weeks but we have managed so far, though it was hard trying to keep count of everything in the supermarket while keeping DD entertained. Can't afford the extra £5 for internet shopping, plus it was the only time Dh got a break!

about £70 a week for 2 adults and one child. We are spending about £10-15 a week less than a year ago due to me being careful with left overs and having less meat.
cats are extra - not sure how much -we do a discounty thing from the vets.

We get a Tesco delivery twice a month and top up in between. We worked out that with petrol prices as they are it is cheaper for us to get a delivery than to drive there specially. Tesco does deliveries for less than £4 on some weekday evenings.

We went to a carboot sale and they have a butcher's van there. I got 3 gammon joints and 4 sirloin steaks for a tenner. The gammon did us 2 meals, could perhaps have done 3 and the steaks were a nice treat.

except when it comes to frozen mince **

You have to stand and beat the mince with a wooden spoon until it is browned - that way I find you dont get lumps - hth

As for the porridge, mine refuses having it tarted up and will only eat it plain today I actually managed to get her to have half a banana mashed and then swirled in the porridge but a no to coco powder or honey

Ahh, but it's not the meaty lumps she objected to (DD2 is a great fan of River Cottage mince - big chunky crispy lumps of mince) but the large quantities of grizzle. Perhaps I just need to find a different source for frozen mince?

I only buy the lean frozen mince. I don't buy the cheapest.

Oh, I have never got froozen mince with grissel in it. I only buy frozen occasionaly but usually sainsbury or tesco? never had the grisel problem.

I do bulk out with tomatos, puree, red lentils and kidney beans. With stew I use shina beef and pearl barley, the paerl bearly is great because it takes on the taste of the stew and makes it thick and yummy.

We spend about £80pw
I buy nappies/wet wipes when there on amazing deals-eg 9packs pampers sensitive wipes for £7! and stock up with several packs- which then last about 3 months on average.
We buy tabbacco off people whove been abroad instead of the £11+ in the shops
We bulk out things like shepards pie with a tine of mixed beans, makes it into 2 days worth instead of one meal.
we no longer eat/drink out.
we buy own brand stuff when we can get away with it-for example cant give the 4 cats anything but whiskers as it gives them Diarreahea! cant buy anything but hovis as can taste the sugar in cheap bread yuk! cant give kids anything other than pampers wipes and nappies as cheaper brands make their bums sore and require changing more often as less absorbable-false economy! cant buy cheap eggs cos i think of them all squished into a barn, standing on one another...

we buy own brand washing up liquid, dishwaher tabs,washing powder, toilet roll, cereals,pasta...

I actually spent a long time shopping in sainsburies the other day and compared everything i was buying to the equivilant own brand and 9/10 times their own brand was cheaper, less fat/salt/sugar/additives.
I walked out the shop feeling quite pleased id taken the time to look at the labels!

I cant begin to imagine spending £25 per week-how?
I spend about 15-20 just on fruit and veg per shop

oh we also meal plan and dont buy stuff like biscuits/cakes/choc/sweets

we also bought a small chest freezer so that we can buy meat off the mobile butcher at the car boot sale-we can usually pick up for example, 6-8 chicken breast for £5, which we then stick in the freezer and just buy the veg or whatever to go with it when needed.

Yes, I know it's impossible! well, it's impossible to eat good food on it, but I don't personally have any more money. Once everything's been paid out, I have £25~£30 left over. I buy fresh fruit and veg and chicken thighs(not free range), but I also buy basic value stuff like baked beans, spaghetti, sweetcorn etc. I'm currently using lost stuff from the back of my deep freeze.
My friends wonder why I can't afford to take Dd to the toddler group with them and their Dc's

I spend £20-£25 a week for all 3 of us (me, DH and 18mth old ds). Sometimes we eat more meat and spend up to £30. I also buy nappies once a month on a 3 packs for £10 offer. My budget covers all food, cleaning stuff, toiletries etc.

I buy milk from a newsagents which is only a pound for 2 litres, and take advantage of offers in places like Poundland or Lidl. I got blackberries and grapes for £1.60 in Lidl today.

I also do my weekly shop in Asda - definitely the cheapest, and I have all the main supermarkets near me so have tested this out. I tend to buy all value brands or things on special offer, buy bread at night when it's down to 4p a loaf and then freeze it, and buy meat at its use-by date and then freeze it to use later.

I think £25 a week is manageable. I do theatre tours around the country occasionally, and my weekly shop to feed myself, including luxuries, is never over £10. My mum feeds eight people on very little as she grows most of her own veg and uses seasonal food. For example, they are currently eating a lot of stuffed marrows and apple crumble as the crops have been harvested.

Ah- that makes a whole lot of difference too, the more rural you are the more expensive it gets.