How much do you spend on food per month?

[lollypop29]

Morning everyone.

I have recently split from my child's father and I'm sorting out my budgets etc...I was thinking £300 a month for food including baby milk. Is this reasonable? Is it too much? How much do you spend on food a month?

Thanks

It's really hard at the moment with high food prices. We used to be quite frugal but combo of young baby tiredness leading to less batch cooking and high prices is stretching us. Some tips

Places like Savers do cheaper medications and toiletries / cleaning stuff. The proper brands but just cheaper than Sainsbury's . Just discovered this

Use Aldi/Lidl for basics - anything pre made tends to have a lot of unnecessary filler like potato starch though. They do some good wine- check online reviews.

Eat less meat as good for environment anyway and bulk out with pulses.

Meal plan. I do a month in advance. Obviously don't stick to it perfectly but it helps.

Have at least one cheap meal a week- soup and baguette, frittata, jacket potatoes, veg risotto.

Also only have one shampoo, conditioner, cleanser on the go at once. Only buy a new one once you e used it up

@NeurologicallySpeaking

It's really hard at the moment with high food prices. We used to be quite frugal but combo of young baby tiredness leading to less batch cooking and high prices is stretching us. Some tips

Places like Savers do cheaper medications and toiletries / cleaning stuff. The proper brands but just cheaper than Sainsbury's . Just discovered this

Use Aldi/Lidl for basics - anything pre made tends to have a lot of unnecessary filler like potato starch though. They do some good wine- check online reviews.

Eat less meat as good for environment anyway and bulk out with pulses.

Meal plan. I do a month in advance. Obviously don't stick to it perfectly but it helps.

Have at least one cheap meal a week- soup and baguette, frittata, jacket potatoes, veg risotto.

Great tips, Thankyou!

Whosaidthat I would love to know the meals you cook/meal plan. Im struggling with 4 of us and even at a cheaper supermarket spend much more. (Around 100 for 4 big shop and a top up.)

@WholeClassKeptIn

Whosaidthat I would love to know the meals you cook/meal plan. Im struggling with 4 of us and even at a cheaper supermarket spend much more. (Around 100 for 4 big shop and a top up.)

I've just been looking at things like pasta bake, chilli, dhal, fajitas (the left over wraps can then be used for lunches), lasagne...We don't eat meat but all of these can be made with veg and then keep the left overs for the next days x

Loads. About £600 a month. We are a family of four and buy organic wherever we can.

Four us at home now and we spend £600 a month for everything not including dog food.

3 adults and a cat here and we spend around £100 a week.

We spend about 300 for two adults and a toddler. Toddler does eat at nursery three days a week. That's total grocery bill including toiletries etc. It's about 70 a week, usually a little less. I cook everything and we don't eat much meat.

How old is your baby OP? At 1 they can go onto cows milk which will save you a fortune. Also Aldi do formula made by a well know baby milk manufacturer that is about £7.00 a tin. My younger kids have used it with no issues. Aldi and Lidl are much cheaper so if you can use them. My shopping bill has gone down by about 25 percent by going back to these shops. Meal plan helps loads, B&M, semi chem and home bargains are good for cleaning products and toiletries.

2 adults, 4 children.
1 dairy free, 1 who has a restricted diet.

We spend around £250-300 a month in total on food.

2 adults and a toddler but still formula milk. Usually budget £120 per week

This includes all baby stuff, general household products and most toiletries. Doesn't include make up or expensive toiletries such as razors

We try and vary the supermarket and find asda is the cheapest. However we like a cheap aldi week when we know we don't need things aldi does not sell! Sainburys does actually price match aldi so has good deals.

We could definitely cut this down if we batch cooked more, ate meals together instead of cooking separate food, and buying non branded. When life gets busy we get lazy. I know I cpuld get this down to about £80 per week so think for one adult and baby, that would be doable for you.

I think £300 is loads for one adult and a baby. Are you shopping in Waitrose?

Also meant to add that we don't but takeaways and that £120 includes all of our lunches too.

We definitely used to spend less but notice when we don't plan our food our bill is max.

Wow if peopke spend 120 for 2 adults and a toddler I am now feeling impressed I spend 100 for 2 adults and 2 big kids! Maybe it just is expensive.

Meal plan but make sure you can switch things up if you need to. I’ve just done a meal plan for the next 2 weeks.

Check what you have before you meal plan and only buy what you need.

I try where possible to make two meals at once. So might have pasta for one nights dinner then take leftovers for lunch at work. Saves a bit.

Agree with the spending the child support on nappies etc to stock up.

I buy huge bottles of shampoo from feelunique. I use tigi bead head and am currently almost done with a 750ml bottle of shampoo and conditioner. I buy on offer and only wash my hair a couple of times a week. It lasts ages.

We only buy one bubble bath (kids one and we all use it if we have baths). We use one toothpaste and one mouthwash. (Well DH and I do. The kids use kids stuff).

My main tip is to try not to waste anything.

I'm a single parent to 2 one 15 and a nine year old. Dog and cat. My budget is £50 a week. It's non negotiable so the more expensive things get the more I have to adjust what I buy.

Write a meal plan based on what you have in the cupboard and write your shopping list from this

We have baked potatoes. Or scrambled eggs/beans on toast. As a cheaper meal

Depending upon the meal 2 chicken breast and veg feeds the three of us. Use up left overs

I've had 4 years of no child support from the children's father. Even though CMS is involved but this has changed recently which I'm hoping is going to be regular with rising prices for utilities and food, but we get by.

Work out your budget. Money in. Bills out. Are you changing utilities etc regularly. Reduce tv package. Single person discount on council tax etc.

What's left. If you can save £x at the beginning of the month. For clothes. Christmas car repairs etc. So if an emergency happens you know you have a buffer

Then work out your food budget from
There. I have some wiggle room. Food budget is £50. With £50 in my purse for hair cuts. School trips etc.

It's tight but manageable.

@WholeClassKeptIn

Wow if peopke spend 120 for 2 adults and a toddler I am now feeling impressed I spend 100 for 2 adults and 2 big kids! Maybe it just is expensive.

We should spend less and have done previously. Just recently have not meal planned etc. Last year it was more like 90£ per week

There’s only 2 of us and I spend £40-50 a week in Aldi. I am religious about planning meals and cooking double so it serves as lunch for the next day. I also check what’s in the cupboards before planning our meals for the week to see what meals I can make by buying the least amount possible.

I will admit to previously being the kind of person who used to go to Tesco on a Saturday morning and throw all kinds of things I fancied in the trolley completely willy nilly and spending at least £100 a week

I spend 100 to 110 euro a week (not in Uk) 2 adults 2 kids (that's about £80)

I batch cook eg mince so after dinner today I will make a huge batch of chilli that will do tomorrow and Tues dinner - freeze the rest. Next night pasta pesto. We have steak once a week (aldi) bulk but potatoes and the offers in lidl and aldi. It is doable. I even treat myself to fresh flowers on a budget.

Make home made soup with in season veg and bulk up with lentils. Use stick cubes instead of meat for flavour. Also baked potatoes with beans is a healthy and filling meal plus super cheap. Cut down on snacks by eating more filling meals at lunch and dinner. Buy fruits and veg in season. Freeze any left overs for meals. I even freeze macaroni and cheese then add milk into its hen reheating and serve with a cheap garlic bread and chips (you can do these home made)

@Aroundtheworldin80moves - I wouldn't recommend a diet of mice

We prep things like casserole, chilli and curry. We always use chicken thigh fillets for curry- it tastes nicer and is much cheaper. Usually we just use recipes online.

I thought we were spending about £500 a month on groceries via online shops, but when I totalled up the last 2 months to include the top up shops it is actually closer to £800. That is 4 of us, includes lunches but also Mindful Chef recipe boxes. I’m giving those a break this month!

I spend £100 a week, two of us plus a cat, that is everything, wine, cat food, cleaning and beauty, coffee beans @£15 a month. I drink a bottle of wine most weeks at £7-8 ish.

I don't scrimp, buy whatever I want generally so I could cut back but I cut back by shopping in Aldi, I buy a lot of the black box stuff so a fish pie @ £5 ish or the Lobster Crayfish bake @£7 a throw.

I love fish and shellfish, Aldi do raw king prawns (in the freezer) for £2.20 ish a bag - a bag feeds two, something like chilli prawn pasta.

I don't buy their chicken though after having a couple of chickens that I thought were about to go off, I go to M&S or Booths for 3 for £10 for that.

Meal prep - this weekend I cooked a chilli in bulk - 2 packs of braising steak (on the 3 for £10 deal), packet of dried black beans, tomatoes that needed using up plus a box of pasatta, onions, garlic, chilli, peppers that needed using up, stock cubes, thyme because I didn't have oregano. That is enough food for nine portions which is probably £1 a go.

You'll be amazed at how much you don't spend not feeding another adult. If you go to Aldi you will reduce your bill by at least ⅓.

I would never spend the £5 or £6 that king prawns cost in the supermarket every week.

I don't buy their pasta though, I prefer to buy a better quality dried pasta than they sell and at £2 for a pack that feeds four I don't mind the cost of that.