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

Sorry OP, I just saw that it has to be an online shop.

I'd shopped at Ocado and Waitrose for years until COVID meant I couldn't get a delivery. I couldn't believe how much money I saved by actually going shopping!!!

@operatinginstructions

Sorry OP, I just saw that it has to be an online shop.

I'd shopped at Ocado and Waitrose for years until COVID meant I couldn't get a delivery. I couldn't believe how much money I saved by actually going shopping!!!

Ah Thankyou for your suggestions! I used to shop in Aldi when it was accessible to me and their fruit and veg is such good quality! I actually really rate Aldi!

£400 a month on a family of four, generally eat out once a week though. That is online at tesco and includes cleaning and toiletries. I'm not drinking right now as pregnant which helps, I think I'll have to push it up again when wine and beer is added back in (DH also not drinking for moral support!)

Try a few meat free meals. Lentils, beans etc are nutritious and cheap.

£400-500 a month for me and three kids, that includes loo roll, cleaning products, toiletries, washing powder etc. It's a mix of meals cooked from scratch and convenience things like pizza, frozen fish etc. and lots of fresh fruit/veg. Kids school lunches are on top of this amount. I try to plan my meals for the week and make use of any leftovers so I'm not wasting anything. I always shop online so that I'm not tempted to impulse buy which I would do if I go to the supermarket!

Yes I think that will be plenty. I spend less than that on me and two growing children and a dog. We are veggie though which helps. You will be fine.

2 adults and dog - about £500 a month for everything

For 2 adults and a nearly one year old we pay about £40 to £50 a week - it's gone up over the last few months as food is definitely more expensive than it was. That includes household items and nappies but not formula.

We shop in Lidl and aggressively use their app - so anything on offer that we use and can store (dry goods, frozen stuff) gets bought in bulk while on offer. I also have just realised that doing a big shop of stuff we can store right before the end of every other month means I can get their £200 spending target so get £10 off that month, then spend less the next month. I don't know whether Lidl will deliver, but look at the reward card system for whatever shop you use and you'll probably be able to use it to your advantage.

Feed Your Family for £20 a Week (on Facebook) has some good recipes/ meal plans.

If you have (or can get - they're not expensive) a slow cooker, they're great for cheap soups and stews imo.

£90 per week, 2 adults, one lower primary child, one school nursery child.

It doesn’t cover laundry stuff, and generally cleaning stuff comes from pound shops when we’re in buying our own treats/hygiene items.

It does cover washing up liquid, dishwasher tablets and bin bags.

What others spend isn't particularly relevant as everyone has different family sizes, budgets, requirements and priorities.

Best thing to do is really review your budget to make the best overall use of your incomings and outgoings. Have a look at the budgeting section of moneysaving expert and get the weekly email for ongoing tips on making the most of your money.

As for where you shop, Asda or Morrisons are probably the cheapest online shops but I disagree with only buying toiletries etc when you run out, from these shops, the cheapest way is to always buy own brand, or branded on offer, and always buy ahead when you see an offer so you never have to pay full price.

Plus buy bigger packs of toilet roll when on offer as the price per roll can be half that of buying a small pack as and when.

Also think outside the box. One thing that surprises me on 'how do I spend less on shopping' threads is that no-one ever seems to mention the shopping trolley.

If you live in walking distance from an Aldi or Lidl but too far to carry shopping, if you have a shopping trolley it will pay for itself in no time at all compared to doing all your shopping at a more expensive supermarket and paying for delivery. Plus it's free fresh air and exercise.

We spend about 500-600 for a family if 3 adults. Thats food, alcohol and household stuff included.

I can be a bit of an impulse shopper so tend to use on line. Tesco once a month then ASDA click and collect for small weekly shops.

I always have a small stock of toiletries but apart from that my general rule is don't buy unless you actually need it. I had a bad habit of stocking up when things were on offer but in reality it rarely saved me money as it just went on something else instead.

I also rarely buy from other places, usually again because although it should save me money in theory in reality I'm side tracked by all the other shiny things I 'need'

Bar a few specific items everything is either shops own range or discounted.

@BarbaraofSeville

What others spend isn't particularly relevant as everyone has different family sizes, budgets, requirements and priorities.

Best thing to do is really review your budget to make the best overall use of your incomings and outgoings. Have a look at the budgeting section of moneysaving expert and get the weekly email for ongoing tips on making the most of your money.

As for where you shop, Asda or Morrisons are probably the cheapest online shops but I disagree with only buying toiletries etc when you run out, from these shops, the cheapest way is to always buy own brand, or branded on offer, and always buy ahead when you see an offer so you never have to pay full price.

Plus buy bigger packs of toilet roll when on offer as the price per roll can be half that of buying a small pack as and when.

Also think outside the box. One thing that surprises me on 'how do I spend less on shopping' threads is that no-one ever seems to mention the shopping trolley.

If you live in walking distance from an Aldi or Lidl but too far to carry shopping, if you have a shopping trolley it will pay for itself in no time at all compared to doing all your shopping at a more expensive supermarket and paying for delivery. Plus it's free fresh air and exercise.

Thankyou! Great suggestions

Family of 6 and I struggle to spend less than £130/week now. It’s often closer to £180 once I have topped up milk, bread, juice and fruit plus all the ‘can you get me…’ requests! A few years ago it was only £80-90/week and a decade ago I used to shop for me 2 children and 2 cats for only £30/week. I don’t think that would be possible now!

2 adults and a toddler and I spend about £60 a week on the total bill. It used to be less but we eat more now that we are working from home. We don't drink though so that saves a bit.
We tend to stick to cheap, easy and filling meals like pasta, chilli, korma, roast dinner, soups, tray bakes etc.
We shop in Aldi but I did do a comparison the other day and Asda was only fractionally more.

@ChristmasCrafter

2 adults and a toddler and I spend about £60 a week on the total bill. It used to be less but we eat more now that we are working from home. We don't drink though so that saves a bit. We tend to stick to cheap, easy and filling meals like pasta, chilli, korma, roast dinner, soups, tray bakes etc. We shop in Aldi but I did do a comparison the other day and Asda was only fractionally more.

Thankyou!

£250 a week. 3 adults, 2 teens and 2 dogs. Includes dinner money, booze and most toiletries. Sounds a lot but we don’t eat like kings, a lot of veggie meals too. I bulk cook and shop around for best deals in supermarkets. We do love a few bottles of wine over the weekend and have a £10 a week Tassimo habit - but don’t but coffee out or at work.
Eldest dc has a part time job and will often pay for his lunches / meals out etc out of his wages.

I reckon we are around £150-180 or more a week - 2 adults, 2 DC (1 and 3) but we live offshore so everything is hugely more expensive. We are looking to relocate back to UK and will then be able to shop in Lidl/Aldi and save loads

Would you save a little money by bulk buying stuff? For example a huge bottle of bed head shampoo conditioner is about £10 on amazon, trip to home bargains etc for big packs of loo rolls? And an on toast meal is perfectly fine once in a while as a cheapo night.

About £800 a month for 6. That includes school dinner money and toiletries. I already bulk buy meat from the butchers and pasta/rice in 10kg bags. I feel sick about the amount we spend but no one wants to cut back. Going meat free in even one meal isn't an option 😭

Should add that I cook everything from scratch and use a lot of supermarket value products!

Sorry to comment on an old thread but just wanted a moan really. We are spending at least £120 a week on food atm, for just two adults. Neither of us drink and we don't buy many snacks or treats. We try to eat veggie at least 3 times a week, but sometimes it's more. We have very minimal food waste (the odd manky carrot) so I'm not worried in that respect but it's almost as much as our mortgage. We could reduce the bill easily by eating less healthily but that's not really an option. Just a moan!

food costs you can eat healthily for less you just need to eat more in season/ on offer stuff. We're family of 5, 2 adults, 1 teen, 2 older primary school DC and we spend £100 a week. Everyone has at least 5 a day fruit & veg and we only have organic animal produce, so could reduce our bill slightly if we wanted. We don't eat any fish or meat though so beans and pulses feature regularly. I do cook nearly everything from scratch though. Takes ages but it's the only way to eat well and stay under budget

@Puffincrossing we cook everything from scratch too. It's fruit that is the biggest cost, we eat a lot! You're right about eating more seasonally, we definitely don't do that.

Just had a look back and had 7 different fresh fruit today, and 3 frozen fruits too. That's not including dried! Also had 4 different veg. We are on a calorie restricted diet so obviously you get to eat more if you eat low cal f&v but certainly not cheap in other ways!

Just to clarify... not 7 whole fruit- we share so like half a nectarine (lots chopped up) with yoghurt.

@lollypop29

I've just seen Asda is the cheapest UK supermarket so I think I might try here

I don't have an Aldi near me so I shop online at Asda. I'm quite happy with them and notice they are less expensive. Batch cooking, mince dishes and buying store cupboard things when they are on offer. Some of the 3 for £10 offers aren't really saving you much, I tend to buy things that have had their price properly reduced.