How much for food per week for one person?

[ToTheCrystalDome]

Hello,

My brother-in-law has never left his family home. MIL recently passed away and he now has to live independently for the first time in 43 years. He has never paid for any bills etc. His money was all his own to spend on himself. OH and I are helping him navigate this difficult time in his life, including budgeting for his new bills and food but he is really struggling. We thought £50 a week for food would be sufficient but he's finding it very hard to stick to that. Is this an unrealistic figure for one person for food a week?

How large is he, not wishing to be rude?

Hmmmm. There's the rub. He's 34st and has lived on a diet of beige food and microwave meals.

I spend between £40 - 60 depending if I need to stock up on stuff and what's on offer (I buy what I use on offer whether I need it or not)
Cleaning products and toilet rolls from Wilko usually
It used to be £30-50 but everything has gone up so much now

Personally I would have thought £50 to be plenty.
But also depends on his tastes too.
I eat relatively plain food, but that is not for everyone.
Does he eat out? Eat lots of takeaway? Ready meals?
And does th £50 include eg supermarket clothes, cat food, cleaning products etc?

What sort of meals does he eat? Can he cook basic things?

Well your update puts a slightly different slant on things. Is he receiving professional help with his eating disorder and managing his weight?

£50 would be plenty for someone eating a normal diet though.

This would have to include cleaning stuff etc as and when needed. I think he can cook very basic things but prefers microwave meals.

We feed 5 adults for about 600-700 per month. So about £35 per person per week. That includes toiletries and cleaning products. We have some treats and some brand labels (Heinz beans etc)

However we don't eat many ready meals, mostly from scratch and 2-3 people have lunch outside the home for 3-4 days a week so that does reduce our costs slightly.

£50 should be enough but if BIL has never learnt to cook then he may need help with buying and preparing appropriate meals.

Well the bast thing to do is go through a supermarket online shop with him buying 9n a day by day basis and then you will have a better idea . I doubt he’s going to change his ways now .

I should probably add that total is 3 meals a day, i WFH. Cook from scratch (batch cooking mostly) and I like berries/avocado and expensive salad ingredients!

It depends on so many things.

Is your BIL capable of cooking meals, or will he realistically be relying on ready meals or takeaways?

Will he always be cooking only for one, or will he regularly have friends or family to visit?

How will he be buying food if cooking from scratch? Supermarkets, food markets, veg boxes? Is he omnivore / vegetarian / pescetarian / vegan? It might be more cost effective to use the more expensive place close at hand rather than travelling to the budget supermarket.

Does he care about the quality or provenance of his food? Does he have any allergies?

And what cooking equipment is he familiar with? No point having an economical slow cooker if he can’t actually use it. That might influence the sort of good one buys and how much one spends.

Is there a budget for alcohol?

It’s such a lot to consider all at once.

Apologies, OP - I typed too slowly and you’ve already clarified everything I asked.

Tesco do very cheap frozen microwave meals which are ok in a pinch if he wants quantity over quality. They’re the old value ones. Curries and Italian stuff mostly.

Does he have any learning difficulties or any reason why he can't understand the value of money? Part of him becoming independent is learning to stand on his own two feet - does he have a salary coming in? He needs to use his brain and prioritise his spending. I know you want to help him navigate this, but he actually might learn more quickly left to his own devices. £50 is plenty if you're not eating out.

That's a very good idea actually.

No, you're quite right. There's been lots of interventions regarding his weight but he won't change now. He gets angry if it's mentioned. His parents were very big too so it's all he's been used to.

This brand. Am informed they’re alright really. Maybe add salad bag and a garlic bread?

I think for someone of average build & a 'normal diet' it would probably be 'do able' but not sustainable. For someone knowing it was only a short period of time happy to live on beans on toast etc it's doable.

it costs me more, but I have a very limited diet & it requires some high cost items.

At his size I imagine £50 isn't going to be anywhere enough, especially if you're aiming for nutritious too.

How is he mentally? Does he work or is he on benefits? How is the house? Clean & tidy or cluttered?

does he want to lose weight/ cope on his own financially or is he resistant?

If he's never learned to cook or manage for himself, he's going to find it difficult to manage and will need a short sharp series of lessons on how to manage his money responsibly.
personally I find that £40 per week for groceries for a single person like myslf to be more than ample - but that does include pet food for 2 cats and 2 dogs. If I didn't have petfood to buy I could get by on£25-£30 a week easily. I only have a takeaway meal once a month and prefer to cook at home from scratch.

I totted up what I spent in May as I'm getting used to being a household of one and was shocked to find I'm spending the equivalent of £10 a day!

This covers everything including cleaning, toiletries, occasional take away and dog food but if you looked at what I'm eating you wouldn't think I'd be spending that much. £50 is nowhere near enough for your relative.

A year ago it would have been sufficient. But with everything going up so much I can't do a weeks shop for £50 now ☹️ I've just put an Asda order in for a few days time and that's £67 and that's less than a weeks food for myself and household stuff like kitchen rolls and cleaning supplies.

When you say beige food, do you mean things like frozen chicken nuggets, fish fingers, chips etc that anyone could realistically bung in the oven without much trouble, and is he capable of doing so? If so iceland may be the way to go, their own brand you get decently large family size bags at reasonable prices, and online orders over £40 are free delivery. If you have them local to go in-store farmfoods or heron foods might be similar.

Is it realistic, for a short term, for you to meal plan a bit and batch cook that he could microwave, while he learns the cooking basics himself? It could bring down the cost per meal a bit over shop bought ready meals, plus they'd be healthier with less preservative crap in.