[Closed] Household food bill?

If thats a full shop, with 7 days food etc and the usual household stuff - from one of the bigger supermarkets, then probably about right (there are 3 of us too).

If you want to save some cash, try Aldi (veg esp. is cheap and decent).

well i supose its about average (i spent 96 quid yesterday (for 3 people..and that was in morrisons (depends where you shop ( i always look for the 'deals' and 3 for 2 prices , but if my hubby goes shopping:he just throws stuff in the trolly without looking for bargins and i wonder why he spends soo much and comes back with hardley anything... :evil:lol
i never go Tesco i think they are expensive...

Grow you're own, we built some raised beds and saved a fortune, very satisfying as well as tasting better

I'd say I send about £35ish per week on food (no booze in that) for just myself

Mostly stuff I need, & a few want's (nice biscuits & cake)

Only buy what you need, buy own brand stuff & be wary of special offers, sometimes they're not as good a deal as you'd think. That should help lower the bill (assuming you don't already do this)

kick the sprog out at sixteen as well, the little buggers eat like horses 😆

We spend about £75 a week on our weekly shop, for 2. That's everything; food and household stuff. We work out what dinners we're having and what we're short of and write a list. Most importantly: [i]There shall be no deviation from [b]THE LIST[/b]!!!![/i]

Most importantly: There shall be no deviation from THE LIST!!!!

yep.. for a budget shop this is the golden rule..

£100-£150 a week sounds about right.

Its around the £100 for 2 of us, that's everything including a couple of Indian/Chinese takeaways a month.

Summer tends to be less as we don't seem to eat as much when its warm.

We do about £75-£85 per week for four of us at Sainsburys.

There's probably about another tenner a week on fruit & veg from the local market.

I found that if you take cash & stick to the list it's amazing how much you can save 😉

Mmm that seems expensive to me.

I am lucky enough to be able to shop every other day locally. So everything is fresh and nothing gets wasted. I prefer to buy quality stuff, not rubbish. We rarely have take-a-ways or ready meals.

We also grow alot of our own stuff.

There are 2 of us during the week and 3 at weekends, so probably just under the £100 mark. This does include household cleaners, washing powder and beer etc. and lots and lots of chocolate.

First year of uni i was spending about £25 a week for just myself. Now in my fourth year and it's more like £35-40. I do spend less on alcohol now though, very little in fact.

crikey i don't know what you lot are eating but i'm not happy if we spend more than £75 a week for the four of us, are you eating ready made meals or making from recipes as we do?.

£60/wk to keep 5 of us well fed. Dont buy any crap and waste nothing.

family of 4,

2 girls aged 3 and 5 and us,

wife spends between 90-100 per week,

no booze, (i fill the cellar when i can be bothered).

i have home filled sarnies etc all week with fruit, she makes all the sweets.

Only two of us and I seem to spend around £100/£120 a week that's probably with all the household stuff and booze but we usually then get a takeaway at some point in the week too. I buy a lot of fruit and it doesn't usually get eaten but blimey it's expensive to eat healthily. 😕

in the name of austerity i've got my 1-man food shop down to a shade under £15 per week, still equates to 3 decent meals a day. all the own brand stuff, and not eating much meat - plus loitering around the "nearly out of date" section throws up the occasional find, got a months worth of chicken for £2-50 last week, raaa!!

even in the rich days i'd struggle to spend more than 25/30 quid.

(suppose i should mention i'm a scrawny runt)

hmmmm we spend 50 quid on an expensive week at the shops for 2 of us

we do make almost all our own meals from scratch though with the odd pizza thrown in because we like them

dont believe in eating crapply though if we want steak/roast chicken/pork/ we get it.

planning your meals is key though!

edit - spent 60 quid yesterday on a weeks shop and 30 of that was a new freeview box for the house! - when working away i get 50 dollars a day to feed my self and only need to average over 7 weeks spend 10 to eat well including eating out regular.

all meals are made from fresh produce
never have ready made stuff.

we take home made sarnies every day, me and the wife to work and the daughter to school.
breakfast is porridge, sanrnie and fruit for work and meat and 3 veg most nights in some form.
odd bottle of rose or some cider, dont really drink at home.
dont buy much in the way of sweets either, we all like savory stuff.

Many people in Britain eat too much/spend too much on food. And eat the wrong types of food for their lifestyle. Whilst I can't understand how Spasmic Gherkin manages to stay alive on £15 a week, I don't think it's necessary for anyone with normal dietary needs to spend more than £25-30 a week on food, even allowing a few luxuries.

Many people lie about the food they buy too. 'Oh, it's all fresh produce, raw ingredients etc'. Yeah, right. You forgot to mention the biscuits, crisps, snacks, frozen stuff, deserts, etc, etc, etc.... 😉 Many folk eat too much meat, too.

Jeez, I must be doing this shopping lark wrong...
Just spent almost £30 and have got enough ingredients to make a meal for one! Still recipe needs white wine in it and red wine to drink with it. Oh and a beer to drink whilst preparing it..

Sometimes things look like bargains that ain't such a good deal. In most supermarkets on the price sticker it says cost per kg/litre/whatever it's best to look there to see the real savings. Value toilet roll for example isn't such value you might get more rolls but less sheets, buy the one with most sheets per £, or if like me just use your hand. We go to costco for bulk items, Lidl for food and the farm shop for fruit and veg. I grow a few things on balcony, used to grow loads when I had a garden.

Yep, seems a lot. With 5 of us in the house I usually spend £130/week for the online shop and then there are papadirt's regular trips to the offie on top of that. Since two of my lads have recently left for Uni our food bill has plummeted to nearer £80/week - off licence expenditure remains the same though 😳 😉

odd bottle of rose or some cider, dont really drink at home.
dont buy much in the way of sweets either, we all like savory stuff.

See, you're doing it wrong Ton. Substitute some of those fresh ingredients for beer and sweets and your food bill will halve 😉

off licence expenditure remains the same though

Well, you could be like me, and never touch alcohol, thereby saving money.... 😐

What?

£150 for 2 seems high - we spend that on a family of six!

Whilst I can't understand how Spasmic Gherkin manages to stay alive on £15 a week

i agree this is probably too little for a sensible budget, but the fags won't pay for themselves..

at least 150 quid per week for 2 of us. But here is in Norway and the prices are sky high

probably eat too much meat and a really good cut of beef can cost 40 quid per kilo

the fags won't pay for themselves.

No way to talk about your housemates

Heh! But the ciggies suppress the appetite, so you end up saving on food.... 🙂

I spose it's possible to live on £15 a week, but must get a bit boring. I really think I'd struggle on that, and wouldn't be able to do it if I was exercising loads. I'd be hungry all the time.

I spend about £20-£30 a week for one but I don't buy any junk like biscuits,sweets or cakes. And I only buy veg on the day or day before I need it else I seem to forget about it or don't fancy it and it ends up getting chucked away and I hate waste. Also if I do something like spagbol or chilli i'll cook enough for 2-3 meals and freeze it.

Another good trick is if you pop into the shops midweek for one or two items is don't grab a basket else your tempted to put other things into it. Just grab the things you need and get out quick again.

But I do tend to eat a lot of rice or Jacket spuds.

about £20 -it's cheap being a vegan ,given above.apparently.

I am obviously doing something very very wrong here.

I spend about £90-100 a week for my food (one person). This excludes work lunches as I have got out of the habit of making my own, so my lunches Mo-Fri are on top of this figure.

I do shop shop only at M&S and Waitrose. This is out of convenience mainly, as neither Tescos or Sainsburys are nearby, but other than for the basics I do not believe they are significantly cheaper.

The thing is I wouldn't even say I eat particularly well. I also do not drink so there is no alcohol in my budget

Time for a re-think me thinks.

Bloody hell GJP my bill is mainly shopping at Waitrose 😯

Shittin 'ell GJP! What do you live on, Filet Mignon, oysters and caviar?? 😯

Seriously, I'd be interested in seeing what you buy! That's a colossal amount for one!

The thing is I wouldn't even say I eat particularly well

😯

just a word to the **** who put the tags up...............****bucket.

and please explain why it is a willywave?

Shame it doesn't say who posted the tags 🙁

some slimy little coward lurking somewhere i suppose.
i ****ing despise cowards........ 8)

We work out what dinners we're having and what we're short of and write a list.

+1
No ready meals / pre-made stuff

60 quid a week for two of us, but we only buy free range meat which adds a bit onto it.

Ton; don't worry yourself. If they don't have the balls to post something under their login name, then their opinions aren't worth shit.

we are just sat making a meal plan now.
we all have the same meals i.e same breakfast, same sarnie filling....
with the exception of a few sweet bits for my daughter i cant see why it cost's so much.

How big are your portions? Obviously if they are big you have to buy more.

Ah, meal plan - there's the problem. Get back from a ride, take a quick look in the freezer to see what's left, pop it in the oven, job done 😉 . To be fair I used to do meal plans year's ago . . . I was so organised . . . the house was so clean . . . [i]looks at bikes and muddy kitchen floor[/i] . . . middle age ain't so bad 😆

We tend to spend about £250 a month, which is good as we do buy mostly good quality meat and veg, I cook for a living so I'm always picking up bargains,plus I do all the cooking in the house, the trick is also if your going to be braising something for 5 hours in the oven why not get the following days dinner in there too, buy cheap cuts of good quality meat,you'll save on electric/gas,the problem is I love shit like crisps and Haribo, right I'm off for some Hula Hoops.

I'm with you on the crisp saleem but haven't brought any since 2 month ago when I ate two 150g bags a Kettles one after the other and was going to start on the third 🙁

Don't know what I spend but it won't be any more than about £250 for food in a month as I shop in bulk at Costco, divide the meat and freeze and get your chums to rear lambs and pigs for the freezer. Then buy fresh stuff from the market and bake, just had pumpkin curry, home grown, whopper, we'll be eating it for weeks yet. Got 4 chickens that lay 28 eggs a week too. Spend Family Allowance on Gin....

teagirl.................. 😆

Hendricks or Bombay Saphire 😕 😕

Bombay Sapphire, of course! The Gov't. pay me well for 3 kids 🙂 for now...

2 adults + 2 teenagers I'm happy if its under £150

We average about 50 quid a week between two of us, not limited to food, but normal household stuff as well, e.g. washing powder, shower gel etc.

Doesn't include my Friday bacon roll at work 🙂

That's not even being particularly cost conscious, although I do always compare prices rather than picking the same brand off the shelf and bulk buy when stuff is on offer. It could be cut further if we had to.

We've recently started planning menus for the week. So Monday we'll have $blah for tea, etc. Then, shopped for ingredients for those menus.

It's made two big differences for me; first, it's massively reduced my shopping bill, I'm loathe to say 'halved' but it's not probably far off; second, it means I'm doing a weekly shopping run rather than going every other sodding day cos we've run out of something.

Thankfully, I may have overestimated but not by much. I reckon this would be my typical spend

Milk £2
Eggs £2
Apple/Orange Juice £4
Musili Bars £5
Nuts/Seeds £4
Olives £5
Hummus £3
Parma Ham £6
Roast Ham £4
Fruit (Bananas £2, Apples £4, Clementines 2 packs at the moment £4) = £10
Herbal Tea £1
Soup £1
Fish (Salmon) £10
Meat (Steak) £9
Chicken (£5)
Ready Meals (£4)
Prepared Vegetables/Lentil Salads etc (£10)
Yoghurt (£2)

I think this totals £87. Which is probably a good estimate. I typically shop 3 times a week and typically spend £30 +/- a little each time

Any ideas on how to reduce this would be gratefully appreciated.

Gary

lol @ £5 on olives

Without quantities GJP, it's hard to see where the savings would be made

e.g. Apples £4
If you're buying a bag (5/6 apples) this is expensive, if you're buying a kilo not so much

Bananas must be one of the cheapest foods going how many are you getting for £2

£30 on meat. There's your problem, right there.

</ObligatoryVegetarianTroll>

As cougar says cut down on your meat or buy the cheaper cuts and slow cook them. Also they rip you off on prepared veg.

GJP - go apple scrumping.

£30 on meat. There's your problem, right there.
</ObligatoryVegetarianTroll>

I'd agree. Cut out all the veg and you're quids in. And not lost anything worthwhile.

£5 on seeds, are you a budgie?

[i]Bunnyhop - Member
GJP - go apple scrumping.[/i]

What every week 😆

I think the Olives, Parma Ham and Hummus need to go - no more pre-evening meal snack for me for now on.

Olives £5

I remember a mate having a massive row with his dizzy girlfriend because she kept spending too much (of his) money on stuff like olives and that. Mostly on tasty fancy snacky things that [i]she[/i] liked. Whilst she was sposed to be on a diet, and they were sposed to be trying to save money. And then he discovered that she was eating out a few times a week during the day, while he was taking sandwiches to work to save cash. She was very good at spending other people's money...

GJP; that is a pretty fancy selection, from a relatively expensive shop. £10 on Salmon? Things is, you could get the same amount of nutrition for less than half the price of that lot, and still have a tasty and varied diet with good quality foods. And as for 'prepared vegetables and salads'; you're paying up to four or five times as much for the luxury of having them prepared for you. Ok if you're in a rush, but just laziness otherwise.

TBH that's mostly meat and tasty snacky type stuff. It's a healthy range of foods, but a very spensive way to eat.

And you spend even more on food during the week?? If you can afford it, good luck to you!!

£5 on muesli bars is a bit silly though. 😆

That sounds like a lot! I don't think I've ever spent more than £100 in a supermarket in one go in my life.

I don't really know but I'd guess £60-70 ish for two and a bit.

Typical meal:

Meat = £2.50-£5
Jar of sauce = £1.80
Onion/pepper/beans/cihckpeas/frozen veg + seasonings = not much
Rice/Pasta/Spuds = 50p-£1

Make 3-4 portions.

I know a very naughty trick to get meat almost free at supermarkets... Works in all deli food

Elfinsafety et al, I will be the first to admit that when it comes to cooking I am lazy. And other than frying a steak or grilling some salmon I rarely cook for myself. I am not a great cook, but I can cook, but living alone I find it hard to find the motivation to cook for myself, especially during the week.

However, writing everything down, has been helpful to me, as I can now see where the money goes, and as you say there is a lot of spend on tasty snacky bites.

I'd say it's good to learn a few simple recipes, that you can adapt to suit different moods and foods. Ask yer mum, dad, friends, etc, for a few tips. Cooking dosn't have to be time consuming. I swear by stuff like noodles and pasta, which even an idiot can 'cook'. With a pasta, you could make a very simple sauce with something like tomatoes, mushrooms and bacon. Bit of salt, pepper, garlic and oregano and basil- bosh. Very tasty, healthy and nutritious meal, takes as long as it takes to cook some pasta, basically. So, 15 mins or so. A baked potato is also piss easy to prepare; lovely with melted cheese and tomato slices, or tuna/sweetcorn etc. Again, very healthy and filling. Salads; what can go wrong with a salad??

As for meat; offal like liver and kidneys is actually more nutritious than steak, just as tasty imo, and far, far cheaper. £1.20 or so for a pound of kidneys. Lightly fried calves liver, done in garlic butter and served with rocket, new potatoes and green beans or something. Mmm. Or how about some prawns; very healthy, are prawns. And very versatile. Sooo easy to cook, too.

Cooking can be an enjoyable, satisfying activity. Nowt better than eating something gorgeous, that you've prepared yourself. Even better when you've someone to share it with, and impress.... 😉

C_G is eagerly awaiting the STW version of Come Dine With Me. 🙂

So ... whose cooking and conviviality can I enjoy?

PS I will help load the dishwasher if that helps. 😉

Pop round to Chez Elfin, CG, for some quality grub, at very reasonable prices! 🙂

£5 on seeds, are you a budgie?

😆

Ta Elf, who else can be invited? Just imagine, a dinner party with all the STW legends. How cool would that be? 😆

No no; can you imagine the criticism and bitching? Ittud give me indigestion. 😯

about £35 a week for one. no junk, processed or ready meal type shite keeps the cost down.

Elf - OK I promise to behave. 🙄 Actually I reckon we had a few legends at my Mulled Wine Weekend. 😉

Ton, if thats enough for a whole week then probably not far off the mark.

£35 today in Tesco, for the contents of a well packed hand basket. Ok, so £3 was on a roll of tin-foil, but nowt else of high value.
I scanned down our full-shop receipt the other week & was amazed how few items cost less than £1 these days.

be wary of special offers, sometimes they're not as good a deal as you'd think.

For a 13.5 stones person like me per week cost me around £20 - £25.

That includes fish, meat, grains, bread, veg and some junk food like bombay mix or jam or custard doughnuts.

😆

p/s: never touched ready meal for a long long time.

pp/s: Ton, for 3 person more than £80 is a lot.

Probably spend around £80 a week for 2 adults and 2 small kids - not counting booze.

Actually I would like to spend more!

We save some money through having an allotment, buying veg from a market stall on Saturdays, herbs and spices from a wholefoods shop, and we don't eat a lot of meat.

We spend extra on bread from the local bakery @ £2 per loaf, organic milk and lots of olive oil + ingredients like pine nuts, olives etc.

I'd love to buy more fish and locally produyced organic meat, but it would be easy to add an extra £10 per meal to do that, so I don't.

OTOH we could eat a lot more cheaply. If you cook from scratch and stick to basic veg/grains/pulses I reckon a family of 4 could live reasonably well (healthily) on about £30-40 a week - provided of course that someone has time to shop around and do a lot of cooking.

3 off us including 4 month old and cat.

on an expensive week, cleaning products, mrs shampoo, cat food etc it can be around £80

we dont buy drink anymore since the baby came along this used to ramp the cost up loads.

key to a cheap shop is have a list and stick to it.

also we used to have seperate bank accounts, used to take out £40 each before the shop and then have money left over whcih was spent on crap.

make your own sarnies for work aswell as already stated, save loads doing this

were also in the pricess of buying all fruit n veg from local market as supermarket stuff is generally sh*te

cut down on meat aswell, price if meat has gone mental.

just looked in the fridge
3 items added up to £25.
corn fed freerange chuck £7
pack of 3 sirloin steaks £8
brisket joint £9.40

think i have a idea why it is so dear now...............we must be spending £40ish a week on meat.

corn fed freerange chuck £7

Which is no different to a non free range corn fed chook at half that price...

All that organic/free range stuff is another con; blind tests would prove there is no difference in tastes. All meat sold in the UK has to pass pretty stringent hygiene/safety tests anyway. The only thing that will significantly alter the condition of meat is age of the animal and storage. The organic/free range bollocks is just to make you think you're buying a 'superior' product. A nice bit of sirloin will be more tender and juicy than a bit of stewing beef, but that's about it. If you know how to cook, you can turn the most unappealing tired old stuff into something really tasty.

'This isn't any old Marketing Bullshit; this is M+S Marketing Bullshit...'