How much do you spend each week on food?

Yes, I used to find them on heathland or moorland or on a mountainside, but I don't know if there are any around here.

I live on the Hampsire/Berkshire border the bilberries are perfect for picking now, yes they are tiny but the flavour is intense, so little tiny tartlets will not strain your picking tedium too much. I did not know there were moorland ones too, thank you for more knowledge. Youngest granddaughter thought they were delicious. End of next month yummy blackberries with their perfumed scrumptiousness.

I've never seen bilberries growing in woods. Ours are all moorland bilberries and you have to watch them carefully to judge the time they'll be ready and then pounce on them before everyone else does! There used to be loads when we were children, but they are at somewhat of a premium these days.

I occasionally analyze spend on my credit card (I buy pretty well everything that way then settle up in full each month). It used to be around £400 on food for two of us. We thought that was a bit steep, but since a 'local' branch of one of the big five opened close by, we tend to shop there two or three times a week, and if they don't have it, we go without. Saves us loads. The last time I looked it was around £75pw.

I don't know about Lidl meat in the UK deMichael, but here in France we get excellent Charolais steaks there. Yes we buy New Zealand lamb when we see it, but that isn't very often.

I spend too much on food and can only do so because I work one day a week at the moment to top up the basic state pension which is my only other income.
For one person I spend about £60 - £70 weekly, on average, which includes household items like bleach, detergent, loo paper, shampoo etc.
I usually buy some chocolate, maybe a packets of biscuits in case of an unexpected visitor, occasionally some veggie crisps, the rest is lots of veg, fruit and salad stuff, with some expensive things like avocados and olives, one lot of meat which makes 2 meals (organic chicken breasts, a pork chop, loin chops or stewing steak) and some frozen fish such as salmon or a fish pie, other meals are vegetarian using pulses or eggs. When the job is no longer there it will be beans on toast and an apple!

*Mamie

Thanks for your answer. It's true what you say, beef has to hung at least 14days before it comes in sale.
Lidl meat has no good quality ( perhaps its different in the UK). I buy, if its on sale, corn-fed chicken which gives us a two-day meal.
How about NZ lamb, don't you buy it? For special occasion I order beef in Scotland ( for a roast beef or an English roast) cos I need a special cut of the meat which I cant get here. Have a nice w-end, Michael

freeze some of the pastry to make tiny bilberry tarts you have harvested in the woods,
DM used to send me out to pick bilberries for a pie - it took a very long time to find enough!! But the result was delicious. I haven't eaten one since I was a child.

I must say I am quite shocked at what some people are spending per week for 2. I thought I was extravagant until I saw people spending £200 per week. I have a tesco delivery once a fortnight and it includes everything from cleaning items to cat food as well as meat, occasionally veg though we do grow most of our own and all other food items. The bill for 2 weeks is usually between £120 and £160 for everything. I'm pleased to say we don't waste anything and we aren't particularly frugal with what we buy. What do those of you spending so much actually buy? I'm intrigued!

When the two of us are on our own, I aim to get our weekly food/ household cleaning items bill (this also includes cat food/litter for several cats) for under £100.

This is achieved by doing the main grocery/greengrocery shop at Lidl, using our local butcher rather than the supermarket for occasional free range meat/poultry (much better quality and often cheaper); when possible,going to local farmers markets (also competitive in price a lot of the time, depending on items chosen); and the nearby greengrocers/delicatessen for produce in season grown locally, eggs from nearby producers, and medically necessary gluten free alternatives to wheat. I top up at Tesco's or the Co-op for anything else. We do not have a Waitrose or Sainsbury's.

It does take more time to do this, but we are retired, and I enjoy cooking.

Even if you have to stick to a budget,I think it is important to try to support local small businesses, especially in a rural,low income area like ours.What do the rest of you think? And is it possible to do this in more urban areas?

Thanks deMichael hard to say how it compares really. I think you would find those sort of prices in some supermarkets for their basic stuff. More at the butcher's and definitely more for organic. I love the chickens we get here - beautiful corn-fed birds with masses of flavour. We pay about 9€ for one that gives us three meals.
We buy beef in Lidl because the French stuff isn't hung long enough in our opinion and we buy New Zealand lamb because French lamb is ridiculously expensive.

*Mamie

I promised youan idea of prices we pay for in my zip-code;

1 kg beef ( top round ) € 8.50 / € 12.70
1 kg pork chops € 4.99 / @ 6.80
1 kg mincemeat / half+half € 5.40
1 barbecue chicken 1.200kg € 6.70
1 kg chicken nuggets € 4.85

All my spending go without toiletries/ cleaning products.

I prefer to shop as you say in the UK; a penny safed means a penny earned.

Daphne and other ladies, the money that is freed up is there to be used for other joys, cinema, perhaps theatre, Carvela shoes in the sales, month in Oz. Life whether it be eating or experiences can be as rich a tapestry as you can make it, money tight give richness by handfuls of books from the library. How yummy to enjoy the salted caramel chocolate bar. Anyone else fancy a snorkelling cruise as a single all around the Maldives?

Just wondered how many of you have tried the 'basic' range in supermarkets. Ive tried sainsburys basic peanut butter, muesli, lemonade,tinned tuna and corned beef, tin peaches and crisps and I have to say they are just as good as the branded foods.

I also include toiletries/ cleaning products/ socks/book/ childrens gift etc in my weekly shop.

As another poster says, 'food has gone down in price' over the years ( or kept it's price, which amounts to the same thing.)This is just what I had thought ( only I haven't kept a record of prices, unlike her DH.)So, that's something, eh?
Terribull I imagined a big husky roadie/ roady having a meal with you.
DaphneBroon .... A 'little' sea salt choc bar you say ( sure you don't mean a rather large one?)

Looks like I'm "Mrs Average", because I too spend about £90 -£110 a week in Sainsbury's. I don't buy a lot of meat either, or wine.

Have to say, that Sainsbury's prices have really gone "off the wall" and I see the increase on SO many things each week.

Why is that sad? Be glad!

I've got a scanner on my mobile, you've got me all excited now so I'm going to try it.

Sadly, the cost of my shopping as never been a problem, and I'm now wondering how I would manage on just a state pension.

I love carol's image of the hunter/gatherer prowling the aisles of Waitbury's!
I came back from Waitrose having spent £75 but that included The Economist (£5) for DH and a sneaky little sea salt chocolate bar for me (£1.60) Oh and £4 ish on some flowers.
I will have to go back for more milk midweek which will be £6.60 and sometimes have a Riverford veg box (£13.45) depending on whether I remember to cancel it in time on Sunday night or want enough veg in my fridge to start a soup kitchen
I do self scanning as I shop so that I have a running total and if it is too close to 3 figures, I rein back, or if it is going well I might stock up on dishwasher/laundry tabs etc. This of course is not all food, cleaning materials, loo paper, etc
But I forgot the new oven glove

My shop is around 80 -150 but I have my teenage grand daughter live with us too, so our shop is a bit more but of course I don't begrudge paying it she it's well and I cook good healthy food. My main shop is bought on line and I get somethings local.

I am absolutely staggered at the amount of money spent on supermarket shopping seen in the above posts. My son lives with me and I have 2 cats and 6 hens and yesterday I spent just over £54 at the Co-op for us all. And I think I live well. Obviously you live in a completely different financial world to me!

Just myself and three terriers £70 covers it all food, toiletries, cleaning stuff, bit of make up. I eat exceedingly good stuff but you have to time it so Waitrose is on its second reduction, Sainsburys or Morrisons for staples, get to understand just as a hunter would the rhythms of the hunting field. Cook from scratch meat, fish, buy industrial quantities of fruit invite your friends in to share. Be inventive and flexible if a goats cheese is down to 30p make goats cheese tarts, freeze some of the pastry to make tiny bilberry tarts you have harvested in the woods, that accompany the reduced pot of cream. Use it as an exercise for Master chef training. Iceland is superb for freezer staples.

£10-18 a week,depends if I need toiletries etc, just me , no animals and I don't go hungry,I don't buy biscuits etc, going to try using lentils/pulses to bulk up things like spag bol, curries,chillies etc.

My neighbours go on holiday a lot and I have now got them filling their suitcase with the "welcome tray goodies, tea bags, sugar" I keep these for emergencies when I run out. I also like to buy branded foods where possible. Rarely eat cereals too expensive, plus got to use lots of milk up on them !

I was feeling quite reassuredwhen I read the first few posts as our weekly bills seemed roughly comparable and then the more frugal of you started posting. We get a weekly delivery from Tesco. It costs us £6 a month but to go into main town and main supermarkets would probably cost around £4 return by car. So we spend about £100 with them including cleaning products etc. We usually have to top up locally about £20 -30. This feeds the two of us and includes most of the shopping for DD and two DGCs .