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Food shopping for 1

(29 Posts)
jools1903 Wed 03-Mar-21 08:51:55

Morning all!

I’m soon to be living on my own as my children are flying the nest! I just wondered, for those of you who live alone, how much do you spend on a weekly food shop including toiletries and cleaning stuff please?

Thistlelass Fri 05-Mar-21 23:59:06

I think I spend around £40 most weeks. That includes food for my dog - she loves fruit lol! I am vegetarian on principle so that keeps cost down. When I am in low mood I struggle to be bothered with food. At the moment I am doing better with it. I shop on a day to day basis for what I want - no waste that way. Do maybe once a month bigger shop in a larger supermarket.

Tangerine Fri 05-Mar-21 12:58:43

£40 approximately.

Flaxseed Fri 05-Mar-21 12:55:29

I spend around £40-50 per week. But that does include cat food/cleaning stuff etc
It always includes a bottle of wine wink but it doesn’t include whatever myself and my partner eat on a Saturday evening as we either eat out (pre lockdown obviously!) or he cooks at his. I sometimes pop out for extra fresh bits

Grannynannywanny Wed 03-Mar-21 17:00:37

Tricky to put a figure on it as pasta/porridge/rice etc bought one week will last a couple of weeks. I’d say around £25-30 a week covers my food bill.

trisher Wed 03-Mar-21 16:52:18

I'm £50- £60 a fortnight as well. I don't eat much meat, occasional chicken, mostly fish and vegetables. I do try to keep freezer topped up and store cupboard with enough to keep me going for a week or so if I need it. I do batch cook occasionally and freeze portions of pasta sauce, chilli or curry.

AGAA4 Wed 03-Mar-21 16:38:34

I live alone and my monthly bill is around £180.

NanTheWiser Wed 03-Mar-21 16:24:46

I’ve been widowed for 10 years, but have no problem shopping for myself. Granted, I have a decent income, so don’t need to count the pennies, and I spend £50-£60 per week on my main shop plus several top ups through the week. I do have a bottle of wine a week, but that is usually only £5.
I stopped shopping at Tesco as I don’t really like their meat, and now alternate between Sainsbury’s and Waitrose which are both closer to me. I like to spend a little more on better quality food, especially meat, which I buy in WR, and I don’t begrudge myself that. Also, I eat low-carb, so never buy bread, potatoes or rice (definitely not cakes and biscuits either!)
It all depends on your local supermarkets, and what their prices are.

annsixty Wed 03-Mar-21 13:17:25

When my H died, my appetite wasn’t great, still isn’t really, my D said to me, do you know mum, I reckon you could live on £20 a week.
My very swift and sharp answer was, I am sure I could but I don’t intend to.

mokryna Wed 03-Mar-21 13:15:57

And household

mokryna Wed 03-Mar-21 13:15:25

I have recently retired and have listed on a paper all my food costs since the beginning of the year which has rounded in at about £75 per week but then I live on the continent.

lovebeigecardigans1955 Wed 03-Mar-21 13:02:24

My spend varies between late £20s - 50s, sometimes more. It depends on whether I need to replenish stocks of things like cheese, soft drinks, batteries or cleaning products which I don't need to restock every week.

growstuff Wed 03-Mar-21 13:00:09

£150 a month, which includes cleaning, household, toiletries and cat food for two. Online shopping helps me keep within that budget. I used to buy meat from a local farm shop and veggies from a market, but I've more or less given up meat and the market is closed.

Jaan12 Wed 03-Mar-21 12:59:59

I buy groceries online every three weeks approximately and top up locally from time to time so am not sure how the cost works out weekly. The food in the freezer is used very regularly. I do not expect that the weekly cost will be high. Should be quite reasonable.

Teacheranne Wed 03-Mar-21 12:47:02

henetha

I'm doing click and collect once a fortnight and the cost varies between £30 - £50.
Topping up with bread etc. locally, between c&c, no more than £5 per week at the very most. Some weeks nothing.

I must be very extravagant as I spend up to £50 a week on my click and collect order! I really must think carefully about what I am buying when I place my order today. I do sometimes buy non food or cleaning items, last week I bought two storage boxes for when I get round to sorting out my craft room and alcohol also features some weeks. But I am fortunate not to have to worry about my household bills - I am not rich but do have enough for my retirement and don’t have expensive clothes or holidays.

Daisend1 Wed 03-Mar-21 11:17:10

I have never been 'loyal' to any specific retailer when it comes to food and household needs. After all what is the internet for? On average I will spend a hundred to hundred and fifty £ a month on essentials and even more when my favourites, that can be frozen or have a long shelf life, on 'special'.

Lillie Wed 03-Mar-21 11:09:02

When my husband is away on business I spend aound £50 - £60 a week on food. I do buy lots of little pots of salads and fruits for one, so I guess that is where a lot of the money goes.

jools1903 Wed 03-Mar-21 11:07:41

Thank you all! It’ll be so lovely to more than halve my weekly shopping bill ? I think what I might do is do a monthly shopping delivery with all the big things and store cupboard items, then top up each week with fresh things? I’ll also go to the farm shop for my fruit and veg. Might actually shop around a bit more for cleaning products and toiletries.
All of this is of course subject to Covid as I’m not going in shops at the moment.
I also plan to still make say a big chilli con carne and freeze it into portions.

BlueBelle Wed 03-Mar-21 11:04:38

About £30 to £35 but may get an odd bottle of milk or packet of crisps from local shop now and then

emilyllouise22 Wed 03-Mar-21 10:47:00

I do fortnightly shops and find I spend around £50. I take advantage of freezing big packs of meat after individually portioning them, and make sure to meal plan so that I only buy what is necessary and nothing goes off. I also buy lots of cupboard things to bulk out meals.

timetogo2016 Wed 03-Mar-21 10:37:30

I lived on my own for a little over a year,which i loved i have to say.
I spent around £50-£60 per week and every month or so i didn`t do the weekly shop but used up what was in stock.
HAPPY DAYS.

Riverwalk Wed 03-Mar-21 10:32:44

I've been trying to work it out but it's too difficult and certainly can't factor in cleaning & toiletries! I eat only the best of everything so I must spend a lot, but then I waste nothing and don't buy cakes, biscuits, chocolates etc.

Today is an 'expensive' day as it's zoom dance class and that's quite energetic so I'll eat an early light lunch of smoked salmon salad; and tonight will be M&S ribeye steak. But yesterday was 'cheap' - batch cooked chickpea & spinach curry from the freezer for lunch, and an omelette in the evening.

Then there's the well-stocked cupboard with tinned goods, spices, olive oil etc. Oh, it's too complicated to come to a figure! grin

Grandmabatty Wed 03-Mar-21 10:03:08

It depends. Usually between £30 - £60 depending on where I shop. For some strange reason I spend more if I shop online. Like Tanith I try to have a week once a month where I only buy milk, bread and vegetables. I usually buy a chicken and it does me three or four days and the carcass for stock. I feed my dgs a couple of days a week too so that has to be added to the cost and I freeze leftovers. I could get by spending less but I'm not going anywhere so I don't mind spending a bit more.

Kim19 Wed 03-Mar-21 09:44:08

Do you know, I've lived alone for many years and I haven't a clue as to weekly shopping cost. Certainly never more than £30 but that's taking into consideration a full cupboard of basics which are replaced spasmodically as required. I've just decided my new LD project will be to cost this month accurately as we are only on day 3. Another bit of excitement to add to my day. Thank you OP.

Peasblossom Wed 03-Mar-21 09:39:57

I gave up on supermarkets for fresh stuff because of the BOGOF and Buy 1 get one half price offers. If you only wanted one it was clear you were being ripped off big time and I couldn’t eat the bigger quantity before it was past it’s best.
If they could sell two punnets of raspberries for £3.00 clearly on for £2.00 was overpriced.

So meat, fish and veg from a local farm shop

I found it hard to have something with a variety of veg like a stir fry because you only need a quarter of everything and then you had to eat more or less the same variety everyday for four days to use it up, if you see what I mean.

I can see freezing solves some of the problems but it never quite taste the same to me.

On the plus side, the joy of knowing I would never have to eat pizza again??

henetha Wed 03-Mar-21 09:38:51

I'm doing click and collect once a fortnight and the cost varies between £30 - £50.
Topping up with bread etc. locally, between c&c, no more than £5 per week at the very most. Some weeks nothing.