Grocery budget for two... now .

Katie you are so very right.
We can eat well on much less.
At the moment we are still buying lots of (delicious) things we only bought for birthdays treats when we had a family to feed.
I would never have bought some of the lush items from specialist grocers as we do now!

There's lots of room to cut back on this food bill, certainly!

Another way to reduce meat consumption is to add lots of vegetables, beans and lentils to meat dishes so that meat portions are smaller.

Years ago I would expect 1lb of stewing beef to feed four people, now I add vegetables and beans and pulses so that I get 8 portions from 1lb of stewing beef.

I have never eaten meat everyday of the week, my mother didn't much like meat, so as well as meat based meals we also had vegetable based meals. It wasn't because we were short of money, it was purely personal taste.

I have always served a wide range of meals and we have rarely had meat more than 4 times a week, again, not a finance based decision, just the way I was brought up, so it never struck me as being anything unusual.

I think we all tailor our eating patterns to our budgets. We could certainly spend a lot less on food than we do and i would have no problem managing it, but it would mean sacrificing long held environmental and animal welfare principles. But, if I had to, I would.

We buy items like chicken thighs in bulk and vacuum pack and freeze portions. Others we souvide. Lamb mince is good value and can be eked out with vegetables etc. our alcohol bill is expensive so going to cut back in wine! I rarely eat steak but do like good fish.

I live alone since widowed over two years ago . I have a delivery about every 10 days which usually is about £70 I then top up fresh fruit and veg in between total probably about £15 every 10 days too. I buy organic milk, eggs and all UK seasonal stuff if I can. I buy responsibly sourced Fish once or twice a week maybe, I eat UK reared, free range cheaper cut meat probably about 2-3 times a week . Plenty of beans and pulses. Of course the bill rockets when family visit but I am fortunate in being able to continue to buy responsibly sourced good food and at the moment heating !

widowed and single. I only eat organic food and grass fed organic meat. I may spend £100 a time on the meat, which I freeze and do that 2-3 times a year. Mostly the cheaper cuts that I stretch into ready meals for my freezer eg 7 meals from 500g shin. I do buy a few bits of prime lamb steaks as a treat now and then. Good salmon is expensive so perhaps eaten once a week. I eat veggie-based foods, including some home made vegan meals

I get an organic veg delivery every week and a bit of fruit, mostly apples. I grow and freeze my own blueberries, strawberries and gooseberries, enough for the whole year

Organic cheese, kefir, eggs and yoghurt and I make my own bread from good quality flour. Organic nuts and seeds in bulk from online retailer. I make my own plant milks. Buy organic olive oil, do not buy alcohol

My online weekly veg cost this week is £27 and is usually around £20. No idea of a weekly food cost averaged out over the year

I vac pack organic coffee beans, nuts, meat and fish, all for the freezer

I spend about £35 to £40 which includes any cleaning stuff I need and lasts about 10 days sometimes 2 weeks but I don’t eat meat or fish and don’t have pets
I used to spend £28 to £32
But I don’t buy any ‘good’ stuff like you karmalady mine is all from Aldi or Asda and BandM it’s whatever coffee, loo rolls washing powder or fruit is on offer ?

I think I am going to try bulking out our meat meals with more vegetables and lentils , as its healthier too . I also buy expensive coffee and some mid priced wine separately from my grocery shop which adds a few pounds per month. I could probably cut this down if needed but the wine is a shared bottle at the weekend and coffee is just once daily each .

I am by myself. Only eat meat rarely, not for any vegetarian reasons, just because I prefer fish, and they are quicker and easier for me to cook (airfryer or microwave). My main meal, most days is a very substantial salad, plus a portion of fish. I do not drink alcohol (do not like it). I do have a tin full of choc biccie type things (penguins, wagon wheels, t-cakes, etc), so any g.children calling round like this - also keep cans of diet cola for them).

I am rarely, if ever purchase cakes, try not to eat too many, and if I wanted them would make myself. 90 per cent of my weekly shop is salad things - and this does mean that I am paying about £40 per week. Probably could get some of this cheaper if I shopped around, but find it easier to get delivery from Sainsbury. This means I have to get it above the forty pound mark. I like my shopping to be on the same day, much the same time weekly. Every three or four weeks I do an in-house shop when I do not need very much.

Not many cleaning items as I tend to use white vinegar and soda for most of that. Do like large or Xlarge eggs, which I use about a dozen a week.

I know there are things I could (and probably will have to) cut back on in the coming months, as I feel that this is far too much money for just one person.

It’s possible to cut back on cleaning products to an extent. White wine vinegar has a multitude of uses as have lemons and other natural things.

I did some thinking, adding up, while I have been pottering this morning. Overall about £45 a week on food for me. I bulk buy cleaning products to decant eg bio D, maybe £2 a week. We have always eaten sustainably and I have always bulked expensive meats with pulses and veggies. Soups with lentils. Salads with tinned edamame beans, a few walnuts etc

A large tall freezer is absolutely essential for my way of cooking, eating and making the money spin out

I am not sure if the posts are self-selecting, but a lot of us aim to buy sustainably and ethically and take some trouble & expense to do so.
I like to think that spending a little more is keeping our local and ethical producers going, and it will be the last thing to go from the budget.
My bill is actually nearer £80-90 for 2 of us. That includes feeding family members at least once a week, having people to dinner, making cakes for local good causes, alcohol, and 2 take-aways a month (DH's Indian fix and my essential fish-and-chips).
We rarely eat out, and some of this money goes on 'luxuries' to eat at home instead. We have a fishmonger come to our local farmers' market - this weekend we may well buy a lobster at £20, and a bottle of good wine for £12. Extravagant in a 'housekeeping' budget, but an indifferent meal out would cost more. And the lobster shell goes for stock. These would, of course, be the first things to go, although I'd keep buying the cheaper fish from him.
My lovely raised bed and a few pots give me herbs, salad & greens all year round.
And yes, steak once a month (my butcher does a very good cut from the rump) but cheaper slow cooked cuts most of the time.
I am an obsessive stock maker, and use my freezer for that. Onion skins, leek ends, any soft carrots, and stringy celery all go in, along with chicken carcasses, bones from a roast etc. Then I can make a chicken stock, fish stock, or general stock. The stock also adds flavour to one of my favourite meals - the peasant staple of slow cooked pulses with some sausage and/or ham hock.

Can I recommend the Too Good to Go app, through which you can at local grocery stores very cheaply buy food which would otherwise be thrown away because it is about to pass its sell by date. You don't know in advance what will be in your "magic bag", but you can batch cook and freeze meal portions for later.

For myself and DH I spend about £50 week on average. We’re vegetarian so obviously no meat, which keeps costs down. Eat a lot of vegetables, beans, chickpeas. Make toad in the hole with meatless sausage served with potatoes and green veg. Love butternut squash and chickpea curry, chilli con carne made with beans, chickpeas loads of garlic, onions, and mushrooms. We certainly don’t go hungry, plus I bake cakes and treats for the grandchildren.

I make lots of soup for the freezer - have just done loads from mushrooms picked in a local field and tomato from some very cheap tomatoes. A bowl of soup and a roll at lunch is cheap and filling! Live by myself in the country so never have takeaways, but do go out to lunch with friends about twice a month and restaurant bills have certainly gone up a lot. Don't eat a lot of meat but get given quite a bit of game. Feel very lucky that I'm not too badly off and don't have to worry about every penny - saying that will be adding more clothes rather than putting the heating on!

I decided at the start of the year to only buy British meat - why eat something from the other side of the world when you can get it here? So - I do a Sainsburys shop for general household stuff - store cupboard/ etc and buy the meat ( and often alcohol! ) at Aldi - where it is British and cheaper ! Some weeks I spend £80 - £100 on a Sainsburys shop including cat food, dog treats, pond fish food etc - and top up with the other as above. We also eat fish twice a week too. I cook slow cooker meals and bake a cake each week too - so we live quite well on that.

Last month we spent £160 in Lidl plus about £50 in our fruit and veg shop and £20 in our local butchers. So £230 for the month.
Still have meat and chicken in freezer as we buy 6 pack of chicken breast or pork chops when cheap and freeze most of it in portions of 2.
Dog food for 2 dogs we buy online in bulk and have 2 large storage bins for this. That's every 3 or 4 months. Works out about £50 a month

I really should work out how much I spend. I am shopping less now since I started freezing portions of what I make. Just took carrot/coriander soup out of freezer that will have for lunch with an Aldi thin (85p for 6) Three portions of soup made from one onion 500gms carrots and a little teaspoon of coriander. I also batch make a veggie bolognese mix and freeze. Very filling with a jacket potato (cut in half and cooked in airfryer). I have loads of stuff to grab in freezer. Will be making pepper soup today with a bag of peppers from Aldi... Pea soup tomorrow.

Pre food price increases I was spending about £60-£70 a week for the two of us and a large dog. I am now spending £80-£90 and the other day it was £100! This includes food for packed lunches (we both work full time) a Sunday roast and I always buy free range eggs and good quality meat (mainly from an animal welfare perspective). This will include the occasional cider for DH, I don’t really drink. I have changed my shopping habits too, I have stopped buying treats like fresh crab as it has gone from £4 to £6 and I have tried supermarket own brands as an alternative.

We are spending £70 per week for two of us and the amount of food we are getting for that has dropped drastically. Also on payday every month we allow £60 to top up on toilet rolls, toiletries, cleaning stuff etc which we trawl all the bargain shops for to get maximum value.

I found that, over the years, our portion sizes were getting bigger and bigger so now I'm very strict when cooking a 4 portion meal that 2 portions definitely go in the freezer for another day. I think many of us do eat more than we need to and we've found that following a 5:2 diet ie 5 days of normal meals and 2 days with just a very light meal is absolutely fine. It does help to keep costs down and I think we are healthier too.

I’m amazed that so many posters manage to pay so little. Our groceries cost at least £100 for the two of us. That is excluding pet food, we don’t eat meat, fish or drink alcohol! We used to buy only organic veg, but had dropped down to the pesticide sprayed stuff. We do only buy organic dairy products in the interest of animal welfare. We cook from scratch and make our own bread. I guess that’s cheaper than buying ready meals and ‘posh’ breads.

I’m amazed too. Won’t confess to what we spend on our food and the GSD’s.

I am housebound and having mobility difficulties am limited in what I cook. No frying or boiling. Use microwave, mini oven and slow cooker. Vegetables from frozen packs because I cannot stand and chop up.Food is my main interest now. Have always eaten healthily. At one time did cookery demonstrators to my local WI. Everything cooked from scratch. Only have free range chicken after seeing a programme on TV.Have a breadmaker. Make a fruitbread instead of cake. Thinking to save time and effort last week ordered Dumpling Mix. More effort. No suet but loads of chemicals. It went in the bin.
Have a Sainsbury delivery every ten to fourteen days. About £80. Includes wine and Guinness and cleaning stuff etc

I eat a lot of salad.

I would find it really difficult to come up with a figure. I tend to bulk buy soap powder, tinfoil ,washing up liquid etc from Costco also bulk buy chicken and mince from there too. Portion and freeze. I buy from the buffalo farm ( this farming life ) they deliver and often have special offers so I tend to bulk buy a few times a year. Buy my alcohol in Aldis also good for crisps and snacks. Most food is home cooked with a couple of takeaways a month. We are managing ok but if things get tighter I will look at cutting costs.