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Legal, pensions and money

Grocery budget for two... now .

(144 Posts)
Sandytoes Sun 02-Oct-22 15:51:34

There are lots of threads about grocery budgets , but they are mostly out of date or are for a family of four or more . Just wondered what other couples spend now on food , basic toiletries and cleaning products. We are now spending £80-90 per week ( which includes about £7 of pet food ). It seems a lot for the two of us , especially as I home cook most meals and this doesnt include any alcohol.

welbeck Tue 04-Oct-22 19:19:35

OP, do you eat meat with every meal ?
sorry haven't RFT.
your expenditure does sound a lot to me, but as you say difficult to compare, everyone's individual.

GrauntyHelen Tue 04-Oct-22 19:12:11

£300 per month including meat from butcher alcohol and cleaning products Mix of Tesco and Iceland delivery and bits and bobs from Farmfoods

karmalady Tue 04-Oct-22 19:00:34

I used to love Cranks, the recipe books. Carob cake, lentil and cheese wedges etc I started on that journey via a suma cooperative in someones house in kendal, 1977. Never looked back and even used cranks entertaining book when we had those dinner parties. Veggie got us through very lean years and we were healthy

Another very good veggie writer is Rose Elliot. We would not have survived without her thin paperback called thrifty fifty. It was meals for 4 for 50p. Then we went onto more of her books eg simply delicious and bean cuisine

All her recipes were nice eg butterbean and tomato pie with cheesy crust and there was also a nice pud to go with them such as grated apples and nuts in fresh orange juice

Mollygo Tue 04-Oct-22 18:21:21

If I do a weekly shop - Lidl and either ASDA or Sainsburys, the bill is usually £50-£70 depending on whether I need cleaning stuff and coffee.
If I shop daily at the local supermarket it’s easy to spend more. I buy dog food approx £35 per month on a repeat online order so that isn’t included.

Germanshepherdsmum Tue 04-Oct-22 18:15:57

You can get four tins for £2.50 at Aldi or Tesco.

Shirls52000 Tue 04-Oct-22 16:34:16

Just been to the supermarket today and was totally shocked to see 4 tins of Heinz tomato soup was £4.50! I mean blimey are they gold plated tins?!!!

BlueBelle Tue 04-Oct-22 16:11:58

I like alcohol but NEVER buy it except Christmas then maybe a couple of bottles of wine I d love to buy a bottle or two every week but couldn’t do it on my pension or even when I was working

Saggi Tue 04-Oct-22 16:11:18

Used to be about £80 -£85 per week for the two of us. Now my husband has gone into full time care and you’d think my bill would be about £40-45 …..but it’s not. Supermarkets just do not cater for singletons….as my son has been telling me for years! So my bill is coming in about £55 per week!

Missiseff Tue 04-Oct-22 15:56:41

Main supermarket shop (Aldi) between £45 & £55 per week

Casdon Tue 04-Oct-22 15:50:00

This thread is making me think. My dog’s food alone costs £15 a week, and some of you are managing to live yourselves on not much more than that. You have my admiration. We probably spend about £130-140 a week on food, household and toiletries (including the dog), and I wouldn’t say we live extravagantly on that.

Dreamylady Tue 04-Oct-22 15:47:11

Don't blame you Razza! We all deserve a treat. Think I'll try those aduki beans. I used to love Cranks.

Razzamatazz Tue 04-Oct-22 15:41:43

ha ha Dreamlady, I did buy myself a bar of Tony's this week, it's delicious! Expensive at £3.50 but on offer at my Tesco.

Razzamatazz Tue 04-Oct-22 15:40:08

I'm a veg and spend about £50 on food per week, including expensive dog food, no alcohol. Finally got hold of some dried aduki beans, going back to cooking like the old days of Cranks!

Dreamylady Tue 04-Oct-22 15:34:03

For two of us and a small pet I now spend roughly £70 - £80 pounds a week on food, toiletries and cleaning products. It would be almost impossible now for me to bring this down to £50, which used to be my weekly target and would probably involve us eating smaller portions of poorer quality food.
I buy small amounts of meat and fish from the local butcher and fishmonger and get some of our fruit and vegetables and cleaning products from the market. I use the cheaper supermarkets for the rest. I batch cook and we don't drink alcohol or have takeaways. It costs a lot more when we have visitors but that can't be helped. We don't entertain a lot and visitors are good for the soul. So is chocolate, I tell myself!

wetflannel Tue 04-Oct-22 14:39:41

Both vegan so no meat or fish which hugely cuts the grocery bill. I don't make bread as I'm totally rubbish at it. 90% of our meals are made from scratch where I always batch cook so there are always meals in the freezer. Cleaning / beauty products are all bought online from cruelty free shops. Our weekly bill is approx £45-55.

TheMaggiejane1 Tue 04-Oct-22 14:30:17

To be honest I haven’t a clue how much we’d spend just for the 2 of us as we never have what I’d consider a ‘normal’ week. Last weekend we had my son and his children staying so I had an extra delivery of about £70 as well as a delivery for £80 earlier in the week. We also have Hello Fresh for 3 meals. This week so far I haven’t bought any food at all apart from the 3 Hello Fresh meals but we’ve got people coming to dinner on Saturday so that will probably cost over £100 when you add in the wine but we’ll be able to eat leftovers on Sunday. Next week we’ve got a few meals out booked so I probably won’t need a deliver until the end of the week. The deliveries generally cost around £100 but will usually include cleaning products and the length of time between orders varies hugely.

Slightly off topic but I managed to book a Christmas delivery last week - I couldn’t believe how expensive the turkeys were!

Normandygirl Tue 04-Oct-22 14:27:31

Pre pandemic my weekly food shopping was @ 80-90 euros a week for two of us. Now it comes to 120-140 euros. That includes beer, wine, cider and treats for the grandchildren. It seems to be specific items that have risen dramatically though. Cooking oil has gone from 3.20 euros a bottle to 12 euros!!, butter has doubled in price as has meat and fish. Fruit, veg, milk, bread eggs and wine have only risen marginally.

Pavane Tue 04-Oct-22 14:13:00

From Florida…I see several people here are making bread. Will you share your recipe, please. Also, is that for loaf/sandwich bread. Meat is so expensive here that it is ground meat and chicken parts for us. Everything is sky high. Thank you.

Norah Tue 04-Oct-22 14:02:43

Our food, cleaning supplies, pet foods cost seems to be rising. I'm not sure of the total, I account the money monthly, not weekly.

Too many variables and bulk purchases.

JIns Tue 04-Oct-22 13:54:47

Between £90-£100 includes everything, wine, odd bottle of gin, cleaning products etc. we still buy the coffee we like but have switched brands on some items and as time goes by am guessing there are some ‘luxuries’ that we may forgo. (Happy Retirement?) ?

Fernhillnana Tue 04-Oct-22 13:51:08

£250 per month for two adults and two dogs. Think that’s about average.

cc Tue 04-Oct-22 13:48:53

We spend about the same as Sandytoes, split between a weekly online delivery and several top-up shops.
The reason I noticed the rising prices is because I try to get the order down to the Ocado minimum order (£40) and I'm finding that my fridge is virtually empty before my regular weekly delivery and my freezer contents are definitely running down.
I've just signed up for Ocado's Smartpass delivery because I know that there are reductions on things I buy regularly. (There's an offer at the moment, two months free deliveries and a £9.99 voucher for the Christmas delivery).

harrigran Tue 04-Oct-22 13:36:18

My weekly grocery bill is usually £130 to £150 pounds and there is just me although I do feed others at least three times a week.
Last week my Sainsbury's bill was £140 and I spent a further £70 in Aldi on storage cupboard things.
I do have expensive tastes in wine but that is not usually bought at Sainsbury's
I do not feel the need to economise so whatever I fancy goes in the basket.

crazyH Tue 04-Oct-22 13:19:29

shazmo - that’s my spending for one. Hmmmmm…must start cutting down.

MadeInYorkshire Tue 04-Oct-22 13:18:51

I do my Mum's grocery shopping online - it used to be around £45 - 55 a week or a bit more when she buys dog food, but now it is between £70 and £90 a week!! Fortunately I have just got her Attendance Allowance so that will help - she is paying £80 a month on electricity bills and that's not enough - just paid the £10 excess from the last bill. Storage heaters that haven't even been on for months! It's scary ....