Grocery budget for two... now .

We are about £100 a week food, cleaning products, alcohol. I find online shopping is good for me as I can pick offers and change my order as the week progresses before submitting the final version. Buying a Christmas offer every week included in this cost.

Sorry to those who are finding the thread depressing . It certainly wasnt intended that way . I appreciate everyone has different budgets and he recent prices increases have made things much tougher for those already on a very tight budget . I was just curious to see if we were completely out of step with the current " average " grocery spending for a couple, and its seems we are not. .

We are a family of four, with two adult children, aged 22 (in a couple of weeks) and 23 going on 24; one cat and two dwarf rabbits.

I do two online shops via Tesco per week totalling between £120 to £160 per week, depending on certain items such as washing power and other more expensive items that are usually purchased over longer periods; plus, a further £40 to £60 via other grocery stores such as Morrisons and Aldi; however, that's over the last few months. Prior to the Russian Invasion earlier this year, my online shop was between £80 to £100 per week; plus, around the same from local grocery stores.

I've noted over the past several months, significant price rises in the cost of most food and cleaning materials, especially from the likes of Tesco; (up to 20% for some items).

I've also noted that many of the items we used to buy in the largest versions for example the large jars of marmite, 4Kg bags of sugar, 5 Kg bags of Rice and Pasta, Boxes of 24 vegetable stock cubes, the largest Kenko coffee jars (the refill packs are also more expensive than the jars, weight for weight) and the large packs of toilet paper have all been removed from the Tesco online stores, since the issue with a shortage of HGV drivers was brought into the public eye; making it even more expensive on the weekly shopping bill.

Just for balance there was a parent in the ñews this morning feeding a family of 5 with £40 a week she wasn’t complaining about food cost it was energy cost.

p.s. We don't buy alcohol or cigarettes and rarely go out to restaurants; in fact, the last time we ate out was at my father wake back in August 2018 and prior to that when an exchange student stayed several years ago and the only time, I've gone to the local Indian for a takeout in recent memory was when a good friend and his family visited from Essex a couple of years ago. Prior to that it must have been 30+ years ago when we were still students at university. One of the main reasons is because most restaurants didn't cater very well for vegetarians and vegans, plus we prefer food we've cooked ourselves. and prefer to spend our cash on other things.

Katie59

Just for balance there was a parent in the ñews this morning feeding a family of 5 with £40 a week she wasn’t complaining about food cost it was energy cost.

I'm sure if the mother had more spare cash, she'd be spending more.

With rising prices virtually everywhere, I've looked at how we could reduce the cost of our weekly shop if it became necessary and I could easily lose at least 40% off my present expenditure, but it would mean buying cheaper brands, and dropping some of the more expensive items for example get the cheapest white bread instead of my favourite granary loaf, get rid of my coffee maker and buy cheap instant coffee, buy unbranded toilet paper instead of the nicer more expensive paper.

Thankfully at present, we are still lucky enough to be able to afford our little luxuries and favourites.

Katie59, you should read Jack Monroes back story and how she fed herself and her son on £10 a week, but if all those strapped for cash did what she did, the demand for all the cheap and desperate things she did would be so popular that the rpice of those goods would shoot up.

Anyway why do we make demands for the highest level of cookery skills and ability to find nutritious food cheaply, of the poor, when we do not expect those better off to have the same skills?

M0nica

*Katie59*, you should read Jack Monroes back story and how she fed herself and her son on £10 a week, but if all those strapped for cash did what she did, the demand for all the cheap and desperate things she did would be so popular that the rpice of those goods would shoot up.

It’s amazing what you can do if you have to, I thought £40 a week was pretty good for 2 adults and 3 kids

Katie59 Try it - and do not forget all the staples. tea, coffee etc, that are not needed every week, but need t be bought.

Make the meals nutritious and make sure that everythingng can be bought in one local supermarket. Those on small incomes, will rpobably have physically demanding jobs and not have the car or time to enable them to shop around - then consider what effect it would have onthe prices of the goods you buy, if half the population shopped this way - and week after week afte week.

Our shopping used to be around £50 a week at Sainsburys (my Father in Law insists on them), but now it is 70-80...

M0nica

Katie59 Try it - and do not forget all the staples. tea, coffee etc, that are not needed every week, but need t be bought.

Make the meals nutritious and make sure that everythingng can be bought in one local supermarket. Those on small incomes, will rpobably have physically demanding jobs and not have the car or time to enable them to shop around - then consider what effect it would have onthe prices of the goods you buy, if half the population shopped this way - and week after week afte week.

I could do it on £40 a week easily if I had to, it would be good too.
£10 a week is a problem even in the cheapest shops you could get enough calories but it would be very boring and difficult to balance a diet for growing children, free school meals would help a lot.

Not all 'free school meals' are totally free. Some schools have meals that are more than the money they are given for these and charge parents the higher cost and for those on 'free' meals, they would still have to pay the difference in that amoint

Franbern

Not all 'free school meals' are totally free. Some schools have meals that are more than the money they are given for these and charge parents the higher cost and for those on 'free' meals, they would still have to pay the difference in that amoint

That’s interesting Franbern. Can you give areas where that happens?

We are fussy about meat but in a different way. I don’t like eating a lot of animal fat so only buy chicken ( I discard the skin ) , low fat mince, pork steaks or leg joints. It’s easy to remove the fat from the pork. We might have steak as a treat and a leg of lamb for guests. Again all fat is removed. I couldn’t eat shoulder or belly joints or bacon. It’s all bought in the supermarket. If we had to spend less we’d have more meat free meals. Our weekly bill is around £90 to £100. No pets or alcohol and only the very cheapest cleaning materials and toiletries. Now that Sainsburys are changing the amount of Nectar points per £1 the toiletries will come from Boots.

This has been an interesting thread, thank you Sandytoes. I think you can only really compare if you agree on where things like alcohol, take aways, and feeding others fits in.
Even then, as some of us have agreed, we will spend on luxury food rather than go out; and some of us choose to buy ethically (not always dearer though).

M0nica

Anyway why do we make demands for the highest level of cookery skills and ability to find nutritious food cheaply, of the poor, when we do not expect those better off to have the same skills?

Really excellent point!

@MOnica , completely agree with your point about expecting those on a very low income having the skills , transport and time to produce a nutritious meal plan on a very low budget , and then have the gadgets and fuel to cook it .
@ Katie59 , it would be great if you could share your £40 for 4 weekly meal plan. Even though many of us on Gransnet are single or a couple we could still adapt this, and I am sure many of us who are spending £80 plus per couple would find this really useful . I have to confess if I had to feed the 2 of us for £20 per week I couldnt even begin to find a nutritious and tasty meal plan .

All primary school children in P1 to P5 get a free school lunch here in Scotland, and I believe that's to be extended to include P6 and P7 very shortly.

I learned to cook from mum and domestic science at school,
Home baking pies lots of vegetables, cheap cuts of meat, the slow cooker makes that easy, home made bread, fruit crumbles. I had 4 sons and a husband to feed so it was pretty continuous, the house was cold the kitchen was the best place to be.

@Katie , yes I home cook almost everything( except bread) and often slow cook cheaper cuts with lots of veg , So the £40 meal plan would be fab, (or around 175 if you do it monthly as to including all items that are not bought each week eg the seasoning etc) . I am completely in awe you can feed 4 people for £50 and still keep it tasty and healthy.

Sandytoes

@MOnica , completely agree with your point about expecting those on a very low income having the skills , transport and time to produce a nutritious meal plan on a very low budget , and then have the gadgets and fuel to cook it .
@ Katie59 , it would be great if you could share your £40 for 4 weekly meal plan. Even though many of us on Gransnet are single or a couple we could still adapt this, and I am sure many of us who are spending £80 plus per couple would find this really useful . I have to confess if I had to feed the 2 of us for £20 per week I couldnt even begin to find a nutritious and tasty meal plan .

I agree with M0nica as well.

I'll state my frugal healthy food. We do frugal in conjunction with some religious days, we're vegan if our children and grandchildren aren't around.

Indian Dahl (red lentils, onion, tinned tomatoes, coriander, curry powder) rice, salad, bread (I make all our bread)

Sweet potato bean corn Chili, rice, bread, salad, fruit

One Skillet meal (pinto beans, onion, garlic, tinned tomatoes, chopped carrots and celery, cooked pasta, herbs, red wine/ or not), bread, salad, fruit

Jacket potatoes with steamed broccoli, greek yoghurt, butter, spices/herbs. Black bean soup. Bread, salad, fruit

Tomato Soup (made with tinned tomatoes, onion, a carrot, garlic, Italian-y herbs, in blender) bread (or cheese sandwiches), salad, fruit

Canellini beans and roasted cauliflower, dressed. With bread, salad, fruit

Potato broccoli soup, salad (with soy sauce marinated sauteed tofu squared mixed in, for protein, if people like tofu), bread, fruit

Mushroom aubergine curry, brown rice, bread, salad, fruit

Veg stir fry with tofu for protein, basmatti rice, bread, fruit

Thanks for the topic Sandytoes. I live in Canada and it is interesting to compare recent UK food budgets with mine.
My weekly bill for one averages out to the equivalent of £57. This is for food, toiletries, cleaning stuff, dog food, a couple of coffee shop visits, a restaurant meal and wine.
I don't eat meat or fish , desserts ( other than fruit), cakes or cookies . Food prices here continue to rise slowly. .

Norah , I will definitely give Dahl a try and maybe try a few meat free meals each week .I do make Nan bread( and pizza base) so the bread maker isnt just gathering dust

I don't eat starchy carbs, so eating cheaply is a challenge. No potatoes, rice, pasta, flour, cereals, pastry/dough etc. and I can't bulk out recipes with lentils.

Before the recent rise in prices, I could just about manage on £20 a week for food (but no more).

The only reason I could eat so cheaply is because I have a friend who is a commercial allotment grower and gives me a box of veggies and I grow most of my own salad stuff in summer. I don't drink alcohol, biscuits, cakes, sweets, stodgy puddings, don't ever use flour as a thickener or use commercial sauces. I rarely buy fruit except for frozen berries.

Most of the food I buy is protein (dairy, meat, nuts) and I've noticed it's these foods which have increased most in price, as has olive oil, which (for me) is an essential ingredient in salad dressings.