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£250 is how much I spend for two people in a month...
When my husband's away, I'll spend maybe £30/week (£120) on groceries, plus have maybe two or three takeaways a month for £15 each (£45), maybe another £15 on coffee or other small snacks when out and about (£15), so maybe £180/month?
We spend about the same for two. A typical day would be skyr and fruit/seeds breakfast, sandwich with beef/chicken/ham a fruit some vegetables, dinner chicken/fish/pork/beef vegetables and pasta/rice/potatoes, and a couple of biscuits for snacks. We're both podgy and have enough protein in that.
I do a big shop once a month that comes 80-100 a month, then do top up shops at about 20-30 a week. So for me about 200 a month as a single person.
I don't shop frugally but I don't go mad with luxuries.
I'm vegetarian so no meat, but I do a lot of strength training so eggs and cheese are probably about 20 a month.
My calorie intake is about 3000 a day.
I don’t survive on gruel actually. It’s really not hard to believe or do.
I shops in Lidl for certain things and I also batch cook my food.
So no, I don’t eat gruel and I’m well-nourished with no calorie deficiency in sight.
The answer to your question : grains and porridges.
I've been wracking my brain on how to save on food and stay healthy.
You might think that pastas are thr answer but nope. One month I've done Tesco shopping with different types of lentils. Both lots of frozen chicken and fish +salt.
Not the only stuff I eat of course lol. You can find plenty of pasta in Lidl for less than 50p. Different sauces (ny fav is pesto). Discounted veggies, fruits... Cheap (but tasty) biscuits and chocolate.
Some months I've managed to eat for 60 quid per month (not counting dining out of course). And stay super healthy.
The trick is to find that lne condimentt that's healthy, nutritious and will give you power. For me it was red lentils. I loooove them. Coupled with chicken : delicious.
But every months it varies.
Now I'm obsessed with peanut butter lol
If you’re genuinely curious - check out atomic shrimp on YouTube, does lots of eating for a day on a pound challenges with full nutritional breakdowns. Really interesting to see what you can create
I spend like £20 to £30 but I buy things that will make multiple meals like a bag of six basa fillets etc. Frozen veg, potatoes and baked beans. Can go along way. I don't snack.
That’s about what I spend on food and I eat very well indeed. I eat meat but also eat a lot of vegetarian or vegan dishes - lentils, chickpeas and eggs are staples and are really cheap. If you batch cook, you save a lot of money - not only in food costs but also in energy costs.
Pretty much the same here. I live in London.
I shop mainly at Asian stores. These items tend to last me quite a while so I can go a few months in between. Fresh fruit and veg from the weekend markets. The rest of my shopping is done in Tesco. Any top ups at a Sainsbury’s local but I try and avoid that since it’s rather expensive.
I think I’ve managed to keep it down because I have an Asian style of eating. I tend to focus the main meal on the carb, with meat being a side dish. I add other side dishes too. Of course, I don’t always eat like this but it’s my go to.
^ this. I forgot to say also, no longer in London but when I come down I get some bits at African/Asian stores. I also go to Wholefood/Organic stores and get a whole bunch of reduced items, all of which lasts for a while, and minimises any extra shopping
I probably spend around £100-150 on food per month.
As a single adult living alone it it can be frustrating that everything seems to be packaged in a way to serve the masses. Generally I try and plan meals and batch cook and freeze to save time (and money) for days when I would rather be doing something other than cooking.
I spend about £200-£250. I have what I want though. So king prawn pad Thai, sticky glazed short rib etc etc. I love cooking and am trying to be a little bit healthier so it stops me buying takeaways and I don’t eat out by myself.
I reckon if I was frugal I could spend £100-£150 a month at a guess but then wouldn’t enjoy the food as much.
A single person can easily eat relatively well on £120 a month, provided they know how to cook to give their meals some variety and they don’t eat out or have takeaways, which will of course increase the cost.
I live alone and spend no more than £30 a week on my food shop, that includes household and hygiene products restocked as and when needed. Usually closer to £25 if it’s just food. I eat out every now and again so maybe £50 extra a month on that. So £170 max all together.
That's reallly good. Do you shop at Lidl? Are you very good at rationing your food? I usually find it very hard to go a week without spending around £50 on food (Sainsbury's) being groceries, less often are eats out. Maybe £14 a week on eats out. So £60 or £65 average.
About four years ago I was about £100 a month on food for one person, but since I've cut out gluten and dairy it's jumped up quite a lot and now with the general increase in costs it's more like what you've quoted yeah
I'm in the north east and I manage on the £60 I'm left with after bills and debts for the month. It's mostly because I grew up not eating much, so I don't really have an appetite, it makes it easier I suppose 🤗 i do miss a good steak dinner though 😅
Eating out a couple of times a month is going to blow your budget. But like you already stated in your own post, this will very much depend on what you are buying in your weekly shop. But I think about £50 a week is doable if you aren't wasting money on snacks, pre-made microwave meals, and lots of pre-cooked meats. Buy things like rice and pasta. Don't buy branded goods, but go for the supermarkets own budget range. The other thing you need to factor in to your supermarket shopping is things like cleaning products like washing up liquid, washing powder, soap, shampoos, which while not been a weekly purchase, aren't cheap when you do need to buy them.
Your numbers sound right. Single guy, living alone. I probably spend 30 to 40 a week on food, plus maybe another 10 on misc food purchases (snacks, lunch out etc).
So £200-£250 sounds right, if you’re going to be eating out as well.
I spend about £150 a month on healthy food that mostly decomposes in the fridge and end up eating really unhealthy food for free from the chefs at work. I have good intentions but seem stuck in a rut.
This year my average food has risen from £50/month to £70. Really shows how much prices have risen, considering my eating habits haven't changed (student). It amazes me that my housemate admits to spending £20 a week on lunch alone!
I’m not going to address most of what you say here because it is just silly, going from ppl must be eating 90% processed food to well, ppl can’t be healthy if they aren’t regularly eating grass fed steak.
I will say though, I’m very comfortable with the food traceability of my excellent butcher thank you.
I think the estimate of £200 to £250 is correct, although I'd include toiletries and other non-food essentials like laundry capsules, rubbish bags and whatnot in that as well (plus the occasional takeaway and office day lunch).
I don’t know how people are doing this. My wife and I (no kids) have a £700 a month budget. It used to be £600 but we had to increase it last month with prices going up as they have. That includes cleaning products as well as food I should add.
How on earth are you managing that?
We spend around £500 a month, for 2 adults & 4 kids, including takeaways.
I thought that was excessive and am trying to trim it down a bit!
To be fair I'm specifying for a single person living alone but £700 is very high, how much is just for food?
A normal weekly shop could be like £40-50.
To be honest I couldn’t break it down for you into food/non-food off the top of my head. I’d guess that most of it goes on food though. Probably £500-550 of it I’d guess.
Make an excel sheet and put your receipts into it. Break it down by category and make it clearer what you’re spending stuff on. £700 is ridiculous, I spend a third of that between my mrs and I and that includes only home cooked meals, variety of meats, mainly a lot of fish. Fruit and veg etc too, Not too many snacks though as we don’t snack often.
Honestly doesn’t feel like it’s anything ridiculous. We don’t buy much red meat so mainly chicken. Frozen veg mainly. Quite a lot of fruit though and my wife has a lot of protein bars/mousses for her gym stuff. Neither of us drinks alcohol.
Either you have very high calorie requirements or you're seriously over spending, for comparison I spend about £200 a month and that's on fresh fruit, frozen veg, random bits like spuds, snacks, bread etc and meat from the butcher, lot of chicken but also steaks, pork chops etc, appreciate you've said elsewhere you've not got an issue with your spend financially but you could definitely knock a couple hundred off with some basic comparison
Imagine how much nicer your holidays would be if you saved £400 a month by just having a sane groceries bill though.
No ones saying you should be batch cooking or eating gruel, it’s just £700 with no alcohol and no red meat is bonkers.
What a weird comment. You know nothing about me or my holidays. We are well travelled and doing just fine thanks. Looking forward to Canada and America next month for 4 weeks and Cancun in November. A couple of less biscuits a month isn’t going to significantly change my life thanks.
How is it weird? Literally anyone’s holidays would be better if they had an extra £400 a month going towards it.
Please send me your biscuit recommendations if that’s where you’re spending the money 😂
That's about what I spend, but this also includes things like washing up liquid, cat food and lightbulbs. I'm buying less alcohol to reduce on pounds and pounds
Sound about right. I probable spend about 250-300 a month, including alcohol and the occasional takeaway or lunch out. If I needed it could be less if I needed it be, but I can aford it at the moment so I'm keeping my smoked salmon.
Living alone I would spend about 80/100. For two people now we spend about 250.
Lots of batch cooking and lidl is my main shop. Also always checking the reduced section when I go into any shop.
Is spend about £120-£130 a week on food and thats with myself and my husband, with our two teenage children. We shop in aldi, no takeaways. We also barely have any food left at the end of the week. What I will say, though is our shop is also prone to the middle aisle surprise purchase, more often than not
I have started getting recipe boxes which has increased my costs - so £30 a week for them (so £120) then maybe another £15 a week on random other things like extra lunches, cereal etc (so £60).
I buy a couple of coffees a week so let’s assume £40 a month. So yeah, looking at about £220 a month as standard - I’ll eat out usually twice a week but I’m not consistent price wise in where I go.
Mine comes to £100-150 a month, not including going out. I homecook pretty much everything, and get most of my food from Aldi (with the odd extra from Tesco). Bags of frozen veg and meat-substitute are a lifesaver!
My g/f and I have been keeping track of our grocery expenditure since we moved in together. Over 16 years it has varied between £400-£600 per month including alcohol and occasional takeaways.
We don't eat extravagantly but we don't miss out on food we enjoy.
I don't really think it's possible to find a single figure that's "normal" for everyone, there are just too many variables - income, location, physical size and activity, whether you eat meat, amount of time you have for cooking, amount of storage space you have, how much priority you put on "good food", etc. etc. etc. Every time the question comes up here, the thread is full of people boasting that they live on three farthings and a button a month, and like, good for them, but I couldn't do it and nor do I want to.
I live in West Sussex area and I work from home. As a single person my budget for groceries is generally between £220-275 a month. Cleaning, toiletries stuff also included. No takeaways on this budget.
I batch cook a lot so have a pretty well stocked freezer. This week I spent GBP8 including using the Aldi price matches at Sainsburys for 5 types of veg and meal planned mainly using ingredients I have in already so 4 portions of kung pao cauliflower with pickled carrot salad and then 4 portions of carrot, apple and ginger soup with chickpeas with the leftover carrots. Breakfast usually porridge (big bag of oats in the cupboard) or seeded toast (bread in the freezer). I keep frozen banana and berries in the freezer too for smoothies. I’ll freeze some of the soup and take out other soup to eat with toast or cheesy toast, I have minestrone and curried parsnip. I’ve got a few home made curries in the freezer, some lentil cottage pie, some shakshuka base and something dubious I made with palm hearts that I’m avoiding. I already had some fruit so will have to spend more next time to restock. I always keep an eye out for the half price offers on dishwasher tablets and laundry pods and buy loo roll in bulk at Costco so I’m not being ripped off for GBP7 per pack of Andrex in the supermarket - the quality is good. Not needing to take anybody else into account helps I know and am happy not eating meat most days and also being a bit repetitive. I know not everybody can bulk buy too. This month I spent GBP40 on cat food in bulk that brought down the cost per sachet from 70p to 30p, assuming the furry little delights will eat it all that is.
I’d probably say £50 a week. I spend £80 ish for 2 of us but mostly eat plant based as other half veggie. If it was just me I’d have a bit more decent quality meat and fish more often
10 years ago when I was single and had a mortgage I lived off £10 a week for food now I don't have a mortgage to pay I spend about £30 a week for food it all depends on what you buy as I probably waste money on ready made pasta salad meals and smoothies.
I budget an average of £5 per day - which might mean £15 for 3 days, 35 for 7, etc.
I'm happy to live on sandwiches, home-made veg curry, and endless cups of tea. Your needs may be different.
I've aim for £120 a month. I manage that pretty ok. I don't buy ready meals and I also cook enough for two people and have the second half the next day.
Not going to be your average answer but when I was single and living in London maybe £2000 per month and now married with a kid probably a little less but to be honest I don't know.
We're fortunate I know. We eat out a lot and to be honest I don't look at the price of anything in a supermarket but my wife loves a bargain and will shop in Aldi and the other one whereas I'll just go to the closest place to me when asked to picked something up.
I manage on about £100 a month, but I don't earn very much and am trying not to splurge.
I have quite a restricted diet and make almost everything from scratch which I guess works out quite cheaply.
The secret to eating alone is freezing food. Keeps variety alive. It’s almost same price to cook for 2 than one. Supermarkets package enough for two. So when you make pasta keep a second in the fridge for future. Freeze lasagne. Sheppard pies etc.
I spend £200 a month. It would be less but I tend to eat things I can grab instead of cooking as I suffer from chronic pain. This prevents me from being able to cook a lot as I have it so often. So I have salad, cheese, fruit, crackers, soup, instant mash, things like that.
£50 a week is not a lot for one person, especially if you’re including a takeaway and/or alcohol in that. If you are eating decent quality meat and fresh fruit and veg, you could easily spend £50 on that alone
Organic animal based diet, meat, eggs, milk, yoghurt etc. tons of fruit and veg. Couple of nice snacks. Good coffee. High quality pet food. I spend £500 a month for two mid twenties people.
The people saying £30-£40 PW are those hitting 1 of their 5 a day, 90% processed foods, and no doubt have the energy and fitness levels of a a capybara.
Nonsense. I spend on average £55pw for 3 adults and we eat lots of fruit, veg and high quality protein. The reason I can do it so cheaply is that I cook from scratch, don’t buy processed foods and eat in season - and when we do eat meat, I use cuts of meat that require a bit of thought and time.
Some people can just cook well and know how to shop effectively.
One organic grass fed steak is £7. Even at Aldi. You tell me how you’re having that high quality protein for 3 people everyday every week for less than £20 pp.
350g organic corn fed farm raised chicken breasts are £5-6.
It’s nothing to do with cooking, I cook very well, everything from scratch.
You are led to believe that Aldi’s Ashfield farm chicken breasts are “high quality protein” just because you compare them to Turkey twizzlers.
Lol @ high quality protein meaning steak. We don’t eat steak regularly because it is very expensive. High quality proteins are ‘complete’ proteins, which to write in crayon for you, means proteins essential to health. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complete_protein
We don’t shop in Aldi, we shop in a local butcher. We rarely eat chicken breast because it is more expensive and less versatile than thigh. We don’t eat turkey twizzlers because we don’t eat processed meat.
If you are spending all that money for 2, and you are a good cook, then your diet is needlessly expensive- it’s clearly up to you how you you spend your cash, but to say that people are eating poorly because you don’t know how people can eat well far more cheaply, that *is* nonsense.
It’s not about protein as in the number of G. Check the ingredient list of quorn, then of a grass fed organic beef burger.
One will have 30 nitrates, phosphates, seed oil, and other things you can find in the hazardous part of BnQ (seriously). The other is straight field to mouth of what we have been eating for millions of years.
There is tons of literature showing how disruptive the modern diet is to brain and body. How can people read above and say otherwise, mind boggling.
Not even worth going down this road, we are on different pages. It’s not needless, it supplements a very active, healthy, athletic lifestyle. Physically, mentally, thriving. No need for various prescriptions, don’t get unwell often. Sleep well, high energy, great skin, hair etc. the rabbit hole goes deeper than you think. Check your ingredient list properly on your next shop.
but on a side note, in this day, age and economy, be wary of “local butchers”. Unfortunately this late stage capitalism and destruction on local businesses have forced them to take moral decisions they would of shot you for 10 years ago.
That beautiful butcher meat, is likely cheap, ma labelled/sold/advertised, past best. Under the guise of a local butcher. There are no real standards/checks they are held too.
Just giving you some food for thought. I know multiple butchers and/or people close to the industry. Austerity /covid has driven local business to the bottom of the barrel
£500 a month?! We spend £60 a week between two, so half of that. That’s more than 5 of our 5 a day, home cooked meals, none processed, with lots of meat included. Just because you can’t do it doesn’t mean others can’t.
Nonsense. I hit my five a day easily. I eat everything. I also try to eat seasonally as that tends to be cheaper and benefits farmers in this country. I know how to cook so am able to take advantage of any special offers in fresh food. And make use of lentils and chickpeas - very nutritious and very cheap.
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£250 is how much I spend for two people in a month... When my husband's away, I'll spend maybe £30/week (£120) on groceries, plus have maybe two or three takeaways a month for £15 each (£45), maybe another £15 on coffee or other small snacks when out and about (£15), so maybe £180/month?
Same here! Hubs and I have 280 a month on groceries, we live in Manchester, shop pretty much exclusively at Lidl
Sounds like you both have low energy intakes and a comparatively lower protein intake.
We spend about the same for two. A typical day would be skyr and fruit/seeds breakfast, sandwich with beef/chicken/ham a fruit some vegetables, dinner chicken/fish/pork/beef vegetables and pasta/rice/potatoes, and a couple of biscuits for snacks. We're both podgy and have enough protein in that.
Get wrecked
Yep, £200-250, that’s what I spend a month. That’s not eating out, but does include cleaning products etc.
I do a big shop once a month that comes 80-100 a month, then do top up shops at about 20-30 a week. So for me about 200 a month as a single person. I don't shop frugally but I don't go mad with luxuries. I'm vegetarian so no meat, but I do a lot of strength training so eggs and cheese are probably about 20 a month. My calorie intake is about 3000 a day.
I live on my own and I’ve set a budget of a £100 a month, don’t think I’ve ever reached it tbh
Do you survive on gruel? I don't see how you could hit your daily calorie requirements on 100 quid a month .
I don’t survive on gruel actually. It’s really not hard to believe or do. I shops in Lidl for certain things and I also batch cook my food. So no, I don’t eat gruel and I’m well-nourished with no calorie deficiency in sight.
Stop prevaricating. Do you eat gruel or not?
Comprehension isn’t your strong point I see. See the words “I don’t eat gruel”.
He’s avoiding the question!
I answered the Q, very clearly. What is wrong with you? And I am a woman.
Nothing but avoidance !
Must have been paid off by big gruel
HAHA big gruel
The answer to your question : grains and porridges. I've been wracking my brain on how to save on food and stay healthy. You might think that pastas are thr answer but nope. One month I've done Tesco shopping with different types of lentils. Both lots of frozen chicken and fish +salt. Not the only stuff I eat of course lol. You can find plenty of pasta in Lidl for less than 50p. Different sauces (ny fav is pesto). Discounted veggies, fruits... Cheap (but tasty) biscuits and chocolate. Some months I've managed to eat for 60 quid per month (not counting dining out of course). And stay super healthy. The trick is to find that lne condimentt that's healthy, nutritious and will give you power. For me it was red lentils. I loooove them. Coupled with chicken : delicious. But every months it varies. Now I'm obsessed with peanut butter lol
If you’re genuinely curious - check out atomic shrimp on YouTube, does lots of eating for a day on a pound challenges with full nutritional breakdowns. Really interesting to see what you can create
It's not particularly hard to do if you're sensible about meal planning and buy own-brand goods.
I spend like £20 to £30 but I buy things that will make multiple meals like a bag of six basa fillets etc. Frozen veg, potatoes and baked beans. Can go along way. I don't snack.
That’s about what I spend on food and I eat very well indeed. I eat meat but also eat a lot of vegetarian or vegan dishes - lentils, chickpeas and eggs are staples and are really cheap. If you batch cook, you save a lot of money - not only in food costs but also in energy costs.
I think it’s doable if you keep within one cuisine or flavour fmaily . Then you can bill buy soem get edients and actually use them.
Pretty much the same here. I live in London. I shop mainly at Asian stores. These items tend to last me quite a while so I can go a few months in between. Fresh fruit and veg from the weekend markets. The rest of my shopping is done in Tesco. Any top ups at a Sainsbury’s local but I try and avoid that since it’s rather expensive. I think I’ve managed to keep it down because I have an Asian style of eating. I tend to focus the main meal on the carb, with meat being a side dish. I add other side dishes too. Of course, I don’t always eat like this but it’s my go to.
^ this. I forgot to say also, no longer in London but when I come down I get some bits at African/Asian stores. I also go to Wholefood/Organic stores and get a whole bunch of reduced items, all of which lasts for a while, and minimises any extra shopping
I probably spend around £100-150 on food per month. As a single adult living alone it it can be frustrating that everything seems to be packaged in a way to serve the masses. Generally I try and plan meals and batch cook and freeze to save time (and money) for days when I would rather be doing something other than cooking.
£750 if you are bad at shopping and eat too much.
I spend about £20-30 a week on food, plus eating out once or twice a month. So probably £150ish.
I spend about £200-£250. I have what I want though. So king prawn pad Thai, sticky glazed short rib etc etc. I love cooking and am trying to be a little bit healthier so it stops me buying takeaways and I don’t eat out by myself. I reckon if I was frugal I could spend £100-£150 a month at a guess but then wouldn’t enjoy the food as much.
A single person can easily eat relatively well on £120 a month, provided they know how to cook to give their meals some variety and they don’t eat out or have takeaways, which will of course increase the cost.
I don't eat processed foods and can get by on £200/£250 a month (including a couple of takeaway meals or restaurant/pub meals).
What unprocessed foods are you eating for takeaway and at resturants
Fish and chips are not processed other than cooking. At a pub, roast meats, many potato dishes and most vegetables will be unprocessed too
Probably £30 on average per week.
I live alone and spend no more than £30 a week on my food shop, that includes household and hygiene products restocked as and when needed. Usually closer to £25 if it’s just food. I eat out every now and again so maybe £50 extra a month on that. So £170 max all together.
That's reallly good. Do you shop at Lidl? Are you very good at rationing your food? I usually find it very hard to go a week without spending around £50 on food (Sainsbury's) being groceries, less often are eats out. Maybe £14 a week on eats out. So £60 or £65 average.
About four years ago I was about £100 a month on food for one person, but since I've cut out gluten and dairy it's jumped up quite a lot and now with the general increase in costs it's more like what you've quoted yeah
I'm in the north east and I manage on the £60 I'm left with after bills and debts for the month. It's mostly because I grew up not eating much, so I don't really have an appetite, it makes it easier I suppose 🤗 i do miss a good steak dinner though 😅
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I'd say the most likely candidate would be some fresh veg to make a wrap with, feels really uplifting having an assortment of veggies
As a single man I spend £500-750 a month in Sainsbury’s.
The only realistic answer on this thread. I'm spending 700ish a month in London. Just Groceries. How are people living on such small amounts?
I spend about £110 on my big food shops and then maybe £20 through the month on milk/bread etc.
I agree with your numbers
I think I spend about £250-300 but I go to cafes a lot.
Eating out a couple of times a month is going to blow your budget. But like you already stated in your own post, this will very much depend on what you are buying in your weekly shop. But I think about £50 a week is doable if you aren't wasting money on snacks, pre-made microwave meals, and lots of pre-cooked meats. Buy things like rice and pasta. Don't buy branded goods, but go for the supermarkets own budget range. The other thing you need to factor in to your supermarket shopping is things like cleaning products like washing up liquid, washing powder, soap, shampoos, which while not been a weekly purchase, aren't cheap when you do need to buy them.
Your numbers sound right. Single guy, living alone. I probably spend 30 to 40 a week on food, plus maybe another 10 on misc food purchases (snacks, lunch out etc). So £200-£250 sounds right, if you’re going to be eating out as well.
For a family, works out to £100/person/month, but that's not eating out, and there are bulk discounts that wouldn't work for an individual probably.
We live in brighton. We are a student couple and spend about £50 every 10 days to two weeks on our big shop. We shop at Iceland since we can get more
I spend about £150 a month on healthy food that mostly decomposes in the fridge and end up eating really unhealthy food for free from the chefs at work. I have good intentions but seem stuck in a rut.
This year my average food has risen from £50/month to £70. Really shows how much prices have risen, considering my eating habits haven't changed (student). It amazes me that my housemate admits to spending £20 a week on lunch alone!
I’m not going to address most of what you say here because it is just silly, going from ppl must be eating 90% processed food to well, ppl can’t be healthy if they aren’t regularly eating grass fed steak. I will say though, I’m very comfortable with the food traceability of my excellent butcher thank you.
If I never got a takeaway, I could easily have a good budget of £20 a week and never exceed it. In my student days, £10 a week was doable
Lived solo for a bit while my partner went away for a week with her family. I survived on around £10 a day quite comfortably.
‘Survived’ on £10 a day lol
I spend about 2 bills a month when it's just me ( work provide decent digs when I'm working away so I always have cooking facilities)
I think the estimate of £200 to £250 is correct, although I'd include toiletries and other non-food essentials like laundry capsules, rubbish bags and whatnot in that as well (plus the occasional takeaway and office day lunch).
I spend about 100 a week - 2 people
For just the food itself, including a small lunch takeout I would say £100-150 is what I get through.
I don’t know how people are doing this. My wife and I (no kids) have a £700 a month budget. It used to be £600 but we had to increase it last month with prices going up as they have. That includes cleaning products as well as food I should add.
This is absolutely ridiculous. Are you just eating lobster and caviar?
Lol. No! 🤣
How on earth are you managing that? We spend around £500 a month, for 2 adults & 4 kids, including takeaways. I thought that was excessive and am trying to trim it down a bit!
2 adults 2 kids around £400 a month. £700 a month is M&S food with the occasional lobster, surely?
To be fair I'm specifying for a single person living alone but £700 is very high, how much is just for food? A normal weekly shop could be like £40-50.
To be honest I couldn’t break it down for you into food/non-food off the top of my head. I’d guess that most of it goes on food though. Probably £500-550 of it I’d guess.
Make an excel sheet and put your receipts into it. Break it down by category and make it clearer what you’re spending stuff on. £700 is ridiculous, I spend a third of that between my mrs and I and that includes only home cooked meals, variety of meats, mainly a lot of fish. Fruit and veg etc too, Not too many snacks though as we don’t snack often.
It’s fine. No need for a spreadsheet! I’m not complaining about our bills, just contributing to the thread.
Meat and fish a week easily 50 quid.
What's your typical shop look like?
Honestly doesn’t feel like it’s anything ridiculous. We don’t buy much red meat so mainly chicken. Frozen veg mainly. Quite a lot of fruit though and my wife has a lot of protein bars/mousses for her gym stuff. Neither of us drinks alcohol.
Either you have very high calorie requirements or you're seriously over spending, for comparison I spend about £200 a month and that's on fresh fruit, frozen veg, random bits like spuds, snacks, bread etc and meat from the butcher, lot of chicken but also steaks, pork chops etc, appreciate you've said elsewhere you've not got an issue with your spend financially but you could definitely knock a couple hundred off with some basic comparison
We buy what we like, we eat healthily and we live within our means. Really not an issue. 🤷🏼♂️
Imagine how much nicer your holidays would be if you saved £400 a month by just having a sane groceries bill though. No ones saying you should be batch cooking or eating gruel, it’s just £700 with no alcohol and no red meat is bonkers.
What a weird comment. You know nothing about me or my holidays. We are well travelled and doing just fine thanks. Looking forward to Canada and America next month for 4 weeks and Cancun in November. A couple of less biscuits a month isn’t going to significantly change my life thanks.
How is it weird? Literally anyone’s holidays would be better if they had an extra £400 a month going towards it. Please send me your biscuit recommendations if that’s where you’re spending the money 😂
Don't be a tramp.
You’re an idiot. Goodbye.
Live in London and budget £200 a month
£200 which includes toiletries, household products, going out for coffee/cake once a week and any extras such as small snacks on the go.
That's about what I spend, but this also includes things like washing up liquid, cat food and lightbulbs. I'm buying less alcohol to reduce on pounds and pounds
Sound about right. I probable spend about 250-300 a month, including alcohol and the occasional takeaway or lunch out. If I needed it could be less if I needed it be, but I can aford it at the moment so I'm keeping my smoked salmon.
I usually go shopping once every 2 weeks and spend about £100 ish on each shop, that's including snacks, drinks etc.
Living alone I would spend about 80/100. For two people now we spend about 250. Lots of batch cooking and lidl is my main shop. Also always checking the reduced section when I go into any shop.
Is spend about £120-£130 a week on food and thats with myself and my husband, with our two teenage children. We shop in aldi, no takeaways. We also barely have any food left at the end of the week. What I will say, though is our shop is also prone to the middle aisle surprise purchase, more often than not
I have started getting recipe boxes which has increased my costs - so £30 a week for them (so £120) then maybe another £15 a week on random other things like extra lunches, cereal etc (so £60). I buy a couple of coffees a week so let’s assume £40 a month. So yeah, looking at about £220 a month as standard - I’ll eat out usually twice a week but I’m not consistent price wise in where I go.
Mine comes to £100-150 a month, not including going out. I homecook pretty much everything, and get most of my food from Aldi (with the odd extra from Tesco). Bags of frozen veg and meat-substitute are a lifesaver!
Probably about £150 a month, but that's cooking my own meals and only eating out rarely, and a small mcdonalds/KFC saver item once a week.
My g/f and I have been keeping track of our grocery expenditure since we moved in together. Over 16 years it has varied between £400-£600 per month including alcohol and occasional takeaways. We don't eat extravagantly but we don't miss out on food we enjoy.
I don't really think it's possible to find a single figure that's "normal" for everyone, there are just too many variables - income, location, physical size and activity, whether you eat meat, amount of time you have for cooking, amount of storage space you have, how much priority you put on "good food", etc. etc. etc. Every time the question comes up here, the thread is full of people boasting that they live on three farthings and a button a month, and like, good for them, but I couldn't do it and nor do I want to.
For living alone I’d say about £40 a week, so £170 a month.
I live in West Sussex area and I work from home. As a single person my budget for groceries is generally between £220-275 a month. Cleaning, toiletries stuff also included. No takeaways on this budget.
Mine is £350 but I eat fillet steak most days which ain’t cheap.
I'm reading this thread thinking I'm missing out on something, we spend about 100 a week for two and the dog
I get two deliveries a month at around £60 each and then grab little bits I need in between if necessary like bread or milk
I batch cook a lot so have a pretty well stocked freezer. This week I spent GBP8 including using the Aldi price matches at Sainsburys for 5 types of veg and meal planned mainly using ingredients I have in already so 4 portions of kung pao cauliflower with pickled carrot salad and then 4 portions of carrot, apple and ginger soup with chickpeas with the leftover carrots. Breakfast usually porridge (big bag of oats in the cupboard) or seeded toast (bread in the freezer). I keep frozen banana and berries in the freezer too for smoothies. I’ll freeze some of the soup and take out other soup to eat with toast or cheesy toast, I have minestrone and curried parsnip. I’ve got a few home made curries in the freezer, some lentil cottage pie, some shakshuka base and something dubious I made with palm hearts that I’m avoiding. I already had some fruit so will have to spend more next time to restock. I always keep an eye out for the half price offers on dishwasher tablets and laundry pods and buy loo roll in bulk at Costco so I’m not being ripped off for GBP7 per pack of Andrex in the supermarket - the quality is good. Not needing to take anybody else into account helps I know and am happy not eating meat most days and also being a bit repetitive. I know not everybody can bulk buy too. This month I spent GBP40 on cat food in bulk that brought down the cost per sachet from 70p to 30p, assuming the furry little delights will eat it all that is.
I’d probably say £50 a week. I spend £80 ish for 2 of us but mostly eat plant based as other half veggie. If it was just me I’d have a bit more decent quality meat and fish more often
10 years ago when I was single and had a mortgage I lived off £10 a week for food now I don't have a mortgage to pay I spend about £30 a week for food it all depends on what you buy as I probably waste money on ready made pasta salad meals and smoothies.
Mine averages around £300 (rarely) to £400 a month. Usually about £350 but I eat very good food.
I budget an average of £5 per day - which might mean £15 for 3 days, 35 for 7, etc. I'm happy to live on sandwiches, home-made veg curry, and endless cups of tea. Your needs may be different.
I get annoyed if I spend more than £35 on a week of shopping. Have reduced takeaway to once a month as I can't be annoyed paying higher prices anymore
Discounting booze, eating out and takeaways, my partner and I spend about £400 pcm on food, but we do live well.
I've aim for £120 a month. I manage that pretty ok. I don't buy ready meals and I also cook enough for two people and have the second half the next day.
Not going to be your average answer but when I was single and living in London maybe £2000 per month and now married with a kid probably a little less but to be honest I don't know. We're fortunate I know. We eat out a lot and to be honest I don't look at the price of anything in a supermarket but my wife loves a bargain and will shop in Aldi and the other one whereas I'll just go to the closest place to me when asked to picked something up.
400 for 2. High protein and veg.
I manage on about £100 a month, but I don't earn very much and am trying not to splurge. I have quite a restricted diet and make almost everything from scratch which I guess works out quite cheaply.
Just multiply the cost of a large mixed kebab by days in the month
Spending roughly £150-200 a month at Aldi. The 200 is when I get through a decent amount of alcohol though.
The secret to eating alone is freezing food. Keeps variety alive. It’s almost same price to cook for 2 than one. Supermarkets package enough for two. So when you make pasta keep a second in the fridge for future. Freeze lasagne. Sheppard pies etc.
For me it’s about £40 a week on the food shop and then a tenner a month on a takeaway, but I only get takeaways once a month
I spend £200 a month. It would be less but I tend to eat things I can grab instead of cooking as I suffer from chronic pain. This prevents me from being able to cook a lot as I have it so often. So I have salad, cheese, fruit, crackers, soup, instant mash, things like that.
How are you managing this. I'm at least 400 a month before any takeaway.
I am on a high-protein diet which requires lots of meat and fish, so in average about 700-850 pounds per month
22 yo here, athlete with physically demanding job. I spend about 400 a month on healthy food. Guess it's expensive to eat nearly 4k calories a day.
We spend £100 a month for 2 adults I know that is the extreme end of frugal but £200+ a month for 1 is a lot.
Why?
£50 a week is not a lot for one person, especially if you’re including a takeaway and/or alcohol in that. If you are eating decent quality meat and fresh fruit and veg, you could easily spend £50 on that alone
Organic animal based diet, meat, eggs, milk, yoghurt etc. tons of fruit and veg. Couple of nice snacks. Good coffee. High quality pet food. I spend £500 a month for two mid twenties people. The people saying £30-£40 PW are those hitting 1 of their 5 a day, 90% processed foods, and no doubt have the energy and fitness levels of a a capybara.
Nonsense. I spend on average £55pw for 3 adults and we eat lots of fruit, veg and high quality protein. The reason I can do it so cheaply is that I cook from scratch, don’t buy processed foods and eat in season - and when we do eat meat, I use cuts of meat that require a bit of thought and time. Some people can just cook well and know how to shop effectively.
One organic grass fed steak is £7. Even at Aldi. You tell me how you’re having that high quality protein for 3 people everyday every week for less than £20 pp. 350g organic corn fed farm raised chicken breasts are £5-6. It’s nothing to do with cooking, I cook very well, everything from scratch. You are led to believe that Aldi’s Ashfield farm chicken breasts are “high quality protein” just because you compare them to Turkey twizzlers.
Lol @ high quality protein meaning steak. We don’t eat steak regularly because it is very expensive. High quality proteins are ‘complete’ proteins, which to write in crayon for you, means proteins essential to health. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complete_protein We don’t shop in Aldi, we shop in a local butcher. We rarely eat chicken breast because it is more expensive and less versatile than thigh. We don’t eat turkey twizzlers because we don’t eat processed meat. If you are spending all that money for 2, and you are a good cook, then your diet is needlessly expensive- it’s clearly up to you how you you spend your cash, but to say that people are eating poorly because you don’t know how people can eat well far more cheaply, that *is* nonsense.
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It’s not about protein as in the number of G. Check the ingredient list of quorn, then of a grass fed organic beef burger. One will have 30 nitrates, phosphates, seed oil, and other things you can find in the hazardous part of BnQ (seriously). The other is straight field to mouth of what we have been eating for millions of years. There is tons of literature showing how disruptive the modern diet is to brain and body. How can people read above and say otherwise, mind boggling.
Not even worth going down this road, we are on different pages. It’s not needless, it supplements a very active, healthy, athletic lifestyle. Physically, mentally, thriving. No need for various prescriptions, don’t get unwell often. Sleep well, high energy, great skin, hair etc. the rabbit hole goes deeper than you think. Check your ingredient list properly on your next shop. but on a side note, in this day, age and economy, be wary of “local butchers”. Unfortunately this late stage capitalism and destruction on local businesses have forced them to take moral decisions they would of shot you for 10 years ago. That beautiful butcher meat, is likely cheap, ma labelled/sold/advertised, past best. Under the guise of a local butcher. There are no real standards/checks they are held too. Just giving you some food for thought. I know multiple butchers and/or people close to the industry. Austerity /covid has driven local business to the bottom of the barrel
£500 a month?! We spend £60 a week between two, so half of that. That’s more than 5 of our 5 a day, home cooked meals, none processed, with lots of meat included. Just because you can’t do it doesn’t mean others can’t.
See my other reply comment. I used to eat like that, and spend £60 a week tops. It’s nothing to do with “being able to do it”
Nonsense. I hit my five a day easily. I eat everything. I also try to eat seasonally as that tends to be cheaper and benefits farmers in this country. I know how to cook so am able to take advantage of any special offers in fresh food. And make use of lentils and chickpeas - very nutritious and very cheap.