How much do you spend each week on food?

Like a few on here I'm stunned by the amounts being spent on food, especially by those claiming to be frugal. For 2 of us I average £45-50 just on food. We eat well, sometimes entertain the family, 6 adults and 4 children and make most,though not everything, from scratch. I would struggle to get through the amounts some are spending here. I waste very little.

Again just two of us plus cat - average £80-90 pw for everything including lots of fruit and veg, wine, household & cleaning products, toiletries etc. Most weeks I go to Tesco but every 4th week to Waitrose to stock up on their excellent "3 for £10" offers and their ground coffee. I cook mostly from scratch, we have a veggie day once a week and 2 days when we have fish of some description. DH bakes all our bread, we seldom eat out, but we do quite a bit of entertaining; I love to put together a menu which has maximum oomph for minimum cost!

Go to Lidl. I cannot tell you how much we have saved since I stopped walking round the corner to Waitrose. I hop on the train with my Freedom Pass. 10 minutes to Clapham Junction and Lidl. Only have a basket not a trolley (so I can judge how much I can carry-usually 2 full shopping bags) back on the train, all done and dusted in 90 minutes! DH goes in the car once a month for heavy stuff; tins tomato, tins butter beans etc. Food is excellent quality and there is no comparison on price. How to eat really well for a lot less. ?

And yes, we always cook from scratch!

Wow! I like a set amount of housekeeping each week, just for the challenge really, and I find I can get by with £ 50 for two of us plus the dog! I shop at Lidl mostly for everything, including loafs of fruit and veg, occasionally go to Wilco or Tesco for household things. I buy food, mainly meat, with 30% off because of 'end of sell by date' is close and mostly I cook frgom scratch. We eat out every now and then but always st places where we can get discount voucher- this is extra. Sometimes I might have a fiver over which goes in my pocket!

"Like a few on here I'm stunned by the amounts being spent on food, especially by those claiming to be frugal."

Me too Hallgreenmiss.

I'm spending about £21pw for 2740kcal/day, so that would be about £15pw for 2000kcal/day.

We spend around £90 - £100 on our main shop (less if we don't need toiletries) and top up on milk, bread if we need it in the week. That is for four of us - we don't eat meat and I mainly cook from scratch.

Having read some of the comments I am feeling better about my weekly spend at Waitrose for just me. £60 - £70/week. I am also mainly vegetarian with chicken and fish and I think it probably is slightly cheaper. I feel overall I eat well. Unfortunately for young families the parents and children are so busy these days that they do not have time to think carefully about what they are buying or paying therefore and buying in a hurry causes them to spend more.

Shopped this morning in Tesco, went out for lunch, shopped at Morrinsons on the way home, not a clue what we spent

*Mamie

Yes I think prices for consumer goods are cheaper in Germany than in the UK or France.
I'll post some items + price on here in the next days so you can compare.

So many names on this thread that don't usually comment, had no idea that Gransnet had so many members!

Not sure what we spend really, but it doesn't seem any more than it was ten years ago,around £90 on a supermarket shop I think, then another £20 or so on bits and bats at local shops.I will have to study the receipts to really find out.

Am sure that we all spend more than we first think.

I use www.mysupermarket.co.uk to get best value for my grocery money.

I have a budget of £100 a week for 2 adults, dog and visiting DGC. That includes toiletries and cleaning products.

I select my shopping, it offers me the option to swap for both cheaper options or more healthy options and then it shows me the cost of my basket in all the different stores.

I can then order online or print out my shopping list and off I go.

Are there prizes?

I almost always cook from scratch and often bulk cook eg, chilli, lasagne, curries, pasta sauces but I am bewildered how the food bill is always the same.

It's reassuring that lots of people spend a similar amount to me. I have occasionally watched 'Eat Well For Less' and think it's a bit of a con. I've tried using cheaper tinned tomatoes (for instance) when making a sauce but find that there is much less tomato and a lot more juice, similarly baked beans (according to DH) so I buy the best quality that I can afford.

It is my aim to just take a small trolley round Sainsbury's rather than a big one. Sad!

Similar to many, £120 plus for the two of us, no processed food, most cooked from scratch, good quality meat and fish and a lunchbox for working partner every day with a fairly substantial content (not sandwiches, usually salad and meat or fish or microwaveable home cooked meal in winter). It has risen quite a bit recently, and as I'm coeliac many things come at a stupidly high premium eg GF pasta three or four times as expensive as normal. I shop carefully but not meanly, I buy some organic as I need to be careful to avoid contaminants. Not easy.

Ok, Iknow what tonight's meal has cost, I cooked as i always do (once a year)
Tesco Finest lambshanks £10
Finest mash from bargain bin £2
Sugar snap peas from garden (see I can cook fresh food)
Finest Apple flan from bargain bin £2
Ice cream ??
Couple of bottle of wine £16

Meal for two with wine £30

Mrs P says that after 49 years my cooking has improved (don't tell her it is Tesco ready meals that have improved )

Honest truth- I do not know as I buy toiletries, cleaning products, WC paper, stuff for the house and garden, even clothes sometimes, etc- at the same time. Also depends if we have visitors or not- when we buy more expensive stuff perhaps, and wine and other drinks. We only drink alcohol when we have guests or go out.

Maybe I should try and work it all out separately for one month and see.

Yes I agree, I think it must be a quality thing. We spend 20-30€ a week on fish, but it is straight from the quay to the market, at a speciality fish stall. We buy organic as much as we can and meat at the butcher's shop tells you how and where it was farmed. I realise that we are lucky to have that choice, but that is how we prefer to spend our money.
Our French neighbours prioritise food, drink and holidays too.

We have all our income and expenditure on a spreadsheet and can adjust it according to the exchange rate. Makes it much easier to see what you can spend and where you need to cut back.

wow I am impressed - and may well have to do that in the current circumstances ;)

I must start keeping some sort of a tally, maybe from Monday which will be the 1st. I'm not sure how much I spend, I seem to be in Sainsburys most days where I spend around £15 or so, my local one in my nearest town gives free car parking for 2 hours with a £10 spend which I appreciate because it's usually £1.40 an hour in most car parks. I did a £50 shop in Lidl today, which I don't do very often because it's a 20 minute or so drive but I had a £5 off voucher which made it worthwhile and they had the most fabulous fresh cherries, half the price they are in other places and the best I've seen so far this yaer. On Saturdays we get Marks and Spencer curries if we are at home and on Sundays I do a shop in Waitrose, usually over £20 if we are having a roady but always over £10 so I can get The Sunday Times free .

We spend about £39 a week on food, toilet rolls,bleach, dishwasher tablets, washing machine liquid etc. Not included are toiletries, cat, alcohol. We cook from scratch every day in large amounts so we have much in the freezer

Shopping is anywhere that sends us vouchers (Sainsburys at the moment) and we try to buy on offer especially meat and fish and nuts. We eat very well and healthily.

DH has kept records of our spending since he retired. Food has reduced in price over the years but nothing else has. THe downside of this is he knows how much I spend on the garden and clothes!

I'm an Aldi girl, I was when we lived in Germany almost 40 years ago. I spend around £35 a week on me in Aldi; every 3 weeks or so I spend about £20 in the discount freezer shop Heron Foods.
Heron Foods has unbelievable bargains. Luxury fish cakes 600g for £1.50, bacon bits 900g for £1, luxury ice-cream for £1, exotic cheeses for 89p... It's mostly in the N of England & Midlands. Saves me a fortune on every visit.

This week DD came shopping with me in Aldi. She works for them and pointed out a lot of customer recommendations, plus items she knew I would like.
My bill doubled but I have some lovely treats, lunches & evening meals as a result.

a roady? how did that come out, meant roast