How much do you spend on your weekly shop?

[Cudzoziemiec]

Bit of a chicken and egg situation, I'd say, if you'll excuse the pun. Cos yes, the supermarket policies obviously exacerbated people's undesire and misperceptions, but surely there must have been at least a tendency that way or they (the supermarkets) wouldn't have done these things in the first place? At least, there is always the desire to get something cheaper, and the valuing of money and time over quality is not confined to the household shopping. I remember hearing that in the '60s the average UK household spent 30% of household income on food, now it's about 10% - though I would have thought that was on the low side.

[Bledlow]

But the supermarket value range veg is entirely mage up of the stuff that fails the 'better' gradings because of looks.  So you buy entirely wonky carrots and odd sized spuds for a lot less money.  In terms of taste and keeping qualities it's usually on a par with the mid-range ordinary supermarket ranges.  If I buy fruit and veg at the supermarket it tends to be the value stuff.

+1. Sainsburys value apples are often excellent.

[ian]

Hmm, definitely always £100 plus here, for two (and that's a significant plus). Not including fresh sundries grabbed during the week (bread and other perishables). And we eat out plenty. Oh, and the pub, which has a strange kind of gravity that cannot be resisted.

That said, I don't believe good food should be cheap - so it's all free range, super-organic, get-to-hug-the-farmer stuff that leaves us with a smug glow sufficient to illuminate a football pitch.

And a soft spot for a couple bottles of decent plonk and case or two of decent beer, which always bumps the price up.

I am of the opinion that you live just the once - food should be good and enjoyable and you should spend what you can, rather than treat it has a a source of economy. I can't stand the supermarket cheapest-is-best principle - I'd much rather pay more for something which may prove edible and tasty.

[John Henry]

About £75-100 a week for two, depending on how much meat and booze there is in the trolley.

We eat out quite rarely (once or twice a month max) and we don't tend to eat much pre-prepared food. We both enjoy cooking, and eating at home gives you more control over ingredients and portion size.

We have an aversion to wasting food, so meals are carefully planned, we cook the right amount, and virtually nothing is ever thrown away.

We could cut our food bills by eating cheaper meat, but choose to go down the local/free range/organic route.  Food is probably the last thing we'd want to economise on: it's much more important to us thn holidays, clothes, cars, gadgets etc. Very expensive food products aren't always the best, of course, but good food doesn't come cheap.

[TimO]

...I remember hearing that in the '60s the average UK household spent 30% of household income on food, now it's about 10% - though I would have thought that was on the low side.

This has happened to my household budget (admittedly a lot more recently than the 60s), but not because food has got cheaper, but because the price of property has become so ludicrously high.  My Mortgage is by far and away the largest chunk of my expenditure, but simply because the cost of property is so high.

Cheap food can be naff, you have to experiment.  I buy some of the Sainsburys Basics stuff, but only after experimenting with them.  The vegs seem to be OK, but things like their Weetabix equivalent are not good (that particular item seems like it's pre-staled. ).

[hellymedic]

christ what do you all eat dry bread and gruel?
we spend several (like, about 2 - 3) hundred a week for family of 4. we do rate good food fairly highly though,  do drink a fair bit of booze, and don't have other luxuries like the cinema, pub, restaurants.

Yes
Bread
Porridge Oats   

Mangoes
Bananas
Apples
Pears
Grapes
Carrots
Salmon
Plaice
Chicken
Eggs
Fruit juice
Croissants

Whatever I fancy...

No booze; we don't like it.

[Polar Bear]

christ what do you all eat dry bread and gruel?

Just good wholesome food, and lots of it.   We like to prepare and cook from fresh, not from packaged, processed crap.   Often there is the smell of baking in the house whether it be bread or cakes.   Porridge is a hearty, nutritious breakfast.   If you want variety throw bits of dried fruit in when you leave the oats to soak overnight.   

Almost half our weekly food bill goes on meat.   If we were vegetarians we'd probably manage on about £12 a week each.

[1gear]

Mum spends about £100 on the main shop. Can sometimes be more.
She then goes back on 3 days later for more food, which is about £30.
Theres 5 of us all together.
We do also buy food outside of that, but on the main shop and top up shop thats whats spent.

[SteveC]

Our Tesco bill is £80-£100 per week, plus we tend to buy almost all of our meat direct from the producer, plus we often seem to end up topping up during the week. 

However, the Tesco bill includes things like cat food (3 large cats), booze (2 thirsty humans), cleaning materials, computer consumables, the Radio Times and so on. 

Actually tracking the detailed spend for a month or so would be an interesting and probably scary exercise

S

[numbnuts]

£35 a week for myself and no convenience food

[Fab Foodie]

Actually tracking the detailed spend for a month or so would be an interesting and probably scary exercise

S

As our outgoings 'appear' to be very high right now that's exactly what we'll be doing for the next 3 months.  Having done it before, it's a useful excercise at seeing how the weasel goes 'pop'.

[Valiant]

christ what do you all eat dry bread and gruel?

Just good wholesome food, and lots of it.   We like to prepare and cook from fresh, not from packaged, processed crap.   Often there is the smell of baking in the house whether it be bread or cakes.   Porridge is a hearty, nutritious breakfast.   If you want variety throw bits of dried fruit in when you leave the oats to soak overnight.   

Almost half our weekly food bill goes on meat.   If we were vegetarians we'd probably manage on about £12 a week each.

Most of our weekly shop goes on meat & fish. The rest goes on rice, veg, cereal, milk etc. We cook everything from scratch in both flats, the only processed stuff you'd find is probably a can of baked beans or two. I find when you cook from scratch, bar the initial cost of getting all the little things, the on going costs work out an awful lot cheaper, especially if you buy big from the market/butcher/wholesalers.

[docsquid]

Our FOOD only bill is about £40 to £60 a week all in, which includes our food, fruit and veg.  However what we actually spend with Ocado is more than this as it includes cat food (they will only eat expensive food), wine and beer, cleaning products, toiletries and so on, which usually doubles the bill - the cats cost £20 a week on their own but they are really excessively spoilt. 

The bill is less in the summer because we grow our own veg, and now we have our own eggs we are spending a bit less as I can now bake all our cakes, biscuits and other stuff that needs eggs.  I also save because I bake our own bread.  We never buy ready meals - it is all made from fresh ingredients, which keeps the bill down. 

I could get it cheaper if I didn't only buy organic/free range things.

I only do the one Ocado shop, have a fortnightly organic vegbox delivery in the winter only, and just top up with a few pints of extra milk from the local shop.

What we really do try to do, and want to try to do more of, is to buy as much local and seasonal food as we possibly can, and grow our own too.

[FatBloke]

Spend about £120 a week for a family of three. Last time we went to ASDA the bill was £375!!    That was for the Christmas shop though! 

[Domestique]

About £350 a month for the two of us, thats including a monthly take away treat.

[jogler]

about 70 quid a week.  We buy meat from the butchers who get stuff from local farmers and most other stuff from waitrose or tesco.  Probably higher than it should be but we both work from home and eat too much.

same here regarding shopping habit & home working.Perhaps spend more some weeks

[Euan Uzami]

...We like to prepare and cook from fresh, not from packaged, processed crap.

i think that's what makes it MORE expensive, unfortunately - for instance we make curry quite often but don't use a jar of sauce or spoonful of paste like most people do. just buying a jar of sauce instead of loads of spices etc would be cheaper.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

I live alone and I get as much as I can delivered from the local farm shop. It's expensive, but I'd rather pay more for local produce and organic produce where I can, rather than buying cheap supermarket crap. I use the supermarket for juice, pizza, ready meals etc or other things the farm shop can't provide. I try to do a big cook every few weeks and freeze things in batches, so some weeks my bill might be £50-70 and others it might only be £20.

[Polar Bear]

...We like to prepare and cook from fresh, not from packaged, processed crap.

i think that's what makes it MORE expensive, unfortunately - for instance we make curry quite often but don't use a jar of sauce or spoonful of paste like most people do. just buying a jar of sauce instead of loads of spices etc would be cheaper.

We don't find that to be so in the long run.   Herbs and spices come in quantity and we grow a number of our own herbs.   Our fruit and veg box is incredibly cheap yet often we can't eat all we get.   Our expensive outlay is meat.   

Popped into our local Sainsburys yesterday for milk.   A very very rare supermarket visit.   Walking along the isle with teas and coffees on the way to the checkout I noticed that their Cafe Direct fairtrade medium roast was half price.   I blew the budget and bought two.   That'll last us well into March though.         

[fred the great]

As an extension of this Topic, may I ask what you spend on your monthly electricity and gas bills?

[DuncanM]

'lectric is about £25 a month, gas about £40.  Newish 2 bed terrace, but my wife and baby are at home all the time, so the heating is on a fair amount during the day.
Groceries is about 70 quid a week.
Diesel is about £50 a week - I really need to move jobs!

[Regulator]

I spend as little as possible on the weekly shop...



...I tend to let Mr R pay! 

[Cudzoziemiec]

I only remember that last month we used 54kWh. Usually it's about 90, though - last month the water heater was broken. Scary that water heating can acount for half the bill (and that's in India)!

Gas - a bottle of LPG lasts about 2 months or a little more for cooking.

[hellymedic]

About £200 per quarter on each, though gas has big seasonal variation.
We're at ho almost all day every day and partner likes a warm house.
We're in a double-glazed, three-bedroomed 1930s semi, which has had cavity wall insulation and loft insulation.

[tatanab]

Electricity = £15 a month
Gas = £35 a month

House is 1930s semi with 9 inch solid walls, so not good for insulation.

Fuel for car - last YEAR I spent £100.