Great advice so far.
In terms of what the figures include, I did a breakdown in my original comment. It boiled down to:
£110 per month spent in supermarkets, for food to eat at home plus loo roll and washing up liquid and whatever. Includes a bit of casual hosting.
+ £10 for shampoo and toothpaste and whatever purchased in non-supermarket shops
+ £25 per month lunches at work when I haven't brought in my own
+ £120 per year hosting a big birthday party, average £10 per month if you prefer
I'm a weirdo who doesn't eat breakfast, not for frugal or diet reasons but because it makes me feel queasy. My hunger kicks in at about 10am, by which time I'm already at work on weekdays.
I am also only feeding myself, and am a small female person. Despite being pretty physically active my daily calorie requirements are just under 2000. Not that I track, but for approximate context.
Typical weekday food looks something like:
- 10am: small breakfast, most often a handful of nuts, dried fruit etc which I keep in my desk. Or sometimes I bring in bananas or clementines or something. Or sometimes (esp in the winter) I make porridge or miso soup.
- Lunch: either another portion of yesterday's dinner, or canteen meal for £3.50
- Afternoon snack: if I'm not going straight home, which I'm usually not, at around 4.30-5ish I'll have more nuts and dried or fresh fruit to keep me going.
- Dinner: I pass several small supermarkets on the way home and check out the reduced section for any bargains or inspiration. This is by far the most variable bit so I won't list out the possible options. I aim for at least A Protein and A Vegetable, although sometimes I just want mac & cheese or something. I'm also not above Things On Bread, or a spinach and cheese omelette if I'm too tired to cook something that takes time or chopping.
Weekends it's more like:
- 11am brunch: usually some combination of toast, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, smoked mackerel (lives in the freezer!), hummus, tahini, yoghurt, peanut butter and jam...
- Mid afternoon: a small food. Usually fruit. Sometimes with additions like peanut butter. Or chocolate digestives :) Or cheese and pickle on crackers. Tzaziki with veg. I'm making myself hungry.
- Late evening: cook up a proper big meal with all washing and chopping of ingredients, and leftovers for a couple of days' lunches. Usually vegetabley. Common standbys are egg fried rice, veg thai curry, risotto, pasta (puttanesca, creamy/cheesy, or vegetabley), noodle stir fry, chana masala or daal with rice and pickle and yoghurt, halloumi/paneer/egg curry with rice, etc.
Does that give a reasonable picture?
I'm trying to think of how I approach supermarkets. I definitely have a mental list of things that if they're on sale I just buy. Stuff like my fav tinned tomatoes that are theoretically £1 each but are frequently on sale for 50p, I only buy at the lower price. If there are three packs of tilda rice reduced for their best before I'm buying them all, that best before is a lie. Other things are on my 'auto-buy if reduced/on significant sale' as treats, like smoked salmon (*something* treat-worthy will pop up at least once a week). But for the most part I go in with an open mind, looking for 'some veg' and 'some fruit' and buying whatever looks like the best quality for the price, rather than heading straight for the purple sprouting broccoli and blueberries or what have you.
I do eat mostly pescetarian and don't buy booze. I only buy the organic produce if it looks noticeably better than the standard stuff, not as a matter of policy. (I actually have massive problems with the Organic Association accreditation standards and would actively prefer not to buy them if possible, don't get me started).
There are definitely parts of my routine that don't scale to a family of four. I can make a meal around a single very reduced item, and it's very easy to avoid food waste as I'm only catering to my own tastes. On the other hand, there are economies of scales I can't access due to lack of storage space (I have one fridge shelf and one kitchen cupboard) or not being able to get through perishable stuff fast enough by myself. And I ate more cooked food and less Things On Bread when I had a spouse who shared responsibility for making meals happen.
I do think you would be able to reduce your budget by say 30% without even making major changes, just doing the quick wins. E.g. buy yoghurt in the 1kg £1 tubs, swap out the blueberries and passionfruits for whatever soft fruit is going (and have frozen ones ready for when nothing good is going). I'm sure you can take your £6 for two servings to £4 without any trouble or loss in quality, just by adding 'price' to your list of factors you take into consideration when making your selection.