Author Topic: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)  (Read 27339 times)

sea_saw

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #100 on: May 09, 2019, 03:53:11 AM »
I could have sworn I did a freezer staples post somewhere but can't find it in my entire post history. Weird.

I really love using the freezer for components, as well as prepped meals.

I definitely cannot recommend frozen chopped spinach enough, I use that at least weekly. I've used frozen broccoli and similar veg before, it's handy to have a bag around to add a fresh element to 'cupboard' meals even if you get through 10 fresh broccolis in between having to break it out.

I personally love onion prep so I wouldn't buy those pre chopped. What I occasionally do is buy a large bag of onions, chop and fry them THEN freeze, so they're ready to go right into a dish – also very space efficient compared to storing raw stuff (I get through a LOT of onion, which is why I am an onion chopping wizard).

Frozen minced garlic and ginger blocks that you can buy in asian shops are significantly better quality than the pasteurised stuff you get in jars (although I also have the jars cos I'm a lazy sod).

I like frozen berry mixes. Add yoghurt and honey and you have an instant dessert. Frozen grapes are an A+ hot weather snack.

For super mustachianism, a freezer bag full of carrot, onion, leek etc ends can turn into a stock. Parmesan rinds go in there too (google it, I'm not kidding!). Chicken carcasses if you do chicken.

I basically like to use the freezer as a time capsule. So many things in the reduced section freeze just fine and mean I can buy them for 15p and then have them when I want them. Veg going to go bad before you can use it, quick blanche, dry and freeze. Etc.

I Want to Believe

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #101 on: May 09, 2019, 07:37:43 AM »
According to money dashboard we spend on average £540 a month for 2 adults and a child. I'm sure we could cut it down, but we already try to get the cheapest food possible. We cook most of our own food, and try to avoid brand names.

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #102 on: May 13, 2019, 06:15:34 AM »
Time to change!!
I am making a real effort to lower grocery expenses. We have averaged £450 a month this year, just us two and a baby!  This is the result of failed planning and walking round grabbing stuff in the supermarket when I should really plan carefully and stick to it.

I am trying to stick to £60 a week to build up the current account a bit easier.. I have made a pen and paper list and stuck to it. I achieved it this week by batch cooking two main meals, hungover, on Sunday morning.  I made a Thai style red curry for a few dinners and a Mexican burrito bowl inspired batch cook for work lunches. This should take us up to Wednesday night, then we will use things from the freezer and rebuild the groceries again on Saturday morning. I think if I make my list towards the end of the week and plan I should be ok to stick to the budget.

Weekly Shop

Baby quick food top up £4.00
Nappies   £3.00
Formula   £11.00
Bread   £1.00
   
Onions   £0.80
Carrots   £0.50
Broccoli   £0.60
Chicken   £12.00
Curry paste   £2.00
Coconut milk   £1.00
Garlic   £0.40
   
Kidney beans   £0.70
Lime   £0.50
Peppers   £2.00
Fajita mix   £2.00
Salsa   £1.50
Eggs   £2.00
   
Salad   £1.00
Sauce   £1.00
Apples   £1.60
Treats   £2.00

Total   £50.60
   
« Last Edit: May 13, 2019, 06:17:39 AM by Zola. »

PhilB

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #103 on: May 13, 2019, 10:03:18 AM »
Chicken   £12.00
Yikes! How many chickens was that?

shelivesthedream

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #104 on: May 13, 2019, 10:50:14 AM »
I had a bit of a browse in Aldi's frozen section today. I can't eat onion or garlic so alas they're out! Apart from onion, chips and peas it was mainly "mixed themed veg", which I suppose I could buy and separate out but that's not something I have room for in my life right now.

However! They had loads of plain cook-from-frozen fish fillets. As in, just fish, not part of some meal with sauce and what have you. So I bought five salmon fillets (BabySLTD likes salmon a lot) for the price of two fresh ones AND I don't have to worry about using them up. They also had cod, smoked haddock and tuna, so if the salmon works out I'll definitely be trying some more!

I also had a scout through the frozen fruit section. They had lots of berries, so I got some for BabySLTD to have with yoghurt. However, the texture of defrosted berries makes me want to barf, I don't like "bits" (which berries added to yoghurt or porridge are), and I don't do mixed berries if I can help it. So I'm planning to use some of the frozen blueberries next time I want to bake (to make this, but with berries: https://www.renbehan.com/in-season-easy-rhubarb-traybake/) but I don't think it will do anything for my own personal fruit needs. I do, it has to be said, like a tin of fruit, though, and I could definitely make more of an effort in that department.

Weirdly, Mr SLTD has banned frozen spinach from our house. I have yet to get him to articulate exactly what is so terrible about it (something about it being wet), but I am forbidden from ever ever buying it again.

Our nearest supermarket is actually a whopping great Waitrose, so I suppose I should figure out if buying any frozen veg from there (or delivered from Ocado) is cheaper per kg than buying fresh from Aldi.

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #105 on: May 14, 2019, 01:48:45 AM »
Chicken   £12.00
Yikes! How many chickens was that?

6 large chicken breasts, not a lot!

Zola.

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #106 on: May 14, 2019, 01:50:32 AM »
I had a bit of a browse in Aldi's frozen section today. I can't eat onion or garlic so alas they're out! Apart from onion, chips and peas it was mainly "mixed themed veg", which I suppose I could buy and separate out but that's not something I have room for in my life right now.

However! They had loads of plain cook-from-frozen fish fillets. As in, just fish, not part of some meal with sauce and what have you. So I bought five salmon fillets (BabySLTD likes salmon a lot) for the price of two fresh ones AND I don't have to worry about using them up. They also had cod, smoked haddock and tuna, so if the salmon works out I'll definitely be trying some more!

I also had a scout through the frozen fruit section. They had lots of berries, so I got some for BabySLTD to have with yoghurt. However, the texture of defrosted berries makes me want to barf, I don't like "bits" (which berries added to yoghurt or porridge are), and I don't do mixed berries if I can help it. So I'm planning to use some of the frozen blueberries next time I want to bake (to make this, but with berries: https://www.renbehan.com/in-season-easy-rhubarb-traybake/) but I don't think it will do anything for my own personal fruit needs. I do, it has to be said, like a tin of fruit, though, and I could definitely make more of an effort in that department.

Weirdly, Mr SLTD has banned frozen spinach from our house. I have yet to get him to articulate exactly what is so terrible about it (something about it being wet), but I am forbidden from ever ever buying it again.

Our nearest supermarket is actually a whopping great Waitrose, so I suppose I should figure out if buying any frozen veg from there (or delivered from Ocado) is cheaper per kg than buying fresh from Aldi.

Good shout on the frozen fish. Just remembered about the Alaskan frozen salmon fillets (caught in the wild) you can get in Tesco. Much better than farmed salmon. I will have give some to BabyZola!

sea_saw

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #107 on: May 15, 2019, 04:20:29 PM »
Good find on the fish SLTD! I bet it's effectively fresher than much of the fish in the refrigerated section.

Defrosted berries are awful. I eat them still-frozen myself. In hot weather it can really hit the spot. This might be one of those things I didn't realise was strange though!

I also don't like frozen whole spinach, it has the same sad gloopy texture as tinned spinach. But frozen chopped spinach is the bomb. All the rich green taste of spinach but without the texture. It's in tiny pieces that look like finely chopped fresh herbs, great in pasta sauces and risotto. Think https://144f2a3a2f948f23fc61-ca525f0a2beaec3e91ca498facd51f15.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/uploads/food_portal_data/recipes/recipe/hero_article_image/2089/letterbox_RiSOTTO_NO-CHEESE_P_593x426.jpg rather than https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSUoPmrEXnYtz55n4OqlexDHcZ7qPiPpFmcMbiLmF1AOlked4p-

I actually read on a trusted cooking site that to use frozen whole spinach you're supposed to first squeeze it dry. I haven't tried it but defrosting then squeezing it is basically the opposite of what I want from frozen veg.

Zola, I'm assuming that was like 3x packets of two chicken breasts. Have you considered using other chicken cuts? E.g. thighs can often work as well if not better than breasts. Of course I don't know what dish you were making, obviously this doesn't apply if you were cooking e.g. chicken kiev or something...

The other question is quantities - how many meals/portions did those six breasts make? Could their quantity in the recipe be reduced and veg/grains increased to compensate? Always worth thinking about how to best deploy your most expensive ingredients!

Finally my local butchers sells chicken breasts by weight for much less than that I think. (It's been a while since I cooked with chicken).

PhilB

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #108 on: May 15, 2019, 10:14:34 PM »
I generally find that you can pretty well buy a whole chicken for the price of two chicken breasts, so that's what we almost always do.  When you're in practice it only takes 5 mins to joint and bone a chicken if you want to make casseroles, etc with the leg meat.  Wings go in the freezer until you have enough for a meal.  Alternatively, just take the breasts off and roast what's left for a roast chicken dinner - that way you can get the legs and wings beautifully cooked without any stress about drying out the breast.

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #109 on: May 16, 2019, 03:32:08 AM »
I use frozen blueberries for blueberry muffins and they are yum.

Speaking of frozen fish.  I've never known how to cook them without them going all watery.  Does anyone have any cooking tips?

dashuk

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #110 on: May 16, 2019, 09:12:01 AM »
I use frozen blueberries for blueberry muffins and they are yum.

Our freezer still contains a fair stash of frozen elderberries which we harvested from the hedgerows on the cycle path into town last summer. They are also yum. Must make more muffins.

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #111 on: May 16, 2019, 02:31:27 PM »
I add my frozen berries to porridge, the texture is completely immaterial by the time they've been cooked.

Still have a couple of kg of last year's wild raspberries, a couple of handfuls of blueberries and some blackberries.

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #112 on: May 17, 2019, 07:50:00 AM »
Good find on the fish SLTD! I bet it's effectively fresher than much of the fish in the refrigerated section.

Defrosted berries are awful. I eat them still-frozen myself. In hot weather it can really hit the spot. This might be one of those things I didn't realise was strange though!

I also don't like frozen whole spinach, it has the same sad gloopy texture as tinned spinach. But frozen chopped spinach is the bomb. All the rich green taste of spinach but without the texture. It's in tiny pieces that look like finely chopped fresh herbs, great in pasta sauces and risotto. Think https://144f2a3a2f948f23fc61-ca525f0a2beaec3e91ca498facd51f15.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/uploads/food_portal_data/recipes/recipe/hero_article_image/2089/letterbox_RiSOTTO_NO-CHEESE_P_593x426.jpg rather than https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSUoPmrEXnYtz55n4OqlexDHcZ7qPiPpFmcMbiLmF1AOlked4p-

I actually read on a trusted cooking site that to use frozen whole spinach you're supposed to first squeeze it dry. I haven't tried it but defrosting then squeezing it is basically the opposite of what I want from frozen veg.

Zola, I'm assuming that was like 3x packets of two chicken breasts. Have you considered using other chicken cuts? E.g. thighs can often work as well if not better than breasts. Of course I don't know what dish you were making, obviously this doesn't apply if you were cooking e.g. chicken kiev or something...

The other question is quantities - how many meals/portions did those six breasts make? Could their quantity in the recipe be reduced and veg/grains increased to compensate? Always worth thinking about how to best deploy your most expensive ingredients!

Finally my local butchers sells chicken breasts by weight for much less than that I think. (It's been a while since I cooked with chicken).

The meat was from the butcher, it wasn't enough. It was to make 12 small meals. Not enough meat really. I will go for 2kg and try again this week!

Zola.

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #113 on: May 18, 2019, 05:33:23 AM »
£105 spent today .... this budget reducing isn't easy!  Needed a few house staples...

On the plus side we got a hell of a lot of food.... a lot of it for the freezer also as backup.

I got two bags of wild Alaskan Salmon fillets which I am looking forward to trying with baby Zola.

Meal prep tomorrow morning for a few days and then we have lots of greens and frozen food for the rest of the week. The aim is to not do any grocery top ups this week at all.

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #114 on: May 18, 2019, 07:57:56 AM »
@Zola. Forgive me if you've mentioned this before, but have you tried Aldi's formula? Its half the price of the branded stuff.

sea_saw

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #115 on: May 18, 2019, 09:35:28 AM »
The meat was from the butcher, it wasn't enough. It was to make 12 small meals. Not enough meat really. I will go for 2kg and try again this week!

To be fair £1 of meat per portion is not bad at all IMO! But depending on the recipe I'd definitely think about using thigh meat instead.

dashuk

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #116 on: May 20, 2019, 06:55:55 AM »
Haha, so finally got round to doing April finance stuff.

Between being away for a week getting fed by the in-laws and my parents, and eating down the Brexshit stocks a bit since the apocalypse isn't happening till Halloween...

...we spent £172 on supermarket food for four people for the whole month.

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #117 on: May 20, 2019, 10:29:25 AM »
@Zola. Forgive me if you've mentioned this before, but have you tried Aldi's formula? Its half the price of the branded stuff.

I haven't sadly.. I am based in NI, we don't have Aldi.  My little man is 10 months now, so it wont be long until he is off the formula anyway.

vand

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #118 on: April 18, 2020, 10:35:36 AM »
How has peoples' food spending changed in light of the lockdown?

I think our grocery budget is probably ticking over around £650-700 month (2 adults, 1 baby, 3 cats), but that also includes about £100 for pet food and £70 in alcohol.

Cassie

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #119 on: April 18, 2020, 12:38:54 PM »
It didn’t change until my youngest son came home from Vietnam and moved in. Then it went up 200.

cerat0n1a

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #120 on: April 18, 2020, 12:57:01 PM »
How has peoples' food spending changed in light of the lockdown?

It's approximately triple what it was (five adults in the house vs two.) A touch under £500? No pets, no meat, and not much alcohol though.

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #121 on: April 19, 2020, 09:09:23 AM »
A bit more alcohol for us. Shopping less and eating from cupboards more, but probably spending a bit more per shop as they don't have everything we normally get so making some more expensive substitutions.

I've decided not to track spending this year as it's not going to be a representative year and I can't quite be bothered.

Cassie

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #122 on: April 19, 2020, 09:42:07 AM »
For the 2 of us we spend 300/month.

vand

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #123 on: April 19, 2020, 10:01:52 AM »
I'm constantly impressed how much less other peoples' grocery bills seem to be.

typical day's spending could easily look like this-

breakfast £1.50 x2
lunch £2 x2
dinner £3 x2

drinks/snacks £2 x2

baby supplies £1
washing/kitchen supplies 50p
alcohol £4
pet supplies £2

Daily total: £24.50

£24.5 *30 days = £735.. yeah, this would pretty typical for us. We mostly shop Tesco and buy mid range brands. Not the budget stuff, but not the gourmet stuff either.
« Last Edit: April 19, 2020, 10:04:15 AM by vand »

frugledoc

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #124 on: April 19, 2020, 10:15:43 AM »
I’m scared to calculate our grocery bills. 

We buy quite a few luxuries like blueberries, golden kiwis, salmon, cod etc.

Just did a quick estimation, about £400 already in April with 12 days to go!

This is for 2 adults and 2 kids under 6.

We don’t drink much alcohol, although have spent a bit more since lockdown


« Last Edit: April 19, 2020, 10:21:14 AM by frugledoc »

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #125 on: April 19, 2020, 11:17:38 AM »
Normal month would be under £500 for 4 adults (2 adults and 2 older teens that are capable of eating their body weight every day) - mostly shopping at Aldi and scratch cooking / prep.

Since ‘the thing’ we’ve avoided supermarkets other than Waitrose and in-town M&S - neither are busy, so fewer people to catch anything from. That has come at a cost - I reckon we’ll end up spending nearly 50% more in April. We have had some very nice pre-prepared food this month, the excuse of ‘if parents aren’t well enough to prepare dinner, at least the teens can warm stuff up’ . M&S Roast Lamb anyone?

Back to Aldi soon.

sea_saw

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #126 on: April 19, 2020, 12:23:48 PM »
I just had a look. In 2019 I spent a total of £1300 on 'groceries', so £108 per month. This includes some non-food items like loo roll and pretty regular but low-key entertaining. But it excludes my work canteen and cafes/restaurants. The bulk of my food is definitely prepared at home but even 3 meals per week or so will have an effect.

In March of this year I spent £162. This included some big shops to give me a 2 week stockpile, which I have more or less kept rolling, as well as food-consumed-outside-the-home dropping to 0 meals/£s by week 2 of the month.

I've already spent £110 in April (it's currently the 19th). This has covered 2 adults, as my partner moved in. We're now going to start splitting the costs.

I also switched to fancypants veg delivery. It's probably twice as expensive as supermarket veg, but it's definitely tastier and more varied. And I'm eating a lot more of it now that it's arriving in bulk AND I have the time to prepare it.   

Weird times...!
« Last Edit: April 20, 2020, 02:47:37 AM by sea_saw »

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #127 on: April 19, 2020, 01:43:23 PM »
How has peoples' food spending changed in light of the lockdown?

I think our grocery budget is probably ticking over around £650-700 month (2 adults, 1 baby, 3 cats), but that also includes about £100 for pet food and £70 in alcohol.

Definitely nipping to our local shop (Co-op) a whole lot less for evening treats, but did do a top up there today for some fresh veg. Probably on for £150 for the month for two adults which is about the same for us

vand

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #128 on: April 19, 2020, 02:33:17 PM »
How has peoples' food spending changed in light of the lockdown?

I think our grocery budget is probably ticking over around £650-700 month (2 adults, 1 baby, 3 cats), but that also includes about £100 for pet food and £70 in alcohol.

Definitely nipping to our local shop (Co-op) a whole lot less for evening treats, but did do a top up there today for some fresh veg. Probably on for £150 for the month for two adults which is about the same for us

So you're spending £75/month per person on food?
How is that even possible? Are you literally on beans and rice all day?

Cassie

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #129 on: April 19, 2020, 06:53:23 PM »
Our grocery bill doesn’t include alcohol or pet food. We also eat out once or twice a week. But we also have people over for dinner.

shelivesthedream

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #130 on: April 20, 2020, 01:06:03 AM »
Accounting for the fact that I had stocked up massively before NewBabySLTD was born shortly pre-lockdown and we don't have meat or alcohol in Lent anyway (but bought a whole lamb shoulder for Easter!)... we' have spent a bit less. We were all home all the time before, and did a weekly Aldi shop, but it has highlighted just how often we were popping out for treats, mostly to Waitrose. Now we've been either lwtting the whim pass or making the effort to bake.

cerat0n1a

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #131 on: April 20, 2020, 01:35:32 AM »
How has peoples' food spending changed in light of the lockdown?

I think our grocery budget is probably ticking over around £650-700 month (2 adults, 1 baby, 3 cats), but that also includes about £100 for pet food and £70 in alcohol.

Definitely nipping to our local shop (Co-op) a whole lot less for evening treats, but did do a top up there today for some fresh veg. Probably on for £150 for the month for two adults which is about the same for us

So you're spending £75/month per person on food?
How is that even possible? Are you literally on beans and rice all day?

Jack Monroe's eating on £10 per week series a couple of years ago shows that it doesn't have to be rice and beans. I think there were a couple of newspapers running copycat style things too.

PhilB

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #132 on: April 20, 2020, 01:53:12 AM »
How has peoples' food spending changed in light of the lockdown?

I think our grocery budget is probably ticking over around £650-700 month (2 adults, 1 baby, 3 cats), but that also includes about £100 for pet food and £70 in alcohol.

Definitely nipping to our local shop (Co-op) a whole lot less for evening treats, but did do a top up there today for some fresh veg. Probably on for £150 for the month for two adults which is about the same for us

So you're spending £75/month per person on food?
How is that even possible? Are you literally on beans and rice all day?

Jack Monroe's eating on £10 per week series a couple of years ago shows that it doesn't have to be rice and beans. I think there were a couple of newspapers running copycat style things too.
We very frequently spend less than £5 on a day's food for two adults and we live pretty high off the hog.  If we had to we could manage pretty well on that budget - although we would need a separate budget for alcohol!

shelivesthedream

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #133 on: April 20, 2020, 03:30:30 AM »
We could live on that and it wouldn't be miserable but would be organised and disciplined. In fact, I think around the time I joined this forum our budget (food and cleaning, not alcohol) was £200/month for two people.

Distant dreamer

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #134 on: April 20, 2020, 06:37:49 AM »
How has peoples' food spending changed in light of the lockdown?

I think our grocery budget is probably ticking over around £650-700 month (2 adults, 1 baby, 3 cats), but that also includes about £100 for pet food and £70 in alcohol.

Definitely nipping to our local shop (Co-op) a whole lot less for evening treats, but did do a top up there today for some fresh veg. Probably on for £150 for the month for two adults which is about the same for us

So you're spending £75/month per person on food?
How is that even possible? Are you literally on beans and rice all day?

No, most definitely not :) to be clear that includes all toiletries and cleaning stuff but no alcohol, also we have no pets. I don’t drink and we capture it separately so that is an extra £15/month. My OH likes beer but brews much of it himself.

I think we eat pretty ‘normal’ but I am coming to realise that normal varies massively between people but also over time, as our normal has changed. A quick snapshot of our food last night for tea was fish, chips and peas. Breakfast I have a milkshake most days, lunch just eaten out in the sun was a lovely big bowl of salad and tonight (and tomorrow night) will be spaghetti Bolognese. We both love our food so would not do this by choice but we have things I consider luxuries that we could easily cut out to make it even cheaper.

I really do believe it is what you are used to tho. In the example given above for a days food, you spent more on alcohol and snacks than we do in a day for all of our food. If you cut that in half (cost wise) that would £120/month you would save.

vand

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #135 on: April 20, 2020, 07:57:10 AM »
Oh, I totally agree that it's one of those "what you are used to."

I'm sure that if it really mattered to us we could halve our grocery bill, as I can see where a lot of it goes - we do buy quite a lot of higher markup stuff. If needed, we could easily switch the cats to dry food only, use table salt instead of the fancy sea-salt flakes that my wife likes to buy, eat way less meats, use less olive oil, buy more frozens etc.

If it were just me I'd probably do a little bit of that, but at the end of the day we're fortunate that our grocery spending is about 6-7% of our household gross income, so we're quite happy spending that amount, and  I don't see that cutting it to 4-5% would reap huge rewards.

sea_saw

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #136 on: April 20, 2020, 10:08:32 AM »
Maldon's? :) I keep a tub of that at the table for finishing things with. But I use much cheaper sea salt (this kind of thing: https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/254065580) at the stove. (I think table salt tastes funny). Total waste to dissolve delicate salt flakes in the pasta water IMO!

If I'm getting this right you spend about £500 per month on food for the two adults? I can't quite imagine what eats up the money in Tescos mid range brands but I don't have a breakdown of what I spend the money on myself to really compare.

As a quick check, yesterday which felt like a very foodie day I ate:

Breakfast: a crumpet with butter, cup of tea (25p?) - I freely admit to not being a breakfast person and this is usually just the tea honestly
Lunch: smoked mackerel fillet (£1), asparagus (came in a veg box but let's call it £1 for my portion), two fried eggs (40p), two slices of toast (.....20p?!)
Snacks: couple tofu snacks (10p and you're all sleeping on how amazing these are), an apple (50p, I like nice apples), cup of tea and a chocolate digestive (20p?)
Dinner: spinach and paneer curry (let's call the vegbox 'true spinach' £2.50, paneer £1.50, onion and cooking oil and spices 50p), with daal (red lentils, ghee and spices... 50p?), home made chapatis (let's call the flour 50p) and garlic pickle and yoghurt (it's also not 50p but for my sanity) = total £6 = made three portions = £2.

Total £4.50 for me over the last 24 hours, and for two people for 30 days that would take me to £270. That seems not too far off really. That was a more fancy food day than my 'baseline', with the fish and the more expensive than usual veg - the veg box had just arrived and obviously asparagus is higher on the priority and enthusiasm list than carrots. But other days might have a bit of meat, or more exciting cheese or fruit or something (posh cheese and fruit order arriving today!) so one way or another it seems within the bounds of normal. 

I can very easily imagine bumping it up to £6 per person per day with the addition of more meat, fish and snacks. (E.g. switching fresh salmon fillets from category of 'occasional treat' to 'weekly staple' - I'm currently held back more by ethical scruples than by finances, for the record). £8.50 a bit more puzzling as to what I'd need to spend it on, especially since it doesn't include the booze. But I guess you take it one step at a time, and once I'm used to £6 I'm sure I'll have my eye on the next step up ;)

Interesting thread as always!
« Last Edit: April 20, 2020, 10:52:27 AM by sea_saw »

cerat0n1a

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #137 on: April 20, 2020, 12:28:15 PM »
I think time/enjoyment of cooking is a big factor as well too.

Yesterday, I made a couple of vegetable tarts - similar to these, but with extra vegetables.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/cheese-tomato-pesto-tart
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/red-onion-feta-olive-tart

I'd guess the equivalent (but quite a bit smaller) thing would have been £5-6 each if bought ready-made versus £1.50 for ready-roll puff pastry, £1.45 for a block of Feta and well under a pound for the vegetables.

I also made Rhubarb crumble using vegetables from the garden - the cost of the flour, sugar and oats used for the crumble topping is probably pennies.

Even referring to the mythical beans and rice - you could spend £1.60 on one of those Uncle Ben's microwave rice things (250g) or £6.50 on 5kg of Basmati rice.

CrabbitDutchie

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #138 on: April 20, 2020, 01:12:36 PM »
Interesting.

I thought our spend was going up quite a lot (earlier in this thread I posted £60 per month per person, or £15 a week each). Definitely not just rice and beans and that number includes most alcohol and all cleaning/toiletries, but a decent amount of our fruit and vegetables are foraged/grown (let's not go into how much my time costs and how these ways of getting food are infinitely more expensive than the shop).


BUT, I've just had a look at our spending since I came back from uni/work travelling on the 13th March and we're on £132.70 (£66.35 each) for the period 14th March-14th April
or £116.78 (£58.39 each) since the lockdown started. We'll most likely not shop again till the weekend.

Seems it really is a case of what you're used to!

We did start with a full freezer(at least half of it fruit and vegetables from the plot, but I also like to freeze meat, fish, bread and dairy when I come across cracking deals. We also had a decent 'stockpile' affectionately known as 'the Brexit Stashe'. At least, it's decent by the standards of people who live in Scottish flats less than a 5 min walk to the supermarket. I'm sure many across the pond would be horrified by what I call a well stocked kitchen. How can that include just 4.5kg of rice?!
Having plenty on hand (apart from flour - why did I not buy extra back in January, WHY???). This has given us the flexibility to not have to substitute too much when we're in the shop, but we've been replenishing the pile at the same rate as we've been eating, just slightly different stuff.

We do feel the need to be more organized and disciplined. I'm usually someone who loves to take inspiration from the random yellow sticker veg on my way home from work and we usually only buy 'snacks' if the plan is to eat them that day. Now we're 'rationing' the oaties (how can milk chocolate hobnobs from lidl be sooo good? things that cost 41p should not be allowed to be so incredible).

I'll have a go at the breakdown of food for today:
breakfast: moka pot coffee with milk,  stewed rhubarb, oats and milk (err 15p for the coffee 10p for the milk, 2p for the bit of ginger and the sugar in the rhubarb, 5p for the oats) = 32p
lunch: leftover potato and chickpea curry with  rice, a poppadum and some spiced onions (homemade, except the poppadum, which I did deep fry myself) - call it 50p per portion
dinner: swiss chard, green lentils, fresh herbs and yoghurt/cream cheese, with spiced sweet potato wedges (possibly some boiled eggs on top of the creamy/herby /lentilly/swish chard mush) - err 80p
snacks: 3 cups of tea, 1 apple, 1 chocolate oatie, 1 crackebrod thingy with homemade pumpkin and ginger jam, handful of raisins - err 50p?

In the past week or so we've had things like:
nettle soup,
gnocci with a nettle, basil and sprouted pea 'pesto' and sprouting kale (as good as purple sprouting broccoli)
roast vegetable, chickpea and feta 'salad'
pasta with anchovies, chilli, sprouting kale and parmesan
creamy potato and leek bake
3 bean chilli, with rice, in tortillas for lunch and as a 'Mexican soup'
southern indian seafood soup

In the past week I've also made hot cross buns(Easter) and brownies(it was my sister's birthday, I sent her a picture)

I get that it's a little lower in protein than many would go for, but it doesn't feel too monotonous and probably isn't what people imagine when you say £15 a week


Distant dreamer

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #139 on: April 20, 2020, 01:43:01 PM »
Crabbit your diet sounds quite similar to ours and we also grow/forage some key bits, not just for cost but also they taste better or are unavailable in the shops. And I am partial to a yellow sticker too :)

On protein, we top up our diet with protein powder in our breakfast. We are both pretty active and I personally feel better for more protein in my diet and it does stop me filling up on sugars and carbs instead. I know you can get it from lentils etc as well as the obvious sources but I find it an easy addition to the day.

shelivesthedream

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #140 on: April 21, 2020, 01:21:04 AM »
Ooh, we discovered sprouting kale tops this spring! Delicious!

Yesterday we ate:
Breakfast: Glass of milk for toddler, cafetiere coffee for Mr SLTD. Aldi muesli for all, with normal milk for them and almond milk for me.
Elevenses: Banana for toddler. Coffee and Aldi snack bar for me, coffee and apple for Mr SLTD. (I think I also ate the remains of the banana and maybe another snack bar. Breastfeeding, yo.)
Lunch: Rice, cauliflower (fried w/ oyster sauce), red cabbage quick pickle.
Random snack for self: Aldi snack bar.
Dinner: Homemade hummus, spiced chickpeas, garden spinach, red cabbage...all in a wrap.

We're very into convenience, speed and snacks at the moment compared to our most frugal moments in time, but also both at home not working all the time. So...yes, it depends what you're used to!

I will be interested to see how much of a difference our organised raised beds will make to our food spend in peak months.

vand

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #141 on: April 21, 2020, 03:12:20 AM »
Maldon's? :) I keep a tub of that at the table for finishing things with. But I use much cheaper sea salt (this kind of thing: https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/254065580) at the stove. (I think table salt tastes funny). Total waste to dissolve delicate salt flakes in the pasta water IMO!

If I'm getting this right you spend about £500 per month on food for the two adults? I can't quite imagine what eats up the money in Tescos mid range brands but I don't have a breakdown of what I spend the money on myself to really compare.

As a quick check, yesterday which felt like a very foodie day I ate:

Breakfast: a crumpet with butter, cup of tea (25p?) - I freely admit to not being a breakfast person and this is usually just the tea honestly
Lunch: smoked mackerel fillet (£1), asparagus (came in a veg box but let's call it £1 for my portion), two fried eggs (40p), two slices of toast (.....20p?!)
Snacks: couple tofu snacks (10p and you're all sleeping on how amazing these are), an apple (50p, I like nice apples), cup of tea and a chocolate digestive (20p?)
Dinner: spinach and paneer curry (let's call the vegbox 'true spinach' £2.50, paneer £1.50, onion and cooking oil and spices 50p), with daal (red lentils, ghee and spices... 50p?), home made chapatis (let's call the flour 50p) and garlic pickle and yoghurt (it's also not 50p but for my sanity) = total £6 = made three portions = £2.

Total £4.50 for me over the last 24 hours, and for two people for 30 days that would take me to £270. That seems not too far off really. That was a more fancy food day than my 'baseline', with the fish and the more expensive than usual veg - the veg box had just arrived and obviously asparagus is higher on the priority and enthusiasm list than carrots. But other days might have a bit of meat, or more exciting cheese or fruit or something (posh cheese and fruit order arriving today!) so one way or another it seems within the bounds of normal. 

I can very easily imagine bumping it up to £6 per person per day with the addition of more meat, fish and snacks. (E.g. switching fresh salmon fillets from category of 'occasional treat' to 'weekly staple' - I'm currently held back more by ethical scruples than by finances, for the record). £8.50 a bit more puzzling as to what I'd need to spend it on, especially since it doesn't include the booze. But I guess you take it one step at a time, and once I'm used to £6 I'm sure I'll have my eye on the next step up ;)

Interesting thread as always!

Yeah, you got me!

We did another shop yesterday, this time just popping down to the local M&S. Easily burnt through £100 on enough food to probably last us 5-6 days. Easy to see some of the higher priced items: a smoothie, mozarella cheese sticks, ready meals, fresh pasta etc. It is what it is!

sea_saw

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #142 on: April 21, 2020, 04:52:45 AM »
OK for my sanity vand please tell me it is not your ONLY salt XD

Time spent cooking is definitely a massive variable. Since lockdown my ability to make dishes like home made pizzas and hand-formed burgers and tarts and curries and so on is probably at about 2-3x my 'baseline', between the extra time at home, that then enabling regular veg box deliveries without fear of waste, and having a partner around who also likes to cook.

I think overall I'll have a net increase in costs even when compared to occasional restaurants and regular use of the work canteen etc. But I'm happy about it because it's delicious and enjoyable!

Playing with Fire UK

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #143 on: April 21, 2020, 05:05:11 AM »
OK for my sanity vand please tell me it is not your ONLY salt XD

Not only is it the only salt for cooking pasta, it's the same salt for de-icing the driveway.

shelivesthedream

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #144 on: April 21, 2020, 05:32:16 AM »
That's the only salt we use on food...but then we don't salt cooking, only at table when required. Is that odd?

Playing with Fire UK

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #145 on: April 21, 2020, 07:00:30 AM »
I started reading a book called Salt Heat Acid Fat that had many opinions on salt. I found some of it interesting but ultimately not interesting to finish. Very sciencey, written by a chef legend.

Anyway, that basically said that the main mistake that amateur chefs make is salting too little and too late. I tried the theory for a while but honestly couldn't tell the difference.

I only have opinions about salt on chips. This is not professional advice.

sea_saw

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #146 on: April 21, 2020, 07:47:57 AM »
I can definitely taste the difference between food salted only at the table vs earlier stages of prep. It depends what of course, but rice or pasta cooked in unsalted water is particularly obvious, and for me, basically impossible to fully compensate for. But as with everything it depends on what you're used to. Also of course some ingredients will already contain salt e.g. stock cubes, curry pastes, soy sauce, etc. 

I do think if you like your food very flavoursome learning how to use salt while cooking is totally worth it. I've had guests make shocked faces at the amount of salt I use but when they eat the food they think it's delicious and not over-salted so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and I'm also personally not concerned about my salt intake health-wise which I guess helps.

vand

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #147 on: April 21, 2020, 10:55:05 AM »
OK for my sanity vand please tell me it is not your ONLY salt XD

Not only is it the only salt for cooking pasta, it's the same salt for de-icing the driveway.

ROFL!

I'm actually on the Gwyneth Diet.

Playing with Fire UK

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #148 on: April 22, 2020, 02:31:35 AM »
OK for my sanity vand please tell me it is not your ONLY salt XD

Not only is it the only salt for cooking pasta, it's the same salt for de-icing the driveway.

ROFL!

I'm actually on the Gwyneth Diet.

That's fantastic!

BookLoverL

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Re: What's your average monthly food spend per adult? (UK)
« Reply #149 on: July 06, 2020, 03:21:10 PM »
I haven't posted here for ages, but anyway. I just moved out of my parents' place and into a rental around Christmas, and so far for my single-adult food spend I'm averaging under £15 per week, mostly from ALDI. I'd have to get the receipts out to do an exact breakdown but that's based on the totals and frequency of shopping.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!