Food budget thread

SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
It’s hidden in a little tab above what you searched for as an option on most sites in the UK.

‘Price Per High to low’ (rather than Low to High) is also a handy shortcut when you’re looking for the absolute best they think have to offer. They always plug their featured items at the top before showing you what you want to know though.

The ‘customer rating‘ can be handy when looking for good reviews, although thats hit and miss It’s good if you’re in a rush.

View attachment 98290
Click to expand...
I’ll have to check out my grocer’s site on a laptop (assuming it isn’t blocked by work - they block the strangest things). Otherwise, I’m exclusively using their phone app, which may or may not leave out some detail in the interest of brevity.
 
SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
Ocado is by far the priciest, Waitrose slightly less and Morrisons often the cheapest but then once the whole basket is assembled what you save on some items they take back on another and the final prices aren’t that far from each other. Plus the higher end supermarket means only one shop because they stock all the ingredients. What price convenience?
Click to expand...

I'm with you there. I shop almost exclusively on-line and use Ocado and Morrisons. Ocado used to include Waitrose produce so I used to buy their products too. Morrisons is excellent and rather adventurous for meat at a budget price and stocks things like ox cheeks. So I cox and box between the two, on-line. And that rhymes with ox :giggle: Mostly I use Morrisons for the everyday things. My food bills are all mixed up with vast alcohol expenditure, so I don't really know what I spend on food specifically. I'd have to dissect my bills...

I guess maybe £40 ($50) per week for two - but I do have a very extensive store cupboard.
 
Last edited:
The 2 regular groceries we go to both have loyalty programs. One is a lot better than the other, but has less of a selection in the store than the other. Of the better point system one, I have around $60 built up in rewards since January 1. The other you get $3 off for every $100 you spend.

I also finally realized that I could use my credit card that has the best points program for groceries, then come home and make a payment. So, points for dollars to spend and no interest. Win-win!
 
Last edited:
Morning Glory said:
I'm with you there. I shop almost exclusively on-line and use Ocado and Morrisons. Ocado used to include Waitrose produce so I used to buy their products too. Morrisons is excellent and rather adventurous for meat at a budget price and stocks things like ox cheeks. So I cox and box between the two, on-line. And that rhymes with ox :giggle: Mostly I use Morrisons for the everyday things. My food bills are all mixed up with vast alcohol expenditure, so I don't really know what I spend on food specifically. I'd have to dissect my bills...

I guess maybe £40 ($50) per week for two - but I do have a very extensive store cupboard.
Click to expand...
Agree Morrisons win on the Meat and fish range. I believe thats because they were originally a butchers.

They are one of the only supermarkets left with a fish counter and stock a decent range. The guy who works there told me thats because Morrisons is the only supermarket that owns fishing vessels, apparently a hangover from the old days.
 
kaneohegirlinaz said:
I wish I could have a garden! I've tried and it just doesn't work where we are.
Something else not mentioned yet, is Club Warehouse memberships.
I've belonged to Costco since the late 80's.
Another great tip towards "shopping smart": comparison shop.
I'll be standing in Store A and check the price of the same product that I'm about to buy at Store B on their app or website.
Like this afternoon, I was just about to order online a product that I use all the time and knew that I needed more.
The 1st store I was looking at was TWICE the cost of the 2nd one I looked at!
Click to expand...
I promise you that the main benefit of having a garden is just fresh, fresh, fresh. It's not going to save you a dime usually, because the cost of the seeds/plants/water/fertilizer/time doesn't equate.

I will tell you that you can start plants and grown from cuttings such as lettuce and green onions/spring onions/scallions. And you can grow them in pots in your house.
 
Last edited:
I do look at the unit cost numbers on the shelf tag at the store for some things. Other things I know well enough to tell whether the price is good or not. Of course, our is in ounces or per item.

Kroger loyalty cards give you "fuel points" that can be used for discounts on gasoline at Kroger or Shell gas stations. The points really add up fast if you use the Kroger pharmacy. My insurance covers most of my prescription drugs, so I get a ton of "free" fuel points. I buy Shell, even though it is a bit more expensive than Kroger gas. The gasoline itself is exactly the same, but Shell uses better additives.

CD
 
LissaC said:
This is going to freak out caseydog , but I am a super organized person :D and I have a Google spreadsheet where I keep track of all my spending and in the end of every month I total how much I spent and where. I even have separate columns for separate categories (ie housing, food, clothes, etc) making it easier to calculate each total.

This year I'm spending an average of 160€/month on food. That's my supermarket spending only, not counting eating out, and while I live alone my boyfriend spends 2/3 days every week at my house and since he eats different stuff for breakfast than me he buys his breakfast food but I buy the rest.

I love going to the supermarket, so every week I check each supermarket's flier so I know what's on sale. If any of the foods I buy regularly are cheap, I buy in bulk so I have enough stock to last me awhile (as long as it's non-perishable food or food that can be frozen). When I'm almost running out of that food I start looking for promotions again.

Something very important is to always compare prices in price per kg or price per liter, not just the price that's on the product. Sometimes products seem to be on sale, but when you look at price per kg/liter you realize there are other products that are not on sale that are cheaper.

The biggest issue is fresh produce, which I don't buy in bulk because I'm afraid of it spoiling. Luckily I recently found the tupperware ventsmart line, in my experience I can keep produce fresh for 3 weeks in these boxes. With onions, when they're on sale I buy in bulk, chop them and freeze them. It works really well for stews, which is most of the food I cook.
Click to expand...
If you haven't already, invest in some Pyrex or other glass containers for keeping some fresh foods. I once used plastic containers or bags for keeping cut strawberries or other fresh produce and found that they spoiled quickly. After putting them in the Pyrex or glass containers in the frig, I found that they lasted up to 3 weeks longer!
 
TastyReuben said:
I need to start doing this, because even though I keep them in a dark, cool spot, they still start sprouting after a few days.
Click to expand...
Do you have a farmer's market nearby? Since I buy my onions & potatoes there they last for a full 2 to 3 months in our pantry. Supermarket stuff on the other hand spoils within a week like you say. And the farmer's market onions & potatoes are cheaper here and more flavorful!

Win win win
 
JAS_OH1 said:
If you haven't already, invest in some Pyrex or other glass containers for keeping some fresh foods. I once used plastic containers or bags for keeping cut strawberries or other fresh produce and found that they spoiled quickly. After putting them in the Pyrex or glass containers in the frig, I found that they lasted up to 3 weeks longer!
Click to expand...
I really don't like glass, it's too heavy for me and I'm a bit clumsy. I've broken enough glass bottles/cups that I just decided to avoid it as much as I can.
 
As for the subject , I didn't answer my own OP yet.

We have a decadent food budget, we used to spend around 450 a month with the 3 of us (cat food, cleaning agents and household items included) but since the inflation we're at about 700 a month because we can afford it and we admittedly like luxury items. This doesn't include dining out, which is another 200 a month.

However we do have some frugal rules, we have a good pantry and freezer and we use up everything we buy. So we're working on as little waste as possible with help of frugal websites and wartime books.
We buy in bulk and a lot of organic produce, that's part of why our shop is so expensive. Meat and eggs have to be organic for us to eat it.
But yeah, crisis or not we've not given any of our spending habits up. I am perfectly capable of that, I lived in poverty without debts for 15 years because I never overspent, but we CAN afford this while saving a decent amount each months so we choose to do so.

We rarely go on holiday to compensate, due to my health issues and also our old cat which we still don't have a sitter for we can't really find a way to do that so that's why we can afford these daily luxuries.
 
Ok, daft question time.

Why are people excluding the cost of pantry staples? If you use it, you will need to replace it and I get through a lot of pantry staples with 5-10 items replaced every second shop (not counting spices and the likes).

Ok setting up a pantry is initially expensive, but you do need to keep topping it up. That rice comp had be go through several bags of rice (the brown basmati rice is only available in 1kg bags at present, the same brand white basmati is available in both 1kg & 5kg bags). Every time we make a fresh tub of yoghurt, I use 2 × 1L of soy milk (one with no additives or extras in it) that has to be replaced and for us that is a pantry item, just like UHT milk would be for other people. It just seems odd to me that stuff like that is excluded.

It isn't in my cost, neither is washing up liquid, laundry liquid, cleaning fluid, tissues etc.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Ok, daft question time.

Why are people excluding the cost of pantry staples? If you use it, you will need to replace it and I get through a lot of pantry staples with 5-10 items replaced every second shop (not counting spices and the likes).

Ok setting up a pantry is initially expensive, but you do need to keep topping it up. That rice comp had be go through several bags of rice (the brown basmati rice is only available in 1kg bags at present, the same brand white basmati is available in both 1kg & 5kg bags). Every time we make a fresh tub of yoghurt, I use 2 × 1L of soy milk (one with no additives or extras in it) that has to be replaced and for us that is a pantry item, just like UHT milk would be for other people. It just seems odd to me that stuff like that is excluded.

It isn't in my cost, neither is washing up liquid, laundry liquid, cleaning fluid, tissues etc.
Click to expand...
Not sure who you're asking? I specifically mentioned buying in bulk and keeping a pantry.

But I also think most people living in cities have a much smaller pantry than those in a rural area and often shop more frequently due to more stores being close by.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom