This discussion is now closed.
Check out other Related discussions
- How much money do you need for a year for food?
- Will this money last me till September ?
- Food
- £90 a week budget?
- Personal finance
- University if lincoln
- How much do I need to live on in uni?
- Will I have time in uni to work? Will I earn anything?
- 5th March 2025: ‘Labours’ Real first Budget– fiscal years 25/26.
- financing uni😭
- Not sure how to help a friend, who runs out of money two weeks prior pay for months
- Is earning 25k a year considered poor?
- how should i loose weight
- Meal plan
- Trinity financial support
- Is student finance enough?
- How did you live cheaply at uni?
- is spending £10 a day at uni too much?
- saving £9250 a year on gap year?
- English at UCL
How much do you spend on food per week?
Scroll to see replies
Original post by Slender Loris
£10-15/week. Includes toiletries, free-range/organic/fairtrade products where applicable, no meat/fish/alcohol.
Tell me your secrets plz. Where do you shop?
£10-£15 a week. What on earth do you buy to get the cost up to over £100???
Original post by raisin.
i'm budgeting £30, no more. hahaha.
i fail to see how that will work though as i love love love fruit and vegetables which are usually the most expensive! i am also addicted to luxury muesli and porridge, and i am a sucker for quaint little organicy whole food shops which are always notoriously expensive. i don't eat meat though, so at least i'll save some money there.
the tips that i'm going to be using are buy in bulk (pasta, and bread which can be frozen) and also if you want to get veg and stuff then those frozen packs of steamed vegetables you can get can work out a lot cheaper than fresh veg which is obviously nicer but tends to go off far quicker!
i really hate cheap and horrible food (e.g. lidl stuff) but if you don't mind it then i guess those sorts of places are really cheap! and there's always cheap student staples, so you could easily live off cereal and biscuits if you were a bit short of money one week haha.
stuff like potatoes and stir fries are really cheap and can make filling meals if you add stuff to them. it's not exactly gourmet but baked beans on a jacket potato with cheese and salad is really filling and should only cost you about a £1 per meal! also, if you don't mind ready meals then tesco often have them on like 3 for a fiver or whatever.
this is probably really obvious and unhelpful but my main advice would be accept that you're going to have to give up the things you love and eat like a student for a while! it'll make you appreciate nice food much more when you do get to eat it on the rare occasion
i fail to see how that will work though as i love love love fruit and vegetables which are usually the most expensive! i am also addicted to luxury muesli and porridge, and i am a sucker for quaint little organicy whole food shops which are always notoriously expensive. i don't eat meat though, so at least i'll save some money there.
the tips that i'm going to be using are buy in bulk (pasta, and bread which can be frozen) and also if you want to get veg and stuff then those frozen packs of steamed vegetables you can get can work out a lot cheaper than fresh veg which is obviously nicer but tends to go off far quicker!
i really hate cheap and horrible food (e.g. lidl stuff) but if you don't mind it then i guess those sorts of places are really cheap! and there's always cheap student staples, so you could easily live off cereal and biscuits if you were a bit short of money one week haha.
stuff like potatoes and stir fries are really cheap and can make filling meals if you add stuff to them. it's not exactly gourmet but baked beans on a jacket potato with cheese and salad is really filling and should only cost you about a £1 per meal! also, if you don't mind ready meals then tesco often have them on like 3 for a fiver or whatever.
this is probably really obvious and unhelpful but my main advice would be accept that you're going to have to give up the things you love and eat like a student for a while! it'll make you appreciate nice food much more when you do get to eat it on the rare occasion
There's nothing wrong with Lidl, stop being such a supermarket snob
OP that money could be put to better use! In fact I thought I was lavish for spending £30 a month on food (which I suppose works out less than a tenner a month). It depends how healthy you want to be, I'm trying to be uber healthy right now so make my own tomato sauce, lasagne sauces etc. What kinds of things are you buying? Own brand or middle brand stuff can be just as good as the labelled stuff and if you want to reduce costs places like asda, lidl, tescos and sainsburys are cheaper than waitrose for example.
Have you ever thought about making your own sandwiches instead of buying them? You can get ham for £2, bread for less than a quid, eggs for not that much, same with bacon etc! If you even cut down your spending by half you could save £720. And ready meals are often more unhealthy than making fresh food yourself. For that money you could go on holiday at the end of the year
(edited 13 years ago)
Original post by sango
Hmm... I'm reading this and though I'm not even 18 yet, I can honestly say that I see myself spending £100 a week when I go to uni. That is because I'm one of those silly snobs who only eats the best quality of food and doesn't compromise on food i.e. no frozen food, no doss like lidl brand or asda smartprice.
I have no doubt that has changed/will change when you get to uni.
Original post by imperial maniac
I have no doubt that has changed/will change when you get to uni.
OMG cringe
Well I'm going uni in 3 weeks and I can honestly tell you, that has changed. I plan to spend half that amount and frozen food? Yes please!
Original post by hhh123
SOMEONE HELP!?
I've worked out my finances for next year and with accommodation already taken out, do you think I can live off £48 per week? Including food, toiletries, socializing, possibly phone contract?
I've worked out my finances for next year and with accommodation already taken out, do you think I can live off £48 per week? Including food, toiletries, socializing, possibly phone contract?
That is more than enough.
£20p/m phone contract = £5 a week.
Food = no more than £20, could be done for a lot less, stay away from ready meals, go at the end of day for knock down bakery goods/fruit and veg. Buy own brands.
Night out = £10?
Other socialising-- go off peak for student offers.
Toiletries = pennies, shop at savers and wilkinsons.
Original post by ArcadiaHouse
Just ran through what I buy roughly each week, it came to £26.45. I thought it would be more than that, especially as Sainsbury's is the place I have to shop 
But then I buy stuff like toilet roll and deodorant there as well, so it all adds up. 
But then I buy stuff like toilet roll and deodorant there as well, so it all adds up. Why not buy those things in poundworld? 4 loo rolls are £1, 2 kitchen rolls £1, fairy liquid £1- loads more you can get.
I will be budgeting £50 a week. Fruit and veg of the market stall in the precint, everyday value when i can.
Getting on my parents costco card so can buy toiletries etc
Despite the thread necromancy I will take the opportunity to disagree with people saying not to buy reduced meat. In the UK, we have such ridiculously early 'sell-by dates' on our meat that it often hasn't developed much of a flavour when you buy it. The best example is steak, which is best if you leave it for a couple of weeks after buying it before cooking it. This also applies to ham etc.
£20-25pw.
I don't eat meat, but I do eat some fish (not much tbh), and only buy free range eggs and organic milk, for animal welfare / ethical reasons (which are quite important to me).
For anything that is fairly 'basic' (e.g. flour; stuff which is so fundamental that it would be difficult to mess up the quality noticeably) I will go for the value ranges. For other stuff e.g. pasta sauce, I will go for the own-brand, but non-value stuff, unless there's something on offer that's cheaper (I have no brand loyalty when it comes to stuff like sauces!). I also like to shop in the reduced section.
Oh, and I have a bigger appetite than my dad, despite being 3" shorter than him and female! I recently sat down and ate 250g (dry weight) of pasta and an entire jar of pasta sauce in one meal . . . and I have a BMI of 21.2 (TBF that was unusual even for me)
The place where I fall down, however, is buying toasted baguettes at uni. At £2 a go, it can add up
I don't eat meat, but I do eat some fish (not much tbh), and only buy free range eggs and organic milk, for animal welfare / ethical reasons (which are quite important to me).
For anything that is fairly 'basic' (e.g. flour; stuff which is so fundamental that it would be difficult to mess up the quality noticeably) I will go for the value ranges. For other stuff e.g. pasta sauce, I will go for the own-brand, but non-value stuff, unless there's something on offer that's cheaper (I have no brand loyalty when it comes to stuff like sauces!). I also like to shop in the reduced section.
Oh, and I have a bigger appetite than my dad, despite being 3" shorter than him and female! I recently sat down and ate 250g (dry weight) of pasta and an entire jar of pasta sauce in one meal . . . and I have a BMI of 21.2 (TBF that was unusual even for me)
The place where I fall down, however, is buying toasted baguettes at uni. At £2 a go, it can add up
I'm hoping that I'll be alright next year budget wise because I don't eat much meat and I'm lactose intolerant which pretty much rules out any dairy products or luxuries (cakes, biscuits, chocolate, cheese, etc) but do you guys think that me being unable to cook and eat with my flatmates everyday (because of the lactose thing) will mean I have to spend lots more?
Original post by ad99797
I spend about a £15 a week and for that i get four nutritious meals a day. You really dont need to spend £30, save it for cool stuff.
How on earth do you manage that? Please elaborate?
I am yet to go to uni, but have recently just sat down and worked out my finances and wrote a plan of my meals and snacks in a day. All in all, it came to just under £40 per week on food/loo rolls/toothpaste etc. What do you buy with £15 to make 28 square healthy meals per week?
Original post by Jadelyndsey
How on earth do you manage that? Please elaborate?
I am yet to go to uni, but have recently just sat down and worked out my finances and wrote a plan of my meals and snacks in a day. All in all, it came to just under £40 per week on food/loo rolls/toothpaste etc. What do you buy with £15 to make 28 square healthy meals per week?
I am yet to go to uni, but have recently just sat down and worked out my finances and wrote a plan of my meals and snacks in a day. All in all, it came to just under £40 per week on food/loo rolls/toothpaste etc. What do you buy with £15 to make 28 square healthy meals per week?
£40 a week on food? That's so much! Crazy! What're you buying?
I spend around £15 a week on food/toliteries etc and I have breakfast, lunch, dinner and try to eat as healthy as possible.
Go for the supermarket own brands! Just by doing this I cut down from about £20/25 a week to £15. Don't be put off by them, I really can't tell the difference with a lot of them when comparing them to branded products. (For example, 500g for Tesco Value cornflakes for 34p lasts me two weeks of breakfasts!)
Plan you meals for the week, to make sure that you're not buying extra food that you'll either not eat, or only eat because you've bought it. Do you really need to buy all those snacks?
Don't eat out a lot! That takes up a lot of money for food. I only eat out every few weeks as a treat with friends.
Make meals in bulk, then freeze the leftovers to use as meals in the next couple of weeks. It's a cheaper option than buying ready meals!
Also, buy all of your tolietries (toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, etc) from the pound store. You save a lot doing that.
Oh, and try and get as many loyalty cards as possible, and coupon coupon coupon! I've saved a fair few quid on a shop using coupons before.
EDIT: Also, make your own lunches! Much cheaper than buying pre-packed sandwiches!
Original post by helen-a-ravenclaw
£40 a week on food? That's so much! Crazy! What're you buying?
I spend around £15 a week on food/toliteries etc and I have breakfast, lunch, dinner and try to eat as healthy as possible.
Go for the supermarket own brands! Just by doing this I cut down from about £20/25 a week to £15. Don't be put off by them, I really can't tell the difference with a lot of them when comparing them to branded products. (For example, 500g for Tesco Value cornflakes for 34p lasts me two weeks of breakfasts!)
Plan you meals for the week, to make sure that you're not buying extra food that you'll either not eat, or only eat because you've bought it. Do you really need to buy all those snacks?
Don't eat out a lot! That takes up a lot of money for food. I only eat out every few weeks as a treat with friends.
Make meals in bulk, then freeze the leftovers to use as meals in the next couple of weeks. It's a cheaper option than buying ready meals!
Also, buy all of your tolietries (toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, etc) from the pound store. You save a lot doing that.
Oh, and try and get as many loyalty cards as possible, and coupon coupon coupon! I've saved a fair few quid on a shop using coupons before.
EDIT: Also, make your own lunches! Much cheaper than buying pre-packed sandwiches!
I spend around £15 a week on food/toliteries etc and I have breakfast, lunch, dinner and try to eat as healthy as possible.
Go for the supermarket own brands! Just by doing this I cut down from about £20/25 a week to £15. Don't be put off by them, I really can't tell the difference with a lot of them when comparing them to branded products. (For example, 500g for Tesco Value cornflakes for 34p lasts me two weeks of breakfasts!)
Plan you meals for the week, to make sure that you're not buying extra food that you'll either not eat, or only eat because you've bought it. Do you really need to buy all those snacks?
Don't eat out a lot! That takes up a lot of money for food. I only eat out every few weeks as a treat with friends.
Make meals in bulk, then freeze the leftovers to use as meals in the next couple of weeks. It's a cheaper option than buying ready meals!
Also, buy all of your tolietries (toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, etc) from the pound store. You save a lot doing that.
Oh, and try and get as many loyalty cards as possible, and coupon coupon coupon! I've saved a fair few quid on a shop using coupons before.
EDIT: Also, make your own lunches! Much cheaper than buying pre-packed sandwiches!
Thanks for that =D
But, at risk of sounding like a geek here, I have already sat down and wrote a week of ingredients out and the meals they would produce (no ingredients left over to make other meals) and it came to about £30 and that's with own make basic products! Then toiletries etc came to about £28 per month making my weekly average spend about £37 with £3 to play with really.
Here's a sample of my meals that I made:
1. 2X wholemeal slices of bread,2 tbspn low fat mayo, small can tuna, bit of salad =Tuna sandwich
2. 100g wholemeal pasta, 2 tbspn low fat mayo, small can tuna, 2 tbspn frozen peas, garlic, dried herbs=Tuna pasta
3. 125g lean mince, ½ diced onion, garlic, 1 cal spray, ½ tin chopped tomatoes, 22.5g tomato puree, dried herbs, water, served with with 100g whole meal pasta=Healthy spag bol
4. Bolognaise(half of spagbol), cheese (40g), 1 jacket potato, and handful of salad=Filled Jacket (with bolognaise and cheese)
5. 1 Warburtons wrap, 40g cheese, 50g chicken, few mushrooms, 22.5g tomato puree=Warburtons wrap pizza
6. 1 Warburtons wrap, small 50g can of tuna, 2tbspn low fat mayo, handful of salad=Warburtons tuna salad wrap
7. 100g chicken breast, ½ pack stir fry sauce, ½ pack egg noodles, ½ pack stir fry veg =Stir fry
8. 100g chicken breast, ½ pack stir fry sauce, ½ pack egg noodles, ½ pack stir fry veg =Stir fry
9. 100g chicken breast, ½ jar chicken tikka (WW), ½ bag boil in bag rice=Chicken tikka with rice
10. 2 rashers of bacon, 1 egg (fried), 1 egg (scrambled), 1 slice of toast, handful of mushrooms=English brekkie
11. ½ bag boil in bag rice, rasher of bacon, ½ onion, 40g peas, 50g chicken, soy sauce, ½ tin tomatoes =Whip round the fridge rice,
12. 2 eggs, 3 slices of bread=Dippy soldiers
13. 100g chicken breast, ½ jar chicken tikka (ww), large handful of salad, warburtons wrap=Chicken tikka salad sandwich
14. 2 slices of bread, 8 slices of ham, and 45g of cheese=Cheese & ham toastie
I always alternate my breakfasts already with a bowl of cereal on morning, and scrambled egg on toast the next, which I plan to carry on at uni, so the above meals would last me one week with one number for lunch and one for dinner. To make the above, I created this list:
• Small loaf wholemeal bread= £0.70
• Garlic=£0.50
• 3X small tin tuna=£2.20
• Pack of onions=£1.00
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes=£0.35
• Bag of mozzarella cheese=£0.85
• Large pack of eggs=£1.50
• Small pack baking potatoes=£0.70
• Warburtons square wraps=£1.50
• Salad pack=£2.00
• Stir fry ingredients=£4.00
• Chicken breast (500g)=£3.25
• WW chicken tikka jar=£1.00
• Milk=£2.00
• Pack of mushrooms=£1.00
• 7 bananas=£1
• Couple poundland extras, i.e. crisps, sweets,=£2
==£26.75
With this list, nothing is wasted and I would be eating probably better than I do now, and I really don't see how I could cut it down unless I ate cereal every night for dinner! :P x
EDIT: Just incase you wanted to see what I buy monthly, heres that one too!
• Shampoo & conditioner=£2.00
• 3X9 pack of loo rolls=£6.00
• 1X toothepaste=£1
• 4X pack of rice=£0.89
• 1kg pasta=£1.79
• Mayonnaise=£1.89
• Frozen peas=£1.90
• Sugar=£1.00
• 750g shreddies, 24 weetabix Cereal=£2.00
• 200g tomato pure= £0.49
• 12 bacon rashers=£3
• Pack of ham (and freeze portions)= £1
• 500g lean mince= £4
• Tomato sauce=£1
• Tea bags=£1
=£29
Ps, I am extremely organised albeit OCD where money is concerned haha!
(edited 11 years ago)
130 a week! 
That would be fine for a family of 4? Where do you shop? Waitrose?
Just by the own brand version of everything and try to plan your meals out.
Plain pasta may seem pretty boring but try and liven it up with some spices or something.
That would be fine for a family of 4? Where do you shop? Waitrose?
Just by the own brand version of everything and try to plan your meals out.
Plain pasta may seem pretty boring but try and liven it up with some spices or something.
Related discussions
- How much money do you need for a year for food?
- Will this money last me till September ?
- Food
- £90 a week budget?
- Personal finance
- University if lincoln
- How much do I need to live on in uni?
- Will I have time in uni to work? Will I earn anything?
- 5th March 2025: ‘Labours’ Real first Budget– fiscal years 25/26.
- financing uni😭
- Not sure how to help a friend, who runs out of money two weeks prior pay for months
- Is earning 25k a year considered poor?
- how should i loose weight
- Meal plan
- Trinity financial support
- Is student finance enough?
- How did you live cheaply at uni?
- is spending £10 a day at uni too much?
- saving £9250 a year on gap year?
- English at UCL
Latest
Trending
Last reply 3 weeks ago
Got a third in my second year and the highest I’ve achieved in third year was 55%Trending
Last reply 3 weeks ago
Got a third in my second year and the highest I’ve achieved in third year was 55%
