How much does it cost to feed 1 person per week?!

I am a vegan and I don't drink alcohol I want to do my shopping in lidl mainly but get the odd thing from tesco as I can't get all vegan stuff in lidl. How much would I expect to spend? I want to try and make sure I keep my finances in order.

Reply 1

Surnia

20

Think of the items you would need for a typical eating plan for a week/fortnight and look at the supermarket website for prices.

Yes, some things will last ages if you are buying items like spices or accompaniments like rice and pasta, but you can still work out the serving size and include them in the costs.

Reply 2

NurseCarol

16

Original post by Anonymous1502

I am a vegan and I don't drink alcohol I want to do my shopping in lidl mainly but get the odd thing from tesco as I can't get all vegan stuff in lidl. How much would I expect to spend? I want to try and make sure I keep my finances in order.

I'm a vegan too! I don't really know how much I spend. I suppose it depends if you plan on buying anything expensive or not. Things like rice, pasta, sauces, cereals, bread are really cheap. But if you want to be unhealthy, there are some 14p vegan instant noodles from tesco :biggrin:

Its cheaper to find things that are "accidentally" vegan, than things marketed at you. :wink:

Edit: sorry i just realised how unhelpful this was. In short. Idk :s-smilie:

I have more or less moved out to my bfs now, and I estimate we dont spend more than £40 a week on food for us both. But we could defo do it cheaper if we tried harder

Reply 3

Anonymous1502

OP

20

Original post by nursingstudentuk

I'm a vegan too! I don't really know how much I spend. I suppose it depends if you plan on buying anything expensive or not. Things like rice, pasta, sauces, cereals, bread are really cheap. But if you want to be unhealthy, there are some 14p vegan instant noodles from tesco :biggrin:

Its cheaper to find things that are "accidentally" vegan, than things marketed at you. :wink:

Edit: sorry i just realised how unhelpful this was. In short. Idk :s-smilie:

I have more or less moved out to my bfs now, and I estimate we dont spend more than £40 a week on food for us both. But we could defo do it cheaper if we tried harder

Thanks for your reply I am thinking of aiming to spend 30 quid a week. The first shop will definitely be the most expensive as you need to buy all the staples then the shopping will get cheaper as each week I will be topping up fresh fruit and veg and a staple food every now and then.

What easy vegan dinner recipes do you make often? I have no ideas what to cook except tofu with rice and broccoli or a lentil spinach curry or cous cous with courgettes and red pepper

Reply 4

claireestelle

22

I spent £30 a week as a meat eater that didn't drink alcohol, if you start off by getting big packs of pasta and rice and such and a decent selection of spices that should put you in a good place.

Reply 5

username4986690

19

I spend about £40 a week with alcohol.

Reply 6

TallyBridget19

9

£30
With alcohol& toiletries and other grocery store bits budget for 45-50

Reply 7

Anonymous1502

OP

20

Original post by claireestelle

I spent £30 a week as a meat eater that didn't drink alcohol, if you start off by getting big packs of pasta and rice and such and a decent selection of spices that should put you in a good place.

I shall do that :smile:

Reply 8

elliemc24

11

I usually spend in the region of £20-25 on my main shop, usually 3 meals with 4 servings each and a few snacks etc.

This week I spent £22.50 and most was on my 3 meals, plus about £5 on cereal, snacks, pasta. If I was living on my own, there would also be milk and probably some random extras. I'd say £30 if you're not getting alcohol or anything else that's super expensive is reasonable!

Reply 9

londonmyst

19

It depends on what type of foods you prefer to eat.
How reliant you are upon big brands/takeaways & ready meals and whether you can homecook from scratch.

I budget £95 a month for food during the pandemic- vegetarian, fish, beef and chicken.
I homecook two daily hot meals for friends & their families (five adults, four children and a fussy toddler).

Reply 10

iElvendork

18

While I'm at uni, I spend anywhere from £25 to £35 a week (meat eater, but basically no alcohol)

I'd learn to batch cook a few dishes, i.e. a vegetable curry or bolognaise that you can freeze and then re-heat with fresh pasta or rice as when you need it. Or make sure you always have some vegan sausages or nuggets in (I'm assuming you are asking this because you are just about to start at uni), but trust me, you'll want some quick dinners ready for when you have busy days or just massive cba days

Reply 11

University of Portsmouth Student Rep

Official Rep

16

Original post by Anonymous1502

I am a vegan and I don't drink alcohol I want to do my shopping in lidl mainly but get the odd thing from tesco as I can't get all vegan stuff in lidl. How much would I expect to spend? I want to try and make sure I keep my finances in order.

Hi!

I'm vegetarian and i shop in lidl and tesco too. I spend roughly £10-£15 a week on food and its mainly fresh stuff, like fruit, vegetables, bread etc... That's because I'm mainly stoked up on rice and jars of things and frozen stuff, as that's more of a monthly shop.

I hope this helps!
Chloe - Official Student Rep :smile:

Reply 12

Anonymous1502

OP

20

Original post by londonmyst

It depends on what type of foods you prefer to eat.
How reliant you are upon big brands/takeaways & ready meals and whether you can homecook from scratch.

I budget £95 a month for food during the pandemic- vegetarian, fish, beef and chicken.
I homecook two daily hot meals for friends & their families (five adults, four children and a fussy toddler).

I pretty much always cook from scratch and I stick to supermarket own brands and I don't eat takeaways.

£5/£7 pound a day

you can make vegan recipes that are about 50p a serving, you can also get vegan ready meals that cost £3 a serving, so it completely depends on what you usually eat.

Reply 15

Anonymous1502

OP

20

Original post by Gent2324

you can make vegan recipes that are about 50p a serving, you can also get vegan ready meals that cost £3 a serving, so it completely depends on what you usually eat.

I cook from scratch I have noticed that my biggest costs are fresh fruit as I like to eat lots of blueberries, strawberries etc and they tend to be the more expensive fruits I can easily get through a box of blueberries a day. I try to alternate between fruits and on some days stick to the cheaper fruits e.g. bananas or oranges.

Reply 16

Scottishlad888

19

Original post by Anonymous1502

I cook from scratch I have noticed that my biggest costs are fresh fruit as I like to eat lots of blueberries, strawberries etc and they tend to be the more expensive fruits I can easily get through a box of blueberries a day. I try to alternate between fruits and on some days stick to the cheaper fruits e.g. bananas or oranges.

Do you wash your fruit before you you eat it ?

Original post by Anonymous1502

I cook from scratch I have noticed that my biggest costs are fresh fruit as I like to eat lots of blueberries, strawberries etc and they tend to be the more expensive fruits I can easily get through a box of blueberries a day. I try to alternate between fruits and on some days stick to the cheaper fruits e.g. bananas or oranges.

tried frozen? take a portion out and put it in the fridge overnight.

Reply 18

NurseCarol

16

Original post by Anonymous1502

Thanks for your reply I am thinking of aiming to spend 30 quid a week. The first shop will definitely be the most expensive as you need to buy all the staples then the shopping will get cheaper as each week I will be topping up fresh fruit and veg and a staple food every now and then.

What easy vegan dinner recipes do you make often? I have no ideas what to cook except tofu with rice and broccoli or a lentil spinach curry or cous cous with courgettes and red pepper

You are right about it getting cheaper :wink:

Seeing as most pasta is vegan, and most tomato pasta sauces/bolognese are too, I often do just a plain pasta + sauce. You can add anything extra to that like peppers, courgettes, aubergine, broccoli and vegan mince (even vegan cheese but I never do that as it's expensive). Also like, beans on toast (i think all beans are vegan except heinz no added sugar). For ages I was addicted to linda mccartneys sausage rolls, plus beans/mushy peas/broccoli, and either chips or waffles lol. She also does those country pies. I recently learnt to make curries, I also want to learn to make chillis (like mince/beans/peppers etc) and try some wraps and such. If you can get yourself to an iceland, there are really lush chicken pieces there "no chick strips". They are like £3, but I make a whole bag last a few meals haha. Also, Richmonds sausages do a vegan version that is GORGEOUS and for £4 you get 16 sausages!! You can freeze those. I think I found them in tesco before. Usually in the fridge section next to normal meat. That one is quite a life saver as its cheap. Good for sausage sandwhiches, or like hotdogs, or cutting them up and adding to pasta meals. (btw tesco does a good vegan pesto, several actually. Although they can be expensive, I am quite addicted to the stuff haha). Oo, also like baked potato with beans or veg.

TLDR:
beans on toast
baked potato and beans
pasta/sauce (+veg/mince?) (or pesto :heart:

)
LM sausage rolls/pie + beans/mushy peas/veg + chips/waffles
curries
chillis
wraps
richmonds sausages (cheap!!) - add to pasta meals
sausage sandwhiches,
hotdogs

lol idk, hope this helped :biggrin:

good luck OP. I also dont drink :L I just couldn't stand wasting the money on it really!