The 6 tips I swear by to get my weekly shop for £50 – I’m even planning to reduce it by a tenner too, and it’s so easy
PRICES for everything at the moment just seem to be going up and up.
So for families who used to spend £50 on a weekly shop, it’s now more like £150 or even £200.
But there are those who still manage to shop on a limited budget, with one person sharing the six tips they swear by to stick to a £50 weekly budget.
The conversation began when a man on a £36,000 salary, who spends around £300 a month on supermarket shops, explained how hard it is to live in London, as he wrote in the Reddit post: “Honestly it’s so tough.
“I bring packed lunch to work everyday, my railcard is linked to my Oyster card, I don’t drink…
“I spend around £60 to £70 a week on my weekly shop at Tesco, and that’s including food to take to work.
“I make sure I eat veg, fruits and meat everyday.”
In response, another shopper shared their six main tips for being able to stick to a firm budget while supermarket shopping.
“As far as your budget goes, food is the obvious place for you to cut down,” they wrote.
“I spend around £50ish a week and I could probably cut it to £40 fairly easily.”
To start, they shop around for the best prices, refusing to stick to just one supermarket.
They also batch cook as much as the space in their fridge/freezer allows.
And while they eat meat, they also “balance it out with cheaper proteins like beans and lentils”.
They also advised looking at other Reddit threads, and the website Budget Bytes “to find ways to reduce your food budget without sacrificing nutrition and taste”.
They concluded their post by reminding the man “that there’s thousands of people who would give their left arm to be in your position, with a decent home, healthy savings and the ability to travel for leisure”.
“We spend about £520 a month for a family of 5…” another person wrote.
“So £300 for a single person is a lot.”
But the man hit back: “I really just spend on meat (red meat, chicken, fish), veg and fruits.
How to save money on your supermarket shop
THERE are plenty of ways to save on your grocery shop.
You can look out for yellow or red stickers on products, which show when they’ve been reduced.
If the food is fresh, you’ll have to eat it quickly or freeze it for another time.
Making a list should also save you money, as you’ll be less likely to make any rash purchases when you get to the supermarket.
Going own brand can be one easy way to save hundreds of pounds a year on your food bills too.
This means ditching “finest” or “luxury” products and instead going for “own” or value” type of lines.
Plenty of supermarkets run wonky veg and fruit schemes where you can get cheap prices if they’re misshapen or imperfect.
For example, Lidl runs its Waste Not scheme, offering boxes of 5kg of fruit and vegetables for just £1.50.
If you’re on a low income and a parent, you may be able to get up to £442 a year in Healthy Start vouchers to use at the supermarket too.
Plus, many councils offer supermarket vouchers as part of the Household Support Fund.
“I usually have toast or porridge for breakfast in the morning, lunch and dinner would be rice with a source of protein and veg, plus an avocado a day, and fruit juice.
“It’s about £60 to £70 for a weekly shop at Tesco.
“I’m not sure how to cut down on that.”
The post comments continued with another person took aim at the man’s breakdown of his monthly budget, particularly his revelation that he’s able to save £400 of his salary every month.
“You live in one of the most expensive cities on the planet, earn a relatively average wage, but are still managing to save £400 every month and have emergency funds,” they wrote.
“You are both luckier and/or better with your money than the vast majority of people.
“I think you’re doing it all right, and don’t need any more hacks!”