How I spend £20 a Week on Groceries

Living in London on a budget

I hate wasting food.

In the past, I’ve tried to buy what I will eat over the next two days to reduce wastage.

It’s a pain to go grocery shopping so frequently but it works.

Unfortunately, it’s also a huge waste of time if you don’t live inside a supermarket.

Now I do my shopping online and get it delivered to my home.

The minimum order is usually around £40 for most supermarkets but I get food for my girlfriend and I. So, it works out at roughly £20 per person a week.

If I had to prepare meals for more people, I’m sure it would be even cheaper!

Your shopping list will be different to mine but I’m sure you can find some tips here that will help you save on your weekly shop and reduce your food wastage.

The key is to buy intentionally and plan your meals appropriately.

Mind Your Budget

1. Order Online

It’s so much easier to keep within budget when you shop online because it’s easier to track.

I’m pretty sure most people wouldn’t calculate a running total of their grocery shopping as they grab items from the shelves. And it’s a pain to put items back.

If you book a delivery slot a couple of days in advance, you can usually get delivery for only 50p or £1. This is much cheaper than what you would pay for petrol or an Uber home. And you don’t have to carry a week’s worth of groceries by yourself.

2. Avoid Branded Goods (when it doesn’t make a difference)

If I am getting pasta, cereal or granola, I am happy to get the store branded stuff.

It really doesn’t bother me.

Some of it is pretty good too!

3. Buy Goods on Promotion

I’m really not that fussy and I am pretty open minded to trying new foods.

So, for instance, when it comes to flavour of yogurt, I would just pick between the flavours that are discounted.

The cool part is that this guarantees some variation in my diet. And, there’s a little bit of joy in novelty.

Saving money doesn’t have to suck.

Meal Planning

You’ve got to have some structure to your diet so that you can plan accordingly.

Thankfully, we are habitual creatures so you probably already have some sort of routine.

I typically skip breakfast, have lunch at 1pm, a snack at 3pm, dinner at 7pm and maybe another snack at 9pm. Times are pretty flexible but that is the rough framework.

If food never expired, it would make meal planning much easier. But unfortunately, it does expire and not all at the same rate.

These are the categories that I think about when I order my weekly shop.

1. Non-Perishables

It’s always worth stocking up some dry sources of carbs like pasta, rice, or noodles.

These will typically last a year or more so don’t worry about having too much of these. They will also be the cheapest part of your grocery list.

I always keep a mix of carbs at home so I can create different meals to suit my mood.

Also, it’s worth getting some assortment of seasoning and sauces for different meals.

2. Meat and Fish

These will be the toughest to plan.

I try not to freeze any of these as it would ruin the point of having them fresh. And I hate defrosting food (it’s a pain).

I try to order a mix of meat in order to stagger expiry dates.

Expiry dates on bacon seems to be the longest, then beef, then chicken and fish. I don’t know if that’s really the case or if that’s just the order they deliver them to me.

My point is, I don’t want to get a week’s worth of meat and fish that I need to consume within 3 days. It would be sub-optimal….

So, I order a mix of these to allow for consumption on different days without freezing and defrosting (it really is a pain).

3. Vegetables and Fruit

Depending on what you buy, it can last you up to a few weeks.

Keep ordering what you actually eat and stop ordering / reduce what you don’t.

I typically order mushrooms, onions, potatoes, and peppers.

I’m also a big fan of lazy fruits like bananas and oranges.

Well, this was an eye opener for me. I probably don’t eat a wide enough variety of these. Moving on…

4. Eggs and Dairy

I usually get a dozen eggs each week and 2 litres of milk.

5. Frozen

It’s always good to have a couple of frozen pizzas (or whatever you prefer) ready for those lazy days.

I also have some frozen peas and breaded chicken.

6. Snacks

I will usually grab a couple of snacks that are on offer.

Flexibility

You really don’t want to plan your meals for every day of the week.

It’s a pain and it kills all the excitement of meal time (for me at least).

I like to mix and match the food I order for different meals, depending on how I feel on the day.

The rough framework for a meal will be a source of carbohydrates (rice, pasta, potatoes), protein (salmon, eggs, meat), and some sort of veg (usually mushrooms, onions, peppers).

Some days you just don’t want to cook so you have some lazy meals, go out for dinner or order a takeaway.

The Next Order

A little adjustment is needed each week to make sure that you are actually ordering food you will consume.

Sometimes I will convince myself I will eat more broccoli but I hate preparing it. So, I end up throwing it away after a few weeks.

If I haven’t finished something, I won’t re-order it.

If I threw away some salmon last week, I will either order it this week and make sure I eat it first, or I just don’t order it anymore.

This gives me the best chance of eating whatever I buy.

Hopefully this helps you to cut down on your food wastage and also spend a little less on your groceries.