UK Grocery Budget Guide: Feed a Family of 4 for £60 a Week

The single biggest lever in your grocery budget is which supermarket you use. Aldi and Lidl are consistently 20-30% cheaper than Sainsbury's, Tesco, and ASDA on equivalent products. A typical £90 Tesco shop costs around £65 at Aldi. You lose some brand choice and product variety, but the core staples — meat, veg, dairy, bread, pasta — are equivalent quality. Doing your main shop at Aldi/Lidl and topping up at Tesco for specific items is the most effective budget approach.

Spend breakdown for four people: protein (meat, fish, eggs, pulses): £20; vegetables and fruit: £15; carbs (bread, pasta, rice, potatoes): £8; dairy (milk, butter, cheese, yoghurt): £8; storecupboard and condiments: £5; treats and extras: £4. This is achievable at Aldi/Lidl with meal planning. Key habits: plan the week's meals before shopping, write a list and stick to it, use frozen vegetables (nutritionally equivalent, cheaper, less waste), buy store brand across all categories.

The average UK household wastes £700 worth of food per year. Reducing this alone could save over £13 per week. Tactics: buy exactly what you need for planned meals, use a 'first in first out' system in your fridge, freeze bread, meat, and dairy before they expire, use the OLIO app for surplus food from neighbours, and cook batch meals to use up vegetables before they turn.