How UK Grocery Budgets Are Estimated

Samenvatting

The grocery budget calculator estimates how much a UK household spends on food each week, month, and year. It combines grocery shopping costs (based on household size and diet style) with eating out and takeaway habits to give a total food spend — then compares it to UK averages from the ONS and Defra.

Hoe het werkt

The calculator builds up a total food cost from three components:

1. Grocery shopping — a per-person weekly cost based on diet style (budget, standard, healthy, or premium), adjusted for household size with economy-of-scale discounts
2. Eating out — frequency × cost per person × number of diners (children count as half a diner, reflecting cheaper kids’ menus)
3. Takeaways — frequency × cost per order (flat rate per household)

The total is then compared to the UK average grocery spend per person (£38/week, from Defra Family Food FYE 2024 adjusted for inflation) and expressed as a percentage of gross annual income.

Diet style tiers

The per-adult weekly grocery cost varies by shopping style:

These rates are cross-referenced from ONS Family Spending, NimbleFins, and Curve Pay data, adjusted for 2025/26 prices.

Economy of scale

Larger households share staples (oil, spices, bread, milk, cereal), so each additional person costs slightly less:

Children are costed at 65% of the adult rate, reflecting lower food consumption across ages 0–17 (blended average of ~50% for under-5s, ~65% for 5–11, ~80% for teenagers).

De formule

Uitgewerkt voorbeeld

Adding eating out once a week at £25/person (2 adults + 2 children at 0.5 = 3 diners) adds £75/week. One takeaway at £20 adds £20/week. Total weekly food spend: £235.41 (£1,020/month, £12,241/year).

Invoer uitgelegd

• Adults — number of adults in the household (1–6)
• Children — number of children (0–6), costed at 65% of the adult grocery rate
• Shopping style — budget, standard, healthy, or premium, determining the per-adult weekly base rate
• Eating out frequency & cost — how often the household eats out and the average cost per person per visit
• Takeaway frequency & cost — how often takeaways are ordered and the cost per order
• Annual gross income — used only to calculate food spending as a percentage of income

Uitvoer uitgelegd

• Total weekly food spend — the headline number combining groceries, eating out, and takeaways
• Cost per meal — total annual food spend divided by (3 meals × 365 days × household size)
• Grocery per person per week — grocery cost divided by household size, compared to the UK average of £38/week
• Food as % of income — total food spend as a percentage of gross annual income (UK average: 11.3% per ONS)
• Category breakdown — visual split between groceries, eating out, and takeaways

Aannames en beperkingen

• Grocery-only food costs. The per-person rates reflect food and non-alcoholic drink spending only, consistent with Defra Family Food data. They do not include household products (cleaning supplies, toiletries) that appear on supermarket bills. Industry surveys (e.g., wecovr) that include these items report higher figures (£62–74/week for a single adult “standard”).
• Blended child rate. The 0.65 multiplier is an average across all child ages. A toddler eats less than a teenager — real households with multiple children of different ages will see some variation.
• Economy of scale is approximate. The 5–10% discount for additional household members reflects shared staples but doesn’t model specific shopping patterns.
• Eating out children as half-diners. This assumes kids’ menus are about half the price of adult meals, which is typical for casual dining but may not hold for fine dining or fast food.
• No regional variation. Food costs vary across the UK (London is ~10–15% higher than the national average). This calculator uses national averages.
• No inflation projection. Costs reflect 2025/26 prices. Food prices change year to year.

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