I’ve always had a bit of a love-hate relationship with meal planning. It’s never been as simple or seamless as some people make it look. Maybe it’s just how my brain works, but for me, it’s definitely a process – one that I’ve wrestled with more times than I’d like to admit.
Our food shop is easily one of our biggest monthly expenses – if not the biggest. I dread to think what we actually spend. Honestly, if I sat down and did the maths, I’d probably be shocked. But even having a rough idea was enough to push me into facing our food habits and finally committing to a proper meal plan system.
Every month, I try to get organised: a big online food shop, stocking up on essentials, keeping backups in the cupboards. And yet, somehow, I always end up spending way more than I’d planned. I’ve honestly had enough of supermarkets draining my bank account every month.
So last weekend, I decided to take control. I sat down with my notes on my Mac and planned out what we’d need and to eat each week for four weeks. I broke everything down into categories:
- Breakfasts
- Lunches
- Dinners
- Snacks
- Household
Starting with Breakfast
Under Breakfasts, I listed every option we’d have during the week and then all the ingredients needed for each. I didn’t worry too much about doubling up ingredients between meals; that overlap actually helped me see exactly how much we’ll need overall.
Here’s an example of my breakfast plan:
Breakfast:
- Porridge
- Oats
- Light Barista Oat Milk
- Toast with:
- Plant-based Nutella
- Vegan Marmite
- Avocado
- Vegan English Breakfast (usually weekends):
- Vegan sausages
- Hash browns
- Tomatoes
- Toast
- Baked beans
- Vegan bacon
- Greggs Sausage Rolls
- Cereal
- Blueberry Wheats
- Weetabix
- Fruit Salad:
- Strawberries
- Melon
- Kiwi
- Grapes
Then I created my shopping list:
- Porridge oats
- Light Barista Oat Milk
- Plant-based Nutella
- Marmite
- Avocados ×2
- Vegan sausages ×2 packs
- Greggs Vegan Sausage Rolls
- Hash browns ×2 bags
- Large tomatoes
- Baked beans ×2 tins
- Vegan bacon ×2 packs
- Sourdough bread
- Blueberry Wheats
- Weetabix
- Strawberries
- Melon
- Kiwi
- Grapes
Comparing Shops and Finding Deals
Next, I opened up all my usual online supermarkets: Ocado, Tesco, Iceland, and Sainsbury’s – and started comparing prices and deals for each item. My goal was to stretch every pound as far as it could go. Once I’d checked everything, I sorted each product under the shop where it offered the best value:
Sainsbury’s
- Marmite
- Plant-based Nutella
- Vegan sausages
- Vegan bacon
- Sourdough bread
Iceland
- Greggs Vegan Sausage Rolls
- Hash browns
Ocado
- Light Barista Oat Milk
Tesco
- Porridge oats
- Baked beans
- Blueberry Wheats
- Weetabix
M&S (weekly shop for fresh produce)
- Avocados
- Large tomatoes
Rinse and Repeat
I repeated the same process for lunch, dinner, snacks, and household items until I had a full month’s worth of food organised. Once each virtual basket was filled, I added up the totals and noted them next to each shop.
Here’s how the spending shaped up:
- Iceland: £41.90 (everything needed from there for the month)
- Sainsbury’s: £30 (free click & collect)
- Tesco: £88.10 (£1 click & collect)
- Ocado: £40 for pet and household bits
- M&S: £25–30 per week for fresh fruit and veg
That brings the monthly total to around £200, plus roughly £100–£120 for fresh produce – so about £300–£320 in total.
I’ve been trying to stick to a £350 monthly food budget for ages, but in reality, we’ve been spending double that thanks to random top-up trips, unplanned deliveries, and general disorganisation. I’m really hoping this new system helps us stay on track and finally ends those last-minute Tesco dashes and Ocado emergencies. I’ll definitely be doing our Christmas shop through Ocado – because honestly, their festive delivery is just too convenient to give up.
If you give this method a try, let me know how it goes! And if you’ve found a better system for meal planning or managing your food budget, I’d love to hear about it in the comments. If you’d like to see our full meal plan for vegan dishes – vegan friendly food and drink, let me know in the comments and I’ll do a full list.
This year, my mission is simple: cut down our food costs without compromising on quality. Here’s to a more organised, and budget-friendly, kitchen!
