The average UK household spends around £475 a month on food and drink. For many families, it's the biggest expense after housing. And yet most of us approach the weekly shop with the same vague strategy: wander the aisles, grab what looks good, hope it somehow becomes meals.
It doesn't have to be this way. With a bit of planning—and we mean genuinely just a bit—you can slash your food spending while actually eating better. Here's how.
The real cost of not planning
Before we talk solutions, let's talk about where the money actually goes when you don't plan:
Waste. The average UK household throws away £700 worth of food every year. That forgotten bag of salad. The aubergine you bought with good intentions. The leftovers that never got eaten. Most food waste isn't laziness—it's lack of planning.
Impulse buys. Supermarkets are designed to make you buy things you didn't intend to. Walking in without a list is walking into a carefully engineered spending trap.
Convenience tax. When you don't know what's for dinner, you reach for ready meals, takeaways, or meal deals. Once or twice is fine. Every night adds up fast.
Duplicate buying. Ever come home with a jar of cumin only to find three already in the cupboard? Without a system, you buy what you think you need rather than what you actually need.
The meal planning difference
Meal planning sounds tedious, but the maths is compelling. Families who plan their meals typically save 20-30% on their grocery bills. For a household spending £475 a month, that's £95-140 back in your pocket. Every single month.
Here's why it works:
You buy only what you need. When every ingredient has a purpose, nothing languishes at the back of the fridge.
You can batch ingredients. Planning lets you use the same ingredients across multiple meals. Buy a whole chicken, roast it Sunday, use the leftovers in Monday's stir-fry and Tuesday's sandwiches.
You can shop the deals. Mince on offer? Build your week around it. Seasonal veg at its cheapest? Plan meals that use it.
You reduce decision fatigue. When you already know what's for dinner, you're not standing in the shop tired and hungry, grabbing whatever's easiest.
How Supermenu makes it simple
We know what you're thinking: I don't have time to sit down every week and plan meals. Neither do we. That's exactly why we built Supermenu.
Browse recipes, tap the ones you fancy, and we'll generate your shopping list automatically. No spreadsheets. No flicking through cookbooks. Just pick your meals and go.
You can even compare prices across supermarkets to find the best deals, or send your list straight to your preferred store for delivery. The whole process takes minutes, and the savings last all week.