Weekly £50 Food Shop for 4 PLUS Budget Food Shopping List Printable

My weekly food shop for less than £50 serves a family of four with breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Plus my free printable budget food shopping list will help you plan a weekly shop that creates tasty meals and won’t break the bank. 

I’ve created this list as a way to save on my supermarket shop. It has skyrocketed both due to rising food prices and my own recent laziness when it comes to meal planning. 

But I know how to tackle this, with a clear plan and a shopping list I stick to every week. 

Once you have a framework in place it can make all of the difference to sticking to a cheap food shop, rather than going crazy and filling your trolley with stuff you don’t need. And may even forget to cook, as is sometimes the case for me! 

Below I have a suggested budget family food shopping list including what to buy and a meal plan you can make with this cheap supermarket shop.

Then I have a printable food shop template with all of the budget grocery essentials you may need to buy (you can delete as you like) AND a blank food shopping list, for when you want to customise your shop. 

Budget weekly food shop for 4 – under £50

This list includes prices based on products at Aldi. 

Now please note this is not the absolute cheapest food shop in the world, because that wouldn’t include fresh meat or veg. 

If you want to make this even cheaper switch to frozen chicken breast and opt for frozen veg. This is my favourite budget supermarket shop because it includes meals I know my kids will actually eat and enjoy plus has the fruit and veg to keep it healthy. 

If you need to cut even further, and I get why given the cost of living, then there are several swaps you can make here to cut back the final bill. 

• Sliced chicken 115g 89p
• Eggs x15 £1.99
• Gammon x2 essentials joint £8.18
• Beef mince 750g £4.99 
• Chicken breast 650g £4.69 
• Cheddar cheese 400g £2.55
• Peppers x3 £1.59
• Potatoes 2.5kg £1.29
• Leeks 89p
• Broccoli 69p 
• Carrots 1kg 55p
• Grapes £1.69
• Cucumber 79p
• Onion 69p
• Iceberg lettuce 70p
• Frozen peas 900g 99p
• Tinned kidney beans 33p
• Tomato soup x4 £2.68
• Fajita seasoning 85p
• Tortilla wraps 69p
• Spaghetti 500g 75p
• Macaroni 500g 72p
• Pasta sauce 89p
• Porridge oats 90p
• Loaf of bread x2 £1.50
• Milk 4 pints £1.45
• Butter £1.69
• Orange Juice 95p
• Yoghurt 500g 85p

Total cost: £47.41

Correct at time of writing this article. 

This list assumes you have some key staples including seasoning, oil, chicken stock cubes for the pie and plain flour (to use in the mac and cheese and pie). 

However it’s worth noting it’s made more expensive because it includes items you won’t finish in one week and will carry over to another week of meals. For example the frozen peas and pasta. 

When you make sure your cupboards include key staples such as cereals and oats – and you buy in bulk so they last longer for less cost per g – then you can keep your weekly shop a little cheaper. 

Budget food shopping list meal plan 

This meal plan focuses on the main meal of the day. 

Lunches would be covered by the soup, sliced chicken used in sandwiches, leftover gammon sliced and put into sandwiches, toasted cheese sandwiches, scrambled eggs on toast and eggy bread. 

I’ve also included grapes and cucumber which can be offered as snacks along with the carrots, sliced into sticks. And there’s porridge oats for breakfast, or toast. 

The gammon is to be stretched to three meals, including a roast dinner, leftovers with potatoes and a pie. The pie contents are padded out by the leeks and onions. 

Sunday  – Roast gammon with roast potatoes, veg and gravy 

Monday – Leftover gammon with fried roast potatoes and veg

I cube our leftover roast potatoes then fry in a little oil for around 8-10 minutes until golden on the outside. The kids love them. 

Tuesday – Homemade chicken nuggets served with salad (grate the carrot or cut into buttons and slice up half the lettuce)

When I make chicken nuggets I use two slices of bread that I put into my Kenwood mini chopper to turn them into breadcrumbs, rather than buying those separately. Then you just need to dip nugget-sized strips of chicken into plain flour, then beaten egg and some breadcrumbs. 

Wednesday – Ham and leek pie made with leftover gammon

A tasty pie can be made with a puff pastry lid or use some mashed potato instead to save money.  

Thursday – Mac and cheese 

I love this basic mac and cheese recipe.

Friday – Beef tacos (split the beef mince between this Friday night meal and Saturday’s meal)

There’s a great budget beef taco recipe here.  

Saturday  – Meatballs and pasta (shape leftover beef mince into balls and then fry until cooked through)

If you want more budget meal ideas then check out these cheap family meal ideas costing as little as £1 a head.

Free budget food shop printable list

Grab your free shopping list here, and continue reading for tips on how to make it work for you!

Download both in PDF format here:

Tips for making a cheap food shopping list 

Want to save even more on your food shop? Try these tips. 

Check prices online 

It can be useful to double check how much your food shop will cost before you set out for the supermarket. 

Of course if you are ordering online this is far easier. You can use the website Trolley to check your food shop cost and see whether another supermarket would work out cheaper for you. 

Be flexible and check prices when shopping 

Making a meal plan and a shopping list is key, but you can save money if you are flexible once you get the supermarket. 

For example maybe chicken thighs are working out cheaper than breasts. Or maybe there’s an offer on cauliflower this week that makes it cheaper than a head of broccoli. 

Be prepared to swap items on your food shop for something that works out cheaper, even if it’s only pennies this will add up over time when you make it a habit. 

Shop seasonal

Certain produce will be cheaper when it is in season. For example autumn is all about apples, blackberries and squash, while summer will tend to see cheaper deals on produce like green beans and tomatoes. 

You can check out more of a guide to seasonal produce here. https://www.lovebritishfood.co.uk/whats-in-season-when 

Never shop hungry 

If you are like me and suffer from eyes to big for stomach syndrome then it’s wise to only shop when you are not ravenously hungry. 

You’ll make far more purchases when hungry than when shopping on a full stomach, so always do it after a meal. 

Aim to visit the supermarket once a week 

Top up shops are my biggest weakness and inevitably lead me to buy stuff I don’t really need. 

Avoid this by visiting the supermarket just once a week to pick up your main meals. 

The odd drop in to get milk or a fresh loaf of bread may be essential. If you do have to do that don’t pick up a basket or trolley, so you won’t be tempted to fill it! 

Look for the best price 

When you are shopping in the store look around for the best prices. Supermarkets tend to put the stuff they want you to buy, ie the most expensive, within eye-line. 

Look down and up to find budget options, for example with pasta, sauces and juices.

Buy bulk size to save 

There are very rarely times when buying the larger pack is more expensive. However largely I find if you buy the bigger pack of rice or pasta, for example, it works out cheaper in the long run. 

I have clips to tie off bags or plastic containers to keep our paste and rice clean. 

Take advantage of money-off deals 

Shopping for the first time with a different supermarket can bag you big discounts when you’re shopping online.

Check out offers for shops you haven’t ever ordered with online, as the savings can add up quite nicely.