How to eat for £20 a week

£20 a week on food. It sounds like a challenge — and right now, it genuinely is one.

UK food prices rose by 38.6% since 2020, and the weekly shop feels like one of the hardest parts of the budget to control.

But it is still doable. With a bit of planning, you can eat well on £20 a week. This guide shows you how, with a shopping list and a full week of meals at three different budget levels — £20, £25 and £30 — so you can find the right starting point for you.

All prices are based on Aldi, which was named the UK's cheapest supermarket by Which? for the fifth consecutive year and was cheapest in January and February 2026.

Is a £20 a week food budget still realistic?

Yes — but only just, and only for one person. The average weekly grocery shop for a single person in the UK is around £32, so £20 sits well below what most people spend. It is achievable if you cook from scratch, plan your meals in advance, and make sure nothing goes to waste. For two people, the same budget simply will not stretch far enough.

It is also worth being honest about one thing: food prices keep moving. The lists in this guide were checked in March 2026, and we recommend a quick look at Aldi's website before you shop to make sure the numbers still add up. If a couple of prices have shifted, the tips at the bottom of this page will help you adjust.

Cheap weekly food shop: the £20 budget

At £20, the focus is on getting the most out of every item you buy. These are simple, filling meals built around good-value proteins — and the plan is designed so nothing goes to waste.

£20 budget shopping list

Prices checked at Aldi, March 2026. Check Aldi's website before you shop.

• 4 pints of semi-skimmed milk — £1.36
• 6 medium free range eggs — £1.45
• 200g mild cheddar slices — £1.39
• 1 loaf medium sliced wholemeal bread — £0.55
• 1kg porridge oats — £0.85
• 5 bananas — £0.85
• 1 tin of tuna — £0.59
• 600g chicken drum fillets — £2.95
• 500g beef mince — £3.09
• 12 beef stock cubes — £0.69
• 500g spaghetti — £0.35
• 4 baking potatoes — £1.00
• 1 swede — £0.62
• 250g basmati rice — £0.49
• 1 jar of curry sauce — £0.49
• 1kg onions — £0.99
• 1kg frozen mixed vegetables — £1.09
• 1 tin of baked beans — £0.32
• 1 tin of lentils — £0.45
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes — £0.43

TOTAL: £19.60

£20 budget meal plan

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Monday	Porridge with sliced banana	Jacket potato with baked beans	Chicken curry and rice
Tuesday	Porridge with sliced banana	Cheese on toast	Lentil and tomato spaghetti
Wednesday	Scrambled eggs on toast	Jacket potato with grated cheese	Chicken and vegetable stew
Thursday	Porridge	Tuna and cheese toastie	Cottage pie
Friday	Porridge with sliced banana	Jacket potato with remaining tuna	Spaghetti bolognese
Saturday	Eggs on toast	Cheese and onion omelette	Vegetable casserole
Sunday	Porridge	Cheesy beans on toast	Bangers and mash with mixed veg and gravy

Cheap weekly food shop: the £25 budget

Five pounds doesn’t sound like much — but at this level it genuinely changes the week. You get a full dozen eggs instead of six, chicken breast instead of drumsticks, sausages for the weekend, and enough variety that you are not eating the same thing on rotation. There is also a small buffer built in, which takes the stress out of slight price changes in store.

£25 budget shopping list

Prices checked at Aldi, March 2026. Check Aldi's website before you shop.

• 4 pints of semi-skimmed milk — £1.36
• 12 medium free range eggs — £2.89
• 250g crumbly Lancashire cheese — £1.99
• 1 loaf medium sliced wholemeal bread — £0.55
• 1kg porridge oats — £0.85
• 5 bananas — £0.85
• 1 tin of tuna — £0.59
• 2 chicken breast fillets — £2.19
• 500g beef mince — £3.09
• 8 pork sausages — £1.75
• 12 beef stock cubes — £0.69
• 500g spaghetti — £0.35
• 4 baking potatoes — £1.00
• 1 swede — £0.62
• 250g basmati rice — £0.49
• 1 jar of curry sauce — £0.49
• 1kg onions — £0.99
• 1kg frozen mixed vegetables — £1.09
• 1 tin of baked beans — £0.32
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes — £0.43
• 1 tin of kidney beans — £0.42
• 1 tin of lentils — £0.45

TOTAL: £24.45

£25 budget meal plan

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Monday	Porridge with sliced banana	Tuna and cheese toastie	Chicken curry and rice
Tuesday	Scrambled eggs on toast	Lentil soup with bread	Spaghetti bolognese
Wednesday	Porridge with sliced banana	Cheese and onion toastie	Chicken in tomato sauce with spaghetti
Thursday	Poached eggs on toast	Leftover bolognese on toast	Chilli con carne with rice
Friday	Porridge with sliced banana	Jacket potato with baked beans	Sausage and vegetable casserole
Saturday	Eggs and sausages on toast	Cheesy beans on toast	Cottage pie
Sunday	Porridge	Leftover cottage pie	Frittata with mixed veg and cheese

Cheap weekly food shop: the £30 budget

This is where the weekly shop starts to feel more comfortable. At £30 there is room for two types of chicken, more fruit and veg, more cheese and a full range of protein across the week. It is a sustainable, varied way to eat well for one person — or a reasonable starting point for two people on simpler days.

£30 budget shopping list

Prices checked at Aldi, March 2026. Check Aldi's website before you shop.

• 6 pints of semi-skimmed milk — £2.09
• 12 medium free range eggs — £2.89
• 250g crumbly Lancashire cheese — £1.99
• 1 loaf medium sliced wholemeal bread — £0.55
• 6 white tortilla wraps — £0.89
• 1kg porridge oats — £0.85
• 5 bananas — £0.85
• 6-pack apples — £0.89
• 2 chicken breast fillets — £2.19
• 1kg chicken thighs — £2.99
• 500g beef mince — £3.09
• 8 pork sausages — £1.75
• 12 streaky bacon rashers — £1.45
• 12 potato waffles — £1.45
• 12 beef stock cubes — £0.69
• 500g spaghetti — £0.35
• 250g basmati rice — £0.49
• 1 jar of curry sauce — £0.49
• 1kg onions — £0.99
• 1 bag of carrots — £0.44
• 1kg frozen stir fry vegetables — £1.09
• 1 tin of baked beans — £0.32
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes — £0.43
• 1 tin of cream of tomato soup — £0.59
• 1 tin of kidney beans — £0.42

TOTAL: £29.77 

£30 budget meal plan

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Monday	Porridge with sliced banana	Tomato soup with bread	Chicken thigh curry and rice
Tuesday	Scrambled eggs on toast	Tuna and cheese wrap	Chicken breast stir fry with rice
Wednesday	Porridge with an apple	Leftover stir fry in a wrap	Spaghetti bolognese
Thursday	Eggy bread with banana	Cheese and onion wrap	Chilli con carne with rice
Friday	Porridge with sliced banana	Leftover chilli wrap	Chicken and veg stew with carrots
Saturday	Bacon, eggs and waffles	Cheesy beans on toast	Sausage casserole with carrots
Sunday	Porridge with sliced banana	Leftover sausage casserole with bread	Cottage pie

Which supermarket is cheapest for a budget weekly shop?

Aldi is the clear answer — named the UK's cheapest supermarket by Which? for five years running. If there is no Aldi near you, Lidl is a strong alternative and in February 2026 the gap between the two was just £1.19 on a standard basket.

If you shop at one of the big four, make sure you are using your loyalty card — Tesco Clubcard and Sainsbury's Nectar pricing both make a real difference. For daily price comparisons across all supermarkets, Trolley.co.uk is free and worth bookmarking.

How to make your cheap weekly shop go even further

Hunt the yellow stickers

Supermarkets reduce fresh food in the evenings — usually from around 6–7pm. Yellow sticker items are often perfectly good and can go straight in the freezer when you get home, so they are worth picking up even if you don’t need them right away.

Use food-saving apps

Too Good To Go lets you buy surprise bags of unsold food from local cafes, bakeries and supermarkets at roughly a third of the original price. OLIO connects you with neighbours and businesses giving away surplus food for free. Neither will replace your weekly shop, but both are worth having on your phone — and every bit helps when budgets are tight.

Batch cook and freeze

Cook a bigger portion of bolognese, curry or stew and freeze half for later in the week. It takes almost no extra effort in the moment, saves money, and means you have something ready on the nights you genuinely cannot be bothered — so you are not reaching for a takeaway. Our guide on how to eat well on a budget has more on making batch cooking work.

Freeze your bread

If you are shopping for one, a full loaf of bread can go stale before you get through it. Freeze it on the day you buy it and toast slices straight from frozen — it keeps for months and you would never know the difference.

Know your date labels

"Use by" is a safety deadline — do not eat food after this date. "Best before" is about quality, not safety — food is often perfectly fine to eat after a best before date. Knowing the difference can save you throwing away food that still has life in it. Our guide on reducing food waste covers this one in more detail.

Build a store cupboard over time

The lists above are priced as if you are starting with an empty cupboard. In practice, things like stock cubes, oats, pasta and rice last for weeks — so once you have a store cupboard behind you, your effective weekly spend drops further. Our guide on how to save money on food has more on building one up without breaking the bank.

 

Disclaimer: We make every effort to ensure content is correct when published. Prices are based on Aldi in March 2026 and are subject to change. Always check current prices before you shop. Information on this website does not constitute financial advice, and we are not responsible for the content of any external sites.