… it really isn’t as expensive as you’d think. This entire haul, which lasts my family of 3 around 1.5-2 weeks, came up to under £100. I feel like M&S has this unapproachable aura to it that makes people refuse to even walk in there for their weekly shop. I actually spend less and get more than my friend who shops at Asda.

My tips:

  • make a list, define a budget, and stick to both;

  • go first thing in the morning or last thing at night to make the most of the yellow stickers, especially if they’re freezable;

  • make the most of the X for £Y promotions, especially the 3 for £12 and the 3 for £8;

  • their condiments are outstanding. I’m a Hellman’s mayonnaise/Heinz ketchup snob and I swear they pump it straight from those factories into own brand packaging;

  • allow yourself a little treat – today I got a pack of 8 frozen pain au chocolat for £4.25;

  • their Remarksable prices are incredibly competitive.

Let me know if you’d like me to share the receipt. Give it a shot and get back to me 🙂 and before anyone tries it, no, I’m evidently not paid or sponsored (although I wish I was!).

by Weary_Stress3283

30 comments

  1. Don’t tell the riff raff! 

    *Gets back in white Range Rover*

  2. I’d be willing to bet though you could get it cheaper in Aldi. Some people don’t have the extra to spend.

    M&S food is good but it is more expensive.

    For £5.38 you can get 12 pain au Chocolat in Aldi. 44p each. It’s just cheaper. Most of all though if you eat meat, the meat in M&S is quite a bit more expensive.

  4. 1.5 weeks? Let’s be generous and say 9 days. 3 meals per day? Clearly not. Disingenuous to say that will cover 9 days with no extra spend. No bread, no milk, no coffee or tea? Come on…

  5. You might get your shop for free if you contacted M&S and asked if you could do marketing for them.

  6. You don’t seem to have a whole pile of ingredients or the staples.

  7. What’s the meal plan? I’m struggling to see 9 days of even 2 meals a week there.

  8. I’m an M&S lover and I’m here to say…
    Your groceries will arrive on another day!
    Another day, another pound, another rhyme, another penny!

    You get the point.

  9. I too enjoy quiche, frozen peas and chips for 9 days in a row.

    I do go out of my way to get their decaf tea though.

  11. The pre-made meals definitely seem to be where the prices are higher, for regular stuff they’re perfectly reasonable & tasty. The multibuy deals are usually a good bet, my favourite is the deli stuff, I pick up 3 half roast chickens for £8 then just spend 30mins or so at home stripping the meat off which is then good for sandwiches, throwing into a curry, as pizza topping, or whatever & the carcasses can be used to make stock.

  12. I have no observable facts to back up my claim, but it feels like inflation has hit the cheaper stuff harder and brought the cheaper supermarkets closer to the “luxury” ones over the past… 4ish years.

  13. I call bullshit. There are not three meals a day for three people for 5 days there, let alone two weeks.

    Maybe if you only eat dinner in the house. Maybe.

  14. I often shop at M&S, it’s better quality & choices.

  16. I go by what my ex FIL saw. He inspected machinery at big food plants for a living and according to him the difference in ingredients is there, but it’s minimal & basically the icing on the cake. Extra butter, extra seasoning, thicker gravy. The same plant would make ready meals for Hester Blumenthal and Tesco.

  17. I agree to an extent – I don’t do weekly shopping at M&S but I shop quite often and I think it’s not *as* expensive as prople think, but it is still expensive

    It’s down to what you buy – their vegetable and fruit selection is always great and cheap I find, same with their bread and flour and that sort of stuff, but if you’re going in to buy a quick meal for dinner then yeah it starts to rack up

    I think that’s true for everywhere though – sainsburys is as expensive I find but it has this reputation for being one of the middle-ground shops and idk why

  18. I just got £100 of shopping from Sainsbury’s and whilst mine consists of more meat I think that’s actually probably better than what I got

  19. The tomato ketchup at M&S is so much nicer than Heinz and about a third of the price. Sometimes I pop into my M&S just to stock up on that.

    Aside from that I think it’s basically about 20% more expensive than my local Morrisons but so much better quality. So depends if I feel like treating myself.

  20. We have a fair few supermarkets where I live – Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Waitrose. They all price match, with the exception of Waitrose which I feel is way to expensive even on branded stuff. M&S food used to be just for a treat or special occasion but now they price match with the other supermarkets around our way, everything is more reasonable. I found be their fruit is often much better. Their 3 for £9 past ready meals are very good, as are their pizza deals. I budget a certain amount each month and get a few nice bits for the freezer. What has always made me wonder is the amount of pensioners who literally fill trollies with M&S foor, even back before price matching. Gotta have the old roast beef ready meal. 🙂. Saying that, their roast beef slices are decent and we often get them for a roast – way cheaper than a joint and guaranteed tender.

  21. Ngl this stuff would cost half the price in Aldi

  22. Would be interesting to know your total monthly grocery spend for family of 3. Sounds like you have M&S, Veg delivery (weekly?) and a daily walk to a local shop for bread and milk perhaps? And more importantly, where’s the chocolate????

    Point taken on shop to shop comparisons. Looks like quite a bit of food for the price!

  23. Delete this. Let them keep shopping in the other supermarkets.

  24. We’ve switched from Tesco to M&S, £160 at M&S seems to get us far more food than £160 at Tesco, plus it tastes 1000x better

  26. We found exactly this. It has been cheaper to buy in m&s than Tesco. Sounds mad but it’s true, plus the food is better

  27. You clearly don’t cook everyday which is fine, but why are you pretending this shop can feed a family of 3 for 9 days? If it’s only dinner then maybe lol

  28. same for waitrose mate , my housemates take the piss out of me for being posh but compared to the state of sainsburies and asda for shitter quality food, its so worth a couple extra quid, not even noticeable price difference most of the time.

  29. I agree, we order from ocado and its not THAT much more expensive than when we shopped at aldi/asda, the quality and shelf life of the fruit/veg is worth the extra couple of quid the final shop comes to. There are a few things we will swing by asda to get as theyre too expensive from ocado in comparison, but for the most part its great

  30. Doesn’t look anywhere near enough to feed 3 for a week let alone 1.5 – 2 weeks. I get about that much for 60-70 from Aldi.

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