Does the plot actually save you money?

An allotment plot typically costs 30-80 a year, plus another 50-150 in seeds, compost, and tools, depending on how much you already own. A productive plot yields 300-700 of vegetables at retail prices - meaning the financial saving net of costs is 200-500 a year for most plot-holders.

The number depends on two things: how much produce you actually grow, and how much of it would have been bought at the supermarket otherwise. Growing 500 of courgettes only saves 500 if you'd have otherwise bought 500 of courgettes. In practice most plots save 150-350 on the grocery bill.

The financial case is real but modest. The bigger case is quality, pesticide control, and the non-financial benefit of time outdoors. This calculator focuses on money only - it shows whether the plot pays for itself and by how much.

Run it with sensible defaults

Using annual plot cost of 150, supermarket veg spend of 600, plot yield value of 500, time horizon of 5, the calculation works out to 1,750.00. Nudge the inputs toward your own situation and the output recalculates instantly. The defaults are meant as a starting point, not a recommendation.

The levers in this calculation

The inputs — Annual Plot Cost, Supermarket Veg Spend (Without Plot), Plot Yield Value (At Retail Prices), and Time Horizon — do not pull with equal force. Two inputs usually tip the answer one way or the other. Identify which ones matter most by flipping each value past a round threshold and watching whether the winning option changes.

How the math works

Savings capped at the lower of yield value and supermarket spend to avoid counting produce you wouldn't have bought. Net annual = capped savings minus plot cost. Total = net annual × years. The working is transparent — you can verify every step yourself in the formula section below. No black box, no opaque "proprietary model".

Making this stick

The number the tool produces is only useful if you act on it. The simplest habit that works: automate the savings transfer on payday, then spend what's left. Everyone who's told you "pay yourself first" was right; the math here is what makes the first number concrete.

What this doesn't capture

Budgets are snapshots of intent. Real spending includes irregular costs: birthdays, one-off repairs, the occasional bad week. Tracking actual spending for a month before fixing any budget usually reveals 10–20% that didn't make the original plan.