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To wonder if people actually spend 200+ on a weekly shop

974 replies

pleasemothermay1 · 23/07/2016 20:36

Watching eat well for less and I just can't believe people actually spend 200+ a week on a food shop

One lady was giving a teen 20 a week to get chips and chicken 😟

We have 6 in our family

One baby
One toddler
One teen
Me and hubby
And a cat

I spend £65 a week including nappies and toiletries

This gose up to £90 during holidays and the teen is eating at home not collage

It's mad what are these people feeding there kids

My children have breakfast lunch and dinner I don't encourage grazing all day they can have fruit in between meals and I cook from sctrach pretty much 5 days a week junk on a Saturday then roast on a Sunday

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pleasemothermay1 · 23/07/2016 20:38

We had a brief moment in 2014 when we thought we could start shopping in waitrose and even then my shopping was around the £100 mark

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bushtailadventures · 23/07/2016 20:41

I can't watch it anymore, it makes me so cross. I think what I find most unbelievable is that they don't seem to know how much they spend week by week. I have a budget,and I have to stick to it, not just wander round chucking stuff in the trolley as I fancy. It's easy to do, and I don't understand why these people can't do it and save themselves money without the help of the BBC.

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Gracey79 · 23/07/2016 20:41

I'm a mortgage advisor and have to ask every applicant how much they spend on food, I'd say 75% of those that are a family of 4 or above say £200+ per week Shock

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Fortybingowings · 23/07/2016 20:42

Bully for you.
I muddle through, family of four, usually £120-£160 per week. Limited time to cook from scratch, 2 jobs ( mine) husband also very busy 2 toddlers. Kids graze a lot, eat ribs of fruit but also Pom bears and lollies etc.

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justdontevenfuckingstart · 23/07/2016 20:43

Can spend that easily. I didn't when I had to watch every penny but it's easy to do.

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pleasemothermay1 · 23/07/2016 20:43

Wow

How can they afford it

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Fortybingowings · 23/07/2016 20:43

Loads of fruit, not ribs! 😂

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TheWitTank · 23/07/2016 20:44

I think I could pretty easily if I still shopped at Sainsburys -I generally spent around £150 a week because I would end up picking up kids clothes/magazines etc as well as food. I now shop at Aldi and spend about £70-80 a week.

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JemimaMuddledUp · 23/07/2016 20:45

I could easily spend that much (family of 5) if I could afford it. But I can't, so I don't.

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TheWitTank · 23/07/2016 20:45

Family of four here to add to my post.

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redskytonight · 23/07/2016 20:45

It does depend how you count it though. If asked how much they spend on food, lots of people just consider this to mean their main weekly shop. They forget to include top-up shops, school dinner money, coffees and lunches bought at work, takeways ...

I can see it's pretty easy to spend £200 for 6 if you're eating lots of brands, and your teen is spending lots of money on meals out.

IIRC the family no "Eat well for less" had 4 children over 7, which is a bit different to feeding a baby, toddler and a cat. I'll be impressed if OP still manages to be so frugal when her DC are older1

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Imnotacelebgetmeouttahere · 23/07/2016 20:46

We spend £160-220 a week depending on which" extras" we need - 6 of us, 3 In nappies, use tonnes of wipes ( should prob switch to reuseable) and we eat fresh food daily so prob bumps price up. We can afford it because we prioritise food ( after rent etc) above takeaways etc ... If money is tight at any point we can cut it back a bit

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Portobelly · 23/07/2016 20:46

We do.
Butcher. Baker. Greengrocer. Waitrose.
We have a combined income of £42k and live in London.
But we both have manual labour jobs and that means you need to respect your body and fuel it well.
We don't spend money on a lot of other things people think of as important.

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pleasemothermay1 · 23/07/2016 20:47

poster Fortybingowings Sat 23-Jul-16 20:42:58

Not sure what yur on about don't have the time we had sag Bol for dinner today but we're out all day chucked it all in my £8 slow cooker it took two minutes to chuck
Two tins of toms
Onions
Celery
Purée
Some wine
And powered garlic
Literally took 2 minutes

By the time we got home at 6 it was ready just cooked the pasta 😕

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RJnomore1 · 23/07/2016 20:47

Usual month for the four of us is about £900. Bad month is in four figures.

Yes we could do it more cheaply but we are fortunate we can cover it.

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SaggyNaggy · 23/07/2016 20:48

I could easily spend that and more.
Brand name goods, endless junk, tons of fruit etc etc.

But we meal plan, scrimp, save.
Meals are cooked from raw, slow cooker is a god send, freeze leftovers etc. My last shop came in less that £60 for 2 weeks fpor the 2 adults and a toddler.

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DustOffYourHighestHopes · 23/07/2016 20:48

We spend that much. Nappies, milk, meat, etc. And our two kids are tiny.

What's the big deal? Unless you can't afford it like the people in the programme.

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Fortybingowings · 23/07/2016 20:49

As I said - bully for you pleasemother. You're clearly a saint

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pleasemothermay1 · 23/07/2016 20:50

But we both have manual labour jobs and that means you need to respect your body and fuel it well.

Think the thing is the programme shows nowt can tell the difference eveyweek the family say I can tell the difference the kids don't like ........ I only eat .... And they can never tell

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LapinR0se · 23/07/2016 20:50

Yes we spend a bit more than that on a family of three (two full time working parents and a toddler)

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ChoudeBruxelles · 23/07/2016 20:50

Do you work OP. I don't have time to cook from scratch every weekday. We batch cook a lot but I reckon we spend £200 a week on food and drink for three of us. I don't want to eat cheap food all of the time.

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hotdiggedy · 23/07/2016 20:51

I think I would struggle to think of what to buy for that amount each week unless I was doing the weekly food shop in Selfridges or somewhere similar!

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RJnomore1 · 23/07/2016 20:52

I cook from scratch (or dh does) 90 per cent of the time.

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bootygirl · 23/07/2016 20:52

I spend the equivalent. I have noticed though that people eat less meat than us and I have to buy some expensive gluten free products. Plus we have a DS that I buy expensive branded stuff for as getting him to eat anything is a battle due to his medication. But I do need to reduce it....

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pleasemothermay1 · 23/07/2016 20:52

I don't have a baby toddler and a cat

I have
A baby
A toddler
A 16 year old
And a cat
Plus two adults

I can assure you none of my children will be getting £20 a week to buy chips and chicken instead of eating at home and I think I can manage with out 70 bags of crisps I think the mother was buying

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