How much are you spending on food each week?

[narkymum]

I am on about £300 now, what are you doing to cut costs?

[aGalChangedHerName]

I spend around £150/£160 on a big shop plus buy more milk/bread/fruit and veg every 1-2 days.

Too scared to work out what we actually spend in a week.

I CM too so i do buy bits for that too.

[Pollyanna]

I spent £150 last week and have been to M&S today for a few bits (well 3 of the meal deals)- so £180 ish - 3 adults and 4 children.

have also had one takeaway.

[narkymum]

yes I am topping up mid week and also cm. So I always seem to be on a fruit run

[lilolilmanchester]

£300??? How many DCs and what ages narkymum?

[hunkermunker]

£300 a week? For how many people?

[aGalChangedHerName]

I am back on a healthy eating plan having put on a stone of the 3.5st i lost last year so always buying salad stuff and veggies. Cost more for us to eat "well".

It would be cheaper to eat crap sometimes. We are trying to stop eating take aways but tis hard. DH is friends with the guy who has our local Indian resturant/take away and we get a shed load of food for £20. Doesn't matter how much we order,it's always £20 lol

[BronzeNemesis]

We do a big shop monthly then but fresh stuff as needed weekly. I would say it averaged out as about £80 a week for 5 of us.

[aGalChangedHerName]

I don't get how £80 does 5 people. I have a teenager,almost teenager and per schoolers plus 3 mindees to feed. (and 2 adults obv)

My shop includes nappies,washing powder/loo roll etc.

[narkymum]

yes two of my mindees parents own thai take out so I get a freebie every week. Bless them they just turn up with it. We do have a lot of mouths to feed, twelve soon to be thirteen!

[narkymum]

£80!! I can do that on bits thats not even incl cleaning/ wash powder etc.

[HensMum]

We do a fortnightly shop of about £120 and then odd top ups. I have a massive Tescos about a 10 min walk away so I pop in quite frequently and spend more than I should.
So, probably about £300 a month, I reckon for 2 adults and one 8.5 month old.
The cost of shopping has gone up since weaning DS. I don't buy much pre-prepared baby stuff, just rice cakes, rusks and the odd Fruitipura pot, but the amount of fruit I am buying has doubled.

[aGalChangedHerName]

12??? OMG £300 isn't bad then is it?

[lilolilmanchester]

12 mouths, wow, so you're probably doing really well anyway compared to some of the families I know who can spend half that on a family of four so hard to know how you could cut costs. What's a "typical" week's meal plan? And where do you shop?

[narkymum]

well I only buy a couple of huge boxes (i.e weetabix) lo have fruit and bread sticks mid am older ones pk lunch for school/work. I plan all meals and make huge vats of spag bol or roast two chickens and chick stew next day etc. I dont buy sweets biscuits etc they can have that with pocket money. I find they just eat the lot the first day.I hide lunch box snacks in the car for that reason (they dont know that) does get boring same old dinners though. Had an allotment once was supposed to be family thing, was just me and greenfly and only one or two sad little veggies . I try to make cakes to save money but if anyone has tips Id love to know. Oh and tescos seems to be cheepest round here.

[misscutandstick]

i do tescos too, and the points..!!!! we usually get about 6 free days out to theme parks a year.

our bill tends to be £100ish (actually anywhere from £70-£150) every 10days (or so). But fresh bits every couple of days about £20 a time.

Theres 2 adults, 15y, 10y, 9y, 3 and 2 - but the 2y/o has just started on GFCF diet (autism based problems) so thats taking time and money ATM.

We generally (and dont pull a face!) have set meals on set days - kids know what they are having, easier to shop for and cook (dont need to work out what we are having), just makes the whole thing easier.

[lilolilmanchester]

would definitely look and see if you have a Lidl or Aldi nearby.
Also Costco. Although you have to pay £30 membership/year, it might help you cut your costs (we've let ours lapse now tho because we use Lidl and Aldi)
Also depends where you stand on free-range etc but we bought a frozen turkey a couple of months ago when we were having a family over. Would prob be cheaper than 2 chickens and you could get a broth out of it by boiling the bones. Adding the dried broth mixes would bulk it out - and my DCs love this, especially with dumplings on the top.

[narkymum]

also If any of you know where to buy huge pots and pans I would love to know. My place,I have always bought from has closed down. Thanks

[KatieDD]

Three adults and three children and I'm managing around £120 a week at the moment with a £100 top up shop for washing powder etc about once evry 4/5 weeks.
It's getting bloody hard, I won't compromise on fruit/veg and meat but am seriously looking into growing my own potatoes and carrots and strawberry's we seem to get through lots of those.

[butwhybutwhy]

We're spending £100 a week roughly for 2 adults and 3 kids under 4.
So that includes nappies, wipes etc.

[ByTheSea]

Between £120 and £150 excluding school dinners which are an additional £34/week. I vary where I shop and try to go two weeks between a big supermarket shop. We always eat lots of fresh fruit and veg and that adds up big time. I go to Lidl at least once a month and also try to go to the market on occasion, which has been harder since I now work on market days. My 4 hungry DC, ranging from 6 to 12, would eat all day every day if I let them - they are incredibly active.

[Rachmumoftwo]

Managing to keep it to about £70 for 2 adults, 2 children and 1 dog, but I still think that is a small fortune and need to do more to cut back. But I am having trouble compromising quality, so the free range chicken, nice cuts of ham etc. push it up. I reckon if I cared less, I could get it down to about £50.

[Hulababy]

2 adults, 1 cild.

I spend £90 on an online order to come tomorrow, and also spent £90 in Waitrose early on today's lunch (had parents visiting), some for week and some wine. And also send £15-20 a week on a weekly veg box.

[TwoToTango]

2 adults, 1 child £50-55 pw (includes washing powder, loo roll etc). Spend up to £5 in week on extra milk/bread/fruit

[12345678910]

there is 2 of us 2 kids and a cat and i would say we r about 50/60 plus milk bread etc, its scary the costs.

i try and get a smany offers as i can

and make big meals like stew and casseroles etc, sometimes the shops have lots reduced so its worth going early if you can.

[christie1]

I aim for 100 a week for a family of 8 but it's tough and prices keep going up. I do bake as much as I can and make all meals at home. I feel scared by the rising food prices though. I did a shop last night and this pasta I normally by at around 60p jumped up to about 95p in a week. Doesn't sound like much but my shop budget didn't go up and this is just an example of rising prices. We have cut out eating out except for treats like a birthday.