No idea how much spent on Food

OP, you need to start looking at your bank accounts! I use tap, but ask for the receipt. I also have a look at my bank account and credit card accounts to verify all the charges.

If you have on line banking, you can usually filter your transactions by name of company, so you can see what you are spending per week or month.

Sorry to say it, but it's time to adult up and pay attention to your money. You don't want to be one of those people that at the age of 60 realize they have no savings.

Are you doing a faux-naive tinkly laugh op while you’re typing? Oh I’m so crazy / rich / ditzy aren’t I? Ugh it’s horrible. Stop now.

Don’t you check your online banking daily?

Our weekly shopping bill is always around 220‐240 including all the cleaning and hygiene products. I try every time to get it below but it just is what it is there are 5 of us though and our food is one thing we won't scrimp too much on. I buy loads of fruit and veg which in itself comes to around 30.00 but it never gets wasted we eat everything and make most meals from scratch. I find I'd rather spend that much on decent food, snacks meals etc because then we don't feel the need to go to resteraunts or get takeaway at the weekends (which is 70/80 pounds a time for us all with main and dessert) because we have nice food at home and for picnics if we go out for the day. Even though I could cry at the till I do believe it saves us money, and our waistlines, in the long run. We don't have holidays and I don't get nails or hair etc done, we only really buy clothes for the kids when needed not for ourselves so we like to splurge on eating what we want and enjoying it. I wish I could be ignorant to how much it costs us because I balk everytime knowing how its doubled within a couple of years and almost 1000 a month on groceries, I'm well aware, does seem ridiculously indulgent when so many people are in a real struggle with putting food on the table. I'm not sure how you don't realise what you're spending though, it's very difficult to not know even when you are just tapping your card, if you do that with everything you buy you might end up with big debt trouble and I wouldn't wish that on anyone pleas don't bury your head in the sand when it comes to finances, it's sometimes daunting but far better to know exactly where you are at and what you need to do to.

£500 monthly for 2 adults, 2 kids & a cat but this includes everything including meat from the butchers. We shop around for the best deals & regularly use up what we have in the store cupboards.

No this is not normal shopping behaviour @Aquarius1234 What is your general attitude to money like? Do you spend on unnecessary rubbish and not save anything?

Do you not write a list or meal plan?

Our food shopping seems to have gone up so much lately. I’m aware of how much we spend because generally DH does a food shop one week on his day off so I generally do the following week and do an online shop. Generally it’s between £90-£120 per week that’s for 4 of us

It's actually quite easy to spend £130 in a weekly shop if you buy branded goods like Heinz, Andrex etc. I always plan to spend less than £80, and never spend less than £130 weekly, plus a couple of top-ups in between.

So many prices have risen to a crazy level. Plus I've noticed that Tesco (my local big shop) do this thing where they increase the price, then pretend it's cheaper on clubcard, then eventually they just change the price to the higher one.

Perfectly illustrated by the children's smoothie drink pack I used to buy a couple of years ago at £5 for 10 drinks, it's now £7.50 for the same thing! £7.50 for one item at shopping, so it all adds up.

This feels like a bizarre kind of flex maybe. Don't you look at your bank statements or do online banking? I have an alert that pops up on my phone each time I use my card, so I know exactly what I've spent. In terms of weekly shop, mine averages £150 for three adults, 3 kids and a dog, with maybe 20 for fresh stuff (bit more for wine!) in between. If you're serious about monitoring your spending, it literally takes a minute to check! We're not loaded, but comfortable - I'd be loath to pay any more than we do!

Op sorry but you are either an utter idiot or so tone deaf it’s untrue.

i don’t have a budget as such. But I know pretty much what I spend each week.

please stop digging now. It’s embarrassing.

I'm fortunate enough to no longer have to worry so much about balancing the books to the penny every month, but I still look at what I am spending.
I know what I spend each week, which doesn't vary that much, and it isn't difficult to multiply that by 4.5 to find the total for the month.

You probably are spending more by being tempted by things every time you go in.

If you are loaded, then that's a choice you make. If you (as you say) are not loaded, then it seems an odd way to go about things.

You sound like you are proud of your ignorance. It isn't difficult to get a receipt. If you don't know what you are spending, find out. If you have so much money it's all peanuts to you that's one thing, but if you are eating cornflakes for dinner, pull your socks up and take control of your finances.

I. I'm a. It shit a general budgeting bit need to feed my kids so I work it
Out. We allow £800 pm plus school lunches.

Pretty close idea - up to £130 a week for 2 adults and 5 cats (don't ask). Because it comes out of the joint bills account it's easy to keep track. At times I keep a note on my phone. Why not do that for a few weeks?

We have a veg box for £18 a week and a monthly bread box which works out about £8 a week, then the cat food and litter is around £30 a week. We're pescatarian, fish is expensive and I'd say we have fresh fish at least once a week with another tinned fish meal. We use fancy ingredients a fair bit like specialist mushrooms, herbs, spices and curry pastes. We can afford it but it's a lot just for the two of us. We're aiming to grow more food this year.

Well of course you're not saving because you're spending is out of control.

That's fine if that's how you like to live but I prefer to know exactly what our money is going on so I can make a budget for holidays, savings etc.

I've made an excel spreadsheet and once a week update it from the online bank statement.

Takes perhaps 1/2 hour pw.

Denial. Op is in denial.

Can you afford to shop without paying attention to how much you spend? You say you're not saving but are you able to cover the cost and other expenses or is it causing you problems?

It's not the weekly big one I lose track of as try and do on line and stick to a budget It's all the flipping top ups in the week for hollow leg teenager . Fresh bread etc and then pick up more bits each time.

This thread is very confusing.