£800 pm on groceries for a family

Our fruit and veg shop is significantly cheaper than price gouging Tesco now.

Food has rocketed but so have tesco profits.

Average salaries in the US are substantially higher than here, and housing costs are on average a lot lower.

Two adults, child and a cat and we spend around £130 each week including top-ups. It can be more if we run out of things all at the same time eg oils or toiletries or vitamins, or of I need to buy a lot of extra fresh stuff. So I'm totally with you.

I spend same for 2 teenagers and 2 adults. I reckon it includes about £50 pw non-essential treats (crisps, Diet Pepsi etc, favourite shampoo rather than basic), but the same shop 4years ago was ~£140- 150.

I spend same for 2 teenagers and 2 adults. I reckon it includes about £50 pw non-essential treats (crisps, Diet Pepsi etc, favourite shampoo rather than basic), but the same shop 4years ago was ~£140- 150.

Can you substantiate this with the average costs of a weekly supermarket shop in France and across the EU in 2019 compared to 2025? Where’s your evidence?

Where do you think the increased costs of Brexit have gone, if they haven’t caused food price inflation?

It’s really not. It’s pretty average if you’re feeding hollow teens!

2 adults, a teen, a pre teen and a dog and we’re £500 a month max. DH cooks pretty much everything from scratch.

I spend that on 2 adults and 2 children (10 and 6). And a dog (she doesn't cost that much tbh).

We spent that and more too.

I do wonder how much the big companies are responsible for this though because Tesco, for example, makes billions in profit every year.

https://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/Article/2025/04/10/tesco-profits-top-3-billion/

Profiteering and capitalism wins again.

Wow now i truly feel poor spending a max of £300 a month to feed three of us and three cats, I was just thinking earlier that everything I buy is own brand.

We (2 adults 2 teens) spend less than £450 a month. I’m vegan and the kids don’t each much meat. We get eggs from my mums chickens which saves a bit of money. I do a massive shop at aldi or Lidl once a month which costs about £130. Then might go to home bargains or b&m for cleaning stuff that I can’t get in aldi or Lidl, or to Iceland for branded stuff. I’ll go to Asda or Tesco to get things I can’t get in Lidl. We often run out of stuff and if money is tight at the end of the month everyone eats a lot of pasta or whatever I can’t find in the cupboards…

2 adults, 2 teens, and a cat here. Around £200
per week in Aldi only which includes
household bits and toiletries and cat food. I often batch cook and we have meat 1-2 a week, but have one pescatarian so will also have salmon or
prawns once a week too. Basic ranges I think we would struggle to spend less than £150 week on food even if we cut back.

A friend was over from the USA last year. She said shopping was cheaper here than back home.

I transfer £800 a month to our grocery shopping debit card, and always end up running out at end of month. So I definitely think that’s reasonable, food prices are ridiculous now.

I spend around £550 on three adults and a teenager, 3 cats, a dog and all household consumables and toiletries.

Do you have a decent sized fridge/s and freezer?

Between our two nectar apps we pretty much get our staples on offer at least once a fortnight - so we get 30% off their Greek yoghurt plus points. Recently it was only 55p in store! So we buy in bulk. Likewise buy the berries when they do 3 for 2 on frozen fruit & veg👌this is 30% off your regularly purchased items.

Most of us can get discounted gift cards (via employer / insurance provider / blue light card etc) for a further 5% off everything - it really does all add up & make a difference.

Yep, I spend about that, and I'm constantly penny pinching to try and not let it go up any more!
£7.19 I was charged for minced beef last week... I was like, I remember a fiver being the budget for a family meal

It's about what I'd pay for that household. It is possible to eat more cheaply and of course many people have to, but it's not extravagant.

I just done a top up shop for myself, one adult.
Just milk, bread, some household cleaning items, sardines, cupboard stuff, fruit.
Nothing extravagant and no meat.
£50.

Without getting political, as I voted remain and indeed live in France for half the year, one can’t argue with the fact that the lower paid in the UK are better off than they were before BREXIT. The national living wage has gone up hugely, and still employers have to pay more than that, though not as much as they did a few years ago. That’s a direct result of a shortage of labour. Now, at a macro level the UK economy hasn’t done brilliantly post BREXIT, though arguably many EU economies have done worse. But it’s easy to see that the traditionally lower paid, less skilled workers in the UK got exactly what they wanted from BREXIT, and that was an exodus of foreign workers and higher paid jobs. Inconvenient for those of us who benefited hugely from the EU, but the main issue was that many less well off didn’t see how it benefited them, because on a day to day basis it didn’t.

Back on topic, here in France food shopping is more expensive than the UK and yet eating out is a little cheaper. Despite France having tougher labour laws, though a much lower minimum wage. We also have much higher unemployment in France, so not all is rosy. Warm weather, cheaper housing and good wine certainly helps though :)

I currently budget £200 a week for food and petrol and think im likely not budgeting enough and thats for 3 of us. So can definitely see £800pm for 4 not being excessive.

In Spain too. Very expensive compared to the UK

Yes Ops is around 200 for 4 people and yours would be 160 for 4 people? My point being it's really not steep at just £10 per week a person more in comparison to yours?