Aibu to be annoyed the food shop disappears so quickly

Hi op, family of 5 here too, 2 adults 16, 4, 1 year old.
We shop at Adli which seems to get us more for our money. I have to agree I dont think your buying enough 'snacks'. For example we buy (weekly)

10 bananas
8 oranges
10 apples
2 pack strawberries
1 pack blueberries (big)
Grapes
Raspberries

We also buy snack biscuits like party rings, safari snacks which come in a pack of 5, usually 2 a week.

Family of 5 inc 3 teen boys

Snack wise per week

40 apples
30 Bananas
20 tangerines
2 punnets grapes
30 pears
2 cucumbers - veg sticks
Bag carrots veg sticks
30 yogurts

It might be small but might be all OP can afford. And I meant put away a pack of grapes/strawberries etc till later on. The amounts are relative to what a family eats. When my 2 kids were little I bought 2 pack of biscuits, one multi bag of crisps and selection of fruit. Once it went that was it till next week. The meals I provided were well enough to feed them so they didn’t starve and have excellent teeth

This.

I’m going to assume (hope) that you haven’t read the full thread to see the amount OP is actually buying. The thought of punishing children for eating more than 1 banana a week is fucking awful.

1. Tell children they are not allowed to take food without asking
2. Impose consequences if they disobey

Ive just heard this from OH!!

There are only two of us here and apparently 'we didnt buy any chocolate or snacks'

We went shopping Friday, massive bag of prawn crackers and a whole bar of fruit and nut chocolate. He has eaten the lot and forgot we bought it.

Awful

I know what you mean op, food disappears at an alarming rate in our house too. I went to Costco this morning and bought a massive watermelon, huge bag of apples and a box of kiwis. The watermelon is gone and half the apples. That’s in less than 2h! 2 teenage boys who love fruit unfortunately. Biscuits and chocolate can sit for weeks untouched but expensive fruit; no chance.

The only solution I have found is to work out a budget and stick to it. I have tried buying more and there seems no limit to what they’ll consume, so now I don’t replenish until the end of the week. If they’re that hungry they are directed towards the toaster.

NHS advice is actually 2 healthy snacks per day for children :)

You could try toast if theyre hungry? A loaf is around £1.20 theres around 12 slices, get around 3-4 loafs if you swap them out with the strawberries.
or a bag of small oranges, could get 3 instead of a small punnet of strawberries.

Ooh can you share your flapjack recipe please

Right, well I'm not giving you 'the fingers'. 😖

I hide snacks (crisps, mulitpack chocolate bars, biscuits) and stagger them out over the week.

You’re doing well to stick to that budget even without lunches. If the snacks go too quickly how about rationing then in some way, or stop buying them and give each child a weekly allowance for buying their own? You could just provide bread and some spreads for hungry moments.

If you find the answer please let me know! Currently spending around £300 a week on 3 adults one teen three dogs and a catcand all efforts to reduce spend have failed.

Or possibly that you don't actually need snacks (that word has ceased to have any meaning) .

What yummy snacks, they get 1 and a half milky ways a week each and a few Maryland mini cookies. Which all together prob isn’t even the size of one normal size one, this isn’t an issue of greed or over eating, it is an issue of very limited snacks.

op, I agree with the others, you need to buy smarter, bananas, apples etc, knock the strawberries on the head.

flr my husband and I, we go through 4 punnets of grapes, 3 punnets of pineapple, several packs of dried mango, and 14 yoghurts a week, we don’t eat the biscuits and stuff though, but when we do or when our daughter is home, we go through that stuff and a much faster rate than 1 and a half milky ways a week each and a few mini cookies. So buy supermarket own label at the cheapest supermarkets if you need to get it.

Because you’re pointing it towards me? So I am seeing it from the other side? Because I’m not very good at emojis?

Why don't you recognise a peace sign? ✌️✌️✌️

One solution is to stop buying snacks? When mine lived at home snacks were toast or cereal if hungry.

£130 pw isnt much these days. Sounds like your not buying enough food?

Snacks are a waste of time and money.

That amount of fruit doesn't seem close to enough for 5 people. We're a family of 4 (both children under 5) and I would struggle to get our shopping bill below £130 (sadly!).

It does sound like you are going through a lot of biscuits though.

If finances are an issue, could you stock up on cheaper healthy options? Apples and oranges tend to be relatively cheap and last ages. Maybe try frozen berries, though they will probably need mixing with something like yoghurt to be appetising. Nuts and blocks of cheese that can be cut into chunks will probably last longer than biscuits etc.

Why do you keep giving me the fingers?

Well, if they run out of snacks they'll have to wait for the next shopping trip, won't they?