Luxury food

[woollysocksaresexy]

We are trying to tighten our belts a bit when it comes to money, so I'm looking at our food spending. DH regards pesto (already supermarket own brand) and peanut butter (also own brand) as a luxury and says I should not buy them any more. I think these are perfectly normal things to buy, and not treat items. We are not on the bread line, just trying to make some savings. And pesto pasta happens to be one of the only easy meals the kids will eat. And I do ALL of the cooking. What does everyone else think?
Also, what do you all spend on your food budgets? We have 3 young children who are 6, 4 and 2. The older 2 are quite picky.
Thanks!

You do all the cooking, you have final say. Peanut butter and pesto are not treat items, they're stock items in your family pantry.

As to what we spend on our food budget, hell will freeze over before I reveal that on MN! I'd be ridden out of the forum on a rail, hung, drawn and quartered! (So yeah, far too much).

LOL, your DH is completely nuts. Am guessing maybe he defines luxury as 'stuff I don't eat'?

I'd define luxury items mostly as things that I could make from scratch cheaper, or could substitute for something else similar but far cheaper, such as pretty much all pre-made cakes, biscuits, convenience foods, specific cuts of meat etc.

While I'd call eg a jarred cook-in curry sauce a luxury as I've got tons of spices in the cupboard and can easily make my own cheaper, pesto isn't as the ingredients aren't particularly cheap ones even if you're growing your own basil so i'd guess it's probably pretty good value when it's making up a large proportion of a meal.
Peanut butter is definitely not even close to a luxury item as it's cheap and nutritious and as such is a really good item to go for if you're shopping on an very minimal budget.

Not too sure what I spend on food at the moment as I don't do a weekly shop as such. I just buy when and where good offers are and frequently bulk buy if there's a good price on something that will keep or can be frozen/preserved. I'd guess about £30/week max for me and adult DD

Blimey how much is a jar of this supermarket own brand pesto? Under a £1.20 I’m betting

Come on how sad would life be in one couldn’t have a jar of £1.20 pesto

Tell hi, to find something else to moan about....