250 pound weekly shopping/food

[Whome91]

Please try not to judge. We are a family of 5 two adults 7 4 and 7 months kids. Some of that is takeaways that me and dh have at night. I have a Diet Coke habit (20 for cans) I cook meat for the kids most nights. It’s including nappies for two kids in full term and baby milk. Help please

I honestly don’t know why it’s that much I shop in Asda

You need to post a week’s shop in full here really, otherwise we’re all just guessing.

Do you buy a lot of processed / convenience food ? Meat is expensive too - try switching to Lidl or Aldi for one shop and see the difference , I think ASDA can be expensive

Gosh, that's a lot.
Can you post a weekly shop?

For 8 people it’s high but not astonishingly so

I think we spend around £100 for two adults, a ten month old and a 10 year old.

That doesn’t include takeaways which we seldom have, I can see how it could be done.

Could you meal plan? I always do for the week ahead and that saves a lot of money.

But it's a family of 5, @mrsbyers!

5 dc and me and dh. Less than £100 including laundry products one week /pet food the other..
Aldi.

It's only a problem if you can't afford it.

The Moneysavingexpert forum has lots of support on this subject.
forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=33

That’s beyond ridiculous! £20 on cola? Farm foods does 24 for £7, are you drinking 72 cans per week or similar?

You need to cut down on the takeaways, look at your juice habit and I’d imagine try and buy less packaged and convince foods.

Write a meal plan for breakfast lunch and dinner, even some snacks if that helps. Then write down everything you need to buy to make those things. Don’t buy anything that isn’t on your list. Try Lidl instead of Asda.

Less judgy than this will end up too tbh.

Hmmm that does seem a lot. For context, we’re also a family of five but our children are slightly older - 7, 4 and 2. We spend about £120. Maybe it’s the takeaways? How many do you have a week? Around here it’s about £40 a time so that could easily be bumping up your spending.

Our meals are a mix of meat and veggie - so a bean chilli for example, or shepherds pie - so not having all meat all the time helps reduce the cost. We also make a packed lunch for our two year old and the four and three year old love avocados which are £££. I dunno, it’s all swings and roundabouts probably. Would be interesting to see a weeks food shop.

A lot of what you're paying for is convenience. However, do remember that your time is precious, and does have a value! If you order a deliveroo so that you can spend time you would have spent cooking doing something else, then it's not necessarily wasted.

But takeaways aren't healthy if you're having them regularly, and if you're wanting to economise, then you'll need to cut them down or out.

1. meal plan. Sit down, plan what you'll have for the week, only buy what you need to make those dishes
2. double-cook i.e. if you make Bolognese sauce or chili etc double-up your recipe and freeze half for another day. That means you have a quick meal later without needing a takeaway.
3. go through what you already have in your store cupboard and try to plan meals that use that up fully (eg beans, pasta, rice whatever)

That will save quite a bit in the immediate weeks to come.

We'll also have the reappearance of the infamous MN roast chicken at some point.

What are you buying ?

I am a childminder feed different amount of children but probably spend £60 ish a week week . I am assuming you have nappies aswell.

Do you neal plan ?

Try the down brand challenge

I echo what others have said and suggest shopping at aldi/Lidl. It really makes a difference. I used asda for convenience when my DS was on formula that Aldi didn't sell and I didn't want to go to 2 supermarkets. Once he went onto cows milk I swapped back to Aldi and it's so much cheaper. What nappies are you buying? Asda and aldis own are great. Cheaper cuts of meat can make a difference. Meal planning and choosing meals that feed a lot of people cheaply. Pasta bakes, cottage pie etc

*two year old - she’s not there yet!

Buy as much as you can value, or at least own brands.

Buy spices and some tinned pulses from world foods section.
Shop around for any takeaways, there can be huge differences.
Never buy full price toiletries, cleaning and coffee. Bulk buy on offer.
Have a couple of veggie meals a week.

Frozen fish is cheaper than fresh.

Gosh that is a lot. £1000 per month. Can you give us an idea of what you are buying on a weekly basis?

I’m baffled. I shop in Waitrose, some stuff comes from the local bakery or butcher etc and spend waaay less.

I think it must be the takeaways. To bring the cost down without much effort, you could for example:

1. Just boil/steam some veg (Frozen is already chopped) and stick some potatoes and sausages/chicken/fish in the oven for a bit.
2. Or get ready made sauces. Boil pasta, boil veg, add sauce and tinned beans or meat, grated cheese on top and you’ve got a healthy meal with minimu effort.

Without more detail it's impossible to say where you could cut back but it does sound like a crazy amount.

That is a lot of money! We are a family of five and I spent around £80 a week including lunches as dc aren’t at school. We eat pretty well, I meal plan, cook from scratch etc

When you say takeaway how much are spending because it soon adds up,

Are you cooking two separate meals a night? That can work out expensive.

Easy. We are a family of 5 too, but two of mine are bottomless pit teenagers.

Ditch the takeaways, or swap to getting those bagged takeaways from Asda instead. Swap your cans of coke for the 2 litre bottles, or swap to fizzy water. Is there a reason the 4 year old is still in nappies? Agree with meal planning - there's no need for kids to eat meat every night. My kids love things like Spanish omelette and salad - and the omelette is eggs, potato and onion. Or jacket potatoes with beans and cheese. Or mac and cheese, or pasta with pesto.

Stop buying all branded stuff and switch to own brand.

Or if you're still struggling, give Eat Well for Less a ring - they'll sort you out!!