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

There’s nothing obscene about £40 on wine! Only on mumsnet. Our wine bill is about £250/month when I’m not BF. £40 is for amateurs

I dunno, I think it would be easy enough to wrack up that kind of spending if you're buying fresh 'shove in the oven' type of meals for 5 people - you know chicken in a sauce in a tinfoil dish + prepped veg + fresh mash in a tub x 5 portions etc

Some weeks depending on our work schedules / commitments we can have very expensive weeks by relying on convenience & time saving food from places like M&S etc.

Add some wine, a few nice takeaways and of course the coke and I can see how it has happened.

Also for me, shopping for dinner every evening on the way home was ruinous. I would go in for dinner ingredients and come out with £20 of extras just because I saw them.

Mainly to save time and headpsace we have been doing a weekly shop on a Sunday. We sit and decide what we would like to eat that week, taking into account work for me and dh and school / sports / social life for teen dd.

We are not really doing this to economise but to simplify and take the pressure off each evening.

I then check if we have ingredients in the fridge / cupboard for any of the proposed meals and then I make a list of what we need.

It is bliss to NOT have to stop at any shops on the way home and to know that everything we need is ready and waiting at home! Makes the evenings a lot less stressful.

In the last 10 days we have had:

Cottage pie (used fresh ready made mash from 2 tubs on top to save time)
red thai chicken curry with rice, coriander and garlic naan bread, poppadoms and chutney
Chicken and broccoli gratin with roasted carrots
beef chilli with tortillas, cheese and sour cream
falafels in toasted pittas with hummous, salad and cous cous salad
High Tea (grilled bacon, sausages, pudding with fried eggs, beans and oven cooked hash browns)
Chicken Fricasse with roasted baby potatoes with herbs and shallots
Fillet steak (cooked on BBQ) with peppercorn sauce, baby potatoes and veg (oven chips for dd)
homemade meatballs in white wine and cherry tomato sauce with spaghetti, garlic bread , parmesan and olives
pizza
spatchcock peri peri chicken with homemade sweet potato wedges & coleslaw

I was amazed that each weeks shopping came in at around £65 for everything but there was no wine / or fizzy drinks in there

I've been adding up how much I spent in January on food - doesn't include any alcohol, nappies, loo roll etc but does include some cleaning bits, clothese wash etc.

For 3 of us - 1 adult, 12 & 8 - I spent just over £100 a week. That is for all our food including lunches every day - £16.40 per day. We haven't had any takeaways.

I'm by no means extravagant, I'd say I'm proce conscious, shop fairly frugally, but mostly buy what we like. I'm happy with what I spend though I am looking to save a bit more this year, so will try and cut back to about £75 a week (massive effort I think).

2 teens here and we spend less than £100 per week, i'd say around £60 per week. You have to food plan, meals for each day and all eat pretty much the same, have a week where you buy only the essentials, bread, milk etc and use up what is in the freezer - we do this every few months, then get a slow cooker for big stews, lots of veg, pots and chicken or beef whatever.

Could you do a weekly shop at Aldi for your fresh stuff and a monthly shop for your branded goods once a month? Meal planning is definitely the way forward!

Thank you @Lovemusic33. I'm going tomorrow to get the Eat Well for Less cookbook. I have about 80 cook books but I enjoy her programme and it is only £2.99.

We're also a family of 5 and I budget a max of £500 a month on our food shopping but usually come out at around £350-£400.

Firstly, its rubbish that you cant cook. Everyone can cook!! Anyone who says they cant are just using it as an excuse.

Secondly, I dont cook everything from scratch. I also have 3 awkward eaters who all eat different things so meals are never easy. I also have to make lunch boxes for us all. But simple things make a difference such as for the love of god dont use instant mash. Peel and cube a potato and boil it till soft. Drain & mash with butter & a dash of milk. Simple & cheaper. Make extra and you can freeze it.

Frozen veg is pre done and quick to cook.

I love wine, I love a meal out. I've discovered many £6 bottles of wine taste just as good as a £10 of wine. Even a box of wine is a good alternative if you like to drink a fair amount as it works out cheaper.

Buy 2 litre bottles of fizzy and for goodness sake internet shop so you can keep an eye on exactly what you're spending.

Limit take always to a treat as opposed to a run of the week meal, nothing wrong with a saturday take away but maybe do every other saturday.

The thing is, until you stop the "I can't cook" excuses you wont bother trying to cook.

I have quite a few cook books but had to pick this one up this morning 🤣 they are good for getting ideas, I get stuck in a rut eating the same food each week so I flick through the cook books whilst doing a online shop.

whome91 I think if you don't have a car and won't do an online shop then you need to get a taxi home perhaps once a month. So get yourself there on foot/by bus.
There are loads of suggestions on here for you & you need to make some changes. However you won't save any money at the moment if you're doing bits and pieces here and there. You need to do one big shop a month - and then do top ups just once a week.
I don't do an online shop as I drive and can't see the point. However I think you would save loads just by doing this.
Use up what you have in the cupboard as a priority - that will save you buying more stuff.
You need to just keep it simple and forget about some of the complicated things people have put on here. There is an obsession with slow cookers - great if you like stews etc but not for everyone!

I don’t think I’d want to take 4 kids including a baby and a child with SN on a bus, all round Aldi and then in a cab and have to unpack a months worth of stuff from the cab into my house and then put it all away, so I do understand the shopping every day aspect.

Sort your take away diet out if you both wish to be around to see your children get married... Also read about diet cola online... poison!

kenny she has a DH & also kids are likely at school/nursery during week. So would possibly be just baby? But surely one parent could stay home with the children while the other one shops.

I'm sorry, but that amount of wine, coke and takeaway each week is doing horrendous things to your health. Also nobody needs six sausages, that is pure greed. I'm no Puritan when it comes to food, but there's just no need for that, you're totally destroying your health.

@Megan2018 May i salute you, I think that’s the best comment I’ve ever read in MN and a true life goal. Can we be friends? Haha

I spend similar so no judging but if you want to be proactive about reducing costs it’s simples really.

1. Ditch the cola. Wallet and waistline
2. Ditch the takeaway. Wallet and waistline also happy.
3. Meal plan

Holy crap.
Go vegetarian twice a week and stop the poxy take always.

Also, one can of Coke has more acid in it than what your stomach produces in an entire day. Ditch it!!

@Originalusernameunavailable
yes of course! I warn you though that I hold many an unpopular opinion. Including the fact that DH and I eat a whole chicken between us in one hit and do not have a joint account. It’s not for the faint of heart

@Megan2018 if you find all the MiL posts tedious too then I truly believe we are kindred spirits

@Originalusernameunavailable I confess my MIL is low contact with us as she and DH have a difficult relationship from decades before my time and she lives abroad. But in the family as a whole generally finds in laws and extended family a pleasure!

I just bought these in Lidl for £2.99 each.

@Sunshine1239 are they good? I watch EWFL but I’ve never found a cookbook I love.

Sorry tagged the wrong sunshine!

I've only just got home with them so don't know yet, @KennyRogersWasNotInStarWars. I could look for certain recipes or give you a run down ?

@sunshinecake thank you, when you’ve had time to look at them I’d love one or two recipes (just the ingredients list, I don’t need the method as well) as an example. I’m not fussy about what they’re for, the shortest ones are fine. Much appreciated!