M&S food. Rip off or bargain?

[SapphosRock]

I posted last week about doing our weekly food shop in M&S.

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/3952990-how-much-would-you-pay-for-this-shopping

I love the quality of food but DP thinks M&S is a rip off. I think it’s a bargain. Today’s weekly shop came to £74.26 - every meal for a family of 2 adults, 1 DC (age 5) and 1 baby (just started weaning).

A few bits were reduced.

Pics show breakfast, lunch and dinner.

So was I ripped off or is this good value?

What does you meal plan look like OP?
Ooh I've always wanted to see a mumsnet chicken i can't see a chicken on your photos where is it please
What do you mean your 5yo has a share of yours? Does she not have her own portion?

I always like to know what other people eat, cos I think we are quite boring and have the same things over and over. So I like a good but of inspiration 😀

Ah the famous Mumsnet chicken!

How does two salmon fillets feed 4 of you (ok I know the baby is weaning) or one pack of filled pasta?

I spend round about £65 a week for 3 of us and that includes, pet food, cat litter, cleaning products etc. My meat and veg is always fresh and I don't get as much process food as you do.

So yes I think its a rip off, but if you are happy that is all that counts

For 3 I get double that amount of food in one shop, at least. And do that twice a week. It’s about £200 a go in M&S. we aren’t going out for meals or takeaways at the moment. Prefer M&S to Waitrose. Can’t even deal with Tesco’s or Asda.

That's very obviously only part of a weekly shop. Putting aside the issue of whether or not there's enough food for a week there, clearly you still need to top up with other things elsewhere - milk, toiletries, household products etc. If you think M&S is such a bargain why not buy it all there?

Is £75 expensive for that amount of food? Yes, certainly more expensive than if you shopped elsewhere. Is it worth it to you? Totally your call.

It will be a bargain to some but a rip off for others. There are other supermarkets where you can get more for your money.

But it youre happy, does it matter what MN thinks?

Just seen the bit where you posted the same last week. Why the need to share each time? Are you feeling insecure about spending?

If you are happy then you should keep shopping at M & S. However you could feed your family better and cheaper by shopping elsewhere and cooking more meals from scratch. However you don't say you are on a particular budget so maybe it doesn't really matter.

I work (usually) near a M&S food hall

Like other people I wouldn’t do a proper stock up the cupboards shop there but I certainly prefer their gluten free range, currently have a sourdough loaf that is really good. The fish, frozen and fresh is excellent.

In fact, I am going there tomorrow as I suddenly have a craving for cake so I will buy one of their GF coffee and walnut cakes, a fruit cake and the ingredients to make some more.

I do love a yellow sticker item, always feels like a treat and I insist DW admires my hunter/gatherer skills when I get home.

That’s not a weekly shop, you can guarantee by Thursday you will need to go to the shops.
The same factory’s prepare the food for mark’s and Spencer’s and Aldi so I’m not sure why you would choose to spend so much extra for the same food and then put photos on the internet
I did an asda order today spent £70 including cleaning products and nappies and shampoo and conditioner. Did an order from the local greengrocer for £20 for fruit and veg which is so fresh and will last for at least a week.
The only time I would buy the things from your lunch picture is if we were going for a picnic it looks so processed.

I don’t think that’s much food at all. No milk, cereal, rice, pasta. Small bag of potatoes. No cleaning or laundry products.

I don’t think that M&S are better quality than waitrose or aldi. Also the sell by dates at M&S means that food doesn’t last very long.

I don’t think it’s what it was. Other supermarkets have upped their game with their premium ranges nowadays. I think they definitely still trade on their name from yesteryear.

I used to work in a meat factory and the same chicken breasts were going into a Tesco tray that were going into a Taste the Difference tray - just different labels!

Prior to this I used to shop in M&S (when it was just me and dh) now I have teenagers there's no way I could afford to do a week's groceries there.

You don't even have any snacks there!! No crisps? Peanuts?

We've shopped in Lidl during lockdown and the stuff has been brilliant and we've saved a fortune!

Didn't you post this later week @SapphosRock

I recall the chicken teddies, mine like them too.

later = last

To me it's like Waitrose. The food is good quality and there's a nice ambience in the shop directly aimed at the middle classes and the discerning foodie. It's not overpriced as such but priced to discourage the riff-raff and families with screaming kids. There's less emphasis on bargains, BOGOFs etc.

If you can afford it, why on earth not? Most of my single friends shop there.

I shop at Aldi and Morrisons

I like these threads OP 😊 I think it’s a bit of a skeleton shop (would do a single person well) and think your portion sizes must be tiny though!

Haha I guess it is a bit random to post my shopping on the internet. Definitely won't get to the shops again this week. DP is a keyworker and out all day. I have two small DC with me 24/7. An hour in M&S on a Monday morning is the only bit of space I get!

I've never got on with Aldi, whenever I go there are expensive items are placed next to cheap labels for similar items which always tricks me. If anyone wants to post their weekly Aldi shop on here please tag me, I would be all eyes and ears.

Re pasta etc surely no family goes from a completely bare cupboard to a completely bare cupboard every week? Some stuff is carried over. I will use stock cubes, rice, olive oil this week from a previous shop but will probably freeze some stuff too.
We still have a frozen meal from last week's shop.

Too much plastic and packaging

But all supermarkets have cheaper and more expensive items?

I like their Dine in for two meals and the meat 3 for 10 is good

I get bits as a treat, i shop in Aldi usually cant beat it for value

Maybe I'm the only one, but I really enjoy looking at other people's shopping, so I'm glad you posted, OP - and I hope you do so again - in fact, I wish more people did. I might even take pics of my Tesco click 'n collect order next Friday (I'm serious). Perhaps this could be a regular thread, and those who aren't interested/don't understand could just avoid reading it?

Your shopping is a lot cheaper than mine, OP - I'm in Ireland, and am unreasonably annoyed that I moved back here (after a few years of caring for an aged parent in the UK) just before Ocado switch to M&S. I would have loved that! There's only the 2 of us, DH and me, but we do like to eat well, and cook from scratch - hence the hefty food bill. Mostly Tesco, but supplemented by online fish orders/deliveries, and a few bits from the local garage/convenience store.

The weekly food bill from Tesco.ie is usually around €110, and that includes about €20 of dog and cat food/treats. There's always a joint of beef or lamb in there for roasting, one multipack of chocolate for DH (I don't like it), loads of grapes, yoghurt, Serrano ham and 'posh' cheese for me, plus vegetables and meat for daily meals. We don't eat cereal, and barely any bread, either. The €110 includes loo roll, kitchen roll, coffee, washing up liquid etc., so I guess it's not too bad?

Anyway, don't let the naysayers put you off posting, OP :) It's a miserably wet day here today, and you cheered me up.

@Newschapter

I used to work in a meat factory and the same chicken breasts were going into a Tesco tray that were going into a Taste the Difference tray - just different labels!

Prior to this I used to shop in M&S (when it was just me and dh) now I have teenagers there's no way I could afford to do a week's groceries there.

You don't even have any snacks there!! No crisps? Peanuts?

We've shopped in Lidl during lockdown and the stuff has been brilliant and we've saved a fortune!

So far as I've ever been able to tell, no ready meal range in any supermarket uses higher welfare meat, so I won't buy them. I can make most things better myself anyway. That makes M&S very limiting given how much of their food is prepared. I find Waitrose far better for selling actual ingredients rather than packaged stuff, if we're talking higher range supermarkets.

The quality of grocery basics in Lidl is really high so no way to justify spending more on them in my opinion.

Hey thanks @Inextremis , I'd love to see your Tesco shop! glad I cheered you up.

Was thinking of starting a yellow sticker thread too, would love nothing more than to see some great supermarket bargains.