Shopping bill so high!

[Juiceey]

On budgeting threads on here I always read about people spending £50 a week on their families.

There's 3 of us and we spend easily over £100 a week! No alcohol. Do a main shop at Aldi then top ups at Sainsburys.

What am I doing wrong?

Cleaning products shouldn't really be that expensive though.

Soda Crystals are a pittance and dissolved in water can be used to clean just about everywhere from toilets to kitchen tops and stoves. Same with a bar of (not really) carbolic soap (fantastic in a soap bag on the shower or bath).

Solid soap instead of liquid soap. Better for both the environment and the budget. Shampoo and conditioner are also solid bars that last month's.

Clothes are cotton dishclothes thst get shoved in the washing machine with the regular laundry, same for my emop head.

Eco egg in the washing machine instead of detergent. I've found value dishwasher tabs work a treat too.

It's just me and dd and I struggle to keep it to £100 a week (including pet food), I don't drink or eat meat - and we order a fish box separately. I've given up trying to get it down, I'd rather spend more and get it all online and get what I like.

I don't enjoy frozen veg and buy organic and this does also include all our cleaning and beauty products.

I spend around £80 per week for 2 adults 2 teens. It was about £60 pre Covid, but a mix of price rises and WfH has pushed it up. This includes all cleaning products and toiletries too.

For me the key to keeping the shopping bill down is:
Minimise expensive fresh meats or fish (steak/lamb/duck/salmon etc)
I buy chicken in bulk from the butcher at £20 for 5kg rather than from the supermarket, and fill my freezer. We also tend to eat 2 chicken breasts between 4 for most meals, and top up on extra veg.
Meal plan. Mix in cheap meals (jacket pots/mac & cheese/omelette etc) amongst more expensive meals.
Plan well so that you use all of any products bought and avoid waste (e.g if you're having gammon one night, have ham omelette the next day to use up leftovers, or if you're having roast chicken one day, do a chicken stir fry to use up leftovers the next day).
Buy seasonal fruit and veg, and avoid expensive berries etc
Grow your own fresh herbs and freeze in ice-cube trays.
Cook from scratch rather than pre-prepared
Use frozen fruit and veg where appropriate
Buy bigger size packets and decant rather than single serve packets (e.g a bag of porridge oats is much cheaper than the individual pots or sachets).
Lots of things that are expensive to buy are cheap to make - pancakes (don 't buy ready made or mixes), yorkshire puds, spice mixes etc
Drop branded stuff and buy own brand/basics instead.
If you have the money to do so, stock up when there is a good deal (on non perishables)

I spend £60-70 a week for 2 adults and a 6 year old. Usually nearer the £60 but it creeps up when I need to buy cleaning products.
I’m pretty strict with meal planning though and the only time I step foot in a shop other than the weekly shop is to buy milk.
I shop in Morrisons and buy plenty of fresh fruit, salad and meat but we don’t drink, I buy own brand where I can and we eat very healthy - no sweet stuff or crisps/snacks in the house.
I’m also lucky that at the moment DD is on free school meals and eats pretty much anything so almost always has a hot meal at school.

@tootyfruitypickle

Same here. Me and a 4yo and I spend about £120 every 10 days.

Kid eats a lot of fruit and veg which is horribly expensive, even buying non-organic.

I suppose when I break it down though, £12 a day for 3 meals + 2-3 snacks for DC and 2 meals and 1-2 snackS for me, including ground coffee and a glass of wine 3 days a week, plus laundry and cleaning stuff, isn’t all that much really.

Just not willing to cut back further, though really should so we could save...

I spend a lot more than that and do all the recommended things, bulk buying, batch booking and freezing 64 meatballs for spaghetti and meatballs etc. My 2 teens do tonnes of sport and eat a lot of protein and a lot of bread, cereal, beans on toast, part baked baguettes. Along with huge meals.

None of the suggestions work for me, unless I cut down on meat. And eat completely differently, re yoghurts, grapes, banana, salads, avacado etc. Which I'm just not prepared to do.

Reduce the amount of meat. Use soya, lentils, beans and pulses instead.

Swap out fresh berries for frozen.

Don't buy any prepared foods, eg, no chopped carrots, no sliced/cubed chicken/pork/beef, shredded cheese etc.

I'm blaming the elderly cat, who will only eat very expensive cat food and refuses to do her business outside , again only in the expensive litter....

Oh, and Dutch box cereals. Have porridge, it's the cheapest by far, even organic!

Meal planning really helps, i choose meals for the week and what ingredients I need, and then pop them into the calendar in order of when they go off so there's no wastage. I did worry it would get boring or some nights I just wouldn't fancy it, but it's been fine and also saves time. I tend to buy the fresh veg and fruit that's in season so it's a bit cheaper, or frozen (although it doesn't taste very nice for some meals so I'll buy fresh for those), and plan around offers. I started at uni though when my budget was super tight (under £10 a week for all food and toiletries), and also if I'm free on a Sunday the local supermarket takes 90% off their reduced aisle at midday, so I'll buy some stuff and freeze it such as pizzas, meat (aside from chicken) etc. If you can afford to spend what you do then I wouldn't worry personally, shopping is creeping up in price.

That's the thing though. If you can afford it and thats what brings you joy, you shouldn't feel bad about your food spend. Especially if you are supporting local businesses and environmentally conscious choices.

For me I know i can made yummy meals on low budget ingredients. I dont have a huge budget so a low food spend helps me to spend more or holidays, day trips and absorb sudden bills.

I'd definitely make better use of my local butcher with a larger budget. But on the whole I dont feel I'm losing out trying to keep my food spend reasonable.

I spend £100 every two weeks in Aldi + two tops up of £25 ish for a family of seven. This includes nappies, cleaning products (I do 3 or 4 loads of washing per day) and toiletries. We eat meat nearly every day and masses of fruit. It does help that we grow most of our veg in our allotment. I reckon I could cut that down further if needed.

I think you need to take claims on here of very high/very low bills of any kind with a large pinch of salt. The cheaper ones tend to “forget” to include eating out and takeaways! Which is cheating in my opinion! On “eat well for less” there are often families that say they “only” spend ‘seemingly tiny amount’ at the supermarket - but then the presenters jump in and say “ah but you spend £200 a week on takeaways!” I bet they also spend a fair amount on fancy coffees out and about and don’t include them - It’s misleading - I also wonder if these people are including all groceries as I suspect you’re also including cleaning materials and toiletries and they maybe aren’t?

It CAN be done but it’s not easy and not much fun!

However that being said, as I am someone on a tight budget and who tends to the frugal I would suggest the following, some of which have already been suggested:

Meal plan - not just for dinners EVERY meal and have a good idea on snacks and drinks too you really shouldn’t NEED to be doing top up shops - supermarket psychologists/designers LOVE top up shoppers as they spend far more than strictly weekly shoppers! Supermarkets spend a LOT of money on experts who tell them exactly how to extract more money from customers!

Fruit and veg - if you’re buying “fancy” your costs will be higher, apples, bananas, potatoes, carrots - the more “traditional” British diet is cheaper than berries, aubergines and sweet potatoes!

Drinks - often ignored on such threads - are you drinking loads of bottled water/cans/ready made drinks? Maybe looking at cutting these down. Tea, coffee and Squash tend to be cheapest options

Food waste - something we’re all guilty of at times - are you using it all or throwing a lot away due to lack of planning?

Meat eaters? - I’m veggie and I’m
Shocked when I see the price of meat! Veggie eating is much cheaper, try and do so at least a couple of times a week, mac n cheese or a veg stew doesn’t mean you’ll feel you’re “missing out”. Also bulk out meat dishes with veg - tends to make it lower fat/lower cal too as you’re trying to lose weight.

Shop around - supermarkets are stupidly expensive for cleaning products, toiletries, stationery etc yet many of us fall into the trap of buying these there for convenience. I’ve found places like wilko, b&m and home bargains are much cheaper for cleaning products etc

Also some supermarkets are more expensive than others - I’ve shopped with Sainsbury’s in the past happily but their prices have definitely shot up in recent months!

Shop savvy - bulk buy, make the most of offers, get and use loyalty cards, keep an eye out for vouchers - eg I only like fairy original but I NEVER pay full price, when I see its on offer I stock up, ditto baked beans - I shop with Tesco and they’re on a “4 for” on a regular rotation, it’s only me here so I don’t get through loads but I stock up as they have a long shelf life, this week I’ve treated myself to a couple of new electricals which I needed anyway and were on my long term “to buy” list because Tesco currently have an offer on of £5 off if you spend £40, ok not a huge amount but as they say “every little helps” I also checked the price of the items with other retailers just in case they were higher priced anyway and found other retailers were selling at a higher price so definitely worth buying from Tesco in this instance.

Food ALONE just for me I’m around £35 - 40 and I only eat one meal a day and a snack! No alcohol but I am tending towards higher quality as my way of “treating” myself - if I had to I could cut it down to £15–20 by switching to all basic brands

I’m agoraphobic and this is my only pleasure really at the moment plus I need appetising things to motivate me to eat as I’m really struggling with that at the moment.

If you can afford the way you shop it’s your choice.

@Hazelnutlatteplease

Cleaning products shouldn't really be that expensive though.

Soda Crystals are a pittance and dissolved in water can be used to clean just about everywhere from toilets to kitchen tops and stoves. Same with a bar of (not really) carbolic soap (fantastic in a soap bag on the shower or bath).

Solid soap instead of liquid soap. Better for both the environment and the budget. Shampoo and conditioner are also solid bars that last month's.

Clothes are cotton dishclothes thst get shoved in the washing machine with the regular laundry, same for my emop head.

Eco egg in the washing machine instead of detergent. I've found value dishwasher tabs work a treat too.

Solid soap is only better if free from palm oil. Most brands aren't and the ones that are palm oil free are more expensive.

We spend £200 a week on 2 adults and 2 primary dc. 3 meals a day and snacks. Sometimes a bit more or less. I used to wonder how people did it but have seen threads since lockdown with people complaining how high their food shop bill is as they used to eat out a lot. So I think it must not include all meals.

If you can afford £100 a week I don't think it's bad. You're probably getting fresh fruit and veg plus meat and fish for that. If you can't afford it then I'm sure they'll be some good advice on bulk buying and meal planning. Shopping at Aldi is much cheaper too.

Solid soap saves plastic bottles whether it's palm oil free or not. Value hand soap and soap with palm oil may not be ideal choice environmentally but its still a step in the right direction even on the tightest budget.

But If you can afford the initial outlay of some of the more expensive palm palm free (or sustainable palm oil) solid soap; weve found it cheaper in the long run to liquid hand soap or shampoo conditioner simply cos they last forever. A lot of brands have come down in price considerably in the last few years.

The ability to make ecologically minded choices are so often an economic luxury. I dont think people should be put off making a better choice because it's not the best choice.

I mean plan and very rarely eat out (and only lunch if so). However I do know it is possible to spend less, my parents spend a fraction of what I do, but I like my food more

Unless I’m short of money (not currently, but have been in the past) I buy what I want irrespective of cost. We do not have much wastage in that nearly everything we buy, we eat. But I will admit we do throw out bread as only my dp eats it, I don’t.
Our weekly bill varies from around £60 to £240 depending on who goes shopping and how long it’s been from the last shop.

Our household income has suddenly more than halved, I'm aiming for £50 a week on the supermarket shop (to include toiletries/cleaning products) for 2 adults and a tween, plus 2 cats. I'm struggling and it's usually more like £65.

I meal plan and stick to it rigidly, we eat veggie about 3 times a week. It's a slog tbh, but I'm quite proud that I'm managing it.

cherryup it can be done. I had to do this years ago but you can do it. Just budget carefully and do not buy anything not on your list. But I did use to allow a couple of quid to be spent on exceptional deals for stuff you’d actually use in the future.