Can I ask what you are all spending on food shopping?

[hornchurchmum]

We are a family of 4, two adults and two teenagers. I shop in Tesco, Iceland and Lidl. I'm finding that my monthly shop is nearer to £700 than the £500-£550 that it used to be but there's nothing I can really cut out. We all eat at home most of the time so it's breakfast, lunches and dinners for us all everyday, the kids take packed lunch every day, and that's not including any alcohol that I'll occasionally buy separately. I don't splurge, just normal foods, nothing fancy, basic dinners, packed lunch stuff etc. I tend to do a big shop for Sunday which is now about £120 and then top ups of bread, milk, fresh fruit and salad or anything that's missing for a meal etc during the week. Just wanted to see how it compared really. Us two adult are trying to eat healthier/lose weight and I'm noticing that that's more expensive too! I also try and run the freezer down sometimes but it doesn't make that much difference...

Hey, yeah it is easy if you look online. The only reason is started to look into it was because we've always paid X amount into our account that's just for bills and shopping, and whereas we used to have a bit left at the end of the month I'm finding we've got nothing at all or even going into overdraft. Obviously I've adjusted the amount for the higher gas bills etc but hadn't given much thought to the shopping until now...

Family of 5, 2 adults 3 Dses 13, 11, 8. 1 cat. Around £60 per week on the main shop & top-up of around £20.

Aldi shopping, no wine etc.

It has gone up. This time last year I used to budget about £100 per week for two adults and two primary aged DC, now it's about £115.

Yep, definitely! I used to feel victorious if I could keep my Tesco delivery under £100 pw, even if it was £99.99 lol, but now there's no chance! I struggle to keep it under £120 now and we haven't really changed what we eat other than trying to be a bit healthier, but that means less snacks so that probably evens out x

We don't add up exactly because he normally goes midweek for his bits he's particularly about but typically I spend £60-70 on the weekend then maybe £20 during the week, he will spend £10-20 on fruit and breakfast cereal (different shop)

3 adults, sometimes 4 but she's cheap as veggie

Ps includes alcohol at home plus cleaning products but not eating out

Two adults, two dc under 10. I just spent £91 at Ocado, that did include cat food, cat litter, new washing up bowl and some liquid iron. Last week it was £90 (school tights included), the weeks before £52, £81, £65, a few weeks back there were a couple of shops not much more than £40. We get a few things from the Co-Op, Sainsburys and Aldi during the week so I think we spend about £350-£400a month.

I am not spending much more weekly than I used to but I think it is because I have swapped to cheaper products, cut out a few weekly nice to have things like posh biscuits. Which is a shame.

Two adults, two medium sized dogs - around £100-£120 per week, shopping at Tesco/Aldi/M&S with occasional bits from Co-op. No meals out and a takeaway (fish & chips/kebab - never a curry or pizza as we make these) perhaps once every six/eight weeks. Every couple of months we also do a larder top up of ingredients such as tinned/bottled stuff, so - tomatoes, beans of different varieties, sauces/pickles/condiments plus staples like pasta and rice from somewhere like B&M.

Surely there is no point in these threads? Will depend on your habits. My food budget is less than a quarter of yours for 3-4 adults. That is because we are veggie, don't drink alcohol and have a mostly Asian diet with 0 processed food ( think lentils and cheap local veggies). Shop at Tesco and local Asian shop. But most people wouldn't want to or can't live this way, so there is little point in comparing?

Why did you share then if the thread is so pointless?

Our shopping bills can vary wildly. Some weeks we need cleaning products/cat food/cat litter/toilet roll etc.
We can spend between £90 to £160 PW for 2 adults, 1 toddler and 2 greedy cats.
We get some organic stuff in Morrisons, nearly everything else is from Lidl.

To show that it is v hard to compare one family's lifestyle with another? Not trying to be snide. I spend in other areas that you might not.

Three adults, £92/week main shop and around £35/week top ups of milk, bread, eggs, fresh veg plus school lunches.[ 3rd adult is 18yo in YR13]

It’s too much, but have to eat.

3 adults here and we spend roughly £120 a week. DH and DD take lunch to work, I wfh and eat here. That usually includes a couple of bottles of wine, cleaning stuff etc.

we have cut down on meat, at least 3 meals a week are now veggie.

Good god

I've just looked at September and reckon we've spent about £800 😱 but this includes alcohol, toiletries, cleaning supplies and sundries. So probably more like £600 on food.

There are 5 of us - 2 adults and 3 kids aged between 6 and 13)

I should add that we didn't eat out or get takeaways that month. Kids al have packed lunches. So that amount is for every meal at home.

I'm £100 every 10/11 days, I was up near the £150/160 Mark 2 adults 1 preschooler 1 baby (the baby snacks were crazy money!) and a dog.

I have cut it right back by switching to aldi and cooking 2 larger cuts of meat a week then making meals with left overs. So I do a roast chicken then strip the remaining off and will do a chicken and noodle stir fry or soup the next day and a chicken risotto/curry/pasta day after. Same with doing a pulled beef/pork joint.
Vegetarian or fish from the freezer dinners remaining days. Have tinned and frozen veg for towards the end of the
I freeze bread and get a milk delivery so avoid top up shops.

We did buy a ninja foodie using vouchers we were given which is making it all so much easier as a whole chicken cooks in 35 mins!

£400 a month for two adults, one teen and two cats. I tend to do a bulk buy at Lidl once a month for cheese, crisps, coffee and a few other bits and then have a Tesco delivery every ten days or so.

About £150 for 3 adults, 2 dogs. Then top up for milk and bread in between.

Depends on where I shop, just me and adult dd £80-£90. I usually do mine online. But I've lost my bankcard and waiting for a replacement.

Yesterday I got more than half a trolley full at Aldi for £61. That included a full free range chicken salmon that will do us two meals mince and king prawns bacon eggs fruit veg organic milk bread, muffins. Mostly healthy food I really should go more often.

I haven't really noticed a difference but that's because 4 adults have reduced to three. With booze, toiletries, cleaning stuff, I reckon it averages about £160pw. DH and DD buy their own lunches. We all work long hours getting home sometimes after 8pm so dinners are sometimes quick and easy: shop bought lasagne, chicken breasts with spinach and ricotta - served up with bagged salad and crispy spuds/veg medleys that just go in the oven or microwave.

Two adults, 3 kids, £240pw including all meals for everyone, two bottles of wine a week, all cleaning stuff. Could cut down if we needed to

Family of 6 - 2 adults, 2 primary school, 2 secondary school kids plus a little dog

I put £500 per month into a separate account for food shopping, that’s all we can afford so when it’s gone it’s gone

This used to easily cover all meals, toiletries and cleaning products plus petrol for the car but it is now not going as far and we’re eating cheaper meals and having to top the petrol up out of the bill account most months now

I find these threads useful. We love our food and tend to balance between some treats and some scrimping. I vary supermarkets, keep a basket in each app and decide roughly weekly where to shop plus top ups from Lidl coz it's close. Actually find Sainsburys better value than it used to be and the quality is so much better than Asda I've given up on them. I do have a spare freezer and large pantry for storing bulk / offers / batch cooking.

I spend about £100pw on 2 adults, two toddlers and a tween plus 2 cats, with another £30 ish in milk / bread / veg top ups. Includes wfh and wine plus packed lunches. We like a variety of veg and do eat meat but eat a fair amount of slow cooker cheaper cuts. Plus Iceland for breaded chicken, lollies, chips and any other convenience food. I do make all pizzas, sauces etc from scratch but am a SAHP and have plenty of time. When it was just DD and I worked we spent about £35 a week on everything, and I don't think we could do that now.

It varies, some weeks I can spend £65 other weeks I spend £150.

We used to spend £450‐£500 a month for a family of 5 and 2 cats. Now i would say its £600-£700 a month. I try to bulk buy items when on deals though so some months may be more than other months.

Its worrying though, but we could reduce those bills if needed but not by much.

A week? Faints!!