£1,000 at the supermarket every month!

[Sainsburysaddict]

So - have just gone through our finances and we’re spending £1,000 at the supermarket every month.

DH says this is average for a family of 4 and is rather alarmed that I’d like to budget. Spending less can’t be done apparently, without a life of boring meals.

We desperately need to save money.

Thoughts? Tips? How much do you spend?

I’m assuming you’ve heard of the usual tips like meal planning and swapping out more expensive ingredients for cheaper
keeping meals simpler and plainer like porridge for breakfasts, lunch’s are sandwiches and soup and dinners are stews

We spend about £150 a week.

We don't drink, two veggies. Two adults, two older teens.

It sounds a lot even for 4 adults but depends what you’re buying…..if you only eat organic meat from Waitrose then the bills are going to add up! Also, if that’s all your meals then it’s not as bad as them buying lunches and takeaways on top of that. We were talking about food bills at work and someone said how little they spent but her and her husband buy lunch every day and the kids buy lunch at school so that’s 20 meals a week not accounted for in her supermarket bill!

How much of that is alcohol?

How old are the kids?

£1000 is definitely purely not average lol

That is a huge amount. We’re a family of 4, don’t need to budget and eat well and we spend around £500. I imagine if you have teenagers you’d spend more but then you sent be buying formula and nappies. Where are you shopping and what do you usually eat in a week?

For two we are spending over £100 a week. I used to be able to do it for £45 back in 00’s. I miss that economy.

We spend anywhere between £60 and £120 a week for a family of 4, depending on where we shop and what deals are on (and what we need, because I stock up on things when they're on offer then I don't have to buy them another week). Our meals are far from boring. We often have venison, for example.

I find shopping on Ocado is the easiest way to budget while still having nice food, so I can see a list of what's in the basket and what it costs, and when I search for something, it's easy to see what other options they have for the same thing.

That's a lot.

I probably spend £150 at most - there are two adults a 10 year old and two dogs and we don't skimp and have nice food. I don't think I could spend £250 if I tried

I spend £320 a month in supermarkets for a family of 4

What have you all eaten in the past week? Then you'll see where the money is going.

For 2 we spend about 200pm all in (no drink but toiletries etc), my parents and my piglet of a 31yo bro/nans bill comes to about 700pm

We spend about £130 a week for 3 adults and a teenage boy. £1,000 is monstrous!

We’re a family of 4, 2 adults 2 preschoolers, and spend about £800-900 a month on groceries, but that includes everything - nappies, some alcohol, cleaning stuff, higher welfare meat, nicer cheese, all the top up shops not just the big shop (i think people often don’t think to count those) I don’t try to spend loads but I don’t try to spend particularly little. I cook from a lot from scratch so not much premade stuff.

That's alot theirs 4 of us and we don't spend anything near that usually around £100 week and thats not even budgeting and also getting a lot of branded stuff within that. We do eat quite basic though a lot of cereal,potato, pasta, salads, veg and Freezer foods.

Similar to us with two cats in addition.

I budget £120 pw for all food and cleaning products etc and this covers the occasional cafe visit or meal out 2 adults now retired

We spent about the same. We put 350 each into a joint account for food at the beginning of the month and both of spend extra on food. I know we’re being ridiculous though.

I reckon we're not far off that. Family of four as well.

Currently have a budget of £250-£300 a month for a family of 3 ( 2 teens)

I couldn't spent that in a week if I tried.

About that, I'm afraid, but for 4 adults and we have no need to cut back.

The natural place to start is to check whether you're making the most of special offers eg buying ketchup or coffee full price as you need it rather than stocking up when on offer. Are you buying branded when there is an unbranded equivalent that is quite acceptable? If that monthly total includes toiletries, tissues and cleaning products then you can save a fair bit by sourcing them from somewhere like Home Bargains or Savers. Are you using pods for your laundry when gel or powder are much cheaper?

Family of 4, we spend around £120 to £150 a month. Not much alcohol, no pets.

£250 a week seems a lot. Is it alcohol, ready meals?

Which supermarket? I could spend that on 4 people at Sainsbury’s with lots of brand names and out of season stuff.
I shop at Lidl and carefully but don’t stint. About £800 for 4 adults.

Over the top even with 4 adults my bill was under £150 a week.

Aldi, Lidl and Home Bargains are your friends for many products

We spend the same for 2 people, plus we get takeaways so that's probably an extra £200 a month.

£200 a month of it is just on steak and fizzy drinks. Organic chicken and turkey is a lot of it too.

Mostly buy from M&S, Waitrose, Ocado.