Realistically can I feed 5 for £150pw?

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Switching to Lidl/Aldi tomorrow (they are on same retail park) and would like to spend a maximum of £150 per week is this possible? Currently spending nearly double that at a major supermarket I no longer want to dip into savings each month to feed us. No alcohol but will need to include toiletries and cleaning supplies, any items I should give a miss and anything worth buying? We are a non fussy household but no fish/shellfish due to an allergy, I am happy to go into to both shops as they share a car park.

Yes, but you're presumably not serving eight pork chops to five adults, are you? If you are, stop!

Shopping at Aldi/Lidl won't knock a huge amount off your food bill, some yes but nowhere near what you want. Tbh, if they are having healthy snacks on top of all that fruit, I honestly don't know how they fit in 2 more meals! You need to simply purchase less. I second other posters who have commented about the amount of sugar in that amount of fruit. I also need to go to Aldi twice weekly as their fruit doesn't always last a week so that's worth thinking about too as a second shop always ends up with extras.

I can feed a family of 4 for that from Waitrose

Easily, yes.

I suggest you make at least 3 meals vegetarian.
Vegetable curry with chickpeas, pasta bakes, pasta with roast veggies, frittata, jacket spuds with cheese and baked beans, dhal with rice, etc.

Sardine or tuna fishcakes?

Meat is expensive and red meat isn't that healthy.

A chicken can last for 3 meals- roast, cold (made into a pilaf with rice and some veg) and make stock to make a risotto or the base for a soup.

Frozen veg is healthy.

Yes, it's a bit harder than buying pre-made stuff but it's do-able.
Don't buy branded laundry stuff ( we pay around £3 for non branded liquid), you don't need a million cleaning products- a bottle of own brand washing up liquid does worktops, dishes etc. Kitchen cleaner spray etc is a waste of money.

Chat GPT is great for creating a family meal plan for you on a budget. It gave me lots of ideas when I did it. It gets a bad rap on here but depending on how you use it it can be really handy for stuff like this.

Apart from the sausages that's a lot of meat per meal. Which is expensive, especially at Waitrose prices.

You could probably reduce the chicken by about a third, add beans or chick peas if it doesn't seem enough, and the pork joint should do at least two full meals.

This is starting to feel like another of those threads that's a stealth boast about your DCs fruit and veg consumption rather than needing help in reducing grocery budgets.

Hmm maybe I just need to except that this is how much it now costs to feed us and is cheaper during term time, we can afford it just means it lowers the amount we save each month. Dh takes home 4.5K a month so not exactly on the poverty line and there is still money left to save.

I few people have mentioned fruit and veg not lasting from Lidl/Aldi that does worry me slightly.

1. Lemon grass and ginger chicken mini fillets (£12) baby corn, green beans, broccoli and new potatoes.
2. Nandos rub/marinade on chicken thighs fillets 1kg (£11), home made vegetable spicy rice, corn on the cob
3. No1 pork sausages (12 pack £6) brioche buns, homemade coleslaw, potato salad and traditional salad.
4. Pork joint (£14) slowly cooked to make pulled pork, sweet potato wedges, corn on the cob and coleslaw.

You can get a WHOLE No 1 chicken at Waitrose for less than £12 and will last longer than the fillets. You' d get 2 meals out of it at least if you use the breasts, legs and then the bits on the carcass. If you buy their Higher Welfare chicken you can get one the size of an ostrich for £5.

Pork joint- that's expensive. Buy cheaper cuts of meat like mince.

Sorry, but the amount of fruit you buy is ridiculous and expensive. Avocados are a £1 each.

I'd limit it to an apple, banana, one piece of citrus a day and maybe some grapes or strawberries once a week (for the family.)

This is an interesting re-framing.

Your current, affordable food budget reducing the amount you can afford to save is not the same as needing to dip into savings every month because you cannot afford to live on your income.

Do you really want advice or is this a kind of stealth boast?

Over £300 for one week is crazy.

Your kids don't need that amount or variety of fruit. It's a nice treat but they don't need to graze on it all day long.

Apart from the apples all that fruit is imported. It’s not just the cost up front it’s the airmiles. Especially at this time of year when locally grown plums, apples , soft fruits etc are available at and their best. Support British farmers who are struggling enough as it is. Obviously some imported fruit is inevitable, but as others have said, you could have carrot sticks, tomatoes and cucumbers available for snacking, healthier and UK grown.

So not dipping into savings and needing advice at all then? Just wanted to tell everyone how much fruit you can afford and what your DH earns? Right.

But you can’t have been expecting any answers that didn’t involve some element of “buy different stuff”.

ETA - I thought you said you were dipping into savings to pay for it though? Or did you just mean dipping into the amount that would be saved, which is quite different because it still means savings are going up.

Hmm maybe I just need to except

I think you mean 'accept'.

Olives humus cherry tomatoes cottage cheese- these are not snack foods to fill in the gaps between meals when money is tight

bread and butter and jam if they are lucky makes filing snack. Or toast for variation

I think you need to be a bit more adventurous with your vegetable choices, unless a member of your family is a happy, and very large green person!

With Respect I think you need to make some changes TBH. You are eating an awful lot of fruit .maybe substitute bananas or apples/pears.Plums are reasonable too.Also oats /extra veggies/pulses to pad out a Shepherds pie maybe .Sausages can be used in a variety of ways, and are still quite economical. I do a chop toad as well.Some pasta meals and maybe cheese onion and potato pie .We dont buy any alcohol at all .Some plain biscuits .crisps sometimes.Washing powder and household products are expensive too.I typically spend 150/200 pw for 4 sometimes 5 of us .We dont eat out except for Birthdays /special occasions and will often take a flask and sandwiches .

If, as a family, you eat no fish (which is really good for brain health of teens) then you should be eating less fatty meat and more pulses and vegetables.

There’s a ridiculous amount of very expensive snacking going on in your house. If they’re not overweight, and are averagely active, your meal sizes must be tiny. I think your entire diet as a family needs an overhaul. Why can’t you all have three meals a day and maybe one small snack of half a carrot and a bit of hummus?

I spend £85-£110 pw in Lidl for 3-4 adults. I switched to Lidl from Aldi because they have a loyalty card. I regularly get free bakery items plus very £250 I spend, I get 10% off next shop so a £100 shop becomes £90. Fabulous!

Yes but just watch you are buying own brand stuff. It is mostly own brand but in lidl especially they have the odd branded version like tomato sauce and it's probably easier to pick you the wrong one if you are not used to the packaging.

The quality is good and shopping nice and quick.

@Bjorkdidit no not a stealth boast at all, some of the things mentioned such as cereal one of my children can’t eat so we don’t have them in the house as not worth the risk for me, I have said I don’t buy these items. That also goes for most biscuits, crisps etc as they are anaphylaxis to E numbers and several preservatives used in these products, it’s a nightmare a does limit the cheap snack options hence the “excessive fruit/veg” intake, I could bake more often granted but the fruit etc is easier to have cut up ready to go in the fridge.

Barring SEN or allergies that must be easy. Eat mostly veggie.

I'd go to sainsburys though. They have better fruit and veg and you don't have to buy big bags of them.

My advice is your trawl the supermarket websites for recipes - Tesco is good- or even Waitrose- for budget meals, family meals, veggie meals, pasta meals etc.

My Lidl is a new one so it’s really pleasant I like their sourdough. The staff are so quick. Food quality is great too. Do check dates and buy the longest- same at any supermarket.