to think this is an ok amount to spend on the weekly food shop?

[minimaw]

Family of 3, ds aged 12, me and DH - £100 - £110 p/w
DH has been chatting to women in his work who only spend about £50 p/w for the same size of family and now he's starting to talk about Farmfoods and mass buying frozen chicken fillets (!) to save cash.
DH doesn't cook and doesn't understand the cost of food. I do buy good quality food and lots of good cuts of meat but he's jumped on some economy drive bandwagon for some reason and it's driving me nuts. Anyone else have a hubby who just doesn't understand the importance of the food budget?

Im still boggling at one butternut squash doing 3 meals. One would be side veg for us (basically 4 adults) as part of meal.
We dont eat meat and dd's special diet is about £30 just for her. Then maybe another 70 quid for the other 4 of us (DH, me, two grown teenagers) plus cat, bog roll etc.

I shop at Aldi,now,even though DH works for Tesco (and we get a 10% discount). I spend about £70 instead of £150. I do a small top-up shop in Tesco for things we can't get in Aldi.

Maybe it's a REALLY big chicken....

When you get these comparisons you really need to make sure that people are comparing like with like. A family of 2 adults and 1 small child is very different in terms of food/housekeeping when compared to a family of 2 adults and 3 teenagers. It isnt just food, more and bigger people means more cleaning, more laundry (clothes are bigger!).

We spend around £200/week on everything:

• all food and drink (we all have packed lunches)
• all pet food
• all cleaning/laundry products

I know this because I am sad and keep a spreadsheet!

It would be worth taking your DH through the list and finding out if he can see any waste. IME a lot of people view food spend with a kind of competitive frugality. You could try to involve your DH in the meal planning more so that he can have input.

I don't do this. But tbh this would be a normal amount of meat in many other countries to use as the bulk of the dish would be vegetables and/or pulses.

Also what people can spend on extras like cleaning products and loo rolls can vary enormously. We buy ALDI stuff. My parents buy expensive loo roll and all the branded cleaning products, furniture wipes, etc.

I seem to spend more on my food budget than lots of people I know. However my food budget also includes the odd coffee out, taking the DC to McDonalds, takeaways, eating out .... all of which we do very rarely.

Whilst others I know spend much less on their weekly food shop but also regularly have takeaways, eat out etc.

That seems like a lot to me, however iirc adult men eat an awful lot. I more than halved my food costs by getting divorced even though I buy a fair amount of processed food (jar sauces etc as being single parent of toddler and 10yo and doing PhD means sometimes you only get 15 minutes to cook in the evening), because there is no one eating half a loaf of bread at one meal. If your son is eating as much as an adult then that's a huge amount of food so I can see why it would be expensive. Also I generally make veggie food and only meat on the odd occasion (though er we have fish fingers and tuna pasta fairly regularly), which cuts costs a lot. I would eat more meat if I could afford it as I tend to get anaemic but other than that it's supposed to be pretty healthy to cut down on meat (certainly healthier than buying cheap chicken which is all fat and water- lentils or frozen soya mince are cheaper and less fatty).

I think you're buying very expensive food, but good quality.

If you want to keep the quality, then why not do some vegetarian meals?

You could also do a 'blind taste test' for your dh - his regular coffee v. instant, a chicken dish you made, v. using cheap ingredients etc.

I think a lot of people bemoan the use of factory farming (which is appalling) without realising that before it, many of us had meat once a week as a 'treat' not a regular part of our diets, as it was just too expensive, even for quite 'middle class' people.

Your ideas on how things are divided in your house seem quite absolute. There's no harm in asking the cost of things (so long as it's asking, not criticising) so that you know what is going on.

I love these threads, the competitive 'we only eat what the cat can catch and we glean from hedgerows' posts always make me smile!

I spend $150-$200 a week. Thats for 7 of us though. Me,Dh,3 VERY large teenage boys,a teenage girl and a 7 year old. We eat like kings though. I only buy whatever meat is on special and freeze it. I make soup out of whatever leftovers I have in the house and take it for lunch every day.Everyone else takes packed lunches. I make all my own bread and rolls because I hate cheap bread. I also make all my own sausages,chorizo etc because I know whats in them then and its not crap.I also cure my own bacon for the same reason,that an the fact american bacon is all fat and tastes crap.I can buy a leg of pork for $10-$12 and get 10 pounds of really good quality sausages which I then freeze. The bacon is also cheap (and very very easy) to make,cheaper and better quality than store bought.Dh will smoke fish and poultry for me if we can get in on special, that is frozen also ( kedgeree anyone?). Basically I buy what ever is on special and turn it into something else,(cheap brisket-
cornedbeef/saltbeef-pastrami )
My $150-$200 includes all personal care stuff,cleaning supplies,petfood,beer and wine.

God I sound like a pompous git :o

If this bulk chicken your DH is buying is decent chicken and fits in the freezer then it's a good idea. If it's water-pumped shite then he's wasting his money. Buying too much bulk stuff for just 3 people may be a false economy, and you might get seriously bored of defrosted chicken breast!

A better approach might be to 'stretch' your fave meals by having smaller meat portions, e.g. making a whole roast chicken last several meals, and adding extra portions of healthy 'fillers' like veg/potatoes/rice/beans.

My DP used to do the weekly shop but since we moved very close to a supermarket I've taken over shopping duties, it's much easier to plan meals when it's me doing the shopping. Try suggesting to your DP that if he wants to do the shopping then he ought to do the cooking too!

The blind tast test idea makes me cross.

Ooh your highness, would you deign to choose between dish a and b? Which one is more to your liking? Dish b? I have taken notice, rest assured. and now your highness for coffee...

Pandering much?

DF always used to say never try to save money on food or professional advice. So I don't.

I could barely feed my dog and cat on £50 per week!
But seriously, I cook rather than buying ready meals, I use fresh ingredients, organic when possible. We are vegetarian so I don't spend loads on meat but I do buy good fresh food. In winter it comes to about £90 per week, However, my food bill does go down in summer because I grow lots of veg.

I am amazed that some of you can spend so little - what abotu breakfast cereals, bread products at breakafast, fresh fruit, yoghurts? packed lunch items x 10 per week, household stuff such as dishwasher tabs, washing tabs, loo rolls, etc etc?? Quite apart from the basics of dinner every night.

I'd say to the OP though, go shopping with your dh or get him to do the weekly shop and menu planning, and see how much things are! It's a bit off of him to tell you to spend less without knowing what things cost.

I'm amazed that one chicken can for some of you provide a roast dinner and another meal in the week! I have to buy 2 chickens to feed the bottomless pits in this house! (that's 2 DS, DH, dog and me!)

I try to spend less but i'm doing something wrong.

Even do it online now so it should be easier to budget!

I must put on my economy drive pants next week.

About £100 - £120 per week for family of four. I blame the Cat. Fussy bugger.

we spend £10 a week on bread alone. Teenagers who think 5 slices and a whole tin of beans plus 2 eggs is a 'snack'. And will they eat cheap supermarket bread? Will they fuck.

2 chickens for one meal cricketballs . You only need 100g of meat per meal. How much do your 3 men actually eat!

We are a family of 2 adults and 1 6 year old £50 pw including 3 meals a day for all of us - however we do have an average of 1 take away or meal out per week on top at around £20. £38 per 3 months for the cats.

KalSkirata Maybe they wouldn't eat so much if you bought cheap supermarket bread

could be a plan. I notice the stuff doesnt rot either. So it will last for all eternity

piedwagtail - Buy what you want. But you can make all the things you mention cheap to buy.

Breakfast cereals - porridge which I have or weetabix or shredddies for teenagers. I refuse to buy expensive cereals that are usually full of crap.

dishwasher tablets and loo rolls - from ALDI so very cheap. I am when I see the price of these elsewhere.

fresh fruit - from market - very cheap and in season with much of it locally grown. Is usually better quality than supermarkets ime.

bread - bake our own usually