To think that DH is being totally unrealistic about the weekly food bill!

[goingeversoslowlymad]

Am getting a bit stressed out about my DH and the grocery shop. Our weekly bill is usually between £80 to £100, we would do a top-up shop of about £20 midweek, so max £120 all in for a family of 4. We do not use nappies, this includes everything including toiletries and cleaning products.

Money is pretty tight at the moment and I can appreciate he wants to try to cut down a bit but I seriously can't seem to get it much lower than this, there are no luxuries in this either i.e wine, magazines etc. Everyone I talk to in our situation seems to spend a similar amount but DH seems to think it excessive.

I'm going to give a veg box and meat pack delivery a try. Also going to order online to avoid being seduced by the offers instore. I don't see it being much cheaper but hopefully he'll stop moaning if I prove he's being unrealistic! What does everyone else spend?

That is extravagent on a weekly basis to have steak.Also easy to see where money is going if paying 7 quid for wine etc

We do, valium. Friday night is always curry night!

bbface - do you actually need to cut down? If you don't, and you're happy about what you're buying, then that's fine. But you wanted to know why it was so expensive! Now you know.

I mean my spend is shocking, not other posters!

Although, some of the figures are incredibly low. Works out to be about £2 per person per day.

I am being noes now but how much is curry take out where you are BIW? We'd be lucky to see change form £25 - that's £100 a month on take out alone.

nosey

We usually spend around £20-28, depending on how much we buy. Our favourite delivery Indian has recently changed hands, so our bill has gone up. I suspect one of the reasons they went out of business was because they were so cheap!

We also go out to dinner every Sunday with DS2 (DS1 is away at university), which adds more to our weekly food bill. But it has been part of our lives since the boys were babies. We have cut this out occasionally, when finances have been tight, but otherwise this, and our Friday night curry have always part of our 'enjoy the weekend' time.

We can afford that but just can't get my head round spending that much regularly on take out

I think family routines are nice though - gives you a chance to catch up etc :)

It would be better to cut down. It does not cause us to be in debt, but does mean that money is directed to weekly shopping bill that could maybe be directed elsewhere. Not going on hol this year as dh says we have just bought our place so need to rein in spending. If I manage to siphon off £40 a week for the next 8 weeks, then maybe I could treat us to a few nights by the coast.

This thread has got me thinking, thanks xx

this is the menu for takeaway It is a good food but we don't often get takeaway and the last time was about 3/4 years ago. The take away lasts about two nights though as there is plenty of food, the third night there was still enough for one.

We cut about £30 a week when we stopped shopping at Waitrose and shopped at Tesco instead!

We spend about £250 a month for three of us. That includes wine, cat food, dog food/treats and all toiletries/cleaning stuff.

I do a big shop at sainsburys once a month and then top up at morrisons as and when I need to.

I can't believe posters who are feeding 4 people on 50pw are eating healthily.

I bought my fruit and veg separately from the rest of the shop last week and it came to £30 for the five of us. Ideally I would go to the market on Sat afternoon when it's closing to grab some bargains, but that's not always possible.

I

I love these threads. I started one about a year or so ago and got flamed told I could spend less.

We spend about £120 a week for four of us. Dd is only 6.5 months so her biggest expense is nappies.

We spend too much on toddler snacks for DS and are now switching to adult stuff.

We bulk buy when offers are on (especially nappies. Waitrose occasionally do 1/3 off nappies. Am thinking of switching to own brand - we have sainburys and lidl near by plus an Aldi coming soon).

Meat - stopped using chicken breasts, use turkey instead. Have a lot of mince. Probably eat too much expensive fish - well salmon - because ds likes it.

Don't have much booze. Probably have too many snacks - I'm always hungry as I dont eat a lot of foods so my meals aren't that bulky.

And I waste a lot of money on top up shops midweek!

Aldi Aldi Aldi

There seems to be something in common with all the people who manage to keep their weekly shopping sub £100 a week - they shop at cheaper supermarkets, don't eat meat every day and meal plan.

We spend approx £80 a week. Approx £50-60 at Aldi, £10 at butchers and £10-20 on top up bits for 2 adults and 2 DDs. This includes loads of wine and beer, treats (crisps, choc, fizzy drinks) and packed lunches for everyone. I sort of meal plan but make sure hardly anything food-wise is throw out. Most food is made from scratch, I can't remember the last time I bought a ready meal type thing. Pasta once a week is cheap (esp if just veg, no meat) and a whole free range chicken (£5) stretches to 3 meals.

We probably get a takeaway once a month and go out for meals out approx once a month.

Tesco's value razors are brilliant btw 21p a pack of 10 and I've never cut myself with them.

Just enjoying a stupidly big fry up for about #2 per person.

It sounds like a lot to me. What are your typical meals - perhaps if you post a few days worth of meals then we can see if we can make suggestions to cut down the costs.

Not eating healthy for under £50? Nonsense. This weeks fruit bowel included kiwi, blueberries, bananas, oranges and pineapple. Lovely off the vine tomatoes, bagged crispy salad, cucumber, peppers and corn on the cob. Not forgetting frozen veg including nice steam pots.

One word. Aldi.

You should write everything in a little book as you spend it thrn its easy to see where its going,no waste and still have treats.

Loo rolls, kitchen paper, tooth paste, razors, mouthwash, cleaning products, enough for packed lunches included in that £50?

I don't think you have to shop at Aldi. (Horrible unpleasant place.) I was going their for veg but I don't think the quality is any good. I would rather get it from the greengrocers and pay a little bit more and know it is local and good quality.

You can buy quality stuff that is reduced. I got 1.5kg Turkey breasts, 8 beef steaks and 8 sausages at Waitrose last weeks for £3.30 at closing time. It wasn't even going out of day that day, but the following day.

BBface if you shop at Ocado then your bill will be high.

I have been a loyal Waitrose and ocado customer for years but my son recently persuaded me to try tesco online.

I tell you- even everyday items like apples, eggs, veg and milk is 10-20p cheaper and sometimes a difference of say 50p on a buttnernut squash or something like that.

I only buy free range chicken or organic, but I will now buy the whol e bird, cut off the breasts for stir fry, use the legs for something else, and the carcass for stock for risotto.

Fish is v expensive, and so is good quality meat- ef lamb chops are a fortune!

My DCs have just left home but my weekly menu would be something like this:

1 chicken- makes 2 meals
salmon
other fish dish
pasta dishes x 2
home made shepherds pie/ spag bol
stir fry with prawns ( £4-5 a bag feeds 4)
jacket potatoes with fillings and veg

only fruit or yoghurt for puds, no fizzy drinks- kids always had water, tea, fresh fruit juice now and then. Very occasional pizza- but hungry teens used to eat 1 whole pizza each!

Occasional homemade pudding- rice pudding, crumble, fruit pie.

Sorry about the typos. Back to house work now. (ggggrrr)

Mix between online shops - only use them when they have a voucher eg £0 off when you spend £50. If you are loyal to any shop or company you always pay more.

I have reduced my shopping bill substantially, and I conclude that we don't eat such nice food now. Yes, Aldi is cheaper, but it's not always as nice. (Although the branflakes and fake special K are very good, and very cheep). I find Aldi good for party food, but not so good for healthy food, but then I am particular about Organic milk due to it having a much lower mucas content.

And Nutella costs more in Aldi than Salisbury's, I noticed last week.

I now go to both Aldi and Sainsbury's in the Same day, which is not a lot of fun. But Sainsburys does me well for milk, yogurt, eggs, frozen fruit and veg and tinned fruit in fruit juice, rather than syrup.

Most definitely. How much cleaning stuff do people buy? I make my own multi use spray but use anti bac stuff as well which is about 60p and lasts ages. I mentioned earlier I'll buy one big ticket item a week. Dishwasher tablets, washing powder, dog food, loo roll etc. None of these cost over £4 though.

I use very litte kitchen roll its so wasteful. I use microfiber clothes for spillages. The last time I bought kitchen roll was Christmas and its only really used for roast potatoes.

And again yes. All bathroom needs are in the weekly shop. Ditto to the Tesco razors even dh swears by them!