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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that £17,000 a year on food is obscene

377 replies

ChillySundays · 02/10/2015 20:22

Watching 'Eat well for less' on i player. The family are spending £17,000 a year on food. I'd quite like to earn that. The bloke is saying about saving them £100 a week - my food bill is that a week (4 adults) never mind saving it.

What is really getting my goat is the mother laughing about how little fruit and veg the family eat. Surely most people would be embarrassed whatever the reason was.

Am I being incredibly judgey?

OP posts:
lljkk · 02/10/2015 20:24

£325/week?!!

DarkNavyBlue · 02/10/2015 20:25

Yes you are.

It's a lot of money but only a problem if they can't afford it.

usual · 02/10/2015 20:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BrideOfWankenstein · 02/10/2015 20:26

For us £100/week is actually too much. We can't eat so much.

winkywinkola · 02/10/2015 20:28

I was staggered by how much that woman spent in a week. I used to spend £200-£250 at Waitrose and Tesco's before I discovered Aldi and Lidl. Now it's £90-£110 per week for six of us, two dogs and four cats.

What that programme showed me was how the big four supermarkets have been totally fleecing the public for years with massive profit margins.

Schmoochypoos · 02/10/2015 20:29

What a waste of money!!
I watched it last night in disbelief. Honestly £325 a week. We couldn't get through all that food if we tried!

WhyDontYouProveIt · 02/10/2015 20:29

Were they the family who bought lots of food even though they already had loads of the same stuff already in the cupboard? The ones who were effectively hoarding food? If so, I think they actually had some sort of psychological problem - no one really needs 7 blocks of cheese but this family were convinced they did.

BBQsAreSooooOverrated · 02/10/2015 20:31

That's a crazy amount. More than in earn a year.

Original poster
ChillySundays · 02/10/2015 20:31

DarkNavyBlue I do know I am being judgey.

Trouble is sometimes it is affording it. Last week's programme was the same amount and it wasn't affordable as the wife had to give up her job to look after elderly relatives and so the family income had gone down by a third.

OP posts:
ModreB · 02/10/2015 20:32

As a family of 3DC who are adult, that is unreal. We spend about $90 including lunches for all DC's.

MNerAnon · 02/10/2015 20:32

Wasn't that the point where she cried?

She kept saying how awful that was. She was mortified.

Original poster
ChillySundays · 02/10/2015 20:33

llijkk That's not a typo. Yes £325 a week!!

OP posts:
lljkk · 02/10/2015 20:35

Lotta food gets thrown out because it went off? How do they have enough fridge space?!

Inlovewithflo · 02/10/2015 20:35

Fucking hell!! I think we spend around £75 give or take £10. That's for 3 adults and 1 child (2 children at weekends)!! How do they manage that?

i try and support our local butcher as much as I can, I know the produce is local and he usually has some good deals on so I do a big stock up and put everything in the freezer when he has these deals. I buy my veg from there as well and find that it's no more expensive and tends to be better quality. I won't buy milk from Aldi or lidl as I think the way they are fleecing dairy farmers is disgusting.

Original poster
ChillySundays · 02/10/2015 20:35

Winky The same woman who had about 6 different jars of jam in the fridge and then an extra one in the cupboard!

OP posts:
ouryve · 02/10/2015 20:35

Blardy hell. We make no real attempt to be frugal, apart from making the most of dine in offers etc and we have a few special dietary requirements to cater for plus the fact that I need to factor in some convenience food for various reasons, or else there would be evenings where we wouldn't eat. I don't think we could spend that much on food for the 4 of us, if we tried, though. We generally spend £150-200 pw on food and drinks.

Janeymoo50 · 02/10/2015 20:36

Ah but it wouldn't make such good TV if they spent what I do (less than £300 a month, sometimes much less and compared to some on MN that seems a lot and we have no DC either (living at home).

PHANTOMnamechanger · 02/10/2015 20:36

I have to confess to being a recent convert addict
I find the whole programme intriguing. How can they not know how much they spend? Not even roughly. When they do their initial shop and then act all shocked and disgusted at how much it was, how can they NOT know? I can tot up a weeks shopping as I go round and know what it will be within £5.
I also don't get the totally blind brand loyalty thing - yes there are some things I won't ever swap, but other things hell yes, I buy every multibuy and special offer going eg whihc ever tuna is on offer , whichever chopped canned tomatoes - I thought everyone did this! We spend about £200 a week for 5 of us including all toiletries. A main home delivery might be £110ish, and 2 smaller top ups.

Schmoochypoos · 02/10/2015 20:36

She cried when she was told how much money they were spending. I felt quite sorry for her. But to not realise is a bit Confused

I didn't understand when they spent £153 in morrisons at the beginning of the program how the only fruit and veg in the whole shop was two bags of pre prepared carrots and broccoli

SheGotAllDaMoves · 02/10/2015 20:37

Did the 17k include wine?

Original poster
ChillySundays · 02/10/2015 20:38

Sorry Winky my post about the jam was for whydont you.

My post to you Winky was to agree with your comment about Lidl. Last week I spent £86 - that was for 5 lots of meat and a load of extra as it was greek week.

OP posts:
lifesalongsong · 02/10/2015 20:39

I saw the programme and tbh I don't believe they spent that amount every week for the past 53 weeks, it just wouldn't be possible surely. They may have done in the few weeks before filming and they've just multiplied it up for a year. Like including the chai seeds every week etc.

i still couldn't see how they didn't save even more

rolite · 02/10/2015 20:40

It's their money and if they want to spend it then it's up to them.

KitKat1985 · 02/10/2015 20:41

I saw that episode too. It was mad. The woman's food spending was obscene.

MummaGiles · 02/10/2015 20:42

whydontyou no the family this week was spending even more than the 7 blocks of cheese family by about £100/week. It was actually shocking how little awareness they had of how much they were spending.