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

[ChillySundays]

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?

I reckon the kids were bribed with a McDonalds if they ate a few bits of veg and smiled

Didn't know mn had such an issue with micro rice!

I don't think Mn does have a problem with it. This family thought they needed to show them how to save money. The fact that it never entered their heads that using 5 pouches of rice for 4 people was an expensive way of doing it it's what they are talking about. £7.50 on rice for one meal.

That's what I don't get. When you need to tighten your belt, you sit down and go through where you can save money. Compare prices in the supermarket etc. we buy microwave rice, for days that we are in a rush, we don't use it all the time or use mountains of it. Because it's an expensive way of doing it.

We have had periods of unemployment and we stopped spending as much. This is why I feel these programmes are heavily staged.

Gawd! Whenever I watch this programme at the start the family are always spending. hUGE
amount on food..... Do people actually do this?? And at the end of the show they've reduced the spend but it still seems massive to me!

I'd say we spend about £40 - 50 in a main shop in also or lidl then about £20 a week on top ups. That's for me my DH and my 2DSDs that we have 50% of the time. That includes a roast on Sunday's too! We do sometimes buy sandwiches at work tho and have a take away once a week.

Aldi and Lidl have transformed my life....well..my food shop. i just love that you can throw thongs in the trolley without even looking at the price because nothing is that expensive. I buy fresh salmon,smoked salmon, packets of nuts, continental cheeses, wine, olives , loads of fresh fruit and veg, free range chicken( for about £3.99!!!!) and total shop comes to never more than £90 including EVERYTHING for my family of 4 for a week , eating all meals at home from scratch and packed lunches. I love Laldi!!!

I meant things obvs. I haven't actually thrown thongs in my trolley but I probably would if they were cheap enough

You see, I don't get the Aldi and lidl love at all.
Maybe I'm unlucky and my closest ones aren't very good, but the fresh fruit and veg is anything but ime.
The meat looks disgusting....grey ham. Ugh.
The cleaning stuff is good, but I can buy cheaper at a local discount store.
The chocolate is nice, as is the festive stuff but I couldn't so a whole shop there. No way.
Then again, I'm not brand or store loyal so I go where the deals are/most convenient.

It's just cheap telly. Most of it is made up.

There is something seriously wrong with your local then badders because the ham is really good, no grey slices here!!

We don't have Aldi so I can't comment on that but the ham and bacon etc in Lidl here are really good quality, far better than Tesco or Asda. But then again they aren't actually any cheaper than Tesco...

Our local lidl is really crap. Aldi I can do a weeks shop in, however.

What I like about Aldi and Lidl is the speed that you can do a shop. Because there are fewer ranges you can be in and out in 30 minutes. takes forever to get round a large Tesco, with a whole aisle dedicated to biscuits!! I get confused it doesn't take much!

I spend more in Lidl than Sainsburys and end up with tonnes of nice food but nothing to cook a meal with

But the Aldi people jam slows things down...

That programme has to be made up. Nobody can be that stupid about budgeting/cooking.

My Lidl bacon leaks the yukky white stuff

I'd say the opposite tobysmum, I like how quickly Aldi get the shopping through the till and that you sort it all out on the bench by the window, our tesco takes forever.

I completely forgot that the husband was a fireman,DH reminded me.One of our nephews is a fireman and when he's on shift they eat all they're meals at work.So surely that should take the cost of they're food shop down each week.

Carrot if you spend more in Lidl than Sainsburys you must be doing something wrong like buying more food in Lidl

Beehoven so do some other supermarket bacon ranges. It's salt i think. I buy Aldi's drycure bacon and it has won awards. Maybe you need try a different type in Lidl.

Yeah it's the queue getting to the food in the first place as whenever I've been its been rammed.

I don't spend less if I go to Aldi but I stock up on some stuff that will save a few quid overall. The chicken breasts are amazing value and quality.

Nah. I just get distracted by nice biscuits and random stuff. I'm much more disciplined in Sainsburys

Solved your own problem then carrot, pretend you're in Sainsburys when you're in Lidl and live like a film star with what you save, well, treat yourself to a few bags for life.

If I went more often I'd get desensitised to the cherry juice and stollen I'm sure. I mostly shop online - did the shopping for the next 7-10 days this morning for £75 including stocking up on tinned tomatoes, cleaning spray and toilet roll. We'll shop for some more meat and fish mid week.

I must be a disaterous sum for many families

Lidl and Aldi bacon is the best! I always buy the premium stuff though so can't comment on the cheaper kind though. In fact I pretty much turn my nose up at anything else now.