To wonder if people actually spend 200+ on a weekly shop

[pleasemothermay1]

Watching eat well for less and I just can't believe people actually spend 200+ a week on a food shop

One lady was giving a teen 20 a week to get chips and chicken 😟

We have 6 in our family

One baby
One toddler
One teen
Me and hubby
And a cat

I spend £65 a week including nappies and toiletries

This gose up to £90 during holidays and the teen is eating at home not collage

It's mad what are these people feeding there kids

My children have breakfast lunch and dinner I don't encourage grazing all day they can have fruit in between meals and I cook from sctrach pretty much 5 days a week junk on a Saturday then roast on a Sunday

DH is away a lot so going out late in the evening is impossible for me.

If we buy only organic, MSC-label, recycled, biodegradable, locally-produced etc etc items plus a couple of bottles of decent wine, we easily spend £200 a week for 2 adults and a toddler. And that doesn't include toiletries (which we also choose to spend extra on to get no parabens/SLS etc versions). Frankly I'd rather skimp in other areas of my life (I hardly buy clothes, for eg) so we can eat well and try to not impact the environment too badly. But we can afford it. If it's a bit close to payday and I'm not as flush, I'll 'downgrade' to free-range rather than organic meat/eggs. If really skint, we'll go without meat.

If people can afford it and choose to spend their money that way, good for them.
Our shopping bill is lower for 2 adults, and 2 children. However, we are non-drinkers so no alcohol and we don't eat a lot of meat. We usually meal plan to avoid waste. However, I think one of the factors is DH works for himself from home so has a bit more time for shopping and cooking.
DH and I are of a slight frugal mindset so despite a high income (6 figures) we probably couldn't go around the supermarket lobbing stuff in the trolley without getting a bit twitchy.

And what's wrong with tinned tomatoes?!? Italians use them! My mum used to always cook with garlic powder so I have no issue with it. I don't use it now, nor does she, but I think it was pretty standard 20-30 years ago, no?

OhTheRoses, I'm probably the opposite of that and practice a bit too much cupboard love. A middle ground is probably the most healthy.

Your Aldi must be better stocked than ours trafalgargirl. Yes it's better now than a few years back, but ours still has an unfortunate tendency to run out of staples. No frozen peas the other week, which is frankly inexcusable. I wanted breadsticks yesterday and was told they don't stock them. Not in the same vein as frozen peas, but I would've thought popular enough this time of year for salady/deli bits type meals? Added to which is stuff I think is reasonable for a medium sized shop not to stock such as barley, which they don't have either.

I don't allow my children to eat for eating sake. If they was in school they wouldn't be eating crap in between meals.

My food shop is around £70ish a week. However my DC are fussy. So what ever I can get them to eat at meal times I will buy.

Yes, I (£200+ responder) included alcohol - which is easily £25/wk and probably more like £50.

I buy a lot of own-brand items but maybe a 50:50 mix with brand names. I do buy free range chicken, organic milk, any artisan stuff that takes my fancy, lots of berries, DH likes fillet steak every week (or at least steak) and meat with almost every meal.

Aldi also don't have gluten free foods at all. They had a small trial section, down their "middle aisle" but it was a one-off and never returned.

There's loads more stuff you can't get at Aldi. I shop there on the odd occasion that I don't need any cupboard stuff at all, just meat, veg and fruit.

Yeah I (£150 ish) included alcohol ( nice gin), coffees at work and fortnightly takeaway in minr

£200 is ridiculous , my shopping budget has recently gone up as my dx are getting older. I still spend approx £90 a week and that's for dh and I and 7 dc.

Wow, I am genuinely astounded by this! I assume that the children are all still quite young or else you are used to small portions. I was watching something on TV about a family with 9 children (most of who were teens) and they were eating a tiny amount at lunch, I assume because they had to stick to a budget.

I don't calculate what we spend but it would certainly be close to £200 if not more for 2 adults and 3 children. My DH pops into Tesco every night for the bargains so most of our naice bread etc is reduced to 10p and I freeze it, which saves about £30 a week as well. The same for fresh veg, we get lots heavily reduced so really we could spend a lot more. We don't drink alcohol and that figure does not include the dc's school lunches which are another £45 per week. We do prioritize food though, we are not into clothes or expensive furniture or big holidays.

I use value tinned tomatoes and toothpaste, the rest of the stuff is mid range, with the exception of Finest croissants and pain au chocolat (where you can taste the difference).

Those feeding 6-8 people on £90 a week, how is that even possible? It can't be healthy

For example your supposed to eat 5 fruits and veg a day minimum . 8 people x 5 a day is 40 portions a day. X 7 days that's 280 portions of fruit and veg a week. I'm surely you can only just about buy that for £90 without any other ingredients.
I mean for 8 people that's 1 whole cucumber, two packets of tomatoes, large bag spinach, two packs of beetroot, while celery. Just to make a salad for lunch. Add some hallomi and garlic bread and its £10+ just for one lunch. If all 8 have a satsuma that's a whole pack gone.

We have two adults, two children. A £60 fruit and veg box a week, 70 meat and fish delivered. And the other bits ontop. Easily Could spend £200 although it varies here. We buy organic where possible, no fast food or ready meals.

And then - 2 adults and 7 children! ^^ see above

See we all have different needs, I never cook with barley so to me it isn't a "staple". Aldi don't have soda bread but we have two independent bakers and it's easy enough to make .....but if we didn't have the bakers or I didn't know how to make it, I'd feel differently (or learn how to make it)

If we have grandparents or similar over for Sunday lunch I can spend £200 just for that meal. I don't get how you don't understand it

Is this going to descend into one of those competitive how little the weekly shop costs threads, hope not.

It's up there with the legendary MN chicken that feeds a family of 6 for a month

Family of 3 adults here and it goes anywhere from £60pw up to £150 at xmas.

I try to buy organic, and I can easily imagine how a woman with husband and three or more children would spend 200 or more on a weekly shopping.

Even though I am a vegetarian and never drink alcohol, I spend about 200 euros a month on food.

And I don't even do low-carb. Which I would like to do, but nuts are expensive and about the only foodstuff that's vegetarian and rich in proteins and fat but not carb.

Just because some people spend £200 on Sunday lunch doesnt mean it's not possible to do it for less. A large piece of free range pork costs maybe £10 to £20.

Threads like this always bring out the stealth boasting about fruit and veg consumption.

It is perfectly possible to feed a family a decent good quality diet for say £100 pw so it is quite disrespectful to say they must be eating shit food and a healthy diet has to be extremely expensive.

Most people simply can't afford to go waitrose for unlimited amounts of organic everything and they shouldnt be told that they are feeding their family crap if they spend a lot less.

If we have grandparents or similar over for Sunday lunch I can spend £200 just for that meal.

Yes I forgot, we have my DP's and DSis and her family over every other week. The meat/chicken costs about £50 alone, which I don't include in my shop.

When I was with my ex, money was never an issue and I shopped at waitrose or sainsburys, averaging about £120 a week for two of us and a dog.

I am now divorced, new partner and a totally different (happy) life. I now shop in lidl and am amazed at how much less I spend for the same if not more food of equal quality. My average weekly shop including meat, fish, fruit etc now costs me under £50.

£50 for chicken!
was it Foghorn Leghorn?

Well aren't you fab op

I spend shitloads on food wine. I have a teen, a pre-teen, a 7 year old and a pre-schooler. Note they are people! Not pets. I have 2 cats, a dog, a gp and a lizard.

£50 for a chicken? does that include a chef to cook it too?

Two adults, one baby (just starting weaning) and two cats here. Weekly shop is spread between Aldi, Sainsburys and the butchers and comes to around £70 a week which includes toiletries, formula, cat food etc.

I can see how people spend a lot me though, for example if you have older children and more than one then costs are going to be higher. Also very little meat and fish eaten in this house, most meals are veggie which helps with cost. We also don't drink much, couple of bottles of cider a week perhaps.

If you eat meat everyday and buy bottles of wine and have teenagers I can see that it would be easy to go well over £100.

We are only planning the one DC and won't up our meat and alcohol so I hope to never go over £100 a week on average.

The thing about Eat Well For Less is that these families have asked for help as they can't afford to continue as they are. If you can then why not :) Also there are some things it is always better to spend more on like meat which the programme points out.

I love my slow cooker but don't cook meat in it. I find it is great for meals with spices. Make a great dahl, sweet potato and pander curry and bean chilli in it :)