Monthly food shop is this expensive?

[Foxysoxy01]

Today I spent the day helping a friend out with her monthly budgeting (they are saving for a new extension so need to have a realistic monthly budget to stick to)

One of the costs was £400 a month on the food shop. My first thought was that seemed huge and it could be cut down maybe even nearly halved. There are 3 of them my friend, her husband and their teenage boy that is a bottomless pit!

She explained it included washing powder/comfort, cleaning products and packed lunch stuff for DS and didn't think she could do it for less.

She shops at Tesco/Sainsbury's and normally has it delivered.

Having thought about it I actually think maybe she was right and food is just more expensive than it used to be and prices have just sort of crept up without me really registering.

So my AIBU is...do you think I was wrong and £400 a month is fair or is she way off?
What are your weekly/monthly costs in comparison?
And what do you do to make it cheaper?

Not that expensive IMO! I spend c. £80 pw for 2 adults and 2 DC (7 & 5) BUT I don't really cook much in the week (DC get fed at after school club 3 days a week and we always go to my parents' on a Friday where they have dinner). DH works late and usually eats in the office so
I either have toast or don't bother. Plus DH and I probably spend £20 per work day on food between us (Pret etc) and I might spend £20-30 a week on top up shops.

Now I'm wondering what the hell I'm buying mostly wine

Home delivery can be just £1 so that is not the expensive part. You can still get basics and deals...
Add up literally everything you spend for a month...it may surprise you how it adds up..

We spend about £300 a month for 2 adults, 1 bottomless pit 4 year old, 2 cats and a dog.

Although it is starting to creep up

Aldi or Lidl are cheaper, but if it's 15 min away, that's a 30 min drive, plus an hour in the shop and an hour unpacking at home (I guess she still has to do the unpacking). I'm time poor as well and end up not doing the online shop as it's too expensive, then not fancying the trudge around Aldi and shopping in odd places to keep going!

Iceland is ok as well, if you want to top up on the better end of freezer food, I get the wild salmon/tuna packs, peas/beans/sliced onions, chips or potatoes, you don't have to have a prawn ring if you don't want one!

Gamer, £130 per month is already £30 per week before you buy perishables. How much do those come to?

Oh yeah, forgot to mention the cat!

Last month our shopping was £240 (I keep a spreadsheet of finances), which includes fridge foods, freezer foods, toiletries and cleaning supplies, along with cat food and litter for two cats.
We possibly spend another £40 throughout the month on top ups.

We definitely spend less than £300 per month for two cats, two adults and one school aged DC. I also bought far too many nappies and wipes in preparation for DC2 arriving.

I tend to stick to Aldi/Lidl and then top up in Tesco as needed. I am literally in and out of Aldi/Lidl in 20 minutes, as I buy what is needed and avoid the middle goody-filled aisle.

It isn't horrendous but could be reduced - meal plans and shopping lists really work.
When our kids were bottomless teens I planned each week's meals, made the list, got it delivered. I've always done that to some extent but with teens doing it properly was totally worth the time investment as it made a staggering difference to the shopping bill - even with 'emergency munching' food for said teens included. As they moved out I struggled to adjust and kept overbuying - still do sometimes when they are visiting.

If this isn't something she is used to doing there are lots of sites these days which have sets of weekly meal plans to get you started.

I put this on another thread this week, i spend around £1,000 a month for 5 of us, no pets. DC are 12, 11 and 5, this includes lunches and most alcohol. It doesn't include meals out.
I am always shocked when people spend any less than £100 a week for everything - how? Just how?!

No I spent 30 odd quid this week. Next week it might be 40, I don't have a strict budget.

Once a month I'll spend over 100 quid which includes perishables and also bathroom, kitchen, meat, freezer etc. I have a fridge freezer and a chest freezer as well as my cupboard. There is a meat market which does good deals as well as the butcher where I live.

If you plan and commit,don't do all shopping in one place you can make decent savings.

Is anything wasted?
Is there too much paying for ads? (Bog roll is all the same, many own brands are the same as branded stuff, you really dont need a dozen different cleaning bottles)

Aldi stuff is often better and always much cheaper , but they don't deliver, don't have stupid amounts of choice and don't have loyalty schemes and all those cost.

Oh and we also have a farm which sells a tray of 20 eggs for a fiver.

I think it also depends on what kind of food you buy. We spend £400 at most a month, but we have dog and cat food to buy too. We don't buy any processed food, sauces, jars or ready meals as we cook everything from scratch and we buy a lot of fresh food, yoghurt, fruit and veg x

So you are not averaging £30 per week, then, gamer. If you add up everything you spend through the month, then divide it by 4 and a bit, the resulting average spend isn't £30.

Best thing I ever did regarding shopping was to pay the delivery saver for the year (£40) up front from Sainsburys. As long as I spend £40 my delivery is free. I usually spend between £40 - £60 a week. 4 adults plus 3 packed lunches 5 x a week. Occasional alcohol. My cupboards are so well stocked at the moment, I struggle to spend the £40 so I stock pile the non perishables - I have enough toilet roll/washing liquid/softener to last a fair few months.

What I love about on line shopping is that you can keep an eye on what you are buying, I am forever swapping stuff - touch wood I very rarely run out of stuff.
Mind, every few weeks I pop into my local Sainsburys after 6pm to load up my bread drawer in the freezer with bagels, rolls, loaves - so happy to get the yellow stickers (reduced prices)!!

2 teens, 2 adults and ours is about £90-£95pw including cleaning stuff etc. This includes lunch for myself and DH but kids have schools dinners which is extra.

Hmm... two adults in our house spend that a week. It's hard to get out of the habit of picking up what you want.

Just on food, tongue tonight's meal for two adults was £7 and its just a basic meal.

I find what I spend on delivery I save on the shop because I see how much it costs before checking out. I often delete items to stay in budget where as I'd never do that in-store.

I never said I was averaging 30 a week in the first place

Food is really expensive (and is likely to get a lot more so after Brexit because of the amount we import from EU countries). I don't think 400 quid is bad. We spend 600-700 a month for 2.5 adults (the .5 is a nanny who has lunches here when she works) and a toddler. That includes toiletries, cleaning products and alcohol and us done at Waitrose.

20 eggs for £5 isn't great value.

You can get 12 medium free range ones for £1.75 in Tesco.

Aldi stuff is often better and always much cheaper

I find the stuff from Aldi that is decent quality isn't really cheaper. In general the stuff I've bought which is noticeably cheaper has been low quality and ends up wasted as nobody wants to eat it or in the case of fruit and veg it is manky.

Tomorrowwillbeachicken - sorry mine is per month - meant to put that - I wish I could afford that per week

Few times I have been in Aldi, struggled to buy for the week. Cheaper cuts tasteless. So still end up in original place.