to bring up food budgets again?

[meladeso]

I know this has been done to death

I just would like
straw poll on what is a reasonable, sensible, healthy (fresh fruit aplenty) but not OTT extravagant weekly grocery spend please

I've never properly budgeted before, but expect I could have been more careful and doubtless saved money

We're 2 adults, 2 DC of 4 and just under 1

Is £60 about right? £80? Or less? Wdyt?

so interesting reading everyone's replies - thanks all!

ems137 - that's pretty much what's going on here. we enjoy it, we're lucky not to have to watch our pennies too much, and we like food!

but i only started a bit of meal planning in January, and now i suspect we've been overspending unnecessarily. i don't want to "cut" things as such, as just be more efficient at planning and take control of it.

I think it will feel quite satisfying!

April Where do you shop? Do you buy premium brand products? Don't assume that more expensive is always better, be open minded and try own brands. Try watchin Eat Well for Less on iplayer - you might pick up some tips.
I use Lidl 5% fat minced steak for my bolognaise sauce along with basic ingredients, it works out at about 75p per serving. No need to spend more than is needed on the onions / tomatoes etc.
Chicken breast and avocado sounds like an expensive lunch? Sitting down and costing out your regular meals might help you realise where the money is going, you can then make informed choices and include more lower cost meals.
Home made soups are a mainstay for us - can't beet a big bowl of home-made soup with crusty bread. Cheap to make, tasty and filling.

Previously when we had 3 adults and 1 child in the house, our weekly grocery tally usually came up to about £150. This covers 3-4 weekday dinners + snacks + 3 weekend meals.

I don't get how people are managing on £50 a week. I spend that if I only buy milk, fruit and veg and bread for the week.

Yeah to be honest we probably need to rethink the kind of food we buy if we want to save money! We'll do something like say oh let's not go out to lunch today we'll just have something at home and then we'll buy ciabattas, feta cheese, olives, kettle chips etc and then it's not saving much money at all! 😳 Need to do more soup/toastie kind of things I guess!

I've watched Eat well for less and i always say I'll change my ways and don't! My 8yo follows me round the supermarket saying 'Mum!what would Greg (Wallace) say to you! ' 😂

2 adults and 2 Dc. Prob about £60 on a Tesco delivery then another £20-30 on top ups or M&S 'bits' then £20 for a weekend takeaway and bottle of wine. DH buys lunch at work 3 days a week and I spend probably £10-15 a week on coffees/lunches meeting friends (am SAHM). So all in probably about £140-150 including all eating out and socialising. I cook from scratch at home and kids eat a lot of fruit.

April, one thing to do is look for offers. There's always one type of posh crisps on offer so just get them instead of always kettle chips.

But I can't see how you don't save when buying sandwich stuff instead of going out.

A cafe will charge between £5 and £10 each for a sandwich, crisps, bit of salad and drink, whereas you can make the same at home for about £2 per person, if that.

I do buy mostly non branded things and will sometimes do a cheaper Lidl shop if I dont have to the toddler or older one (who hasn't SN) with me.

So your 8 year old gets it!

If you have the money continue as you are. It's a free country and you are keeping manufacturers and marketeers in a job.

About 80 a week all in. Either from farm shop for meat and dairy then aldis for the rest, or all from Aldis. All from scratch including packed lunches, and 2 adults 2 kids.

how do people shop so cheaply? we spend over £100 a week and don't drink. I probably spend £40 a week on fruit and veg!

I only buy a roasting joint, a load of chicken breasts, bacon, naice ham, pack of mince, cheese, hummus, bagels, lots of fruit and veg,butter, milk, tortilla chips,brioche, loo roll. Salad stuff, cherry tomatoes, cucumber etc. Mozzarella for pizza. Nuts. Mayo. That's about it.

We buy vegetables in season from our local fruit and veg shop, ant top up with frozen at Iceland. Pretty cheap usually, but we eat lots of carrots, mushrooms, apples, broccoli and peas.
My parents but blueberries, asparagus and other expensive fruit and veg from Sainsburys, and complain about how much it costs to eat healthily.
Tonight I have made a halloumi salad with lettuce, cumber and tomatoes and frozen edamame beans from ASDA, and strawberries and plain greek yoghurt for dessert.

Two adults, 3 primary aged DC who have school lunches but we still easily spend £100 a week. Sometimes slightly more, sometimes less but that is what I budget for now because it is a realistic figure.
That does include cleaning products, a couple of bottles of cheapish wine, toiletries etc.
If money was no object I reckon I could easily spend double that by shopping in Waitrose and M and S and doing frivolous top up shops. I'd buy more wine too!