to spend £280 a week to feed a family of 5?

[TempleOfBlooms]

I spend about £280 a week on food. This includes my work lunches which tend to be salads from places like Leon plus coffees etc. The rest is food eaten at home.

Breakfast for all five of us tends to be things like Bircher muesli or chia based stuff with fruits and nuts. Fresh juice too.

Lunches in summer are usually a selection of dips and cheese and meats and salads.

Dinner is usually fish or chicken with a selection of salads and grilled veg.

So fresh food but not caviar or ridiculous indulgences.

It seems like everyone else on here can feed a family of four on tiny amounts. How? We certainly could eat more cheaply but that would mean fewer veg, fewer fruits, less fish etc.

Is it really so unusual to spend so much on food? I never see anyone else admit to it.

Is fish cheap? Unless it's coley or mackerel I don't think it is. When I make a fish pie it costs me a fortune!

Fish pie mix frozen from Tesco is £6 for two bags, would feed 8 in a pie.

All the showing off on this thread is HILARIOUS!

I'm really cringing for all these people boasting about their wealth/cooking skills/wholesome household habits.

Get a grip people!

I agree IveGot, I volunteer at a food bank and donate too.

I've suggested we start classes to teach people how to cook well and cheaply but seem to be encountering many stumbling-blocks to get it going.

Why would people be making gruel from items they have purchase from Lidl? Also the OP asked how she could save money on her food bill.

OPs food shopping sounds like something from the M&S or Waitrose food ordering brochures rather than Sainsbury’s

@Metoodear can u list what they are they look yummy x

We are a family of 9 and only spend £400 per month. Maybe & £220 on top in takeaways etc. 280 a week is almost £1200 per month 🤔

Fish pie mix frozen from Tesco is £6 for two bags, would feed 8 in a pie

But, but, on Mumsnet, fish comes from the Waitrose fresh fish counter and, if I recall correctly, it takes £28 worth of fish to make a fish pie.

Anxious, I'm not showing off about my cooking skills, I'm lucky, I know I'm lucky.

It's a discussion thread, the OP framed the discussion with her post

How would you like people to react?

Cooking and food is my bloody thing. I know a lot about it.

I'm not fucking humble-bragging.

If it was a thread about a broken leg would you accuse the orthopaedic surgeons or physiotherapists of showing off?

We a a family of 8 and spend half of your spend and we eat very well. I cook everything from scratch.

CantankerousCamel
Who on this thread said they were eating cheap processes food because they don't spend an absolute fortune on their food?

I'm not very organised nor time rich.
Office lunches are generally instant couscous or similar which are 3 for £1 and live in my drawer. Plus an apple.
Or I make salad or a sandwich when my DC make theirs. They're getting old enough to make my lunch for me sometimes.

I still go out at lunch but don't have to queue. I sit and eat on the grass near my office.

I spend between £40 and £80 a week on food.
A lot of the £40 weeks are due to us popping into asda after we go swimming and getting some veg or bread or ready meals. Today was grain salad, fresh fruit, a nice loaf of bread and potato scones for 7p or 10p a go.
I like the randomness of it.

I like swapping recipes with the other weirdos who rock up at 9pm.

I also like saving food from being wasted.

Even if I didn't do this though I would still not be able to spend that much a week on food. I just don't think it would be possible where I live to buy such expensive food.

It does make me feel a bit queasy to think of someone spending more on food than I earn in a year.

I do recognise that urge to shop in a way that's quick and also healthy.

I don't think that a low food budget means unhealthy food though. That's just daft.

You could eat expensive shite and get gout or eat cheap fresh food from scratch and be healthy.

We eat salad every day - just depends what's on offer rather than putting things in the trolley on a whim.

Op you should be very proud that you have a career that allows you to spend this much. You're clearly skilled in something or other.

Would you consider deliberating a bit more on which choices would make the odd saving, and donating a few bits to your local foodbank?
You have an earning capacity that would enable you to make a huge difference for very little effort.

I know I could Google but what is a Chia breakfast?

I like a lot of fish in a pie !

So the OP hasn't come back, there's a surprise!

If you can afford it then why not? My husband and I spend about £250 p/w on food and drink for the 2 of us with occasional visits from our daughter. We eat and drink extremely well. We don't live a flashy life otherwise at all - this is our luxury.

Fruit and veg are cheap compared to meat and alcohol

I don't think I could spend £250 pw even if I tried!

@aintnothinbutagstring I don't actually find Ocado that dear! I did an Asda shop once and then did the exact same shop on Ocado ( for fun because i'm sad ) and it was about £1 more expensive plus i got more food because of all the Buy One Get One Free offers in there!

HairyHands

I wasn't necessarily referring to you

There's loads of pathetic sniping on this thread though - haven't you noticed?

• well, if you like eating crap meat...
• oh, our meat's all super-special and expensive
• I suppose it IS expensive if you're a greedy pig
• I expect your children graze all day
• we all knit our own lentils and wouldn't dream of wasting a single grain of quinoa

It's RIDICULOUS.

Can you not get your butler to pre pack your salad

I would say that my surprise is not the cost of your food, just how dull it is.

I can see that it is expensive eating hunk of meat / fish + packets of veg / salad every day. I also think it soumnd reaklly, really dreary. Yes, lump of protein + veg is a 'nice-ish' dinner, but what really 'makes' food for me is variety - curry made from fresh ingredients, casseroles with meat and beans and sauce, pasta with delicious home-made sauces, home-made pies and quiches, 'traditional' family meals like high quality sausages with home-made ratatouille and baked vegetables or roast dinner, more unusual tagines or home-made main course salads, a wide variety of home-made soups in the winter, egg-based dishes like frittata etc.

It is also true, of course, that the variety of meals is more labour intensive in terms of cooking (I cook from scratch) but cheaper in terms of ingredients, as well as requiring more planning ahead (I buy once a week, for the whole week,planning menus to use the more perishable items first.

However, if this is a stealth boast, I'm just not buying it - it sounds so appallingly DULL.

YANBU if you can afford it.

Keeoe

Same.