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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

999 replies

TempleOfBlooms · 22/05/2018 18:51

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.

OP posts:
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SluttyButty · 23/05/2018 15:45

Erm if I buy all my fresh fruit and veg, meat etc from Aldi I spend around £60. If I buy exactly the same in Sainsburys it will come in at at least £30 for the same meals.

Thewhale2903 · 23/05/2018 15:45

Yes I think it is. You are presuming that people who spend 50 pounds a week don't feed their families healthy fresh food but you do by spending 120?

Thewhale2903 · 23/05/2018 15:46

SluttyButty
Exactly your shopping list is probably no different wether you shop in Aldi or Waitrose it would only be the price

CantankerousCamel · 23/05/2018 15:48

I was buying less varied, not as healthy food. Not sure I would say it was ‘crap’

I remember buying 14 apples a week so husband and child could have an apple each a day, I remember seeing husband bite into a second apple and burst into tears because it meant there wouldn’t be enough for the week. I remember buying non-free range chicken and meat.

I remember spending all day walking between different supermarkets to try and stretch our tiny amount of money as far as it could go.

So yeah, now I buy healthier, better food. Better and more varied for us, better for the environment and without having to worry about an extra apple here and there (or punnet of strawberries, or decent yogurt)

Thewhale2903 · 23/05/2018 15:53

Ah so because you are spending more on the apples now they are better. I get it. Also you are not the only person in the world that has needed to go to different shops to get things cheaper, some people do that by choice. I know I do just on principle.
I hope your life is much happier now you are eating free range chicken

BitchQueen90 · 23/05/2018 15:53

Non free range isn't "better" in terms of health though imo. It's better from a moral/environmental point of view but it doesn't mean you are eating crap.

Thewhale2903 · 23/05/2018 15:55

To some people on here it does apparently

MycatsaPirate · 23/05/2018 15:55

Don't you just love it when someone uses AIBU to stealth boast about their amazing life.

Best the Op posts on Instagram every day with #blessed as her hashtag.

CantankerousCamel · 23/05/2018 15:57

THEWHALE

Yes, they are better, less grainy, crisper, fresher. It’s good :-)

My life is MUCH better now I don’t have to struggle to feed my family, yes.

I do have to be away from my little baby a bit more than I’d like, but we have a good life and I’m proud we’ve been able to provide it. It’s been tough.

BITCH

I believe free range is better health wise because it’s for less hormones in it, but it’s definitely better for the environment too, which isn’t to be sniffed at

BlueSapp · 23/05/2018 16:00

(3) take away salads are nicer I would totally disagree with this, I much prefer a nice freshly made salad I have done myself.

You are spending a lot on food, but I don't get the point here what are you trying to achieve?

SluttyButty · 23/05/2018 16:02

I bet all the people reading who have no choice but to buy their fresh food from Aldi/Lidl or are forced to use food banks through no fault of their own are just feeling wonderful about your morally superior attitude CantanKerous Hmm

Thewhale2903 · 23/05/2018 16:05

Haha they all come off trees and I'll think you will find thats called them being "in season" Grin not because you pay more for them.

CantankerousCamel · 23/05/2018 16:05

SLUTTY

Tbh when I was in their position I would avoid threads like this!

I’m certainly not going to stop defending myself against people utter contempt for me daring to point out that actually feeding your family good, fresh food is something to be proud of, not ashamed of.

CantankerousCamel · 23/05/2018 16:06

THEWHALE

Trust me there is a huge difference in apples and their taste (and their uses)

A good pink lady or a jazz apple are absolutely delicious. Galas can be a bit hit n miss.

Pink ladies cost exactly the same in Waitrose as Aldi by the way. I shop in both places...

BitchQueen90 · 23/05/2018 16:07

Meh, I feel like I feed myself and my son good fresh food. I don't buy free range, stuff like that isn't a priority for me. I don't feel like I need to spend eye watering amounts of money to eat well. An apple is an apple at the end of the day.

Thewhale2903 · 23/05/2018 16:10

CantankerousCamel
So where exactly were you buying your apples before if you shop in both these places now?

CantankerousCamel · 23/05/2018 16:11

BITCH

I don’t consider £120 a week for a family of 5 an eye watering amount of money.

There is a middle ground...

CantankerousCamel · 23/05/2018 16:13

THEWHALE

More importantly, where is it you shop if it only has one choice of apple? Or chicken? Or anything else?

You must see there are cheaper and more expensive varieties? The places I shop haven’t really changed, I did used to go to the market a lot but I work now while it’s on.

I can spend the same money in Waitrose as I do in Aldi but on value stuff, the difference in Waitrose, is choice.

SoyDora · 23/05/2018 16:14

The OP has long gone, people.

CantankerousCamel · 23/05/2018 16:17

SOY

it’s okay, I’m in the stocks now for daring to be proud of feeding my family good food

WaitroseCoffeeCostaCup · 23/05/2018 16:22

I'm not saying don't be proud, of course you should be proud! Everyone has the right to be proud, it's not a right reserved for the rich.

LightAsTheBreeze · 23/05/2018 16:25

The fruit from Marks's always tastes better, especially the grapes, raspberries and the huge tasty cherries, worth the extra expense imo, I have had grapes from Asda and Tesco and they were a bit sour, but I imagine they are no better nutritionally wherever you buy them.

Thewhale2903 · 23/05/2018 16:26

CantankerousCamel
I shop wherever takes my fancy really, mostly Aldi because I know that all the meat veg fruit milk eggs cheese is the same as I would get anywhere else. Sometimes if it's more convinient I'll go somewhere else, there is only a co op and Sainsbury's in the town I live so will use these for bits and bobs but I grudge paying the extra money for the exact same products.
I'm not sure what your point has been throughout this thread you have told people that they are nofeeding their families healthy, fresh food if it is bought "cheaply" yet you still shop in the cheaper option sometimes?

theunsure · 23/05/2018 16:27

We spend too much. Monthly budget of £500 but always over.

Not including lunches we spend between £120-£180 a week on groceries but that includes toiletries, cleaning products etc.
We also drink a fair bit of alcohol so £40ish of that is booze. That's for 2 greedy adults only.
The expensive weeks are when we need dishwasher tablets, detergent etc. I buy these in bulk so they aren't that often. I'd say £140 is about average.

We do one main weekly food shop online then get a few fresh bits in the week. We live rurally though so shopping is hard work as involves long trips to town. I do Aldi/Lidl when possible but usually use Ocado online and I do shop for bargains - but we only eat free range/outdoor reared meat so that puts the cost up.

When we had a really tight spot a couple of years ago though we left out the booze and got it down to £50-£60 pw for everything, so it can be done. It was bloody exhausting though as required so much planning.

soulrider · 23/05/2018 16:28

I love how so many insist that to eat healthily you have to spend a fortune on fruit. Far cheaper and healthier to limit the fruit and eat more veg.