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.

Wow that’s more than I earn!! 🙄🤔 single parent here of 2 kids. They only spend 50% of their evening meal time here and I buy their school dinners, but to be honest the weeks they re here full time don’t come to much more. I spend between £40-50 at the supermarket (Sainsburys) per week and this includes household items like toiletries and cleaning products. School dinners £11 per week for one child and the other has here for free. I spend £4 a week on my work dinner (£2 per day only work 2 days). I always think I’m over spending a bit as I know I could get it even cheaper at Aldi. When my ex left me and money was short I rang a debt counselling charity about going bankrupt (mortgage in negative equity and wanted rid of house) but as I was paying my bills this wasn’t an option. They looked at my budget and told me I wasn’t spending enough on food. I said that’s all I had to spend and no one was starving!!
We don’t eat out loads (unless my mum treats us).

I don't think that is much. I spend about £300 on family of 3.

£300 a week for 3 people? That’s loads!

Family of 5 here. Our food bill is creeping up. We seem to be spending 100 per week shopping at Lidl and Iceland. 2 big boys eating like locusts. If it wasn't for Lidl, aldi etc I'm not sure where we'd be!

I don't think that is much. I spend about £300 on family of 3

Bloody hell! What on. Do you put gold leaf on your tinned peaches?

I work hard for my money and choose to spend it on nourishing my family well. I think I’ve explained this well enough. That people have decided to jump on and attack me speaks volumes about them but little about me.

^Snap!

Anyone notice the ‘jump on anyone who spends over on their families food?

Anyone notice the 'jump on anyone who spends under on their families food and accuse them of neglecting to meet their families nutritional needs?

Because of this thread I watched some youtube videos of challenges. One challenged herself to live on £20/week. She did not eat much and did not eat meat often, mostly bean-based and oatmeal or banana-based meals.

LADY

I was jumped on by two posters because I said I was proud to earn enough money to give my children a healthy and varied diet.

I’ve not said anything person to or about anyone. It is just plain obvious that you need a base amount of money per week to feed a family of 4. I believe that is £80. Nobody has provided any evidence to the contrary, just got offended by the very suggestion that food costs money.

Which it does.

DROWNING

Sounds hellish. Much like the ‘I am jack’ carrot soup for dinner type threads

It seems very frowned upon to buy anything branded on these threads and you have to shop in Lidl or Aldi and spend minimum money on stuff.

I love it. God forbid you might just buy what you want

If you can afford don't stress!
When I worked in central London, I would have leftovers from previous night or go and buy out for lunch.
Now I'm on a very tight budget as I have been paying for dd's school trip in yr 6. We don't stint on fresh fruit and veg though but I mostly shop in the local market and Aldi.
Nothing wrong with it if you are living within your means

Haven't RTFT, but it really depends on where you live too. I hate food shopping, we spend a fortune. Not as much as OP, but a lot, and I feel so guilty/over indulgent every time.

Have spent ages trying to get it down, trying to shop smarter, it makes such little difference sometimes it's just not worth the bother.

We went to stay with family (away from London) and did the food shopping for a week there. Two extra adults, easily £40 less, without even trying.

sorry Flowerpott but that just isn't true. Food in normal supermarkets is NOT cheaper outside London. Unless you are shopping somewhere upmarket..
In fact, food is cheaper in London.

Of course you’re not being unreasonable. You can spend whatever you like. I don’t know why you need to ask.
But - we are a family of 7 and we spend £180 per week maximum. I shop carefully, buy loads of fresh fruit and veg, cook all meals from scratch and we eat loads (3 teenagers and 2 smaller ones). Aldi for most things, Tesco for branded stuff that Aldi don’t do or their product isn’t as good, sometimes Waitrose as I have a partner discount card and their value loo roll is the best.

I don’t think you said anything wrong cantankerous but this kind of phrasing is a bit knobbish

I work hard for my money and choose to spend it on nourishing my family well

BAKEDBEANS

It’s pretty hard not to ‘sound knobbish’ when you’re being attacked for pointing out basic facts.

Maybe I am ‘knobbish’ about it, frankly I don’t care. I’ve done the years of scrimping, saving and not having a penny to our names and I really like being able to afford decent (being free range, good quality) food.

What other people do is of no real importance to me, I know that my family can and do eat better now I’m earning more, than they did before I was working, it’s one of the main reasons why I work.

I feel like the OP is one of those “please validate me” posts. Anyhoo - the no brainier here is that a fortune is being spent on take away food from Leon etc. Even a swap to Pret A Manger would save money.

The whole thing about fewer veg and fruit is bollocks. We shop at Aldi and guess what, they sell chia seeds too!

This all comes down to laziness, convenience, snobbiness, ignorance or a combination of all. If you be got time to sit and calculate your spending and reads mumsnet posts you’ve got time to organise yourself and learn how to shop and manage your money better.

I'm assuming the poster who said £300 for 3 people meant per month? Unless exclusively shopping at Booths or Harrods!

I lived on £20 a week food budget for a while when I was really poor. This was before I had DS thank goodness. It wasn't TOO awful but no variety. I would have porridge for breakfast, then for lunch a cheese sandwich, crisps, apple, a banana and a couple of digestives. Dinners I made either a chilli or some kind of pasta bake and make each batch meal last me for 3 nights. I wouldn't want to do it ever again.

Nobody has provided any evidence to the contrary

They have though? Many people have pointed out how they provide a varied healthy diet on far less. I spend £60 a week for the four of us we eat very well for that I have a freezer full of fish, chicken, steak and king prawns and a fridge full of vegetables, fruit, cheese yogurt etc. We don't eat meat every day as you certainly don't need to and our main meals cost around £5 or less for the four of us and will usually have 3 minimum different vegetables.

I was jumped on by two posters because I said I was proud to earn enough money to give my children a healthy and varied diet.

I’ve not said anything person to or about anyone. It is just plain obvious that you need a base amount of money per week to feed a family of 4. I believe that is £80.

For YOU that is £80. That's fine. Other people are more skilled at meal planning, buying in season (which is not only cheaper but much nicer to eat!) and cooking the food they buy than you are. You're judging by your standards. That's why you are offending people.

Buying in season is so over rated. Strawberries are about 50p a box cheaper now than the rest of the year. Youre posting like you’re picking up gluts of seasonal food for pennies. Which unless you grow your own, simply isn’t accurate

There's two of us at home sometimes three on the odd day or two. We spend about £90 a week just on food but I don't buy anything frozen or from a packet. We make most things we eat, on occasion we have fish and chips. Lunch is made for work for both us each day so nothing bought ready made for work. We don't penny pinch when choosing foods. Your amount does seem a bit high? But you can obviously afford it or you wouldn't be spending that much.