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.

I see camel has training today given her hard work. We all work hard. Hopefully you wont make any spelling mistakes.
Whale-stop responding its fuelling the drama, your points are totally valid. Enjoy your lunch .
Oh, and i thought nurses were supposed to be non judgemental. Glad im not her patient asking dietary advice.

Seems like a lot to me. I budget £100 a week for 2 adults, 2 teens, dog snd 3 cats.

However not all of it gets spent on food as DD gets £25 a week and does her own cooking with her boyfriend. As she has a quarter of the household budget which is slightly over her share when you take into account pet food, toiletries and cleaning products, she provides a meal twice a week for DS and I.

She spends about £60 a month by the sound of it and her boyfriend puts in the same. It's been interesting watching her cooking, they have some lovely food for that amount - so far this week I've seen her do salmon with rosemary and garlic new potatoes and green beans, chicken tikka masala, an Asian dish using pork belly, Japanese chicken curry , a Korean dish plus pea and ham soup. She doesn't like toast, cereal etc for breakfast so uses left overs from the main meal for breakfast. It's been interesting to watch as a parent and i'd say they do eat really well for what works out at around £15 a head per week.

Graph

You do realise that most of the stuff you’ve written, I didn’t actually say?

Didn't say you did. I've highlighted your name at the beginning of my post relating to things you did say and said how you AND OTHER POSTERS were making certain types of comments.

No I didn’t actually.
I don’t quite understand what is so awful about what camel has said.
I read it that she is proud and grateful that she can feed her family with the food she wants.

I don’t see any judgement about anyone else’s choices.
I do however see quite a bit of judgement coming from other posters.

I don’t quite understand what is so awful about what camel has said.

Me too. Unless I missed them.

Anyway, I think it's all relative.

Again, if anyone wants to show me how you feed fresh, varied food to a family of four on less than £80 a week, I will happily eat my words, attributing a bunch of stuff to me I’ve never said, whilst cherry picking my comments to say something different, is a waste of time because I’m not going to respond to it as if it’s actually real (because it’s not)

It’s grest that people can feed a family reasonably on less, however I spend more because I want them to have variety and things that they and I like (like different fruits and vegetables). This is not rocket science. If you want to feed on free range meat and with a different selection than the cheapest vegetables it costs more to do so.

I believe that shouldn’t be out of anyone’s budget but for a long time it was out of mine. Now that it’s not, I am happy to feed my family better food. This is only a reflection on my circumstances, people making it about themselves are simply jealous.

I agreed with the OP, it takes a certain amount of money to feed a family of 4 but I disagreed with the amount.

The argument that has come from that has been confusing, quite unsettling and, now I’ve had some sleep, I can see it’s actually just a lot of green-eyed people who either can’t or don’t want to read properly.

Jealous of a snobby bigot? No thanks

DROWNING
RICK

I did point out the spelling mistake of someone who had just called me an ‘idiot’ and told me to kick homeless people. Other than that I’m completely fine with everything I’ve written here. It’s not even been slightly contentious.

No jealousy here either.

How is she a snobby bigot?

She is not looking down on anyone.

I agree with RickOshay lots of jealous comments on here. I guess it’s touched a nerve.

I think what Camel said might be construed as smug. Imagine yourself as someone on a much lower income inventively cooking nutritious stuff for your family. The assertion that only by spending the same amount as Camel are you capable of nourishing your family well is thoughtless and actually wrong.

camel. I’ve been through a similar journey to you. In about 1990 as a single parent i had about £13 left to feed me and 2 kids for a week. ( car needed 4 new tyres). I managed with the help of some of the strategies the inventive and clever Mums on here have mentioned
I don’t worry about my food bill at all now but don’t spend anything like you. Cooking things from scratch is the key and nutritionally, that’s much better as you use less salt, sugar, no preservatives and better quality ingredients. ( yes, even cheap ingredients from Aldi’s are better then the mix you get in an M and S gastro meal)

Graphista
You have proved you point perhaps a lot better than I did.
Again and again I have said how insulting it is to tell people they are not feeding their families well because they are on a tight budget, because in CC eyes it's clear it's not possible.
Apparently though we have no right to be insulted.

NURSY

I spent £120 a week on three children and two adults.

this is not an outrageous amount of money.

You will be healthier if a human being prepares your food - not a factory.

CantankerousCamel
Obviously your right, people that don't have that food budget can't buy varied nutritional food.
Good actually like banging your head off a wall.
How did you think people would react to you telling them they are feeding their families unhealthy food with no nutritional value!

Again, I have said I enjoy giving my family a healthier, fresher and more varied diet than I could when I had less money.

This comment ^ has NOTHING to do with anyone else, it is based on me and my family.

Nobody had bothered to contest it, just call me names and so on. The government doesn’t disagree with me, nor do leading debt and poverty charities.

So if someone honestly does disagree with this comment ^ please explain how you feed a family of 5 on less than £80 whilst retaining choice and variety. I’ll happily discuss that but this ‘you’re wrong because we say you are’ isn’t going to make anyone change their mind on anything.

It JUST makes you look jealous.

NURSY. I didn’t make the original comment, I simply answered the OP, who asked how people feed families on less. I agreed there is a minimum to feed a family well but much lower than the OP suggests.

All I’ve done is join in on a conversation and got absolutely flamed by it.

CantankerousCamel
No one said it was but don't judge people that can't or chose not to spend that.

"Most people would simply use their judgement, surely?" And judgement comes with experience - and that experience is what I would define as knowledge and skill. People are put off cooking because they don't know where to start - saying it's all really easy doesn't help either.

Also not very nice to say people are jealous because they don't/can't afford to spend the guidelines on food the same as you.
I could afford to buy I don't so how can I be jealous? It's a choice I make

My input on this thread is based upon how it’s contents relate to me and my family.

I’m really unsure how I can reiterate the same comment over and over again.

This started becsuse I said I was proud to feed my family well. That when I look back and realise it’s been years since the card went in the machine and didn’t work, I feel proud.

It’s got nothing to do with anyone else. It’s MY journey I am proud of.

THEWHALE I can’t imagine your aggression, your reactions, your abuse and your offensive behaviour could be the result of anything but jealousy.

I just can’t see what else would have made you behave in this way

Well I've done a week shop for £52.60 this week inc loo roll cat food etc. Yet another "overpayment" so money was slashed.
I've done it with pretty much no meat and lots of wonky veg and carbs. Our meal plan is this

tuesday pack ups
cereal 1 sandwich or bagel
4 packups 1 flapjack or bun
sausage baguette and chips yoghurt crisps fruit

wednesday
cereal
3 packups
macaroni cheese with bacon

thursday
cereal
4packups
tomato soup toasted cheese

friday
cereal
3 packups
pizza

saturday
cereal
tomato soup toasted cheese
egg and chips

sunday
cereal
sausage sandwiches
red pasta

monday
cereal
4 packups
noodles

The sandwiches are soft cheese the pizzas and bagels are homemade.
Myself i am doing sw and am gluten free so i have boiled eggs and carrot sticks for breakfast
2 mini jackets with small amount of cheese for lunch and then carrot and potato stew for dinner.
We had some stuff already in like pasta and cereal. But this is heavily wheat based.
My point is you can eat for cheap if you have to but if don't why would you want to