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.

Wish i had that to spend-nice food tastes so much nicer

You eat a lot of meat. You aren't supposed to eat it every day really. So if you ate it once a day max and had a couple of days of full vegetarian food that would make a huge difference. And as PP have said your lunches. Also why Leon? Their salads are relatively expensive yet kid of gross. If you wanted to cut down you could but something similar from M&S for half the price or you could make some really delicious ones at home and take th with you-you will be more motivated to keep doing it if you make really nice salads.

You don’t have to just eat jackets and pasta it’s about being creative and meal planning also not allowing the children to graze how much of the spending is actually of on food rather than just chocolate crisps snacks ext

It is unusual and I don't think you eat/shop like a normal family.

You spend what???
We are a household of 6 adults and I spend no more than 140 -150 a week (that includes food for pets)
We all eat well , I generally cook from scratch and nothing is wasted, 4 of the adults are men with big appetites.
I shop very carefully, it can be done.

Your stealth boast is showing OP

There are 4 of us (2 adults,2 teens) that's what our food bill would look like if we ate as you do. Salmon is ££££, pre-made salad is £££ £2 is a lot for tomatoes. Cheap meals are risotto, stir fry ( left over roast meat) macaroni cheese. But as others have said you can afford it, so why not? ( we spend £100 pw and shop carefully) personally I'd rather have the cash for fancy holidays (difference is nearly 7 grand)

SHAPELY

There is a reason it is cheaper food.

I choose to give the children a variety of fruits for example

To buy free range chicken breasts

To have decent salads every day for lunches for us all.

Whenever I see threads involving people cutting back on food, they’re talking about spending £1 on 25 sauasages or making ‘carrot soup’ if they are having fresh ingredients.

I have been poor and trying to feed a small family, not something I ever want to experinence again. We had a choice beteeen poorly treated animal or no meat at all, we would often have frozen veggies as fresh ones were more expensive and unpredictable.

The first actions I took when our money went up significantly was hiring a cleaner and whacking an additional £40 on the weekly food bill! We eat similar food but it’s far better for us.

My shopping is about £30 a week for 2 adults and a 4 year old never mind £30 on one meal if you can afford it though, what's the issue?

I bet if you absolutely had to budget at £100 per week you would find a way of doing so.

When money is especially tight I have to plan meals and the fresh stuff is just whatever's cheapest, I make my lunch and never buy hot drinks.

I'm intrigued - take a photo of your shopping receipt so we can fully critique!

It’s like those “eat well for less” people

They spend ££££ a week then the reality is they can’t tell the difference between smart pice t bags a pg tips

Don't eat out

Don't buy crap

that saves £££

So OP your family don't cook and just opens packets instead
Of posh things
And eat expensive lunches out

If you want to spend less it would be a piece of proverbial cake to do
But it's not unreasonable if you can afford to spend like this, and if you don't want to be bothered with preparing things.

MUMMY

£30 a week doesn’t cover our fruit budget

CantankerousCamel

i have just showed you around 8 meals we make I have 3 kids and me and dh their are no cheap sausages 100 for 50p and I spend £60-70 a week

This only ever goes up at Christmas or summer holidays

If you can afford it, fine; if you have a problem with it, you're getting plenty of great advice on here on how to cut the expense down without sacrificing freshness.

I don't get your issue here, presumably you're not going into mortgage/rent arrears , has someone said or do you yourself think it's unreasonable? If you are looking to cut down then you hardly need advice from MN as to how you could do that, you're aware your probably spending £8 - £10 a day on lunches just for a start. Sorry, I just don't really get the point of the thread!

It seems like a waste of money to me. I spend £45 a week for 2 of us.

H and alcohol/tea/fancy biscuits etc. If you buy a lot of snacks that will cost a lot more than you think. I was shocked to find that I spent about a quarter of my food bill on snacks when I decided that all the dates and small packers of gluten free biscuits weren't as good for me as I had lead myself to believe. And I could spend a small fortune on tea.

Op you made me feel muçh better about the £150 a week I spend on 2 adults and 3 teens! We have wine, school lunches for 2 and 3 pack lunches. I buy supermarket own brand everything and would have bought frozen salmon fillets for £3-£5. I do a lot of stuff like vegetarian chilli, jacket potatoes, omlettes etc,so ı always feel like I spend a ridiculous amount! I suppose that also includes wash liquid, shampoo, san pro, cat food, gerbil food, etc

There’s very little cooking involved in your meals OP. It’s just packets. Expensive packets but still packets.

Cantank- you can buy exactly the same food in a different supermarket where it’s cheaper. Same vegetables same meat same everything. (Unless where you shop massage the pig before they kill it).

If you're happy with that level of spending and happy with what your family is eating, then where's the problem?

Not everyone wants to feed their family on 75p a week. Not everyone needs or wants to cut what they're spending. If it's an issue, then yes there are things you may change. If it's not an issue, spend what the hell you like and don't give two hoots what others are doing.

Meal planning
Shopping around
Not letting everyone graze
We eat very well thanks many spend more but dam well wouldn’t eat as well

There's no way you can be spending that much eating muesli for breakfast and chicken for dinner. Your work lunches must be costing a bomb.