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.

He's not cheap! It's local, ethically produced and killed on the farm. It's delicious meat.

We have a weekly meat box from our local, organic, award winning farm. £35.

I often buy his weekly family pack. All organic, costs about 45 quid.

Oh, Our meat box is really amazing quality but is £60 a week. £100 for a monthly roasting box.

I agree MeToo, I never ate pasta every day, even as a student I'd buy mussels (cheap), and make moules-frites or oxtail or neck of lamb in winter. But, I come from a foodie family and went to University with those skills in place, it's not impossible to teach yourself to cook, it's pretty easy if you have the time and inclination (and basic equipment), but a lot of people don't have those luxuries.

I was having a conversation with a friend recently about cooking and quite a few of our contemporaries (mid-40s) are not confident in the kitchen because they are if an age where their mothers discovered the joy of convince foods which were meant to liberate women from the kitchen, but I think it actually enslaved people to the food manufacturers as many basic skills were lost.

That's a lot more than our monthly bill just for the two of us, and we always buy fresh fruit and veg and a protein of some sort for each meal. Never use frozen stuff as we don't have a freezer. I don't know why you are asking the question? You can spend what you like, personally I would budget better and put some money in the bank, but then I don't work and that would be my choice not yours.

I spend about that a week, with about £180-£200 on Ocado and the rest on small, top-up purchases. I know it's too much, I would like to be more frugal. I am fairly time poor so Ocado is convenient.

I'm surprised people are saying it's that much. I am just me and spend about £45 all in, I buy little out and about.
I guess if I shopped somewhere like Waitrose (rather than Morrisons) it could easily be £56 for the equivalent shop per person.

we always get get live clams from bury market. very cheap but very nice

Cooking isn’t hard. I don’t believe quite a few of your friends can’t cook. Honestly, people treat it on here like it’s a specialist lost skill like socks. There is no intelligence or skill involved, it’s just a basic process of following recipes. Probably quite a few don’t want to, but that doesn’t mean they’re no capable

Skill like DARNING socks, lol

I don't believe pre prepared salad and fruits are healthier.
More expensive definitely but not healthy no way.

I spend about £100 on the big shop (2 adults, 3 teenagers, cat, dog) and we probably spend about £30 on top ups (more if its topping up the wine!! ).

Thats breakfast (cereal, toast, yoghurt, fruit), lunch for me at home and packed for everyone else, all dinners and snacks. The amount has dropped a bit since dh and I started slimming world, no snacks for us!

That's at Asda or Tesco, less if we go to Aldi but can't usually get everything there. We eat fish 1-2 times a week, meat another 3-4 times, or veggie on occasion (mainly when dh is at work, he likes meat more than the rest of us). Its less if we don't take any children with us, its amazing what sneaks in if you take one of the cheeky things along.

£250 a week is more than our HUGE Christmas/New Year shop when we are entertaining and splashing out on juice/wine/snacks/cheeses etc!

“Today 20:22 Glassofredandapackofcrisps

I don't believe pre prepared salad and fruits are healthier.
More expensive definitely but not healthy no way.”

Health wise they’re exactly the same as fruit and veg that isn’t pre prepared. What do you think they do to them to make them less healthy?!

I can't stop imagining the OP cramming papaya chia seeds and oysters into her mouth, washing it down with champagne

Honestly? Almost £300 a week on food is fucking mad.

Crikey! I get annoyed when I spend more than £70 a week on the weekly online Morrisons shop. And that includes stuff for lunches and a teenage ds (pizzas when we’re at work etc) AND I cook low carb so it’s mostly protein. Can’t even remember the last time I did a ready meal. OH buys his own wine and beer as I don’t drink. We don’t scrimp and save, just cook everything from scratch and I’ve saved a fortune by using Morrisons rather than MrT and Sainsbury’s.

2 person household. I was spending £750 a month on food. Including take to work lunches.

I've managed to cut that cost in half just by being more frugal, not doing a massive shop but buying as I need instead. It's a massive pain in the arise but I've saved loads.

Well presumably they have dressings and things on them which make them unhealthy, because otherwise you are paying a premium to have someone else cut things up for you.

There is no intelligence or skill involved

I beg to differ. Cooking is a skill

Feel, I buy online from either The Cornish Fishmonger or The Colchester Oyster Fishery, both are great and tend to have stocks in at different times Colchester are also good for natives in season and razor clams, The CFmongers also do great fresh fish, they both have excellent crabs and lobster, and other shellfish live or prepared. Online fishmongers are ace!!

(It all comes in polystyrene boxes with ice packs from an overnight courier).

I agree with Sprinklesinmyelbow on cooking. I am sceptical of anyone who says they ‘can’t cook’. If they can follow basic instructions, they can cook. I dislike cooking but I can cook.

OP if you are reading these replies ....

You could have made lunch in that time. You can stretch your legs walking somewhere else at lunchtime.

If you don't want to save money, no problem, but I'm guessing you do because of your post! You don't seem to cook, guessing no time. So the lunch is the easiest change in time terms too.

It sounds like you are cooking restaurant menu type food every day which is why it's so much. If you can afford it that's fine but if you are wanting to make some savings you need to start doing more meals with cheaper cuts/mince etc some nights.

Tonight we had 'pan fried sea bass with buttered new potatoes and a butter and chive sauce and green veg' etc but I don't cook like that every night, sometimes we just have spag bol or whatever.

We probably spend about £150 a week for two adults (both WFH so covers all lunches snacks too) and a toddler and IMO eat extremely well. That also includes accounting for a coeliac diet so the staples like bread, pasta, cereals etc are all much more expensive.

I think you have to be careful with prepacked salad as you can get salmonella from it also isn’t it washed in water with additives. I eat it myself as it is convenient but it isn’t the best and that’s the stuff from Marks and Waitrose. DH isn’t keen on it as it has a bit of a taste to it.