AIBU Weekly shopping spend

[Thebig3]

Hello, I currently spend £140 a week on shopping for a family of 5 (3 kids, one still in nappies). I think this is an ok amount but my husband thinks it could be reduced further.

In that £140 it includes all household things not just food, so washing powder, shower gel, shampoo etc. I am also a sahm so I obviously eat all my meals at home. My husband also takes a pack lunch every day as does my daughter so this is covered in the food I buy for.

I often hear people say they spend a lot less each week and wonder how they do it!! Do they only include food in that weekly figure and toiletries etc is classed under a different spend? Do they only cater for breakfast and dinner each day??

Can someone help? Is it too much each week and how do I reduce if it is?

I can't really compare as we are 2 adults and a 4 year old (and 2 cats) but everything comes in at under £70 a week, for all meals and also toiletries, cleaning products etc.

That seems lots to me, although how old are the older DC? Adult sized teens or little ones.

Do you eat meat/fish everyday? Our shopping is quite cheap but at least half our meals are veggie.

Where do you shop?

I saved a fortune by shopping in Aldi/Lidl

I also don't really buy brands and never buy alcohol

I have 2 kids (5 & 7) and a husband, we make all our meals from scratch including packed lunches.
I am meant to stick to £100 a week for all food/groceries/household but realistically it’s nearer to £150+.
I don’t buy brands, I buy supermarket own versions.
I find it fascinating when I read threads of people who spend a lot less.
I live very rurally so the nearest Asda/Aldi/Lidl is about 30 miles away. So Tesco is my only option (other than e local Waitrose which I avoid if possible).

I often wonder if people who spend very little actually have a decent level of nutrition. Sure I could live on way less if I was making soup/beans on toast/eggs on toast for dinner every night but it’s not sustainable to be having that and hitting all your daily nutritional goals.

Should add I’m vegetarian so meat doesn’t bump up our costs.

So my kids are 2, 6, 8. So not massive eaters. I make all meals from scratch, apart from when I cant be bothered and I make stuff from the freezer. I tend to shop in tesco and if i need anything extra then go to the local aldi.

I would try and do all my shopping in aldi but i just cant get everything i need from there!!

We probably have one maybe 2 days when we have a meat free dinner

@Busybeebeebee you sound like me. I try to stick to 100 but I never do. I honestly cant see how people do it for less. I dont buy expensive brands at all!

We spend between 150-200 on a family of 4. I'm also baffled by people who spend much less although we do eat fairly well. Me and DH have all meals at home and only the eldest has school lunches. We eat meat or fish every day. Dh also eats chicken most lunchtimes and has eggs every breakfast. If I wasn't feeding him I could easily half our food bill. We eat lots of fresh fruit and veg as well which costs a lot. I think it depends on what you eat and what you're prepared to sacrifice.if you can afford it and you're eating well then I don't see that amount as a problem.

I went to Sainsbury’s this morning (the one 30 miles away as it’s closest) to stock up on a few bits only they sell. I didn’t actually get the stuff I was meant to as it was out of stock but I still spent £60

@thisisthetime this makes me feel better!! We do eat a lot of fruit and veg, and I've tried finder cheaper versions of them but then they dont last and I end up throwing it out!

You can spend a hell of a lot less than that. We eat well and spend half of that. Meal plan, try alternatives like supermarket own brands.

My food bill has dropped significantly since meal planning. Yes, it's 5 mins of hell every week but it does work and saves faffing in the evenings trying to decide. We're two adults and a baby and spend about £70 a week including nappies etc. Mainly Lidl and Waitrose - perfect combination!

We shop at Aldi and Sainsburys. We always go armed with a list and only buy what we need for the week.

Dh has a huge appetite and takes a packed lunch, DS is a teen and eats mind numbing amounts of food. I take a packed lunch daily too.

We spend around £70 tops with maybe a £15 top up shop midweek usually another ton of bananas and satsumas and our milk is delivered by the milkman weekly at around £4 for the week.

We used to waste money by just throwing things in but by meal planning and only buying what we need we've reduced the cost.

It's probably slightly above average - I think they always say that the average spend for a family of five on Eat Well for Less is about £120 pw.

But there's so many factors that go into what you can and do spend - what shops do you have access to, do you buy lots of extras that aren't strictly necessary like drinks, condiments, endless cleaning products, do you need to cut down on what you spend or does your DH just think you should spend less, what ideas has he offered about spending less, what does he think you should cut down on, what would he think if you served smaller portions, used cheaper brands, used cheaper ingredients etc?

Look at what you buy and what costs the most and see if you can substitute that for something cheaper - eg fresh fish can be very expensive, but frozen much cheaper.

Whole chickens or legs/thighs cheaper than breasts, pork or turkey is cheaper than beef or lamb, substitute some or all meat for veg/pulses, buy cheaper veg, eg carrots and normal brocolli instead of purple sprouting and asparagus, apples and bananas instead of blueberries, drink tap water and normal tea instead of juice, pop, fresh coffee etc.

Look at what you waste - use things up or freeze them, also alternate supermarkets, Tesco can be quite expensive, and you don't have to go to the same one every week or even shop weekly. You could buy half the veg for the start of the week and then top up midweek - maybe get him to pick some up midweek if he's so keen on saving money.

What are the items you can't get from Aldi? Bulk cooking and vegetarian meals help in cutting the food bill. What is your weekly meal plan like?

We spend between £40-50 a week.
DP, me and toddler DS. I meal plan, we don’t often eat meat at home and we don’t drink alcohol at home either.
We use bars of shampoo so that’s £3 about each 3 months

We are a family of five and spend around £60 a week on everything. I meal plan. We don't buy pre-packaged snacks (so no mini Dodgers/yo-yo bears/etc), try not to buy crisps and only buy basic fruit. I stick to bananas, apples and little oranges because strawberries/blueberries/pineapple etc are too expensive.

I only buy basic cereals and porridge.

All bread is homemade. Much cheaper to use a bread maker.

We have one or two basic meals a week eg beans on toast or pesto pasta. But we eat well the other days eg fajitas, cottage pie, lasagne, roast dinner etc.

I'm sure you could cut your bills a bit.

Sounds average to me. I spend that for the 5 of us plus a cat. We could reduce it and probably should but it's a lot of hard work I don't feel I have time or energy for.

I do meal plan every week and would say i stick to it 90% of the time.

@Kay1341 I just thought about it and actually think I could probably get 95% of things from aldi. I had just always thought i couldnt for some reason. There are certain things I prefer from tesco (e.g I prefer Tesco's own brand cordial over aldi) so I can always just get that from there and the rest from aldi.

@livingthegoodlife wow 60 I am honestly shocked!!! I dont feel I could even get mine close to that at all!

Family of 2 adults, 2 teens and we spend around £80-90 a week. This includes food except for school lunches for the teens, toiletries, household cleaners/washing powder etc.

We meal plan, which makes a massive difference. We're also not fussy eaters, and tend to eat what is in season (and hence cheaper) where we can. I also have decent freezer space so take advantage of yellow stickers and special offers where I can.

I spend about £170 per week on a family of four, to include all toiletries and nappies for DS2.

I eat all meals at home, as does DS2. DS has school lunch and DH eats lunch at work on weekdays.

We do eat well though. Lots of fresh fruit and veg, and we eat either meat or fish every day. I meal plan and cook from scratch every day. I know I could cut down if I bought more own brand items and if we ate less fresh tropical fruit and berries in winter.

Single mum of 4 - eldest 2 are teens
2 younger ones go packed lunch at school and I take food to work and spend £60 a week because that’s all I have easy in Aldi tbh i can be very frugal but we have what we need and no one goes hungry

I also won't compromise on buying free range poultry and eggs. If I was, that would cut down the bills.

If you plan your meals you can shop online and either get delivered or collect. Either of which means you don't have the temptation of extras as you go around the supermarket and only get what you wanted.