food budget

[cosmobrown]

Hi. Can people tell me how much they spend on food please?
Family of 4. Mum, Dad, 18yr old boy, 15 yr old girl.
I'm having to start budgeting for the first time.

My last shop was just over a week ago in Aldi. Spent £80 and it has fed my family of five adults and should have enough to last until my next shop on Tuesday.

Family of 2. Before Covid-19 it was about £50 a week, now it's gone up because DS was on free school meals and now I'm buying extra for his lunches. Plus we're doing more baking and I'm drinking more alcohol!

Thanks owlinatree Some really useful suggestions there.
I feel a bit stupid at the moment.
I need to meal plan don't I.

Please keep the suggestions coming...

I never meal plan as I base my meals around offers or if I get a batch of yellow sticker stuff.

About £200 per week with four of us at home for all meals and two cats

Actually, what other ways do people cut down their expenditure?

Approx £170 a week for 2 adults , one teen and one pre teen here. Also 2 cats so food and litter and one dog. Before lockdown we spent less on the supermarket shop because dh and kids bought lunch at work / school and we did top up shops for milk etc

Good news OP, we have always eaten out lots too, and while our supermarket shopping bills are obviously up, we're spending a lot less overall at the moment. All the small 'pop out to get something' top up shops, lunches out, takeaway coffees don't half add up. You will find with some planning it's definitely doable on £100 a week.

My one suggestion would be to let everyone in the family pick a weekly 'treat' to be included in the shop. That way if you're cutting back generally, at least everyone has one nice thing. Aldi works really well on a budget anyway.

Family of 4 with pets, including all household items we are around £120ish per week.

@cosmobrown I do the same as proudboomer but meal plan around what is on offer eg if there’s a 2 for 7 pound on different meats then that’s what’s going on my stir fry or my sweet and sour etc, so I don’t go out looking for beef or chicken or whatever specifically and think of meals that can work with any meat or even without meat . Stir fries, casseroles, bangers and mash.

At the moment £15 billion pounds as my kids don't stop eating!!

Previously between £100 and £150 approx every 10 days. This will need to go down after lockdown and after our mortgage holiday as we will be much worse off!!

Other reductions in spending that have come about as a natural consequence of the lockdown - cinema, in person clothes shopping. Travel generally - we haven't bought any petrol since lockdown started, and as DH are now both working from home we're not paying for train fares or parking either.

About 120, we eat a lot (2 permanently hungry teens)

Things that really make a difference are alcohol, soft drinks (£££ down the drain) takeaways and eating out (££££), also things like ready made puddings/ice cream etc

Cheap dinners can include pasta, baked pots, roast veg, omelette with wedges etc. For pizzas I toast 2-3 pitta breads each, top with tomato sauce and grated cheese + any other topping= 15 mins in oven = cheap pizza (very nice too)

You’ll get the hang of it

Plan a couple of vegetarian dinners through the week - that helps to keep costs down.
When menu planning include breakfasts and lunches at the moment.
£100 a week is definitely do-able.

Probably no help - £600-800 per month. Currently on the higher end with the reduced choice.

Use bar soap not liquid. Buy Aldi own brand toothpaste, mouthwash shampoo. No more named brands.
Make own cleaning spray for kitchen and bathroom out of stardrops.
Stop buying things like wipes and kitchen roll and just use a cloth instead.
I don’t buy clothes unless I need to replace something.
Shop around make sure you are getting the best deal on gas, electric and insurance
Down grade or get rid of your sky/ virgin package if you have it.
If/ when out of contract on your phone look for a sim only deal

At the "poor" end of the scale here, we are 2 adults, 3 teens, and a cat, with one vegan and one vegetarian.
I spend £75 - £100 on pay day on a big freezer shop, and about £30 a week on fresh bits, bread, milk and soya milk, sandwich meat, fruit, salad.

Also have teens. Could make it cheaper with more red meat, cabbage and carrots. Not down to £100 pw, though, as teens are both autistic with limited diets.

Was going to say, a few veggie meals make it cheaper, or you can make a mean macaroni cheese with just a small pack of lardons for cheap. Chicken fajitas, if you can’t get hold of pasta but can get wraps. Just sausage, chips and beans go down well here or fish finger sandwiches. Usual chilli or spag bol aren’t too expensive if you can get tinned tomatoes or passata.

Can you cut down on or find cheaper broadband/TV package. Stick to Netflix?

Thank you all. I do appreciate I've been very fortunate up to now. That £50k income cap on the self employed really hurts.

We’re spending about £150 a week for three of us at the moment. I am doing lots of baking though which obviously requires ingredients which can be pricey. However I haven’t filled up with petrol for three weeks, DH is getting all his petrol reimbursed as he’s a key worker and has to drive to work due to changes to the train times. I’ve also not spent a penny on coffees, clothes, cinema, McDonald’s etc for a month, so although we’re spending more on food we are better off in other ways so it’s evening out. Meal planning is the way forward and also at the moment planning strategically. Am finding endless lunches irritating to have to plan for as normally we are obviously all out during the day, so to avoid sandwich fatigue we are often having leftovers from the night before at lunchtime. We’re attempting to do one big shop per week plus a top up petrol station bread and milk run if necessary. Am using the freezer much more than usual as I’m actually around during the day to take things out to defrost. Also we are at home to cook proper meals which is helpful, so less reliance on pre-prepped stuff. Have been using the slow cooker lots as well.

Make own cleaning spray for kitchen and bathroom out of stardrops.

Can someone explain this please?

2 adults, 2 teens, 2 cats £100 pwk.

2 adults 2 teens 3 cats and about £100 a week here including cleaning/household gear. I manage to buy the bulk from Lidl, but always have to nip to Tesco on the way home for any bits that they didn’t have. It always astonishes me how much more expensive they are.

My top tips - meal plan. Its laborious at first but you soon get into it

Bulk up dishes with veg.

Batch cook and freeze where possible.

Use fresh foods before storecupboard - it annoys me when i have to throw veg out cos its gone off.

I freeze leftovers and we have ‘freezer surprise’ for tea

Don’t forget your treats - even on a budget

Switch down a brand - The only ones in my family who get their preferred brand are the bloody cats!!

Frozen veg is cheaper and just as good as fresh.

Buy iceberg rather than salad bags that go off in a few days.

Meat free Mondays - meat is £££

I do keep searching for the famous MN chicken but haven’t quite managed to find one yet