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.

£100 a week for two adults... sometimes a touch more

About £120 a week at the minute for 3 adults and 1 teenage boy plus 2 dogs. This has gone up from around 90 per week and may go up more.

You will need to meal plan but your budget is fine. Look at things you can get 2 or more meals from like a big cooked chicken, do a roast with it then a curry with leftovers plus then a risotto with the trimmings and stock and some veg.

Veggie recipes are great such as bean burgers and so cheap.

Preblockdown inwas at about 80-100£ pw. Bow I'm more like 150pw. (Sometimes more) Although we no longer spend on dinner money for the children, and money going out. So we break even

backforgood your way is great if you are the one cooking and have confidence in what you have at home and what you need for stuff.

Another thing I've did initially (as I had the lunches made up for the week lockdown was implemented) was carry on like I was still at work and my ds going to school so were having a packed lunch... obviously not out of our sandwich boxes! but a sandwich, yogurt, piece of fruit, cereal bar... not a full cooked lunch.

This has now moved on to...
Soup and a roll
Beans/spaghetti hoops on toast
Slice of home made quiche with salad
Jacket potato with cheese and salad
Toastie with ham and chese with side salad

When it comes to preparing bulk batches of evening meals, we always eat what I'm preparing during the day that night and I freeze the rest. I add extra veg or lentils to bulk things out to keep the cost down (but this are healthy additions)

We've made our own flapjacks and banana loaf to fill the time and save money.

Also every meal I've made, I've let my elderly parents have some.
I just pop their portion in an oven/microwave proof tray and freeze.
I am doing their shopping and my own once a week, so I take these meals when I deliver their shopping.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/cheap-family-suppers

Can I ask how much those who haven’t said feel their spend has gone up over lockdown? The reason I ask is that we both work from home and I always got a bit concerned to see the threads saying families survived for a week on a loaf of bread and maybe the mumsnet chicken (obviously being a bit facetious) when we have systematically been spending £120 or so a week. So it would be really interesting to know what you attribute to additional lockdown spend...

backforgood your way is great if you are the one cooking and have confidence in what you have at home and what you need for stuff.

I'm not the only one that cooks - all the dc and dh all take their turns. They cook with what is available - if they want specific ingredients for what they want to cook, then they put them on the list. Re the 'confidence in what is in home' - that is the point of a list..... when anyone notices anything running low, they write it on the list. I don't need to be 'aware' - just follow the list

Can I ask how much those who haven’t said, feel their spend has gone up over lockdown?
About 50%. We are serving a LOT more meals.

About £100 a week now for a family of four.

Was less before lockdown but it probably evens out as not paying for school dinners and no eating out now obviously.

Can I ask how much those who haven’t said feel their spend has gone up over lockdown?

Not a lot I can do about as we now having more meals at home as DH is working from home, and 3 DC are not at school. So I probably providing between 20 - 25 extra meals.

I, on the other hand just fed up in the actually making all these meals. It just seems a continual prepping, making, cooking and cleaning up for lunch and dinner.

I, on the other hand just fed up in the actually making all these meals. It just seems a continual prepping, making, cooking and cleaning up for lunch and dinner

Me too! It's just endless isn't it?!

@Clutterbugsmum it hasn’t really, but that’s partly because I usually spend too much on coffee when out and about. Plus being at home I’ve got more time to soak beans and make bread and cake and other such worthy activities. If you’re rushed off your feet with little DC or have teenagers with hollow legs I imagine it’s very different.