To spend this much

[Cookeveryday]

DH wants to spend appx 6% of our household income on groceries (2 adults, 1 toddler & BF baby). It's really tight. I'd prefer to spend 10%. That would make meal planning, shopping & cooking everyday so much easier.

AIBU?

And, if you don't mind sharing, appx what % of household income do you spend on groceries?

I guess it depends on your salary, the less disposable income the higher the percentage spent on food.

Why don’t you say how much he wants you to spend and what would you like to spend? It makes it easier to say who is BU here.

Obviously, I didn’t see there were 3 pages already, off to RTFT (sorry)

£240 is ridiculously tight on your income. You can survive on it, sure, but why would you want to? Food shopping is very expensive at the moment in any case, so your DH should be taking that into account.
I can't imagine having this kind of discussion tbh. Things cost what they cost. You have to buy food. It's good not to overspend. It's not good to stress over reaching unattainable targets set by someone who clearly doesn't have much of a clue.

We spend same as grobagsforever but there’s only 2 of us lol
We like fine wine and eating out so roughly £600-650 a month on food!!!

Oh my goodness - I'll stop complaining about anything - this would do my head in.

We are probably around 6-7% but as others have said our household income is much higher than average so I’m not sure that means much

2adults 2 DC £120ish a week on food. Bring home approx £450

We spend more than 400 per month, but we have two young adults at home who eat like crazed beasts, and it's one of the things we agree to splurge on. I think your DH should be given nothing but beans on toast while he redoes his figures.

Our spend is way less than 10% so we could spend a lot more. But this is our sweet spot where we can get lots of foods and things we like, but not be throwing money away (in our view) just for the sake of it. We do have weeks and months where it gets a bit more expensive.

The main thing is that he’s not being realistic. I expect he wants the same standard of eating/living but for it to somehow cost less.

I'm currently spend about 8% on normal groceries, up to 10% if we have a couple of takeaways.

Our monthly income is about £3000, less than yours, but we don't have kids.

I've managed to save so much money during lockdown because I'll stick to three meals made with whatever is in the house. When I'm in the office Monday to Friday I buy lunch every day, coffee almost every day, and sometimes breakfast

No fucking wonder my savings have always looked miserable! I've had a sharp shock over the past few weeks and will be rethinking my spending moving forward.

0.4% on last months report

We budget 100 a month per person. So 400 a month for a family of 4 or 100 a week on average. Some weeks end up being more and some less depending what I’ve got etc. Takeaways or eating out not included in that.

I expect he wants the same standard of eating/living but for it to somehow cost less.

That is not infrequently the way when someone who has no responsibility for shopping and food prep wants it to be cheaper.

During lockdown we're spending between £80-100 a week in food...family of four. I have no idea what that is as a percentage. I do all the budgeting for food...my dh has never once questioned me.

Is that per month? We spend a lot more with two adults, one 11 year old half the time (DSS) and a baby. But We do include takeaways and toiletries etc - but closer to £1000 (a month) now that we are all at home all the time

We spend 6.25% on food shopping, but the actual amount wouldn't change if we earn more or less, so not sure if % is that relevant for this.

Our net monthly income is just over £4K.
5 of us: Me, DP, 10yo, 9yo and a 1yo (and all at home) comes to about £400-450 a month. That includes alcohol (not loads but a 2 or 3 drinks twice a week), nappies, and one takeaway a fortnight. I shop in Sainsbury's.

I used to manage around £240 pm when it was just me and 2 DC. Net income then was £2600 pm, so percentage similar.

We both shop write a list and whoever has some time goes. I would send him shopping to be honest.

I like the idea of getting him to do an online shop and then adding all the stuff he'd inevitably forget.

I don’t think you can go by % either. I agree it’s what you need!

I think I spend about 5-6% of my wage on food but that’s never how I’ve thought about it!

Looking at your figures our income isn't that much higher than yours either - but we do have a real taste for Costa 😂 if it was just food alone it'd be around £500 which is near enough 10%

Oh no sorry - it’s 10-12% but that’s my wages before child maintenance

Currently about £800. Hugely excessive but we are a family of 5, all home for 21 meals a week.

Plus nappies, soy milk for the baby, and absolutely everything else.

It's about 25% of joint income (I'm part time)

We spend about £500-£600 a month on groceries. 2 adults, 2 primary aged children (although eldest eats more than me now!). Making sure DC have a good quality balanced diet is one of our priorities.

Our usual income is about £5500 a month and usually budget is about £300 for 2 adults, which is apparently 5.4%. Budget is down to £250 at the moment as we’re on reduced pay. This doesn’t include cat food or takeaways (not regular) which is a different pot. I shop in bulk a lot and am careful, but we are trying to save manically for a house deposit at the moment which is why it’s tight, we’re very motivated to keep it low. We’ve spent more in the past.

£400 for your family sounds reasonable.