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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Do you think £400 a month for groceries is too much

338 replies

emodi · 27/05/2020 09:35

We are a family of four, two adults and a 14 and 11 year old . Since the lock down our grocery and household bills have increased to approx £400 a month. I have tried to explain to my hubby that the kids are not eating in school so it’s 3 meals , snacks no restaurants or takeaways and he thinks I’m being extravagant. I think this is perfectly reasonable as this includes all food plus cleaning products etc . Is this reasonable or am I being hopelessly extravagant?

OP posts:
Pinkginfreak2 · 27/05/2020 12:00

I added up all my food purchases the other day and it came to 450 for the month which I thought was quite a lot but I suppose it's not. We are 2 adults, 1 15yo and 2 dogs. Mainly shop in lidl or asda and includes 1 takeaway a week. Cook from scratch a lot. Maybe it's just because of lack of income now that it seems a lot!

SciFiScream · 27/05/2020 12:00

Oh and our groceries average includes a milk delivery twice a week. Which is an exceptionally expensive way of buying milk. At least twice as expensive as in the shop but was an eco choice to reduce plastic and will be one of the first cut backs should we need to economise. We get eggs with our milk too.

Starcup · 27/05/2020 12:01

It’s certainly not excessive exactly for the reasons you describe. It’s about right I’d say.

Becca8675309 · 27/05/2020 12:01

One adult, one 11 year old DD. About £850 a month for us two. We shop in M&S, Aldi, Lidl and (occasionally) Tesco or Waitrose. We cook a lot from scratch, always look for yellow sticker specials, plus we buy little to no alcohol. Includes cleaning supplies and basic toiletries (nothing fancy.) No, I don't understand how it gets to £850 either. So tell your husband that at £400 you are doing great!

YouokHun · 27/05/2020 12:02

Time to give your DH the responsibility of shopping and cooking so he can find out the realities. If he’s anything like others who never shop he’ll quickly find his trolley of shopping comes to way more than yours does. I wouldn’t bother trying to explain to him, just hand him the job.

Our weekly shopping bill has gone up for the same reasonS as everyone else and I also agree that prices have gone up. On the other hand I haven’t put petrol in either of our cars since early March, haven’t gone out to eat, bought a train ticket etc etc. Just the petrol is a £500 saving.

Porcupineinwaiting · 27/05/2020 12:05

OP we are a very similar household and that sounds pretty cheap to me. I'd say we average £130/week.

@pinotgrigio I'd say a bit of both but mostly Brexit. The £ has really dropped in the last few years and so much of our food is imported. I still think food is significantly cheaper here than in France or Germany though.

MrsL1123 · 27/05/2020 12:09

We are a family of 8 and we are spending roughly £600ish a month plus small stock ups of fresh stuff in between! Seems a lot but there are no meals out, we are at home all the time so actually not that bad at all,
So think yours is pretty reasonable.
It's only natural that everyone is eating more at home just now

BlueJava · 27/05/2020 12:10

We're also a family of 4 - I'd be doing very well if it was £100 a week. Ask him to do better so he does the shopping and cooking for a week... see how it goes.

WhatAWonderfulDay · 27/05/2020 12:10

Ours is now 170 per week with a couple of top ups over the month. (Family of 5 with 2 teenagers)

It used to be about 90-100 per week. Looks a lot but there no outgoing for school dinners and office lunch. Also, I am no longer able to buy the cheapest - I buy a big pack of whatever so it lasts longer.

Tell your DH he's absolutely right. You are doing it all wrong. Hand over responsibility and let him show you how it's done. He can walk the walk...

DrinkingInTheNightGarden · 27/05/2020 12:10

We are three of us (one is DC3!) and I budget £450-500 at the moment, not usually that much but I'm doing more experimental cooking plus booze!

Onone · 27/05/2020 12:12

Family of 5 we are spending between £600-£700 a month at the minute!!

cannotmakemymindup · 27/05/2020 12:18

We're spending about £400-£450 a month currently. Was definitely cheaper before lockdown. That is me, DH and DD who's 6.

That is 3 x recipe boxes a month (4 meals for 2), a fruit, vegetables and salad box x 2 in the month. Plus also all the other regular shopping for everything else and household cleaning products.

My DH definitely didn't realise how much the shopping cost in the past, until he had to do it. Plus I pointed out that I am not just shopping for me, everybody eats the food.

Per person is £133 for the month, £33 per week which is only £4.30 per day for absolutely everything.

Yours is even cheaper OP @emodi

LH1987 · 27/05/2020 12:21

Wow, I am very impressed you can shop for four on such a budget. You are obviously very good at meal planning. I spend about 400 p/m for me and DH, plus top up mini shops and quite a few takeaways.

Marsay772 · 27/05/2020 12:21

Were a family of 2 adults, 2 teenagers and a toddler and we spend 130.00 which includes, toiletries, nappies, household stuff. 100 a week is fine!

Tohaveandtohold · 27/05/2020 12:24

We spend the same as you for 2 adults, 2 children aged 7 and 1. The 1 year old eats just as much as the older one.

I’ll ask him to do the shopping for the month. I’ll probably write a list too because you don’t want him to plan some depressing meals just because he’s trying to prove that he can save money.

Itwasntme1 · 27/05/2020 12:25

£100 a week is tiny. I spend close to that (including a hello fresh weekly subscription) and I live alone😊.

Tell your husband to wonder his neck in. Why is it all your responsibility?

zingally · 27/05/2020 12:33

Seems reasonable to me.

The general rule we follow is £90 per person, per month. Which for a family of 4 is £360. But there's always variation per month, so it balances out.

HotSince82 · 27/05/2020 12:40

Just added ours up using my online banking app and its over 1K for the last month!
Two adults five kids and a dog. Mainly Lidl, Asda, Tesco and HBargains.
Previous to lockdown it was about £600, Jesus Christ!

MrsPear · 27/05/2020 12:43

Depends on your diet. Personally we don’t buy processed but do buy lots of vegetables and fruit and free range meat so at the moment we are looking at £130 for 2 adults and 2 older primary age children.

If you are that bothered then do an audit and write down everything that you have in the house and then meal plan from that until the cupboards are empty and then tell the oh it’s his job now.

HotSince82 · 27/05/2020 12:43

If I added in takeaways and wine it would be £1200 amd now I feel rather ill, however I try to eat keto in the main which is expensive and if the kids have wanted blueberries, cherries and watermelon etc I have just been buying them whereas usually they make do with apples and bananas. Will be reigning it in next month so thanks OP!

Okrightbut · 27/05/2020 12:43

It's fine. Is he normally so controlling and out of touch?

Elizabella · 27/05/2020 12:44

You have to bear in mind that during lockdown, prices have risen, you are probably buying more loo roll, squash, milk, washing liquid, snacks etc with kids at home so don't feel too bad. I notice the price rises every time on my once-a-week shopping excursion x

Yellowbutterfly1 · 27/05/2020 12:45

Mines about the same. Used to be before lockdown no more than £60 a week

Spied · 27/05/2020 12:45

I think £100 a week is very reasonable.

PickAChew · 27/05/2020 12:46

It's less than half what we spend on 2 adults, 2 teens