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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:
SallyWD · 27/05/2020 11:10

We're also a family of 4. We're averaging £170 a week.

Hoppinggreen · 27/05/2020 11:15

Similar family set up to you and we are currently spending around double that
However, as we aren’t going out for meals, cinema etc and DH/DC usually have lunch at work or school I think it’s fine.

MillicentMartha · 27/05/2020 11:16

I’m spending almost exactly that, 3 of us, one 54yo, a 20yo and a 17yo. No school meals, no college meals, no work canteen, no restaurants. We have been getting a takeaway occasionally but I’m not including the cost of that.

TimeWastingButFun · 27/05/2020 11:18

We're spending at least twice that with 4 of us, but there are always a lot of non essentials, I think if I only bought essentials and no wine/treats it would be fine to get to £100 pw.

Frogsandsheep · 27/05/2020 11:20

We have 2 adults, 2 teens and a younger child and spend £600 a month!

TheStuffedPenguin · 27/05/2020 11:21

This isn't a comparison about who spends what - it is to do with the OP and her H . Let him do the shopping for a month and let him work it out.

MayFayre · 27/05/2020 11:24

We’re spending a lot more. No school lunches and every single meal and snack eaten at home,

Winederlust · 27/05/2020 11:25

Bloody hell we easily spend that as a couple with a dog! I'd say £400 for a family of 4 is frugal even discounting lockdown.

derenstar · 27/05/2020 11:25

£400 is our budget, we are a family of 2 adults and 2 school age children and it’s plenty for us. We buy a lot of our stuff in bulk at Costco (non-perishables like toilet paper, laundry products, canned goods and stuff for the freezer ) which this tends to last a while, so we only really need to buy fresh things weekly from the supermarket. I tend to go to Aldi, Morrisons and Tesco’s for the fresh things. I wouldn’t say I’m a particularly careful shopper but I have noticed a lot less deals at Morrisons since the pandemic began.

FizzyGreenWater · 27/05/2020 11:28

WTF? Just give him the shopping responsibility for a month. The end.

If he does better, that's amazing! He can keep doing it.

Make absolutely sure you point out if anything is missing and the discrepancy if suddenly beans on toast twice a week becomes 'acceptable'...

VividImagination · 27/05/2020 11:30

We are 4 adults, a teen and a large dog. I normally spend £60-£80 a week buying almost everything yellow sticker topped up with value brand. I mostly cook from scratch and bake all snacks and treats that I can’t get “reduced to clear”. For the last few weeks I’ve been £120-£130 a week, so almost double.

However, normally my 2 adult sons skip breakfast or buy something on the way to work. They buy a meal deal or eat lunch in the canteen and ds1 eats out 2-3 times a week. Ds3 has lunch and snacks at school. Currently we are all at home 24/7 and getting home deliveries. The shops don’t have value items in stock and ASDA doesn’t even have 3 for £10 meat at the moment. I‘m paying £1.99 for a bag of flour instead of 49p. I would be cheaper buying treats than baking at that price. And so on!

Shinyletsbebadguys · 27/05/2020 11:30

About the same for us to be honest , two adults two DC 7 and 4 and ddog. We probably could lower it by cutting out any luxuries but in all honesty I suspect someone might kill someone else if I did that.

I do plan to reduce snacking for the DC but that's more about routine and sensible eating routines because I've been a bit lax during the initial stages of lockdown. I did have to gently remind exdh that there was an increase of 2 lunches and snacks daily when I vaguely mentioned I was keeping an eye on money and he looked quizzical and asked why what was different Hmm , he's not an arse but no concept of how much children actually cost !

MerlinMoo · 27/05/2020 11:32

I'm 1 adult 1 child (teen) and spend just abit less than that. I think your doing really good for 4 people.

Acdmm41 · 27/05/2020 11:32

I can't get my weekly shop for 3 of us to less than £100 since lockdown, normally about £70. Is still a saving though when I factor in what I would normally spend in work canteen, kids would spend at school, eating out on the weekend. There's also less deals in the supermarkets than there were.

Chocolateandamaretto · 27/05/2020 11:33

I spend £120-£140 a week in Asda for 5 of us. £100 a week seems very reasonable!

WatchingFromTheWings · 27/05/2020 11:33

tell him he is welcome to do it and see if he can get decent food and cover all toiletries and household items needed for less.

I had to do similar with my exh. Except he accused me of lying about how much I was spending on food (he thought I was spending on myself or stashing money...I wasn't). I used to give him all the receipts and challenge him to do the shop for less! He couldn't.

suggsy · 27/05/2020 11:33

I think that very reasonable, we are two adults and a cat and spend about the same! I think it’s all relative though ie can you you afford it, if so fire away. Yes we could spend less but don’t need to and like our meat and dairy organic (and the cat is fussy!)

Wired4sound · 27/05/2020 11:34

This thread is making me feel so much better - our budget is £400 a month for 2 adults and DS but I always go over.

At the moment it’s more due to providing more meals and snacks at home - especially for DS who is always hungry.

Hanamuslim · 27/05/2020 11:36

We spend anything between 110 to 150 a week on food, cleaning products,nappies,wipes etc. We are a family of 6. 4 kids and 2 adults

Hanamuslim · 27/05/2020 11:37

We also buy halal meat which is expensive and my husband and I don't like many same things. I don't eat red meat but he does so while he has beef, I have chicken so am buying two lots of dinner if that makes sense

Gncq · 27/05/2020 11:38

So OP are you going to show your DH the poll Grin

thegreylady · 27/05/2020 11:39

We spend about £250 a month on groceries at the moment.

Redwinestillfine · 27/05/2020 11:39

Ours was £400 on a good month pre lockdown. Now it's more like £600

Tiredmummy2019 · 27/05/2020 11:39

This is interesting to see as we have a £450 budget and always blowing it, between hubby, myself, 5 year old and one cat, it's hard to keep within it, also dont forget this has been a long month, five foodshops not four...but also I have found since lockdown we can't take our time to price compare, travel to different shops with better deals and when we have queued for an hour we're just thinking if I see it, Im gonna get it so yes through lockdown we have probably averaged £500-£650 depending on events, plus as we used to get takeaways we have been simulating them at home so chines, indian, fancy pizzas etc but the men (sorry if sexist but reality is most women buy the food am I right?) dont realise how quickly it all adds up!

Skybooks · 27/05/2020 11:41

I spend about £140 every 10 days between butchers and supermarket and my DH will pop out and get top up (about £30) during that time.
We have 1 ds4. I do however like wine.

If you can afford it and aren't wasting food I dont see why there us a problem.