How much extra are you spending on food during lockdown?

[Usernamenumber6373]

2 adults, 2 children and a dog - who doesn’t cost us much as she’s tiny and barely eats anything.

Anyway, I normally spend around £80-90 a week on food plus a top up so maybe £110-£120 a week. 😱😱 this is with Tesco. There is absolutely no problem getting slots here anymore so I get my shopping delivered most weeks.

I’ve got a slot tomorrow. I have reached the 95 item limit and it’s costing me £150. Admittedly it’s has things like washing powder and cleaning stuff I don’t buy every week. Plus my freezer is looking empty so needs filling up. Could probably do with more but reached the item limit.

Plus I’ll be feeding the kids lunch every day. Dd is an infant and normally gets free lunches at school and we pay for DS’s school lunches. I put a months worth of money into parent pay on Monday which was a stupid idea. They always want cooked food like they have school for lunch... ££

Partner is annoyed at spending much but spending this much this week might mean I spend less next week...?

Often I get a shop delivered then partner does a top up during the week after work (I hate shopping in store, social anxiety). Trying to avoid doing the top up so is £150 really that bad?!

It’s not like I spend this every week. I’ll probably spend less next week!

Partner is also working long hours still so needs work food too!

It’s hugely increased here.

Three adults, two children, a toddler every weekend and a dog. Probably £150 odd weekly delivered then a £60 odd top up. But that three meals a day plus snack and drinks for all those people, before we had school lunches, went out to eat etc. We have more booze in the house.

Overall our spending has really decreased.

As in total household spending on going out, eating out, mooching around the shops and picking bits up, new clothes.

Living alone but cook almost every day for friends and 1 family member. £250-£300 with Ocado and £150ish from a butchers.
Cooking has been a hobby that has kept me sane during Covid.

Pre lockdown weekly £220.50
3 x school lunches - £37.50
School snacks - £15
Work lunches - £20
Food shop - £90
Bakery - £12
Butchers - £25
Take away - £30

Now around £190
£120 weekly shop, £30 take away, £40 top up so actually less

4 adults and 1 child here

I'm not spending any extra at all, family of 7, 1 big dog and a cat.

I'm spending less. I think because nobody is having a packed lunch. Beans or eggs on toast works out cheaper. I'm also cooking from scratch more as I have more time.

Too ashamed to admit how much I spend on takeaways but I’m buying mainly for other people.

Less, surprisingly.

Much more organised with grocery shopping so none of the popping into Sainsbury's for one ingredient we're out of that somehow turns into spending £20 on nothing. Getting better value packs and offers from booking the occasional delivery than at local supermarkets too.

At home more but obviously eating out less. Also not entertaining dinner guests which can be bloody expensive (I'd give anything to do it again though). More time to cook from scratch which also ends up cheaper.

I have 2 bottomless teens at home home-schooling while we are out at work.
Even with the cost of school lunches on top of our usual shop we are spending a lot more!

Spending about £120 for; a family of 6 Inc 2 teenage boys. I have kept it about the same by having more veggie meals and less snacky bits for packed lunches as I think costs have gone up a bit. We shop in Aldi/lidl & only buy cheap meat cuts eg. Minced meat/drumsticks Buy value apples/pears, buy frozen soft fruit rather than fresh etc. We usually have 2 really cheap meals a week in eg jacket potatoes with cheese and beans and veggie chilli. If they want a late night snack they usually have toast. Sounds a bit miserable but it's really not because my son enjoys home baking so we usually have homemade bread. We had seafood paella for lunch today (frozen seafood), yesterday veggie chilli, the day before homemade beef pie. You can often still make really delicious things on it tight budget.

I do a Tesco shop once a month or so to get the things we can't get in Aldi/Lidl.

We're spending a bit more.

I've managed to get a few Waitrose deliveries so have been stocking up a bit then going out for fresh bits.

We're not spending anything on going out or takeaways so spending less overall.

About £80/week for 3 adults. It's less than normal, because my daughter (who is autistic) isn't allowed to go shopping every day and buy stuff for the sake of it. Normally we spend between £5-10 a day on her treats before I buy any meals.

We're spending the same at the supermarket, £35 a week for an adult and teen, and saving about £5 on food and drinks not bought at school.

Between 90-110 a week depending on what needs stocking up on, and I reckon that's less than it was pre Covid because then I did endless top up shops and we ate out loads.

I've been spending a bit more than normal, partly because well, what else is there to do apart from cook and eat nice things, but also partly because I'm actively keeping the freezer and cupboards topped up to max, just in case of Brexit / Covid supply issues, or us having to isolate.

[quote Milssofadoesntreallyfit]@SpikeTheDragon
I used to use morrisons all the time and then switched to Lidl. I did have to get stuff from morrisons' that Lidl stock but eventually this stopped happening as overtime I tried different things and adapted accordingly and it did pay off.
Bit of a pain initially but worth trying if you can persevere.[/quote]
Thank you. I'll definitely give it a go.

About £60 a week - family of 3, 2 adults and a toddler. Cooking from scratch / healthy 6 nights a week and an 'easy' night usually once a week. Green grocers and small, independent shops e.g refill shop plus a small amount from Aldi.

We easily top £150 in lockdown. Supermarket delivery slots are a bit difficult here. Normally @ every 2 weeks. So I do top up in Aldi to keep overall spending down.

Do you have an Aldi or a Lidl near by?

I spent £85 in Aldi with a £30 top up in Sainsbury’s on Saturday. That’s a week for 4 of us, including some washing and cleaning bits. Both DC are at home but are having packed lunches at midday as they like to! I don’t think we spend much but I do think food has got more expensive.

It's only me and DH now and we spend around £65 a week. It's gone up a bit since lockdown'though. Used to be around £50

I haven't noticed any difference.

Absolutely LOADS extra, we have been going to local shops instead of the supermarket. Its easily 3 or 4 times as much. And I'm sure they've hoped the prices up since covid began