To spend an average £125 on a weekly shop?

[SwordPlay]

We're a family of 4 - myself and DP, an 8yo and an 18mo. Pescatarians, so no meat, occasional fish/sea food. We try to eat healthy and on a budget - yet a typical shop bill comes to between £120-130 per week. However, that does include nappies, baby wipes, cleaning products, most toiletries, razors, occasional stationery.

Are we spending too much? We want to be able to save more so I'm wondering if our shopping bills are unreasonable.

What do you think? Thanks in advance xx

We shop in aldi and I’d say ours is between £100 and £110 per week. We have 5 DC aged between 1 and 11 so yes, I’d say yours is expensive but guessing you shop in a different more expensive supermarket. If we did our weekly shop in a different supermarket we’d probably spend £150+.

I spend that on me and 2 teens. I could cut it down but I think it's typical

We spend that and it's just 2 adults

We spend about £70-80 quid on two adults and one toddler DC. Some weeks it might be £60 and others £100. We also eat out at least once on a weekend and probably get a takeaway each week, so probably equals about £100 a week a guess.

@Edmontine - no worries, I was just adding context to my situation :)

I agree with your overall point. There is definitely a problem there with cheap produce. Chocolate industry, dairy farming, meat farming etc. When you're paying really low prices for something, something else has been sacrificed for sure. Whether it's animal welfare or how much farmers get paid or the environmental impact.. I'm not super knowledgeable on this but I do recognise the problem xx

2 adults, 5 yr old and 14 months old here, also 2 cats.

Averages around £70 a week, including all nappies, milk etc.

Everything done at Tesco (yes I could reduce by going to Aldi, but we both work full time and the convenience of a weekly Tesco delivery is something I'm happy with.

Foods cover allbreakfasts, evening meals, snacks weekends (maybe a takeaway on top for DH and I but not always)

We probably spend £175-200 a week at the moment for 2 adults and one tween. This includes cat food for 2 cats, good quality wine and the occasional takeaway

And I've been there on spending the smallest I can possibly get away with, buying pretty much all our food yellow label, TGTG and olio.
I don't have to any more and I'd rather cut back somewhere else if I have to.
I shop in a variety of places - aldi, sainsbos, local shops, Waitrose

And I still LOVE my yellow stickers 😂

If it includes all those extras it isn't that much. You could probably cut it doen though.

@SwordPlay she did it initially so she could plough every spare penny she had into clearing some debts. She strictly meal plans and does a ‘big shop’ (about £40) once every six weeks or so and tiny top ups every week for fresh things. She’s incredibly frugal. For example she told me recently if one of her kids has one of those dippy cheese pot things (you know, breadsticks in one side, cheese spread in the other) and doesn’t eat all the cheese, she’ll cling film it and use it for sandwiches the next day. She probably takes it to the extreme but she has cleared loads of debt.

As some one else said its all relative to your income and how much you can afford

In lockdown we got into a habit of shopping in m and s . We haven't managed to break that habit and I still find myself in there buying a top up shop which always seems to include flowers, rose and fruit on a Friday after work

It's easy it's nice and at the moment we can afford it so I go with the flow. If things get tight then I need to get more organised and plan a bit better but for now it works for us.

Thanks, @MargaretThursday - cheap pizza with added extras is definitely a good idea! And jacket potatoes are a regular meal for us as well. Cheap & cheerful and everyone loves them! xx

Thanks, @SaveWaterDrinkGin - I do admire such single-mindedness. And good on your friend for not wasting any food as well! I often save leftovers for the next day, though if it seems like a pathetic amount I'll just eat it! Like I said, I've got poor self-discipline :)