Is this a silly amount of money for our food shop?

[lancsgirl85]

Sorry - I know there have been a few threads about food shop bills but I am just astounded by ours at the moment and wanted to see if we are overspending and where we could make savings. We already shop in the likes of Aldi, Tesco, and B&Ms. We are a family of 4 - 2 adults, a teen and a toddler - plus a cat. We are spending in the region of £130-150 per week (circa £600-700 per month). This doesn't include anything like eating out or luxuries/alcohol etc - just the essentials really.

Are we spending a lot? Or is this about average now costs have risen?

See if you buy all that in one shop it will be a pricey shop. But I'm guessing it doesn't always come up at once.

Where do you shop? I switched to Aldi & it's made a difference

We are those that spend about £50 a week in aldi, but also either go for a meal out or a take away most weeks too although this comes out of our non bills cash. Only two of us. My partner is quite basic with food and I batch cook for mine and my work meals. No pets. This doesn’t include alcohol as I don’t drink often at home. Partner buys a box of lager every now and then for home out of his own money .

Mine was about £200 a week. I've kept it to £70 for the last 3 weeks. 2 adults, 1 teen, 2 tween kids.

I've stopped buying any lunch box bits. So just a sandwich, fruit, homemade cake/traybake. No more babybels, cheese strings, yoghurt tubes, penguin bars etc.

Meal plan! And factor in leftovers. I think I was buying too much food before!

No more fizzy drinks/alcohol unless it's the weekend.

Less cereal, more porridge & eggs.

We're actually eating better on our reduced budget. Less processed food. Cheaper options like jacket potato, beans, cheese, salad & homemade coleslaw. We had got used to eating expensive meat at every meal. Now it's just a few times a week.

It is more labour intensive though.

Thank god for this thread - I thought that I was going mad! I was only thinking earlier that there’s never anything left over in the cupboards anymore. It’s all used as necessary.

Justwingingit2005 - this made me laugh 😂

Aldi & Tesco for food, & B&M for cleaning products. Nappies are Tesco. Butchers for mince, but any other meat from Aldi or Tesco.

Seems a lot to me.
We are 4 adults (so no pet food, no nappies, but obviously 4 x adult appetites).
Supermarket weekly shop is around £55pw. That's not trying to economise, that's just what it comes to.

I also spend about £50 in another shop about once every 10 weeks or so (so add in another £5 a week for that) and the young adults get their own alcohol (and occasional posh ice-cream or other fancied treat) separately.

Ours is over £100 a week for 2 adults, I don't think yours sounds unreasonable

Honestly I spend that on just me, so I think you are being very frugal. (Disclaimer - I don’t eat out, buy coffees or take-always).

£100 a week here for 2 adults, 2 dc and a cat. We don’t drink and are pescatarians.

It is more labour intensive though

At the risk of coming across like a princess - yes, it is and it's grinding my gears. Extra time to organise, extra time to go to different shops, extra time to prep all the veg for meatless dishes, extra time to bake cakes that would have been bought, to cook up meat for sandwiches that otherwise just came out of a packet. I'm about ready to go back to blind ignorance and just eat.

I though you were coming on here to say £500 per week. Of course its not excessive and I think you know it.

I do think that is a lot. I spend 25 a week on fruit and veg box, and about another 40-50 at Tesco/ the local market. Hardly any meat, some wine, and not including cleaning stuff, which I get in bulk online, or school meals. 2 adults, 2 primary age kids but one eats loads. We eat cheap meals at 4/5 times a week (pasta, lentil and veg stews, soups, chickpeas, tinned fish etc) and not much convenience stuff at all. Sorry don't want to sound smug - also, I cook it all and it takes loads of my time - but just for comparison.

We are £120-£140 a week for two adults, a toddler and two cats, but we often buy extra bits during the week. I know I could cut costs if I tried but we’re not in a position to need to.

You probably could get that cost down, imo, by buying fresh produce that's in season or on offer, like the Aldi specials. Adapt your meal plan on the hoof.

What sort of fruit and veg do you buy? Any tropical fruit/berries or imported veg like mange tout or baby corn? They usually cost considerably more per kilo than your bog-standard bananas & oranges, and UK-grown fruit and veg. One large cabbage costs about 85p and will last several meals, and you can probably make coleslaw with it as well. Compare that with the price of imported green veg, and that is where your savings are going to be. Better for the planet re air miles too.

Supermarket steak mince is fine, by the way, and would be cheaper than the butcher.

I think I don't know it. Hence the thread in the first place. When I've never spent more than £100 a week it's quite a jump!

Six adults, all veggie or vegan, dog food for two dogs, no treats or alcohol. We shop at Lidl and top up at sainsburys and are now spending £190 a week.

We switched to Aldi cereals years ago, and really like them. The only branded cereal I buy now is Kellogg's cornflakes, and only very occasionally. There's no substitute for those.

I spend the same amount as you. £130 per week for 4 people and a dog. I have treats and don't have take aways, so it's fine.

It's maybe a bit on the high side compared to the average spend. But by no means excessive.

We spend around £100 per month for a family of 4, no pets.

@KleineDracheKokosnuss

£100 per month?! Is that a typo? Do you mean week?

Probably about 250€ a week for a family of 6. Plus maybe more if we eat out or whatever.

I go through my cupboards/fridge & freezer and listed all the meals I can make from those items. The only things I need to buy are fresh produce and any missing items to make a meal with my store cupboard ingredients. This method has saved me about £40 a week because I'm only buying what I need. This helps me to use up what I've got so minimises wastage.

We are three adults and a cat. I never spend more than £70 a week unless I have to buy washing powder and cat food, cleaning stuff. I just did a shop at Aldi for £50 and probably will spend £10 or less in the week. No alcohol in that and also includes lunches for two of us. It was plenty and no ready meals. We are eating less meat, only once or twice a week. Lots of veg. Meals are mostly pasta, rice and veg based. I don't buy any soft drinks or crisps.