We spend £800 a month on food

[Ridingoutthewaves]

Is that a ridiculous amount for a household of 4 adults and 2 children? We need to cut our monthly spending.

I shop between sainsbury's and aldi spend around 70 a week 2 adults and 1 child so double that would be around 140 so 560ish a month you could get it dont too we eat alot of fruits but I buy whats cheap and on offer do melon kiwi apples banana I avoid fresh berries if not in season same for veg cabbage carrots broccoli are my many ones and salad I grow my own

Lol gotta love mumsnet 😂😂😂

It’s less than £5 a day per person for food. If you can afford it why not.

It's probably just about what we spend in the supermarket so including cleaning/toiletries but not including eating out/takeaways/ lunches when I go into the office. I'd say we spend another 100 on that unless it's a birthday treat month.

We are only 4 though inc 2 teens. We have different food requirements and to my shame, we do shop a lot in Waitrose (lockdown habit we haven't changed).

We could deffo spend less. We will
Do a big Tesco or Asda show every couple of months when we need to restock on bulk buy things like washing powder/kitchen roll/loo roll and we probably knock a good 5/10 quid off our regular items in comparison to Waitrose but tbh we can afford that 40 quid a month additional bill and Waitrose is much closer so less fuel

Has the Mumsnet chicken that feeds the 5000 been rolled out yet ?

We spend £700 for a family of 5, 2 adults, 1 teen, 2 primary age kids, 1 cat, 3 Guinea pigs. 3 household members are veggie. I meal plan and mostly cook from scratch. That amount includes alcohol, cleaning stuff, and 1 takeaway a month, plus any meals out )happens rarely though). Shop at Aldi plus top ups from our local coop. I feel like we should be spending less, and every month resolve to cut down, but food is noticeably more expensive now, so think it’s very unlikely to happen.

Same as @ScarlettDarling 6 of us and also including cleaning products and basics shampoo etc.

I spend around£500 month on 2 adults but this includes some cleaning stuff, toiletries and wine. I have 3 shops of around £100 plus one week where I plan well and use up from freezer and spend around £50 and I average about£35 every week on coffees and odd items and snacks.

There's 2 adults and 2 kids in our household and we aim to spend £100 a week no more
We can't afford any more on food

We have cheap teas some
Night tho

Pasta bake
Omelettes
Jacket potatoes and beans
Frittata
Home made pizza and wedges

We certainly don't eat meat or fish every night

It's just getting more and more expensive every week for a family shop isn't it

I don't think it's ridiculous no, especially as you are likely including some cleaning and toiletry purchases. But you could cut it if you wanted. Sainsbos is dear, you're no doubt right that you would spend less if the shop were tilted more towards Lidl. Would it be doable to make Lidl your 'main' shop? Then do a supplementary shop at Sainsbury's every 3 weeks perhaps for the stuff you can't get from Lidl.

We’re two adults, two teenagers and two children and ours is around £600/month now. I could get it a bit less if I needed to but there’d be some complaints!

I’ve haven’t seen the MN chicken but a pp mentioned a £40 takeaway that feeds 7 plus enough for up to two more meals

4 curries
4 rice
1 veg side dish
1 naan bread

2 adults, 2 children here.
We spend about £70 a week at Aldi but that includes all toiletries, household items etc.
We have the occasional meal out and/or takeaway so reckon we spend about £400 per month on food.

4 curries
4 rice
1 veg side dish
1 naan bread

Wow that is pricey! I was expecting you to say loooads of sides.

We spend more and there are 2 of us and three dogs. But we are in the US where food is a LOT more expensive than the UK.

It’s not a question of whether it’s too little/too much. Can you afford it? If yes, it’s not too much. If no, it’s too much.

You will get the full MN smorgasbord of answers here. From people who claim to feed a family of 6 plus pets on 40 quid a week (yet never manage to post a receipt or weekly menu that comes anywhere close to that) to people who can’t cope unless they eat yak’s milk yoghurt that was handmade in Nepal and delivered by a golden coach pulled by unicorns. And everything in between.

It’s not groceries but as a family of 6 (2 adults, 4 kids) I find we were spending a fortune on birthday cards. We started off making our own as a bit of a joke but it became really popular within the family and has spread to friends and we now do it for everyone.
As it’s done in a light hearted way, you don’t have to be good at art. Just get some plain white A4 card and write Happy Birthday etc in big colourful letters and if you fancy make an attempt at some kind of picture.
Due to our large family we were getting through a lot of cards. It’s been a nice saving.

It's a fair question. No need for the overreaction. If OP thinks her spending is ridiculous she should cut it down.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable. I’m not saying you couldn’t get it down but it’s not ridiculous in the current climate.

I aim to keep ours to £500 per month. That’s all breakfasts, some lunches and all dinners for two adults, 1 primary aged DC and one toddler, plus food for one cat. All cleaning products. No alcohol (that comes out of personal spends) but quite a lot of snacks and some pre-prepared foods. Mainly Aldi and Sainsburys depending on whether I can be arsed to go in person.

We don’t eat as much quality protein or fully home-cooked meals as I would like due to one v fussy child so the meat tends to mince, sausages and chicken. We could easily spend more but I don’t go round mentally adding up. But the costs have leapt in the last two weeks. It’s scary.

I've cut the rice now, nearly £12, just use the microwave packets.

@xippo that's crazy!
Attached some prices near me (the 4 person one is nicer and bigger portions)

It’s an extortionate amount just on food even if prices have gone up. That’s £35 a day roughly! As someone who cooks fresh food and veg daily or in batches I cannot understand how on earth it could ever cost that much when you can fill an entire bag of food at Lidl and Aldi for such a cheap amount. It’s total indulgence if you’re not cooking fresh because then buying meat, pre done food or other pricey brands are just unnecessary. A whole pack of pasta costs around £1, peppers around 70p each, sauces £3 for a couple of jars even adding more veg to that would never ever come anywhere near £35!! This is why people from previous generations now can’t take poverty seriously with some because of the nonsense that is going on with cooking and buying food it’s become a joke.

Sounds a lot to me, can you easily afford it? If not then think about what you buy and changing to cheaper things.

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