Just had a shock, how much do you spend on groceries a month?

[FluffyUnionSocks]

For March so far not including tomorrow’s shopping delivery of £230, I have spend £970 on groceries this month. Including tomorrows shop the last of the month the grand total will be £1200! Wtf this time last year it was about half that amount.
How much are you all spending? We are a family of 5 the 3 kids are aged between 11-16.

It's awful how prices have shot up isn't it, even the bare essentials costing upwards of £100 per week 😱

@FluffyUnionSocks I've also fallen into the pre packaged snack trap, just so convenient and easy when you have packed lunches. But try using some of the ingredients you already by to batch cook some tray bakes. They're healthier, higher quality and kids love them.

I buy for example bags of frozen fruit which is cheaper, and add them to generic "healthy" cake recipes - e.g. batter from butter, flour, oats, eggs, apple sauce, banana, etc and then dump in a bunch of frozen fruit and maybe some chia seeds or flax meal. It makes a huge tray which can be cut into squares!

*I also add some Greek yoghurt for moistness so they are more muffin like, delicious..

Yes @CandlelightGlow , And I’m quite a basic shopper anyway , buying staples for cooking from scratch and even these are doubling in some cases. I can’t trim anymore than what I’m doing just now.
I think we all eat well and healthily too so I’m fine with what we are eating , just dismayed by the ever rising prices.

over £1000 a month seems really expensive! Have you considered trying out some recipes boxes, which might cut down your costs (hellofresh, gousto etc)? For hello fresh at full price, you can get 5 recipes a week for 4 people for £63 (There's not an option for 5 people sadly).
Or you could look into a local veg box delivery service and then plan recipes from there?
Definitely check out eat well for less on BBC iplayer!
You could also allocate your kids one night each a week to cook for everyone, with a set amount (maybe £10-£15) to spend on ingredients, which would likely help the budget as well as improving their cooking skills!

The price of everything keeps going up, so I buy fewer nice treats and eat more and more plainly. Still, blue passports and sovereignty and all that shit. Don't mind me, I'll be a in corner, gnawing a turnip.

😆
This made me lol

just DH and I around £80 to £90 a week, inc dog and two cats.
when theee adults DCs are home, about £130 a week.
we don’t eat meat.
lunches - sandwiches, toastier, beans on toast.
supper - maybe burritos, chilli with rice, stir fry with tofu.
we snack too - sharing crisps and maltesers!

Such another long thread about the same old thing. Everyone will tell you their weekly shopping amount and habits. Mine if you want to know is around £360 a week not including dog food which is raw food at £40 a month. My shopping habits tell you nothing unless you get a breakdown of wages, expenditure and lifestyle. What really matters is can you afford it and if not then what can you do about it.

Put it another way. £1200 a month. Remove £200 for household items / toiletries which are occasional spends. Thats £6.40 per person per day on food. Jamie Oliver has got some stick over his new series but tbh, you are the type of person who really would benefit from the concept.

Thats still a pretty heafty amount, as given theres five of you, it'd be pretty easy to make big meals to keep your costs down.

That list there includes a high number of snacks and number of branded items too. A multiple pack of four Galaxy Ripples will set you back £1.65 at Asda. Thats steep, especially if you consider a 4 pack of Double Deckers, Caburys Crunchies or Twirls would set you back £1.15 at Aldi. (And the double deckers are the same gram per bar as Galaxy Ripples) and thats BEFORE you look at the own brand alternatives.

If you'd have asked me two years ago, I'd have been spending more than I do now on food. We definitely don't skimp. Its just I've got better and avoiding the impulse buys, resisting brands and focusing on things that don't break the bank as much. Just stuff you won't actually really notice.

About teh same as you family of 5 2 parents a young adult and 2 under 7 s

I’m sick to fucking death of food shopping! Every week the bill is mental. I’ve just spent £250 for Easter break basics. Obviously there’s snacky bits and stuff for lunch as we’ll be here but it’s not even including Easter Sunday lunch!

My wages are increasing (not in line with inflation) so that’s something, but it’s only Dd and I here and a one income family means it’s a bit fucking stressful.

I've just spent £80 in Lidl.

I didn't even know it was possible to spend £80 in Lidl!

Two baskets full. It took two minutes to put away and I'm wondering where it all went.

I budget £60 per week for food and household (toilet paper etc) and an extra £30 per week for coffee out or a takeaway. This is just for 2 adults though. However I already have all the extras bought in such as spices, lentils, chick peas etc which enable me to make healthy meals from scratch.

About £500 a month. My Tesco order is just under £100 a week, plus milk from the milkman and the odd top up, but I really try to avoid those. 2 adults, 2 primary aged DC. Used to be able to do £80 a week, but that seems too hard now without too many compromises. 1 pescatarian, 2 omnivores and 1 v picky eater. I plan 5 meals per week, including meat for about 3/4 and fish for 1/2. We will usually have one or two meals of leftovers/something from the freezer/pasta. Might have a takeaway one night, or have a lunch out at the weekend and have a smaller dinner at home.

Around £800 a month 😭 dh, me, ds (16) and Dd (12)

£100 a week on a shop and then top up with bread and milk. Did Gousto when I had an offer code and then copy the meals now and make them cheaper. It is a joke though that things are so expensive!

That's a lot. We don't spend anywhere close to that. We are a household of 2 adults, 2 teenagers, 1 older child and I am also pregnant. DP also drinks alcohol, so that's included in the budget.

The trick is to batch cook. A big spaghetti bolognese is cheap to make and easily stretches to 2x meals per week with a side salad. For example, I make that on a Monday and it does Monday and Wednesday dinner. Then a fish pie on Tuesday; that's Tuesday and Thursday. Then Friday chicken fajitas. Weekend might be frozen pizza / nuggets / chips / jacket potatoes. It is a little repetitive eating multiple meals of the same dish, but it saves an absolute ton of money.

Around £400 a month for 2 adults and a toddler. We don’t drink alcohol in the house or have any pets to feed which I think reduces our cost. We prep food too.

£250 for two adults per month.

Oh, and before I moved in with DP, he was also spending loads of money on food. The problem was he was cooking individual meals every night, so needed lots of different types of meat, vegetables, carbs. He was also buying own branded stuff, like bourbons for £2 when you can get the equivalent for 50p!

£625 on supermarket shops- 2 adults, a ten yr old and a 7 yr old, plus 3 cats. We also had a meal out (£100?) plus dh probably spent some on his own account so +£50, and the ds has school dinners so £45 on parent pay.

let’s call it £820. But that includes all food, alcohol, and anything else we’ve bought in a supermarket so birthday cards, presents, medicines etc. I don’t know how I feel about that really. I don’t think it’s any more than pre col crisis, I think we have massively changed the way we shop and the things we eat though.

This month £390 for 2 adults a 6 year old and a dog, that's about average. DD get free school meals because we are in wales but DH takes lunch to work everyday and I WFH

Between £25 and £300 a month. Just 2 adults here, so more than we should spend really.

£25??? I wish..£250 obviously 😀

The price of tinned spaghetti hoops and sausages these days. FFS.

@FluffyUnionSocks What's wrong with wonky fruit or perfectly imperfect fruit. You'll half your fruit bill swapping from specially selected.

We shop around a lot. I go to different shops for different offers. It saves me money but is time consuming. We do tesco and savers for toiletries. Lidl for laundry detergent and fabric softener and a mix or Aldi, sainsbury and morrisons for food. I also get my meat from the butcher instead of the supermarket unless its on offer. I've reduced meat intake significantly.

We also do cheap meal every other day. So I might do scrabbled egg and toast or beans and cheese on toast. Or a vegetarian dinner.