No idea how much spent on Food

[Aquarius1234]

AIBU to have no idea how much on average I spend on food per week/ month.

Eeeeek anyone else??

@Aquarius1234 YANBU. I used to budget to the penny, and had booklets for keeping track, etc, but found it stressful when my dh wouldn't curb his spending on stuff we didn't need and couldn't really afford at that time.

About 7 years ago, I handed over the financial stuff to my dh so that I wasn't so stressed and I no longer check our bank accounts, etc, so I generally have no idea what is in it or what we spend as it just made me too anxious.

Five years ago my dh was promoted and now, comfortably brings home 6 figures, so we don't need to worry about what we spend on food.

I'm still a bargain hunter due to the many years we had no money, and I struggle to spend money on stuff that isn't essential, but until just now I had no idea what we really spend on food and pets and cleaning supplies, etc.

I do like to buy a bargain when I see it, eg, if meat or something is on offer, but I've always shopped like that.

I've just looked over the last 3 months accounts, and we spend around £72/week on food and other groceries.
Then £10.50/ week on dog food, which I buy quarterly.
Then about £5-8/week on fish food, and I buy meat when it's on offer from either the supermarkets or the local butcher, eg, a whole lamb in Spring, so it may be that one week I spend £150 on meat on top of my normal shop.

I would say this means that my weekly total grocery bill, including all pets, etc, and meat comes to a maximum of £100-120 per week on average.

I do meal plan and cook from scratch. I do not really buy brands, and we rarely have takeaways. We eat out maybe once a quarter, which isn't included in this.

I feel guilty that I don't need to budget in the same way anymore, but I still do worry about money sometimes, and I hate waste.

Wow.
I hope you enjoy the 6 figure salary in other ways then! 👌

I realise how lucky we are. We didn't feel different for the 1st 4 years as he had to pay into the company for his promotion, which, at the time, took most of the wage increase. However, this last year, he's been paying into pensions as we never had the money to do so before, so we don't have any provisions for retirement, and that's now his focus.

@Aquarius1234 Do you want to change and be more aware of what you're spending?

Okay today total on food etc is £ 61.00
Unfortunately that was not the only shopping this week.
But the highest total.

OP, your attitude to the helpful advice here has been rather flippant.
But at the risk of getting a glib response from you, why not try the Kakeibo notebook method? Writing your everyday expenses down on paper according to category and target expenditure helps with mindfulness.
It works for me because I also enjoy spending time using high quality pens and paper.

Why don’t you try just doing one main shop this week?

why dont you just set up a spreadsheet @Aquarius1234

My Starling bank app tells me how much I spend on food, whether I want it to or not 🤣

Most online banking apps categorise spending now. It’s not 100% accurate but gives you a vague idea how much you’ve spent on groceries, for example.

I set up a saving space on mine and put £10 in it every day I take my breakfast and lunch into work. I've got the clear glass containers and plastic lids you can get on Amazon. My colleagues are like "Ooh- what have you got today?" Stevie Neil on Blue Lights made me laugh so much in recognition, with his bento boxes.

Sounds too complicated. I don't like excel.
Agree about saving regarding not buying lunch out.
Sometimes I go home. But only 50/ 50.

I seem to be the only one who doesn’t mind supermarket shopping as I go most days. I live near several supermarkets and walk past after work. I find it more efficient as I just get what I need for that night/couple of nights so v little is wasted or goes off.
Costs about £700-800 per month two adults, two teens no pets. Plus maybe £100 on eating out. I always keep a rough mental tally - just because I like to know.