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??

im £160 a week on a good week, £200 a week if i want to have some special things or extra household bits

I don’t know - only 2 of us and no pets*. Several small shops a week. From former habit/necessity I’m generally fairly frugal, though.

*but dh spends a bomb on wild bird food!

Not sure whether op is winding up but she has a point here. I get really stressed in supermarkets and can’t get out fast enough, often forgetting the main thing I went in for.
I shop online. About £100/ week but I’ll vary the day so it’s only 3 shops a month. 2 adults, 3/4 big visiting family meals a month.
Occasional jacket potatoes but mainly vegan veggie salady meals. Biggest extravagance is sourdough bread, about £10 week. We definitely eat our 30 veg and grains a week- holding that in mind is the best thing I’ve done for meal planning and budgeting.

Fair enough if you don’t know as you’re going along, I suppose. But will you be looking at your bank statement and adding it up at any point OP? Once in a while I do this across a few months and divide by weeks to see rough estimate.

You must have a rough idea @Aquarius1234

I shop once a week. I'd run out that's it's till next shop day

Weekly around £100 which is too much and ideally like to spend less

And some posters spending £700 a month but having jackets madness

Jackets with caviar and truffle?

(Sorry person who mentioned jacket potatoes, it's just light hearted - I get that costs can add up).

Sounds like a very inefficient way to shop OP - as though you’re not doing on budgeted big shop at all, just lots of little shops.

I’ve shopped online since it was invented in 2000 odd because I hate supermarkets too

I could eat less meat, but I feel better with meat and potatoes. Pizza is the alternative often.
Dull I know.

Jacket potatoes or a toasted sandwich. This week. Craving meat again.

100%
Not sure why. Since Covid times I think.

Add it up on your bank statements, I was happily surprised to see I only spend 350 a month after panicking when I saw that Mumsnet 1000 a month thread.

Online banking app???

They notify you when you tap your card acknowledging the spend.

It would take you 2 minutes to check your banking app and work out how much you spend in a supermarket a month/week. Quicker than writing this thread.

If you haven't got an online banking app, then I suggest you get one.

Is it meat or protein you're actually craving? Is it red meat specifically? Are you low in iron?

You're getting unreasonably slated here op people saying you're either lying or rich 😂 I only earn 1000 a month and I didn't know my monthly food spend till I added it up either

Protein and meat.
Online banking app doesn't stop the purchases tho.
No I don't have it.

Isn't it depressing seeing everything being sent to you. Yes I know you see it online shopping.

Surely just check your online banking, and add it up for a week/month? We spend about £350 a month for 2 adults, and eat very healthily. I never throw anything away, plan all meals, ignore use by dates.

Get your iron levels checked again perhaps (I crave red meat due to low iron sometimes).
Eggs are a good source of protein - fritatta is great for filling you up. Have with a salad heavy on spinach. That might feed some of the cravings.
There's maybe something else emotional/psychological going on with how often you shop/admitting the reality of the costs.

I always check the amount on the card machine, at both serviced and self serve tills. It's far too easy for mistakes to happen and overcharging.

I do know what we spend as an average. We are not on a tight budget, but I still like to know where money is going to make sure nothing is missing.

Our big shop weekly delivery is normally between £180-£200, and a mid week fresh top up of around £30-£40. That covers 4 adults and a teen, with a meal out once a week.

Constant little trips are definitely a problem. The amounts may seem small each time but add up quickly.

I generally dont meal plan and dont have a budget. I dont pay attention on much I spend per shop or per week but we use an app for our spendings and I can ckeck later, most months we end up spending similar amount on food between £700 and £900 for 4 of us.

However I do check my recepit after paying because it happened a few times that I was charged wrong prices or didnt get the sale prices etc.

Yes don't they say tight people, tend to be rich people lol
I can't stand obsessing over money. Even tho I think about money enough. Some people can't have a conversation without talking about money and costs.
Or they assume you have lots in the bank, when you buy clothes occasionally.
I paid a lot for a trip recently. But I haven't been anywhere in a while. Assumptions eh.

In that case, carry on as you are. Simple. No need to obsess and "be tight" by figuring out what you spend on food.

You clearly do have lots of money in the bank though if you're able to spend so liberally on a near daily basis and not take note of how much you're spending. The alternative is you're in mountains of debt and have no idea?

If you looked after your spend and kept an eye on it you'd probably be able to do way more things than you currently do. I budget our shopping spend, I dont need to I could be tap happy and not check the bill, but then my lifestyle wouldn't be how it is if I was wasting money buying things we don't need just because I don't want to keep things in check. We are about to leave for the holiday a lifetime, amongst a few other holidays we've had this year. I wouldn't be able to do these things if I wasn't keeping an eye and trying to stay within allowances.