To not agree with dh that 160 is extortionate for a food shop for 4 adults?

[Fadedchintz]

I'm recovering from Covid and while I was ill dh and the dcs (over 18, one on gap year and working part time, one here temporarily for a fortnight) did the shopping and cooking, all good. Over the last 10 days they've used up a lot of things. Went shopping yesterday and spent 90 in Aldi and then 70 in Tescos - dd is gluten free so can't get that in Aldi plus there are some branded things we like. I also spent 15! on olive oil which was extortionate but that was 2 litres from Aldi. I use it for cooking and it will last ages. No alcohol, some dog food and that shop will feed 4 for the rest of the week for breakfast lunch and dinner. Lots of things to stock the freezer, chips, peas etc. Tinned Tom's, baked beans, ketchup (both so expensive now - should move to heinz dupes and will do in future). Lots of fruit because I've been so ill and want to eat healthily. Washing powder, flash bleach cleaner (dogs!)

Anyway, dh looked at the joint account and was really shocked and slightly judgemental. Told me we really need to rein in our spending. I felt a bit like a naughty kid.

AIBU not to agonise over a 160 shop? I've meal planned and that is 6 good dinners, 6 lunches and breakfasts for a week. We never have takeaways. We also live a long way from the nearest shop so food needs to last.

Yeah I must say I felt uncharacteristically pissed off.

I think £160 a week is pretty reasonable for 4 grown ups, we spend that and we have 2 adults 2 kids and 2 dogs plus cat!

When was the last time that he shopped?

I mean I don't know the prices of everything that I buy but there's a lot of stuff that I know is more than it was!

Used to be able to get a bag of pasta for 49/59cts-now 99cts.

Cottage cheese the same -just a couple of examples.

That's not bad for a weekly shop, if you've got a load of extras like fruit, washing powder and bleach - my shops are always more when I need to top of toilet roll, washing powder, dog food and coffee - but none of those things are a weekly expense for us really. I think I'm between 90-170 a weekly shop for two adults, two children and a baby

We spend between £80-£120 for X2 adults, a 4YO and a 1YO. We also buy nappies, soya milk and wipes from Aldi separately. So, I'd say approx. £120ish per week on average.

Yes so that shop included stuff to make all the above meals, plus lots of olive oil, washing powder, some dog food, flash bleach, toothpaste.

Seeing it all written down here i think 160 is bloody marvellous.

I’m amazed by how much people here are spending on their shop. Our household is three adults and two dogs. Even though the dogs eat a fresh, home cooked meal every day as well as kibble, our weekly shop rarely tops £100 😕

I think it's quite cheap or certainly ok, OP. Ours is £200-£250 for four/five adults (five when DD1 is home from university) including non-food items and pet food.

If I went to the butcher's/farm shop/fishmongers for fresh produce it would be more like £300 a week.

This is a man who doesn't plan, cook or do the food shop, isn't it. Time to issue a challenge?

Ours has creeped upto £210 a week!we have tried every single supermarket!

We spend at least £300pw on Ocado delivery but then more on meat from local butchers as I prefer the quality and choice they have. This is for two of us and three adult kids who live with us but will not be here for every meal but will sometimes bring friends over to join us.

I get a delivery from Tesco which I'm sure makes it cost a bit more but it saves two hours on a Saturday morning and lugging a huge trolley about, and what do I earn a good salary for if not to be able to afford some convenience?

We used to shop at Aldi, I like a lot of their stuff but got fed up with crap fruit and veg. Tesco is much better for that. And when they put their prices up in 2022 it became much closer to other supermarkets, and I found because you can't get everything I was buying more in the week and spending the same overall.

I am so glad I saw this thread.
We are 2 adults and a 15 year old who eats more than the rest of us, we buy the pet food separately.
I get an Ocado delivery each week for around £120 and then top up all week so we probably spend over £150 - we spent £50 in Aldi last Saturday when we just went for a look around!
Food is so expensive now

We spend £120 ish a week for 2 adults 3 DC. £160 to stock up sounds absolutely fine. Send him next time if he thinks he can do it cheaper.

@RedToothBrush Defra do the food part of household spending. 2023 was released this month. Mostly survey data from household diaries. Plenty of background notes. Interesting stuff www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-food-fye-2023

I think you’re right!
It doesn’t sound like “just” a weekly food shop either, you’ve got lots of freezer stuff, cleaning products and a lot of store cupboard stuff. It probably won’t be as expensive next week!

My dad (early 60s) sounds very similar to your husband! My mum is constantly telling him food shops are more expensive now and he just doesn’t believe her 🤣 stuck in the past!

My boyfriend and I spend about £70 in a normal week and that’s for two of us and a fussy cat (who seemingly only likes the most expensive brands!) but when we do big big shops like the one you’ve described (cleaning products, all the extras) we spend about £100-120. And that’s for two of us. So I think what you’ve just spent is totally normal!

You can definitely cut back on your food shop. BUT having said that unless you are consciously making an effort to make low cost meals £160 doesn't go far these days. I spend about £60-70 a week for 2 adults and a baby but that is being very careful. It's cheaper if everyone eats the same thing
I would say you could cut back on a £160 food shop if you are struggling financially but it's not extortionate. It would probably be the equivalent of a £100 food shop a few years ago. 🤷

Well its only £40 each isn't it, about £6 each per day. You'll hardly be eating like kings on that!

That's not bad for a weekly shop, if you've got a load of extras like fruit, washing powder and bleach

Fruit is an essential, not an extra for me. I put vegetables then fruit in the online basket first. E.g. only three of us like bananas but we can eat five a week each.

£5.70 per person, per day seems reasonable to me.

Show him the receipt,
Put dits by everything that replaced store cupboard items they used and did not replace.
Ask him to highlight the items he would have ‘reigned in’, point out any of his choices that would work out more expensive in the long run (olive oil bought in smaller bottles)

I spend about £25- £30 a day during half term when everyone is home. (5 people).Obviously some things will last longer than a week like oil / freezer food. So no.

Two of the Aldi bags for life (the bigger ones with fabric handles) used to average around £50 when full, if we’d only bought food items. These days it’s at least £70 and can be way more if you’ve picked up any cleaning products etc.

What it used to cost for a large, five breast, pack of chicken now buys you three. Cheese is a lot more, ditto bread and even the very basic cans like green lentils and chopped tomatoes.

Unfortunately I didn’t get a train-driver level wage increase this year, so it’s very noticeable.

This. I think he's just massively out of date.

Our shopping bill has grown from £60ish to £130ish. It's not just inflation, it's also children growing into adult sized people (seemingly overnight) and yes, one going GF. I worry I'm overspending but my husband just reminds me how much everything has changed.

i would tell him to take over. You are spending £5 per day on each person. I imagined you are including cleaning items and restocking items. Seems about right.