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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

How much is your weekly shop?

182 replies

MidoriNoRingo · 26/04/2025 16:16

We’re a family of 4 and ship at Sainsbury’s. It’s costing around £170 a week and o just don’t see how this is sustainable, especially as prices are only going to go up. What do you pay and where do you shop?

OP posts:
SendBooksAndTea · 26/04/2025 16:17

About £80 in Tesco for three of us and two cats!

Totallytoti · 26/04/2025 16:19

I do M&S weekly and it’s about £100 sometimes less. I get an absolute ton of stuff as I also meal prep. Quite honestly I find food very, very cheap in this country.
we are also a family of 4, two young kids.
what kind of stuff are you making op, do you meal plan?

MidoriNoRingo · 26/04/2025 16:20

Totallytoti · 26/04/2025 16:19

I do M&S weekly and it’s about £100 sometimes less. I get an absolute ton of stuff as I also meal prep. Quite honestly I find food very, very cheap in this country.
we are also a family of 4, two young kids.
what kind of stuff are you making op, do you meal plan?

We’ve started meal planning but it hasnt made a difference to the cost.

OP posts:
SallyWD · 26/04/2025 16:21

We spend about £150 on the big shop but there are always a couple of top up shops that bring the weekly total to about £200 😬

Swonderful · 26/04/2025 16:23

We pay about that for a family of 6. Cooking from scratch really keeps the cost down, but I know it's not always possible.

Amba1998 · 26/04/2025 16:24

£100-£120 Tesco
2 adults 1 preschooler

Bogfrog · 26/04/2025 16:24

About £160 a week in Asda for 4 of us plus a cat

Sortalike · 26/04/2025 16:24

Depends on what you buy, where you buy it.

Family of 3, Budget £600 for groceries, toiletries and cleaning stuff each month - monthly stock up at costco plus small weekly shop most months it's £525 or thereabouts, anything left over gets put in the emergency fund.

MidoriNoRingo · 26/04/2025 16:25

Swonderful · 26/04/2025 16:23

We pay about that for a family of 6. Cooking from scratch really keeps the cost down, but I know it's not always possible.

We cook everything from scratch. I don’t know where we’re going so wrong

OP posts:
ItsARiot · 26/04/2025 16:26

Around £150, including a top up shop.
Family of 4, we also meal plan and everything homemade etc.

Cheeseismyfavourite · 26/04/2025 16:27

Family of five approximately £100 a week in Aldi. Mostly cook from scratch meals. The two older kids have school dinners and a snack type dinner so scrambled eggs on toast or beans on toast for dinner due to all the clubs they go to after school.

PonyPatter44 · 26/04/2025 16:28

We are a family of three, sometimes 4 adults (when DDs boyfriend is with us), and i can usually get our weekly shop in under £100. This morning it was £68 in Sainsbury's and another £18 at the butchers, so under my target. However, we all work full-time, DH and I are both on Mounjaro so we don't snack, and cooking is one of my hobbies so we buy ingredients rather than ready-to-eat stuff. That all keeps our bill down.

My sister has three teenage kids, who all eat like piglets, God only knows what her shopping bill is like.

Loveduppenguin · 26/04/2025 16:29

I spent €84 today. Receipt attached. I had bits and pieces at home already so didn’t need to buy EVERYTHING. But I average about 65-70per week.

How much is your weekly shop?
How much is your weekly shop?
Totallytoti · 26/04/2025 16:29

What kind of meals do you make. I also make almost everything from scratch but make good use of my ingredients too. We also have some takeout days but I’m able to easily keep it to about £100

Swonderful · 26/04/2025 16:31

MidoriNoRingo · 26/04/2025 16:25

We cook everything from scratch. I don’t know where we’re going so wrong

We only buy cheaper meat - mince, chicken thighs etc. I do a veggie meal a couple of times a week. And we often have roast but I'll buy a chicken or pork.

Rarely have fish etc as too expensive.

But yeah I reckon your bill sounds about right if you're eating well. Our food is still quite cheap compared to lots of countries.

Swonderful · 26/04/2025 16:33

Also how old are your kids? - I have 4 teens eating more than adults which is very different to small kids!!

Radlib · 26/04/2025 16:34

350pw. 5 people including 2 very hungry sports-playing teens that need lots of transportable food, and one person with dietary limitations that means extra on alternative ingredients etc. It's a lot, and has gone up from 250 a couple of years ago. I cook loads from scratch to try to reduce some UPFs, and now find that baking - with real butter and eggs etc - is more expensive than buying pre-packaged snacks. I try to buy higher welfare chicken and beef mince etc. It adds up very quickly.

BCBird · 26/04/2025 16:35

About 90 pound a week. Ocado. Just me at home.

Totallytoti · 26/04/2025 16:39

Swonderful · 26/04/2025 16:31

We only buy cheaper meat - mince, chicken thighs etc. I do a veggie meal a couple of times a week. And we often have roast but I'll buy a chicken or pork.

Rarely have fish etc as too expensive.

But yeah I reckon your bill sounds about right if you're eating well. Our food is still quite cheap compared to lots of countries.

I really agree about the food being cheap here. Am from another country originally and I almost daily think how cheap it is here. I always think when people complain about the price of food they do not know how to cook or doing something wrong

LandSharksAnonymous · 26/04/2025 16:42

£250 for me and two DDs - all fruit, veg and meat is organic. Waitrose and local farm shops.

I spent a year living abroad for work and we used to haggle over bananas (that's how rare fresh fruit and veg was). I was so sick within a few weeks given how little fruit and veg there was that it's now the one thing I will never live without. Unfortunately, that makes food shops expensive.

And four dogs...but I count them separately.

lunaemma · 26/04/2025 16:42

Just me, £240pm (I work it out monthly as some weeks are more expensive)
shop at aldi
doesn't include cat food, toilet roll or toiletries

Poonu · 26/04/2025 16:43

Totallytoti · 26/04/2025 16:19

I do M&S weekly and it’s about £100 sometimes less. I get an absolute ton of stuff as I also meal prep. Quite honestly I find food very, very cheap in this country.
we are also a family of 4, two young kids.
what kind of stuff are you making op, do you meal plan?

@Totallytoti idk which country you are comparing with. But I can tell you there is a high increase in prices during the last few years.
So yes it might be cheaper than France or Germany or wherever but it's a third higher than we're used to paying in very very recent memory.

mumsiemoo2 · 26/04/2025 16:45

my weekly shop is between £170-£200 for a family of 4. But DD is gluten / dairy and egg free and I find the free from ranges about triple the price of standard food 🙄

Superwomann · 26/04/2025 16:46

We pay around 180 plus a top up shop around 40, usually a mix of Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Lidl and Waitrose, some weeks it’s a large shop in Lidl and a top up in Waitrose, others Sainsbury’s. The cost doesn’t seem to vary much between all supermarkets. Family of 4, 2 under 5. We cook from scratch but buy a lot of organic, fresh berries, meat and fish which will bring the cost up. We also eat proper lunches, not just a sandwhich and I think that brings the cost up too.

Newmeagain · 26/04/2025 16:46

I think the issue is that for such a long time food has been incredibly cheap in the uk and quite a small proportion of people’s income.

it is possible to spend less by not having meat and processed foods on a daily basis.

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