£800 pm on groceries for a family

[popsickle555]

recently had a conversation with my DM (lighthearted) but I explained our weekly shop is now around £200 for a family of 2 adults and two teenage children during summer school holidays. She said she thought me ‘overspending’.

Anyway here’s what we spend:

£150 ish weekly shop (has to be weekly during the holidays as they eat so much)
£50 on top up shops fruit and veg and occasional extras eg wash powder and such things. This also includes cat food (1 cat on cheap food).

this includes lunches for me and DH (wfh) and also packed lunch stuff for DC’s who have been on a drama camp.

AIBU to think it’s actually quite hard to eat reasonably well (I do cook most days and I am buying decent ish ingredients but also plenty of ‘basic’ range options) for less than this sort of price now for 4 full portion people eating 3 meals a day? We hardly ever eat out unless on holiday.

For reference my DM hardly eats a lot now she’s older and when she does it’s really simple and generally quite boring stuff eg omelette, jacket potato etc. My DH and DCs needs more protein than that as are all very active.

I just came away feeling like I’m wasting money but genuinely can’t see how I can do it for much less without really scrimping on ingredients and protein.

@doodleschnoodle
i have a spread sheet, so everything is accounted for

Two adults, a teen and a 21 year old

Oh and i literally do not ever do a "top up" shop because i don't have time around work/kids. We get 1 shop delivered per week and it covers everything (loo rolls & toiletries, toothpaste, cleaning products etc). Its normally £150 (family of four) because we buy extra treats etc but if i had to do it for £100 a week i could. It would be a bit dull/repetitive yes, and DH and I'd have to work harder on the cooking. The main thing that would go would be snacks and any junk food at all.

Produce is susceptible to extreme weather

Floods
Fires
Extremes of heat/ cold

The citrus crop earlier in the year was heavily affected by the floods in and around Valencia for example
Ditto Olives/oil -we are still seeing high prices
I don't think people realise just how much of a knife edge we live on in the UK
We are so used to buying what we like when we like .
It pays to be flexible about your diet ( ND aside) and try to eat seasonally/ locally.

i read that 70g of meat is ample
so i have been going with that measurement for 20 years
currently gone back to pescatarianism, well for the last 3 weeks ha, fish is expensive!

@Chickenbone123
Your planning is impressive! To the extent it makes me feel exhausted but I know that is a bit pathetic and indicates I have the privilege of not needing to to do this. Well done!

Right in which case I apologise but your post made it sound like you were buying for only 3 people hence my confusion and asking for clarity.

If you're really shopping for what are effectively 4 adults including household bits for only £30 per person a week then I'm sure many on here would be very appreciative of you sharing some of how you achieve this.

Focus on tinned sardines, mackerel and tuna for half/two-thirds of your fish. It'll cut your bills!

6 sausages in about 400g so 1 sausage = 65g ish. I do 2 each = 130g.

500g of mince does 6 portions of spag or chilli for us. I throw in a handful of lentils or grated leftover veg (half a squash, the last courgette, etc). DH doesn't like very meaty mince dishes so it's not a problem. He'd rather have an extra tin of beans.

Btw im not going to upload my Cheap Week list on here. Because ive done it before and immediately got the usual responses "oh my DC won't eat porridge", "its not enough protein we need 1lb a day each of meat because DH is weightlifting", "my DC only eat berries and won't touch apples, bananas etc" or "there aren't enough snacks my 14 year old needs to eat 3 peoples worth of food every single day"

Its not an exciting shopping list. But its cheap.

That is my point, I don't want brown mush. I want texture, taste, fish and glorious market fresh veg.

Thanks, I had some sausages yesterday which were off. Whole house stank, think Ill go pescatarian.

1lb of mince is absolutely enough for a family chili or bolognese etc. And i am not in mumsnet massive salad camp, i eat loads (bmi 24) and have a DS who eats everything not pinned down.

Mince based dishes aren't 'brown mush', if you cook them properly and season well.

in the middle - growing teens need feeding and older people do need less

but your attitude to cheap dinners - jackets and omelettes means you know you could reduce a little. It’s only in the last 30 or so years that the majority have had the option of exciting food every day

and there is a strong protein myth at the moment probably financed somewhere by the meat industry - no one needs more than 80g ( yes 80g) ( even the men ) of meat a day. You will get extra protein from all sorts of food - including bread. Protein is not the element lacking in most diets

if you had complained about the need for more fruit and veg to get the minerals and fibre up - that’s what the medical professions see as missing - yes it is harder to do that cheaply - I was fortunate to grow up a while back when fruit and veg meant apples oranges carrots and cabbage and onion so I find the current variety good and I can retreat to those basics to keep costs down

We are the same. Two adults and 9 and 12 yo boys.

i do buy smoked mackerel, but i could try tinned mackerel

Tinned mackerel is lovely on toast. If you like a bit of spice, I first stir fry with tomatoes and any kind of chilli sauce.

Yes. And my recipe list above also had a version of sardines on toast which was wonderful.

I do have to confess that tinned mackerel isn't quite as good as fresh or smoked, but beggars can't be choosers!

A couple of other tips. Growing is a hassle but there are some items that really are plant once and harvest forever (or a long time) without a lot of input. Mint, Bay, Rosemary, Oregano. Also grow a chilli plant every year and that'll save that expense.

Other tip is to have a few "chuck it in" recipes where you just buy the cheapest/yellow sticker label stuff going and chuck it in. I do this with a basic frittata (8 eggs for 4 people) - then chuck in whatever veg is cheap and perhaps 2 tins of mackerel. Partner it with dressed salad leaves and you can even go without the main carbs.

I get probably 2 weeks worth of meat on the ‘big shop’ (I find Ocado the best because of the significantly better use by dates on delivery) We aren’t huge eaters of dairy products (1 lactose intolerant) but butter/cheese/yoghurt/ice cream is in the big shop. I do plan my meals around the best offers on meat/fish as much as possible but not religiously. Fruit and veg is from our Saturday market (I can get a weeks worth for £30) or topped up from Sainsbury’s as I need it and I buy seasonally (except for carrots and potatoes which I always get).

I get frozen mash to keep if it’s just for on the side
if i am making cottage pie then I do my own
fruit and veg wise I do tinned and frozen a lot especially mixed berries, apples and bananas are fairly cheap, fresh berries only in season
then I look at what’s on offer in Aldi and go from there

I think the main thing to think about is as long as you can afford it and you are happy with your level of purchases then don't worry about it. The variety of expenditures people have fall in line with their incomings and preferences for food. So my monthly spend for 2 adults (£250) is not going to be the same as others as that is my budget as it's all I can afford and I have to cut my cloth accordingly.

We were never ruled by Brussels though, as the majority of the rules and regulations were actually written by us! The informal agreement with the EU was that the big three - Britain, Germany and France, cut the cake to suit their individual strengths, so Germany took manufacturing/engineering, France took agriculture and we took financial services - of course that has sadly declined since Brexit, as the big banks, and insurance companies have moved a sizeable chunk of their operations to countries still within the EU.

The EU isn't perfect - no huge organisation ever can be, because there are too many different interests to consider and reconcile, but as always, it's better to have a seat at the table than not, especially when Europe is our biggest and closest trading partner.

The UK has also been very badly affected by the six years of political stasis that followed the vote - nothing else got done while all of the wrangling went on. And although all countries were negatively affected, to a larger or lesser degree, by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, they hadn't deliberately shot themselves in the foot and destroyed any natural resilience that they might have mustered.

I can't see any Brexit bonuses at all, and sadly, the country is much angrier and more divided than it was previously, as the aftermath of Brexit coupled with 14 years of misguided Tory austerity has decimated public services and left us drowning in debt. There's no quick fix to this, despite what that arse-wipe Farage might think - he and everyone who promoted Brexit and voted for it, whether young or old, should hang their heads in shame - this is what they have brought us to and fuck knows where it will end.

@Typicalwave then those are good prices, well done for finding them. I am a big fan of Home Bargains.

The trouble I find with cheap tinned tomatoes is that they usually seem to be packed with skin and bits of core, so I end up throwing quite a lot out. The products I quoted are very competitive with the mainstream supermarkets, and the quality is exceptional. The cheese, for example is very flavoursome, so you don't need to use a lot in cooking. Mark's can be very expensive, but they aren't for everything I find.

I've changed to Marks tinned tomatoes. They are the same price as the supermarket, maybe coppers more, and are much better quality.

I find a lot of things are very competitive. I bought sushi ginger yesterday and it was 70p cheaper then in Tesco.