£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.

Should have been month not week.

its not the 1980/1990s now when she did a family shop. Just asking what she used to spend next time she has a go and quietly put it into Google asking to convert to current cost in pounds. she gas found a needlevto irritate you and she's enjoying it. don't react. find something to itch her with. maybe don't use it. but have it in reserve but she'll go running to your husband saying she's being mean to me so be careful. x

Um how exactly?

The UK exports a substantial portion of its goods and services to EU countries. This economic interdependence means that a strong trade relationship with the EU is vital for the UK's economy.The EU's economy is significantly larger than the UK's, and while the UK is a significant trade partner, it represents a smaller percentage of the EU's overall trade.

You really do have a completely false inflated view of the UK’s worth as regards the EU.

She didn’t ask for your advice and neither did I.

There a few budget recipe books on amazon. Buy a couple of them and see if you can reduce your spend, batch cooking etc. Good luck.

Are you always so combatitive? It's a discussion about the cost of feeding families, so it's natural that folk will discuss ways to cut those costs (which definitely includes not pandering to toddlers, SEN aside of course). As well as cutting costs, not pandering reduces waste too.

Why would you buy pre-diced? It is usually the worst bits you can buy in terms of quality (in my experience). Buy whole and dice yourself. Or go to a butcher, you’ll get more lamb (or other meat) for your pound.

So DM doesn’t really know how much it costs to feed 2 adults let alone 4? I think she should wind her neck personally.

Why care what she thinks? It’s irrelevant and uninformed.

my dad was a bit “£60 a week?! I never spend that much! I go daily and rarely spend more than a tenner…oh”
yes dad
he shut up then. We just shop differently

I also used to feed my family of 6 pretty cheaply. As you say, if they don't like it they can have something boring instead. They're adults now and eat pretty much anything.

Sadly lamb is usually expensive now however you buy it, but if you buy it diced you don't have to buy a whole joint. Personally it is the meat that I miss most - and like many other people - there simply isn't a butcher anywhere near me other than Waitrose which certainly doesn't sell cheap lamp. I buy a lot from my freezer when it is on offer, it's our family treat.

That's about what we spend too. We aren't drowning in extra food.

No she didn’t but this was a thread about how much you have to spend on groceries and one way to reduce that is to cook one meal as much as possible. And you joined in by replying to my comment, so I’m allowed to reply to it and point out that your suggestion that cooking everyone the same meal is inflexible is not actually the case.

Just tried the google of M&S food prices - issue is that the food catalogue on the M&S site doesn't give you the offers - just the basic price. If you are buying 3 for £12 then that can bring the cost down significantly. Also if you don't mind some UPFs the dine in deals at both Waitrose and M&S can stretch to more meals. I bought a whole chicken, a large pack of cauliflower cheese and 2 tartlets and I bottle of wine in a Waitrose offer recently - was a roast lunch for 4, a chicken curry for four, cauliflower cheese tuna and pasta bake for 3 and tartlets, salad and new potato supper for 2. And the chicken bones made stock for back of the fridge veg soup for lunch/ Ok so some extra ingredients there but mainly veg and pasta. And a bottle of wine!

That wasn’t my suggestion. Read properly.

We spend £500pm on the big shop (2 adults, 1 teen, 1 child) plus the top up shops which are maybe another £100pm, but we don't drink alcohol and don't buy a lot of meat. We try and keep it as cheap as possible. So what you're spending isn't unreasonable IMO