Aibu to be annoyed the food shop disappears so quickly

[toadstool32]

It drives me insane. Food shop arrives and within a day most cupboard snacks / fruit has been eaten. I’ve spoken to everyone on numerous occasions about making things last. Family of 5 plus a dog, spending anywhere between £100-£130 a week. How do you make things last?! (Obviously not fresh stuff with dates but the constant snacking).

edited to add: school lunches and snacks are all provided by school. I get lunch at work too. So this is just home food.

I agree with this. I know I sound like an old gimmer, but I very much didn't grow up snacking and we don't massively snack as a family even now (kids are teen / preteen). There's (cheaper) fruit, toast, cereal, cheapo yoghurts and tomatoes & cucumber available, but that's mostly it and they don't snack much actually.

Perhaps you dont mean to but you're being very snippy

I didnt say or imply or even think that you need help budgeting, I was just interested in what you said and was chatting about it.

Brilliant idea. And if they've scoffed all of theirs, no more (other than cheap sliced bread for toast, jam etc) until the next shop.

Why do they have to have a banana every day? Whats that about?

Perhaps you're reading it as 'snippy'?
I was answering your question but also clarifying that it's a general point. 🙃

Yes same here, we just didnt have them. We didnt do pudding either unless it was special or perhaps on a sunday we had a tin of pineapple and 'dream topping'. Fancy

For the poster who talked about sweets, yes of course there were sweets but we didnt just sit and munch through them the way these punnets of fruit seem to be eaten on this thread. Its the mindlessness of it.

Its definitely possible. We are 5 (3 massive sporty teens, Dh and me). We spend around £130-50. We do meal plan, cook from scratch, eat a lot things in season, batch cook, buy yellow label stickers stuff anf make soups and dstrws, eat lots of filling stuff like porridge, lentils, pulses. Have meat but not loads a md almost no UPF apart from some biscuits.

Have a designated cupboard for snacks. Fill it with with bead,cheap marg,ditto jam, peanut butter plain biscuits, own brand cuppa soup,beans,tinned spaghetti, that sort of thing.
Tell them everything in else is off limits ,but can have as much toast or whatever from snack cupboard.
Where zi live we have a warehouse that sell food thet I'd nearing or past sell by date,crisps and other snacks like dried fruit, vegetable puffs and energy bars are pennies

OP, I’d up the fruit with cheaper ones like you’ve said and then you can keep the other snacky things the same or reduce and get a few more loaves of bread or more yoghurt and they can have toast for snacks. Or leftovers if you have any. I will buy some crisps or digestives or a bar of chocolate (or this week dh bought a cherry pie). We expect those to be treats to last a day maybe 2 and then back on fruit and toast.

I hide it! I’ve been known to put it in a locking box before. Sometimes it will live in my car boot. Sometimes under the bed.

Bread
Boxes of economy cereal
Crackers
Jam
Peanut butter
Oats
Boxes of UHT milk (cheaper)
Economy apples
Carrots (peeled, raw and crunchy. Popular in our house)
Economy yoghurts
Basic biscuits

uht is not cheaper? It’s convenient but it’s not cheaper these days from my experience.

I am not a budgeter, but having read this thread, it seems to be that a big part of the problem is that 'snack food' is seen as something separate to 'real food'. Supermarkets package it up to look attractive and it commands a premium.

We love chocolate in this house and have it several times a week, but we don't seem to spend a lot on other packaged stuff (especially little packets of things) which I think is where we're making some savings compared to others.

My DS's favourite snack when we get home from school is a jam sandwich. The younger one likes cheese on toast (admittedly cheese has massively increased in price!) and carrot sticks. But these aren't extra 'snacky' things, they're just food we have in anyway being eaten as a snack. I'm feeling a bit mean now because I've realised that, although we do have some biscuits in a box, I view them as 'mine' and don't really share them with the kids. The kids sometimes like munching on dry cereal like cheerios and cornflakes. They do get ice cream several times a week (a scoop out of a big tub, with a few sprinkles on top). I make them pancakes sometimes if I have the time.

We spend just over £50 per person per week, and that’s with meal planning and avoiding convenience foods.

I feel the same OP. Our budget is also £150 a week, 2 adults, 1 teen boy full time, another teen boy and an 11 year old boy half the week. Snacks disappear rapidly! I dont know what the answer is. Im trying to meal plan and stick to it but man these kids can eat!!

Agreed. If you all like a banana that’s basically gone after 1 day with 5 of you. My toddler would eat the equivalent of that amount of fruit in a week by himself!

Snack boxes for each person (when they’re gone they’re gone) sounds like a good idea.

And shopping mostly at Aldi or Lidl probably will help, unless you get a massive cash back incentive from your bank. I find my shops always seem far more expensive if I shop anywhere else.

But all in all, I agree that £600ish per month for a family of 5 these days is pretty decent.

I spend around £200 to £220 a month just for me and do not buy much in the way of snacks, a few packs of biscuits and maybe a pack of tea cakes. I menu plan and batch cook and am good at using whatever is lurking in the fridge or freezer as I hate food waste. I do think the cost of food is shocking though and apparently it is set to increase again, what joy!

Why buy snacks at all, it isn't a good habit to encourage?

Snack boxes - when they're gone they're gone and label things for lunches etc. People will soon start to realise. And you might realise you need to buy slightly different things on different weeks etc to stretch the budget out a bit.

AI tells me you are right, didnt quite believe that but its true. UHT milk is also really horrible

Very few snacks in this household, we buy the odd packet of biscuits or muesli bars but rarely crisps or chocolate bars. Three meals a day and if you're hungry in between it's a choice between yoghurt, fruit, toast, cereal, crackers. Eldest dc favours apple slices and peanut butter or tinned mackerel on crackers, youngest likes yoghurts, cheese on toast or watermelon. I can't understand the relentless snacking culture. Mine get one treat type article in their lunchbox and sweets or nachos and dips on a Friday. No wonder there's an obesity crisis.

ps frozen berries are cheaper and easier to store. Mine love to make a smoothie with yoghurt and frozen mixed berries. Very filling, healthy and cheaper too.

snacks were bread and butter in my day - fruit would be puddings

@soupyspoonit definitely used to be, maybe 5-10 years ago.

I’m not sure £20 a day is much to feed a family these days. Gutting as that is.

I only pick brands that we really notice the difference with. For me that is decent coffee by L’or, kids love proper HP sauce, and cats would rather die than eat anything other than Whsikas. Probably a few more, but basically I stick to real food, no labels. Deals from butchers, etc

i know it’s difficult when budgets are tight, but have you tried cheaper supermarkets for snacks like Aldi, Farmfoods, Home bargains/B & M, Savers. Obviously it depends on which shops are close to you. I ofter find I get more for my money in some of these places especially things like biscuits and snacks. Apologies if you have also tried this. I used to get everything from one shop but with rising costs find I end up buying different things from different shops and changing to own brands, some which I have found are actually better. Out of the Supermarkets you use I would say Asda is usually cheapest for fruit.