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.

Growing up in the 60s family of six children, we never had snacks just three meals a day.
if we complained of feeling hungry my mother would say “have some bread and butter”.
we were never THAT hungry so managed to wait till the next meal and were fine.

You have a point - in all honesty if someone doesn't want to wait 2 mins for toast then are they actually hungry? I say that as someone who does purchase fruit and convenient snacks too. Toast toppings can be varied too. Crackers or oatcakes are a good option also.

The thought of punishing children for eating more than 1 banana a week is fucking awful.

The consequence is for not asking! If they are hungry, they need to ask, and op can suggest what food they should eat that doesn't just use up all their favourites on the first day of the week. When they are paying the bills, they can choose, right now OP is in charge so they can bloody well ask instead of just helping themselves!

But it clearly isn’t loads is it, as you’re saying it’s all gone within a day? Are your children teenagers? Because as I remember it they are bottomless pits when it comes to food!

Growing up in the 60s family of six children, we never had snacks just three meals a day.

I don't think comparing to 60 years ago is much help

That is hugely expensive on top of normal shopping. And there is probably more than that.

Milk and a slice of toast perhaps would be cheaper and buy only half of that in that list.

Neither is folk telling OP how much they (can afford) to spend, when she's already explained that the budget is limited.

These kids have an allowance of 1 banana, 10 strawberries, 10 grapes- A WEEK. That’s not enough even for their 5 a day for 1 day.

The result of not buying enough food is that the food does run out.

Thank God I wasn’t raised like this and neither am I raising my own children like this, fruit isn’t something to beg for. 5 a day is really important.

How old are the children? If they’re very young like toddlers then 100-130 per week might be fine. The older they get then you aren’t buying enough food that why it’s all gone so quickly.
We spend a hell of a lot more than that feeding 6 sometimes 7 which includes older teen boys who eat like mad and older children.
If it’s gone within a day or two you’re just not buying enough or they have too much free rein in the kitchen cupboards. Triple the amount you buy of these things because unless they have a problem like weight then they obviously need that amount of food.

60 years ago no one was buying grapes, strawberries and mini marylands with their groceries.

I remember grapes being a big treat. Strawberries being available for 6 weeks of the year and I don’t think I had a blueberry until I was an adult.

That’s not a lot of fruit for a family of 5. We could easily get through that in a weekend for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The amount of the other snacks seem fine. TBH, less would be better. The big question is is one person eating more than their fair share?

If your budget is already at its max, I would get rid of most of the unhealthy snacks, just have a few treats in snack boxes so everyone gets their fair share and they have control over when they want to eat it and spend the money on more (cheaper) fruit, eg apples, easy peelers, and veg for veg sticks. Don’t buy it all in one go, top up during the week so it is fresh and it doesn’t get eaten up!

Although you aren’t eating an excessive amount of unhealthy snacks, they aren’t essential…

But you can buy 2kg bag of apples for the price of a punnet strawberries.

They have main meals too, which will contribute to their allowance of fruit and veg.

How old are the family members? Honestly it sounds a lot of money but with inflation everything seems like it comes in smaller packs but costs more. We are only 1 adult and 1 child we have gone through 5 bananas, few apples, pack of grapes, strawberries, raspberries and we are on 2nd pack of blueberries since I shopped a week ago

....perhaps, but that list contains much more than just 2kg of apples. 😐

Well fruit is really expensive and fruit shouldnt be the main component of your 5 a day. The five a day, which should be 10 a day for health purposes but park that for now, includes beans, pulses, lentils, vegetables, salads, root veg.

So you dont need to rely on massive bags of fruit and expensive punnets for your 5 a day.

Tinned fruit also counts and is cheaper.

Is it just my older kids who couldn't give a fuck about fruit? I could buy many strawberries and grapes, I'd be the one eating them.

thats not even 1 snack a day for everyone!

On a budget of £130 a week for 5 people including snacks, the main meals certainly aren’t going to be huge & healthy either.

You are obviously not buying enough if it disappears so soon
We spend £200 a week for 4 when DC at home

Gosh, such judgement.
They can definitely be healthy, and no meals need to be huge.

How many days are you expecting 6 bananas to last for 5 people? It’s not like to take a bit and leave the rest for later.
We usually have 15 bananas a week and 12 apples plus whatever else is in season. Strawberries are out of season so expensive and go off quickly.

Fruit is just not filling on it owns, potentially with the exception of bananas. It might stave off hunger pangs for a while but if kids are actually hungry and not getting another meal soon then it’s useless in my opinion. I offer toast or cheese and crackers now. Definitely keeps them fuller for longer than any snack.

Hide the stuff you want to last? Our kids are generally only allowed crisps from the multipack if they’re on packed lunch at school. I bake muffins once a week using frozen berries. Generally I tru and get them to snack on spicy crackers and houmus, oatcakes and PB, fruit, toast. Bit less exciting!

The point is that there are alternative. The OP is buying two punnets of strawberries. For that, she could have 2kg of apples or 4 bunches or bananas (depending on where she shops). She could also get 3 bags of carrots and make carrot sticks. Or she could buy a few tins of butter beans, wraps, chopped tomatoes, a pepper and spices and make a dozen burritos for not much more than the strawberries.