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.

My sister used to keep snacks like crisps and chocolate biscuits in boxes with child's name on. They could eat whatever was in their own box but it wouldn't be replenished until following week. She used to put 5 bags of crisps, 5 chocolate biscuits and 4 baby bel into each box. Other snacks had to be apples or bananas etc. prices have gone up so much £600 pcm is not much for a family of 5 and pets.

There's alot of tone deaf people on here. There are families myself included who simply cant afford more than 130 a week on food and are genuinely struggling. What I do alot op is a do a normal food shop at Tescos scan and shop offers. I need go to heron where I get things on offer for treats.

Would you share a recipe of a cake/snack that freezes well? I want to do homemade snacks for packed lunch boxes this year and this would save trial and error!

Food is so expensive now .Children eat a lot .What happens when you run out .Do you buy more or they will have to go without otherwise .Bananas /oranges/ and apples will be cheaper than berries .

Yes, there are alternatives, that's been stated already.
Folk sharing how much more they spend, when OP cannot afford that amount, isn't helpful. Neither are huge lists with excessive amounts of fruit.

we do two smaller shops a week rather than one big weekly shop and this helps people to moderate consumption… and in between that if it’s gone it’s gone. Funnily enough the healthier the snacks the longer they last… so have cut biscuits etc completely

You aren’t buying enough if it’s gone that fast.

Thank you.
I've been saying this too.

This is so true. I've been on the bones of my arse when ours were little, and decent fruit etc was a pipe dream!

It’s not judgement it’s factual. £130 per week really is not a huge amount to feed a family of 5 people for 7 days. If it was then none of us would be spending more than that.

It is judgement.
OP hasn't ever said she spends a huge amount, she has said she cannot really afford more.

Sorry baby T snacks weren’t available and fruit was rationed. DC were taught to ask before they even took a biscuit. May sound draconian but it was the only way to budget.

It’s not really a recipe as we chuck in any leftover fruit or extra things as we go some times a crumbled layer of salted honey peanuts in the middle. It’s a kilo of oats get these on the heat with a whole pack of butter.

Then seperately (kids do this) peel and slice bananas, ripe ones like you’d use for banana bread around six. A whole jar of smooth peanut butter (350g). Generous amount of honey, half a jar, about half a can of condensed milk ( this freezes well so save it for following week. Heat these ingredients together till it’s a sort of thick soup consistency (don’t allow to boil) mix well with oats these will have soaked up the butter.

Turn out into a couple of trays lined with grease proof. You can pop it in the fridge or if you lack space it’ll firm up overnight at room temp. I just chuck in oven if not using. Chocolate buttons will melt nicely on top. They are pretty calorie dense but also soft / chewy. Roughly have two kilos of flapjack.

I've recently pointed out to my foster son whose off to uni the price difference between apples and berries and suggested he gets some frozen berries whilst at uni. He's not used to budgeting on food and he has expensive taste as likes salmon and prawns but I've told him he might need to limit those until he's home on a weekend.

When are they eating these snacks? Is it possible that their main meals aren’t substantial enough? Basically are they snacking due to hunger, boredom, or out of habit. If they are genuinely hungry consider increasing their portion size at meal times. Looking at the snack items you list none of them have a lot of protein. Protein helps to keep you fuller for longer. A slice of wholemeal toast with peanut butter, carrots with hummus (really easy to make in a food processor or just buy it), breadsticks and cucumber with a cream cheese dip, hard boiled egg with cherry tomatoes. None are particularly expensive but would likely keep them fuller for longer.

Oh really. Please set out OPs menu for us as you clearly know it.

Fruit is not even frigging essential fgs. People in this very country survived a very very long time without oranges or grapes or bananas.

I noticed food prices have really shot up about 2-3 weeks ago.
Also a lot of pre packaged items are smaller in size.
Forget about cashback OP, you need to save now not get cashback in 2 months time from the bank.
Sainsbury's is more expensive than Waitrose for a lot of items, but really good quality overall.
Morissons is more expensive than Tesco.
Try a combination of everything and give the likes of lidl/Aldi a try.
Most supermarkets give better pricing to loyalty card holders.
It's a right faff tbh.

its five people op- I was thinking the same but we’re six and now I see what people buy for three and four I realise I wasn’t being fair- think of it, even with the bars you’re saying everyone takes 1 then they’re pretty much gone, same with bananas, most have five or six in a bunch and the amount of strawberries is negligible. Don’t do snack boxes, allow them to eat what they feel like, you don’t have tons of unhealthy crap, we’re just unlucky with col

This is a very good idea if it's a possibility time wise.

Thats cheap for family of 5 for a week

....and, as already stated, OP cannot really afford any more.

Well apparently we all need massive meals and at least two snacks a day.Also injecting mounjaro into our eyeballs. Fun filled days

I wonder if anyone has ever given any thought as to why supermarkets are laid out in the way they are

You walk in and all the fruit and veg and salad is there, so you fill up on these things, then the fresh deli/dairy/ready meal section

Only then do you get to tins and packets and finally to frozen

There is a reason for this

You buy fresh, you're paying more per item for a start, you're more likely for it it go off and then need to replenish

If you fill your trolley with packets of beans, lentils, tinned veg, tinned fruit, frozen veg, frozen fruit, frozen meat etc, You pay far far less, you manage the turn over in the home better

A tin of peaches with some greek yoghurt, easy cheap snack, more protien and more filling than a handful of grapes, which then turns into a handful of strawberries and so on.

Make your own houmous or bean dips from tins of beans or chickpeas, you can freeze this in any case, have this as a snack with pita breads or crisp breads.

Stop buying snacks, they aren’t necessary. Instead provide more calorie rich meals.