Has your weekly bill gone stratospheric ?

[ladybirdsarelovely33]

We are a family of four - 2 adults and 2 DC. Last week we paid £260
This does include household cleaning stuff but still....
Just shopping at Sainsbury's and a top up at the Co op.....

Hard to say as I'm shopping differently (one big shop rather than lots of little or medium) and cooking differently (meal planning, trying to be healthy and cook everything from scratch) but I'm usually at work 2-3 days a week and will eat/buy on the hoof, which I'm not any longer, so when thats factored in probably spending around the same.

Budget for £200 pw for a family of 2a 2c including anything the kids need such as clothes/books etc and usually have enough to get through but not with much to spare.

Ours seems to have gone up but on reflection we are no longer paying £55 a week for school dinners (3 kids) and doing one big shop a week rather than 2-3 smaller shops. DH also is no longer getting free lunch at work as wfh.
Plus we are buying things we don’t normally like j2os for the kids or more variety of lunch stuff for everyone plus having proper breakfasts like egg and avocado etc also our meals are fancier eg we are having what I would call weekend meals (because they involve lots of prep or are more expensive) most nights whereas before mid week meals were soup or beans on toast to fit around work and activities plus kids and DH had cooked meals for lunch.

Blimey, I really thought our bills at £230 per weeks were absolutely outrageous. I can see now that it is not so much and the higher bills are becoming more common.

Mine has gone up, but we don't eat out anymore, I tend to put some treats in, and I also buy lots in case some items don't arrive.

Ours has definitely gone up. Two adults and one toddler, we used to spend around £80 a week. Now with all of us eating 3x meals a day at home plus snacks we spend the same £80 at the supermarket and restarted our HelloFresh subscription which adds an extra £42. I don't feel like it's too bad considering and not commuting to work is more than balancing it out 🤷🏼‍♀️

Yes definitely gone up. I am no longer shopping around - doing a main shop at Lidl and then top up at Sainsbury’s (due to dietary requirements) but am having to use Sainsbury’s for everything to get it all in one go. Hardly any offers. No multi packs on things like beans and tuna.

Like other posters we have had to go with premium brands when our usual is out of stock. And then of course we are now all here for every meal which makes a big difference.

Yes we are paying alot more. We used to do nearly all our shopping I aldi but have ended up using online tesco so spending alot more

Mine has definitely gone up, but not anywhere near what some on here have reported, and much is offset by reduction in lunches out, commute etc.

We've gone from about £120-£130 Ocado shop weekly, maybe a £20 Waitrose or M&S top up, plus DH lunches around £25/week to...

£150 Ocado shop (slightly more some weeks). But no Waitrose top up. We now have 4 of us having lunches at home instead of packed lunch (DD), cafe lunches (DH). That Ocado shop includes cleaning products (though we were well stocked already), and doesn't include loo roll.

What I've noticed is that my first, second choice products are frequently missing, but I can replace them with Harvey Nichols honey or something, much more expensively. Also Ocado normally have lots of special offers and I shop quite carefully. Nothing seems to be on offer anymore, it's all at the highest price it ever was.

Foodbill hats off to you, looks like you’re doing an amazing job with great food on a sensible budget.

I’m lucky in that I don’t have to budget but still think we are spending an obscene amount of money. Big meat/fish eaters, always buy from butcher/fishmonger so will be paying more there. Shop online with Ocado, used to also visit Waitrose for fresh stuff. It does look like veg could be a lot cheaper at Aldi but it’s a bit of a trudge for me so I don’t bother. I wouldn’t want to buy meat or anything from there as it didn’t look at all good last time I went.

We also probably eat quite extravagant food so maybe I could learn from here!

Thanks @Molly499 I don't HAVE to budget as such...I just hate waste and would rather spend/save my money on other things. If I need something I buy it. But I just actually CANNOT physically spend over 65 a week without buying unnecessarily tbh. Although, if I do(which is very rare) I'm not actually bothered. I don't drink either which probably helps.

I'd say there are more bargains to be had on the discount counters as shops can't judge stock flow like they used to be. At Waitrose anyway.

I could spend less as we all have more time, but it's that mentally of having a treat.

So I'd say double.

Ours had gone up a lot. Both teens seem to be eating huge amounts. Nothing is being wasted here, at all!

Plenty of the figures on here blow my mind.

Lots of examples of £250-£300 a week for food for 4 or 5 people, some of whom are children. No eating out, just food at home.

I just don’t see how that figure is ‘possible’ for a normal amount of healthy food.

I’ll probably be shot down in flames for saying this but if you’re spending £300 every week on food for an average 4/5 person family I’d hazard a guess that either
a) there’s a LOT of waste or
b) the family are generally very overweight and eating far too much or
c) most of what’s bought is expensive, highly processed ‘convenience’ food.

@CrowleysBentley

DS is working from home, IT support, some days, some nights,
We're using about £15 a month more electricity too (key meter).
Remind your DS that he can claim £6 per week from HMRC for additional costs at home and then have that amount off him towards your electricity.

Our costs have gone up from about £60 a week to about £100 a week, but we aren't paying for school dinners or fast food, so overall saving money. Meal plan carefully, so no wastage. 2 adults and 3 children.

Our costs have gone down by £142 per week:
@£70 per week for diesel,
£20 per week in train fares,
£12 per week as no longer visit Costa at the weekend,
£40 per week by not going out for Sunday lunch.

There will be an increase in gas/electricity but DH will claim £6 per week from HMRC for additional costs for wfh. We're also saving £49 as I've not had a haircut. DH shattered as working long hours at home a as his company are very busy but we are quids in.

Well, it appears that I ordered two tubs of Tangtastics instead of one.

So I have hidden the other one for the time being, the 19 year old will never find it, care to hazard a guess.

We'll also save the cost of our dental check ups in June as, even if dental surgeries re-open by then, there isn't a chance in hell that I'll go in a room where someone may have had aerosol treatment for, say, a filling. I'll see how I feel about it for my next 6-monthly check.

Yes gone up quite a bit but not buying lunches at work or paying for school lunches for kids so I reckon it works out about even.
Buying a few more treats than normal but not doing any other treats so again slightly cheaper.
Leccy bill must have gone up though

Our food shopping bill is higher but we used to buy coffees and lunches every day (previously London) and would be spending on average £150 a week between so all told we are actually saving a little.

Thankfully I’m on a strict diet else I think I’d be ordering online food deliveries (there are loads; brownies, sweets, general take out).

@LuminousAmber I would agree with you, generally. And my bill shocks me too. I'm in the region you mention.

We don't waste a a single thing. I even have the bottom of lettuces in water resprouting (they are not cut and come again but it works) and dried peas in pods for their shoots.

Nothing is convenience food except as a treat two of the adults share a family bag of crisps every now and then.

We also mainly drink water and that bill doesn't include alcohol. It does include organic coffee beans though.

We eat a tonne of mushrooms, organic greens and try to have as much variety and colour of other veg. We dont have much fruit.

I spend 4-5 hours in the kitchen daily cooking and don't like using convenience foods at all.

Really healthy, nutritious food adds up very quickly. And I am only buying organic when it comes to the dirty dozen and washing the rest with veg pesticide wash.

Over supermarket bill has gone up

But our overall food cost has gone down massively

Partly because we now eat veggie 5x a week. And no takeaways or ready meals, no take out coffee, no sushi lunch, no Pret A Manger

We eat loads (2 growing teen boys) but it’s mostly good stuff.

We are actually eating cheaper and better. But yeah, the supermarket bills are huge!

Overall our costs have gone down.

My food shop has gone down, but that reflects buying less in the aisles of doom, buying less snacks, fewer top up shops, better meal planning, DH buying lunch out less often and trying to buy in bulk via wholesale more often.

Overall our costs are down. Less communting and other spending. More on electric.

I think this says more about our lifestyle than the cost of living. We've made a resolution to change habits long term.

We’re spending £250 at Asda every week and that’s for 5 adults and a 7 year old. I do a big shop for 3 grandparents as well as us, it also includes £50 of alcohol!
We are eating very well, cooking from scratch with lots of veg but also nice ingredients eg just had steak and home made chips for tea.