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.....

Yes, because suddenly I'm producing 15 more lunches a week, along with an extra dinner or 2 for DH each week because he's not away with work. And weve also stopped a monthly takeaway or dinner out. It adds up to quite a lot of extra meals!
And the deals have all stopped.

Definitely gone up! Last month I spent £130 more that I normally would. It's due to a number of reasons though, lunches home rather than school/work (also costing money of course put doesn't come out of the same pot), shopping more at M&S because it's a lot emptier and nicer (normally wouldn't shop there more than the odd thing) and of course there are none or very few offers in the shops.

Luckily for us we don't eat meat and half of my weekly shop is always fruit and veg with isn't particularly expensive.

Ocado charge £6.99 for delivery which is a rip off imo

.
@Strawberrycreamsundae Do you know that Ocado has never been in profit since they started out?

Tesco's delivery was always a loss-leader too and is only just breaking even.

£7 for delivery might seem a lot but think of the man/woman hours to pick, pack, deliver and pay for fuel. If you went out to shop it might take you 2 hours to drive there, buy, drive home and then there is wear and tear on your car.

I've got a mid week pass with both Tesco and Ocado and each costs me around £3.50 per month, for unlimited deliveries (in normal circs) and I share delivery slots with an elderly parent and a DD who is a key worker. I think it's a bargain.

Oh, and also, my husband isn't travelling at the moment so he is having all his meals at home. Normally he would eat about half of his food out of the UK.

You must have eaten before whether that was bought as a weekly shop or kids having school dinners, buying snacks, canteen or takeaway lunches for the workers etc. You need to compare total expenditure not just the weekly shop. I looked at my bank account yesterday and nothing has gone out apart from food shopping and the usual monthly payments of mortgage and bills etc.
That said, I do think prices have crept up, or there's less offers on, and I've been doing click & collect shops and finding that some of the cheaper or own brands haven't been available online.

Our Tesco bill has increased. In our Tesco (not online) they have removed all the offers - both bulk buy but also a lot of price reductions. I’d say our bill for a family of four has gone up by about £20 a week.

I think we are spending 500 per month for two of us plus a one year old. Alcohol and extra treats and double the meals we usually do as usually but at work.

Those of you who are noticing huge increases - are you comparing like with like? I haven't really noticed any particular changes in our bill; possible a small rise in lack of offers which is compensated for being able to cater for the family in a different way..

But we always had breakfast at home, packed lunches at work/school and cooked meal in the evening so we're still basically eating the same food. If you're eating way more meals at home than you used to, then it stands to reason your bill will be higher - unless the other meals were provided free by your workplace, or something like that.

No. Family of 4. Weekly budget is £145 and I stick to it, sacrificing treats for what we really need...going to Home Bargains helps!

Yes, lots more on food because DC normally eat school dinners. But then we're not paying for those, or for the regular pizza nights out for school trips and socials, so it probably balances out.

I feel your pain....we've gone from £100 average to between £150 and £200. Also 2 adults and 2 DC. We are never usually all home for 21 meals a week and we do normally eat out or have a takeaway at least once a week so I suppose we are probably spending a similar amount but it just feels like A LOT when you see it all in one shop!!

Yes, I'm spending at least £100 more a month if not more. There are no offers on anything, including dishwasher tablets and such like, which I normally buy on offer.

I think ours topped 450-500 for the month last month. Before that, it was 300 per month.

We are 3 adults and one preschooler. Before lockdown, i worked from home and the other two did not. Now we're all in all the time so its reasonable to expect the bill to go up. I think this is in proportion to how much they were spending on lunches outside of the house though.

I am definitely spending more and it’s not cancelled out by spending less on work lunches. There are definitely fewer offers and the costs of items has gone up because supermarkets are paying more to employ additional staff, as mentioned in this IFS report:

www.ifs.org.uk/publications/14809

I have also spent more on wine but that might even out in the long run as a case does last a while even in lock down. I think a lot depends on how you did your shopping BC - eg shopping around in different supermarkets or buying fruit and vegetables from a market. The cost of non food items like bleach and washing up liquid has also gone up.

What’s the reasoning behind the ‘no offers?’

Is it that the supermarkets just think we won’t shop around? Because if that’s the case, it’s a disgrace, at a time when some people have no income.

I'm really shocked at the posts on here and how much people are spending.
I haven't noticed any difference. We are four adults and 2 are still working but on reduced hours and two furloughed.
The meals are the same as they have always been. Breakfast porridge and cream. Lunch is usually soup or salad for everyone ( whether at work or not ) and the evening meal is usually a casserole, stew, stir fry or curry.
We usually have loads of dried beans and grains which are inexpensive and can make falafel, hummus and dips quickly and easy and flour to make flat breads if we want a snack.

We're getting deliveries from a farm shop and a fruit and veg supplier who used to deliver to restaurants. Haven't been to a supermarket for four weeks!

Our bill has gone down significantly - I think mainly because there are no impulse buys or treats. I don't normally like chocolate but now that I can't have it, I'm craving it. We do not have a single biscuit or sweet thing in the house. My attempts at baking have been disastrous. I'm normal weight and have lost a few pounds. We're eating a lot healthier. It would be good if we could stick to this.

Confession, I do get a monthly wine delivery (but it has to last the whole month - no sneaky adding bottles to a weekly shop any more!).

You must have eaten before whether that was bought as a weekly shop or kids having school dinners, buying snacks, canteen or takeaway lunches for the workers etc

Neither myself or my son ate lunch at work/school. Not enough tine. I never bought take away meals either and drank wine only at the weekend. I used to use deliveries which meant I could meal plan to a budget. I just have to throw stuff in now as my list us often pointless.

So we eat a lot more, I drink a lot more and as a result shopping has doubled.

Redsky here its definitely the fact that all food is being purchased in one go rather than being spread out with school / work lunch, lunches out at weekend, takeaways. Buying a bit extra to avoid revisiting shops. Beer esp in the first few weeks was a thing when computer got switched off and the sun was out entering into flip flop mode.

Our food bill has definitely increased. I think it’s partly due to increased prices and not so many offers.

Yes mines gone up but overall we'll break even, apart from the usual bills we are only spending money on food.

it has gone up because quite often i buy reduced items, i do not venture into the supermarket now.
there are mainly brands for sale, no shop's own, and I am buying for twice the amount I was buying for before.
tbh we have barely touched the pasta! We have a sack of potatoes tempting us

@FortunesFave do you honestly not understand what cleaning stuff is?

Washing powder, toilet cleaner, sometimes oven cleaner, fabric softener?

Have you been to the cleaning area in he supermarket - it’s that stuff.

Please let’s not go down the I only buy 20p worth of bleach every other year, therefore everyone else is completely bonkers.

Ours has definitely gone up. DH was all getting food paid for by work Mon-Fri and has now been eating at home every day.
Also DC1 is home from university, we're still giving her the money we were sending for food every week but she's eating out of our food budget.

DH and I used to have lunch out once a week which cost £30ish which has stopped but now we're getting a take away for 6 once a week which is costing £60-£70.

I'm saving around £25 a week by not having coffee out, but across the month we've spent £50 on coffee pods, £30 on hot chocolate £5 on nesquick and have more than doubled our milk usage.

Food seems more expensive. We haven't been able to bulk buy which we've been doing for years and we haven't been shopping round as much but I am starting to bring that back in.

Not really, but then I made most meals before hand when everyone was at work/school. One child had school lunch a couple of times a week.

We spend about £100 PW for 5 (2 adults, 3 children 16,12,11) I go shopping every 2 weeks.

But as others have said the offers are less available and some products are also not available.